Big Dent Making a Big Difference a Little Bit at a Time

Big Dent is the microfinance wing of CMF International, the organization we work with in the Mathare Valley slums of Nairobi, Kenya. It provides small business loans to the poverty stricken residents of this slum. If you want to entertain the notion of helping people overcome the poverty that overwhelms them in an urban slum, this and the educational focus of the schools does so much to help these people help themselves. Residents who want to apply for a loan must undertake 8 weeks of training and be part of an accountability group with other residents seeking loans. If one member doesn't pay or has troubles with their business, the other members are accountable to help with the loan. They also must start a savings bank account prior to receiving a loan. The amazing thing about the structure of this program is that there is a loan repayment rate of 98%.

I really enjoy giving a little money here and there whenever I have the opportunity. What I like about the Big Dent website is that you can see and read about the real residents in Mathare who are seeking loans. I think this is a great approach and you can pick who you want to help. The process is easy (over the web) and you can pay as little or as much as you like.

I have helped provide parts of a loan to ten different residents so far. You can check back into your account and see the people you helped out and you can see when they repay their loans and even if they are looking for a new loan to expand their business.

When choosing someone to help out, you can read their stories and goals and what they intend to do with the loan. Sometimes you choose a person based on their photo. An older 76 year old woman is one of the people I helped, just because she has to be some amazing type of survivor. You can give how much or how little you like. I like to give something from money I might receive at my birthday or Christmas. Give when you feel like celebrating and Christmas time is a good time to do that!

If you are looking for a fun way to give money to a responsible organization that truly helps the neediest of the needy, then I recommend Big Dent. If you are not able to be a big donor, like myself, you can do it in small chunks whenever you feel like it. What I really like about this program is that once a loan has been repaid, that money can go back into the program to finance another loan. So your money can further help and expand in more ways than the little bit you originally gave. It is like a multiplication of funding. You can also set your preferences as you search for someone to help out with a loan. Personally, I give most of my loans to people in the Bondeni section of the Mathare Valley as that is where the school is where I taught and where Anthony, the boy we sponsor comes from.

Check out Big Dent here.

The pictures on this page are pictures I took of the streets of the Mathare Valley slums back in 2011. They show what I think are some local businesses. They are not necessarily connected with Big Dent in any way.