Jayashree, India

Microfinance saved Jayashree and her family from the severe poverty she endured as a child.

When Jayashree was a child, her family's poverty got so severe that she had to drop out of school and go to work at a garment factory. When she got married, her meager earnings had to support her ailing in-laws. Small loans totaling $550 saved Jayashree from a life of extreme poverty. She bought a rickshaw for her husband to drive a as taxi and a sewing machine to start her own business. Jayashree’s family income has almost tripled since and she was able to send her oldest son to college. He dreams of becoming a doctor and says that thanks to his mom's businesses, his dream could come true.