A twist on student loans.

• Position: MICROFINANCE - Meadows Microcredit Action Group - Brief article

Last year, a group of students at the Meadows School. in Las Vegas, Nevada, started a microbank for fighting poverty in poor countries. Through weekly sandwich sales at their school. and contributions, the students raised $25,000. They invested the money with Pro Mujer ("Pro Women"), a nonprofit organization based in New York that issues small Loans to poor women in foreign countries to use for starting or expanding small businesses. Now, according to faculty adviser Kirk Knutsen, the Meadows Microcredit Action Group has made microloans to women in Peru, Ethiopia, Tajikistan, and other countries. Their first loan--$350--went to Rosa, a woman in Peru who used it to restock her small grocery store...