HOPE intern Sa-Eun visits a market where many HOPE Congo clients work.
I just wanted to throw in a plug for HOPE’s internship program. Every year, HOPE puts 15-20 interns to work in the field and in the Central Service Unit in Lancaster, PA (Yeah intern class of 2007!). It’s an awesome opportunity to learn, grow, and play a valuable role in the alleviation of physical and spiritual poverty. Sa-Eun (pictured) arrived about a week after I did to serve as an intern in HOPE Congo’s Operations department, and she’s already living and breathing Christ-centered microfinance. She’s spending her time interviewing clients, establishing baseline metrics, translating, facilitating data collection processes, and finding ways to make client identifications more efficient. If you know any college students with the head of a banker, the heart of a missionary, and the soul of a development worker, have them check out HOPE’s internship program at www.hopeinternational.org.
After receiving their loans, the clients get a one-week grace period to apply the funds to their businesses (by purchasing more inventory, diversifying stock, renting more retail space, etc). Reimbursement meetings start two weeks after the original disbursal, allowing time for the infusion of capital to bear fruit for the entrepreneur in the form of increased profits. From that point on, clients meet every week for the remainder of the four-month loan period. Community banks come together for an hour and a half to make repayments, receive business training rooted in scripture, share concerns and seek counsel, and pray and fellowship with one another. 
