Some parts of India, Africa and South America are filled with ramshackle homes, corrugated metal roofs, open sewers of human waste and children sleeping in the dirt.

But if you look closer you'll see there is so much more. You'll see what we see - potential.

You'll see parents working hard to earn a living to better their community and provide for their children. All they need is a chance and money.

Unfortunately emergency relief donations don't last forever, so long-term solutions are necessary, such as Christian Children's Fund of Canada's Micro-Enterprise Development (MED) loans. The loans provide long-lasting solutions to help the "poorest of the poor" fulfill their potential and earn a living.

For over 50 years, CCFC has seen many communities break the cycle of poverty and replace it with a cycle of self-reliance. This is directly tied to employment opportunities and income generation. Jobs such as buying and selling local products, farming or sewing, have provided much needed income for impoverished parents.

MED programs grant small, low-interest loans of about $100 to parents who have shown the initiative and willingness to start a small business to provide for their children and better their community.

In addition to the loan, we work at a grassroots level with these eager entrepreneurs, focusing especially on women, to help them develop new skills, encourage self-sufficiency, and gather the collateral needed to grow their income and reinvest back into their small business.

To date, CCFC has helped launch an estimated 7,000 businesses through our MED programs, allowing parents to earn enough money to feed, clothe, educate and care for the health needs of their children.

MED programs operate in several ways: as a savings mechanism, a small credit program and/or a small business skills program.

These programs allow people to develop new skill sets, encourage self-sufficiency, purchase collateral needed to grow their income, as well as buy materials to reinvest back into their small business -- stabilizing their means of survival and stimulating the economy of their community.