Microfinance as a Solution: Beggars, Thieves, AIDS and Prostitution.One rule in microfinance is that we can only reach the "economically active" poor, those with a stall in the market, with a business that is up and running people who have broken that rule and are successfully making loans to the ultra poor, to people who are living with HIV and AIDS, to beggars, thieves and prostitutes

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Microfinance as a Solution: Beggars, Thieves, AIDS and
Prostitution
By Mahboob ali khan
There is the vision of using microfinance to better end poverty and then
there is vision of using microfinance for redemption. The dictionary
defines redemption as restoring one's honor or worth, setting one free.
Isn't that our highest goal for microfinance, assisting people in restoring
their honor and worth and setting them free from the bondage of
poverty?"
One rule in microfinance is that we can only reach the "economically
active" poor, those with a stall in the market, with a business that is up
and running people who have broken that rule and are successfully
making loans to the ultra poor, to people who are living with HIV and
AID, to beggars, thieves and prostitutes.
I recall Muhammad Yunus (Nobel Leurate ) talking about how the
workers at the Grameen Bank loved working with the beggar program,
which extends tiny microloans to beggars to help them buy things they
can sell door to door. Dr. Yunus' patience with this wonderful program
was exemplified when he would respond to questions about why only
some of the beggars were no longer begging: Microcredit is a way to
halt sex trafficking.
"Give them time. Begging is their core business. It takes time to shut
down their begging division and increase their sales division," he would
respond with a wonderfully mischievous smile. Breaking the Rules of
Microfinance to Better End Poverty:

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Islamic micro-finance, which is based on profit-sharing and does not
charge interest, can play a significant role in alleviating poverty and
transforming the poor into successful entrepreneurs, The initiative was
aimed at turning beggars into salespersons. Give them toys and other
merchandise worth $5 to $10 and told them to sell them. It will be a big
success. The project not only helped in protecting the honor of these
people, but will also made them self-reliable. Islam has encouraged
lending, not to make money through interest, but to enhance social
cooperation, cohesion and harmony.
Under the pilot project, five goats each have been given to 50 families
regardless of their religions worth a total investment of Rs1.2 million.
The beneficiaries will return three goats and their kids to the facilitator,
who will sell them at local market price and distribute 33 percent of the
profit to the financier, 33 percent to the farmer, 23 percent to
management and 11 percent to the monitoring committee.
It provides financial services to those who are traditionally non-
bankable, mainly because they lack guarantees against a loss risk,
In the spirit of Islam that goes beyond mere profitability, this new
financial system aims to maximize social benefits as opposed to profit
maximization, “Micro-finance is a very flexible tool whose models can
be replicated, but must be tailored on local socio-economic and cultural
characteristics.