We don’t need to be health experts to understand how to avoid certain diseases. It is well known that just by continually washing your hands you can prevent more than 200 illnesses. It looks like a small task but it is of tremendous importance, even to the point the UN has declared October the 15th as the world hand washing day.
When talking about financial health the same principles apply: there are small things that you can do (some will say of limited benefit) that have the potential to avoid financial “diseases”.
Here in Microfinance (MF) we believe that the very simple act of putting apart a fixed percentage of your income (ie saving) can make the difference between having good financial health or otherwise having “debtitis” (ie a well-known disease, quite common around the world, that shows up when you need to use a significant part of your income to pay back debt).
We could say that saving is to finance what washing your hands is to illness. Saving is hygienic and highly recommendable.
On November the 5th we launched our first MF retreat, an event where all the MF community was invited. 30 women from the poor communities of Jarabacoa signed up for the retreat; one of the goals being to teach them about the importance of having a good financial health.
We organized a simulation using fake money to teach the best ways of managing the finances of their home and their businesses, and all the women were challenged to (1) apply what they learned in their day-to-day life and (2) to teach it to their children.
It was awesome to see the interest these women showed and their willingness to organize their finances, incorporating tools such as budgeting/record keeping, and being disciplined with their savings. They are committed to keep working on it and we will keep being present in their life to help them reach their goals.
If you are interested in knowing more about our work, please go to the Facts and the Microfinance pages for some insight of what Microfinance is about and interesting information of the country where we are.
If you want to join the team, go to the Donate section.
God bless you¡
Alvaro & Raquel
Microfinance. Gospel
When helping matters 
Great information. I learned years ago to put money aside right off the top of my income, so you don’t “miss it”,
Most of us learned this in our adulthood, and some in the tough way. There should be a comprehensive program to teach healthy financial habits to the high schoolers. God bless¡