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" 1. Learn how microfinance creates miracles. &amp;quot;When women are economically empowered, they&amp;#039;re more likely than men to put money back into the family and spend on things like education for their kids, health care for the whole family, and improving their housing,&amp;quot; says Mary Ellen Iskenderian, the president of Women&amp;#039;s World Banking, an organization that helps low-income women entrepreneurs in 27 countries. Microfinance gives these women access to capital they&amp;#039;d never qualify for at traditional banks. &amp;quot;One woman in Kenya had set up a makeshift hardware shop on the side of the road that sold nails, two-by-fours, and other tools. She wanted to expand, but no one would loan to her,&amp;quot; Mary Ellen says. &amp;quot;Through our affiliate, Kenya Women Finance Trust, she borrowed $75. When I met her seven years later, she had built a proper store with a lumber yard in the back and had 27 employees \u2014 her latest hire was her husband.&amp;quot; See how you can help at swwb.org/getinvolved. 2. Fund female small-business owners in Latin America. &amp;quot;When I started meeting with women in some of Bolivia&amp;#039;s poorest slums 22 years ago, what struck me the most is how much they wanted to give their children a better life,&amp;quot; says Lynne Patterson, who cofounded the women&amp;#039;s development and microfinance organization Pro Mujer with Bolivia-born Carmen Velasco. &amp;quot;In many rural Latin American areas, most of the paid work goes to men,&amp;quot; Carmen adds. &amp;quot;That means if women want a job, they usually have to create their own \u2014 and many of them have zero formal education.&amp;quot; Since its pilot program in Bolivia, Pro Mujer has provided funding to 1.6 million women in Argentina, Peru, Nicaragua, and Mexico for their businesses, like clothing or food shops. &amp;quot;When I visited Nicaragua, I met Sandra, an illiterate mother who got married when she was only 14,&amp;quot; says Lynne. &amp;quot;She was so proud of the fruit-selling business she started with a $50 loan. Now, she can afford to send her three kids to school. What we&amp;#039;re doing is more than just helping these women make some money \u2014 we&amp;#039;re changing the culture of poverty.&amp;quot; To help Pro Mujer fund even more loans, donate at promujer.org/donatenow. 3. Choose an entrepreneur you want to help at kiva.org/women, and get some of your friends to pitch in. Browse profiles of women like Pekeshe, a mom in Kenya who could use $125 to buy a blow-dryer and hair products for her beauty salon, or Margie, a married mom with two kids who wants to borrow $150 to buy canned goods, snacks, and drinks for the grocery store she started last year in the Philippines. You can loan as little as $25; when the money gets repaid, loan it back out to another mom and continue the cycle of giving. 4. Splurge on a $55 Tory Burch cosmetics case through the Tory Burch Foundation (go to toryburchfoundation.org and click on &amp;quot;support&amp;quot;). All profits will go to help women start or grow their businesses right here in the United States. The foundation has partnered with the American branch of the global microfinance institution ACCION, and last year funded women like Amy Chernoff, who used her loan to keep her fledgling handbag company afloat. &amp;quot;After being in business for six months, I had a ton of orders coming in but not enough cash to pay my factory,&amp;quot; Amy says. &amp;quot;I don&amp;#039;t think people realize that even a small amount of money can make a huge difference for someone just starting out.&amp;quot;  5. Volunteer virtually for Bankers Without Borders, a new program run by the Grameen Foundation, a worldwide microfinance organization. &amp;quot;I translate brochures into Spanish so that entrepreneurs in Latin America can learn more about opportunities coming to their towns,&amp;quot; says Claudia Brauer, 54, who has been a professional translator for 30 years. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s hard for me to volunteer for other groups, because I&amp;#039;m not always available when they need me. This way, I can give back whenever I have free time. Everyone has something they&amp;#039;re good at that can help \u2014 I have friends in marketing, accounting, and editing who have joined.&amp;quot; Go to bankerswithoutborders.com/volunteers to apply for projects that fit your schedule and skills. 6. Text GIVE CLOTH to 80088 to help an Afghan woman become a seamstress through Global Giving. Your $10 donation (added to your phone bill) will pay for the fabric and tools needed for one woman to enroll in a six-month tailoring course. The Afghan Institute of Learning started teaching the classes in 1996 to help widows find sustainable employment, and today it reaches 700 women and girls each month. Visit globalgiving.org/projects/small-business-for-afghan-women for more info. 7. Accessorize with bracelets and earrings made by women struggling to eke out a living in Palestine and Rwanda. &amp;quot;When I met women in refugee camps in the West Bank, I saw that they had incredible embroidery skills, but no one was buying their elaborate tablecloths and pillowcases,&amp;quot; says Tess Sager, founder of the nonprofit Hands Up Not Handouts. Tess helped the women translate their talents into making more profitable items, like intricately designed wrap bracelets. In Rwanda, she taught basket weavers how to use their traditional techniques to create earrings from sweet grass. The organization buys all the pieces at fair-market prices and resells them at handsupnothandouts.org/shop for $30 and up. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m a master weaver in Rwanda,&amp;quot; says 30-year-old Mukakamanzi Theresa. &amp;quot;Since I learned how to make the earrings, I&amp;#039;m earning a steady income. My family now has a savings account and health insurance, and our children are well-fed. I&amp;#039;m a role model of change in my village.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.redbookmag.com/life/charity/tips/a13266/end-poverty/>