Hellen Kabutha runs a fishing enterprise in the village of Malindi, in Kenya, which she started with her husband, John. Kabutha joined Kenya Women Finance Trust (KWFT) in 2002, through her Tujengane Women’s Group. An affiliate of Women's World Banking, KWFT provides small business loans to nearly 100,000 women entrepreneurs operating in the formal and informal sectors.

Anastasia Ndanu is the proprietor of the Kuwait Fuel Station in the township of Mbumbuni, in Kenya. In addition to fuel, Ndanu also sells kerosene for domestic use. Mbumbuni township has no electricity so most of the area residents depend on kerosene for lighting and cooking.

Sumitra, a mother of two children, lives with her husband in Ahmedabad, the largest city in the state of Gujarat, and the seventh largest in India. Nearly half of the city population lives in low-income settlements or “chawls”—one-room row houses—in unhygienic and dilapidated conditions.

Ethiopia, Africa’s oldest independent nation, is steeped in both vibrant culture and antiquity. It is also one of the world’s poorest countries.Over 80% of the population earns its living from agriculture. The term conjures up images of expansive industrial farms in the West, but the reality in Ethiopia is far different.

Meet Delia Concesa Ribera de Pinedo of Bolivia. 15 years ago Delia worked as a kitchen assistant in a restaurant. The owner allowed Delia and her four children to live in a small back room on site. But when the restaurant went out of business, Delia’s family was suddenly homeless.