Microloans - the jury is out

I like the idea of Kiva microloans. People who cannot get credit elsewhere. In countries where people need just a bit of a loan to get themselves a bit ahead. I remember borrowing money from my parents after needing a place to live.
Here are some of the people/groups in my portfolio:

Here is my 49th loan recipient!

Vafa

Personal Products Sales

Azerbaijan

Raising funds

49% raise
d

 I've made 49 loans, and all but 6 have been paid back.

Of these loans, 91.67% have been made to women. Having been a single mom, this is my choice!
The sectors where I have given my loans:

• 29% retail
• 27% food
• 18.8% agriculture

I just don't know. I believe in research data, but my loan do/ not support what I have seen in the media.

Only five to ten percent of women who take out microloans are able to escape poverty, according to research by the German journalist Gerhard Klas. For his book on microfinance, published this year, Klas interviewed scores of women in remote villages in Bangladesh. Some forty percent were worse off due to microloans.

I find this hard to believe, based on my statistics.

Critics say small loans hurt the poor

	Microcredits have long been seen as an effective and simple tool to help the poor turn their lives around. Yet researchers are increasingly questioning whether microfinance programs are really a solution for everyone.