A BARGAIN

What costs $61,000 in the U.S. but only $250 in Ghana, Africa?

The creation of a new job. 

In the U.S. that $61,000 is needed to cover salary, health insurance, and training.*

In Ghana, that $250 is enough to fund a shopping trip to the city to get a beginning inventory of fresh fruits and vegetables to sell to neighbors close to home. Or plant a garden. Or purchase some chickens for breeding. 

But here’s the catch: Finding $250 readily available in Ghana is tougher than finding $61,000 in the U.S. 

Much tougher.

And here’s something we need to keep in mind: Ghana, like much of the “third world”, is a land of entrepreneurs.

But the people are not hoping to “become their own bosses” because they are tired of working for someone else. 

They need to create their own jobs because there is no one else to work for. The Ghanaian entrepreneurs looking to feed, clothe, and educate their families have never seen a “Now Hiring” sign.

(Officially, Ghana’s unemployment rate is reported as 13.4%**. But friends on the ground say it has to be over 33% in reality.)

Nor do they have the means to  take out a loan from some local bank. Or even borrow from friends or family, who tend to be just as poor. 

So where in the world can people get the $250 or so to create their own job?

That’s why I am excited to be working with Mission Resource International now. MRI makes microloans available to individuals and businesses, mainly in Ghana at the moment. I believe this organization is poised to make a world of difference.

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P.S. Everything I have written here about Ghana is true for Haiti as well, except the unemployment rate in Haiti is even higher. If it is God's will, I hope to have a hand in bringing similar MRI ministries to Haiti.

* Source: Opensesame.com

** Source: Ghana unemployment rate