Transforming Lives $40 at a Time Women + Microfinance: Upending the Status Quo "The power and potential of microfinance is best understood by those who have spent time with poor and formerly poor women who are using microfinance to break the generational cycle of poverty. The next best thing to meeting these women is to read Dana Whitaker's book. It inspires and informs, appealing to the heart and mind as it opens up both."    —Alex Counts, President, Grameen Foundation About the Book Around the globe, three billion people, or half of us, barely subsist on $2 a day. Of those, 1.2 billion people, or one in five of us, struggle to stay alive on less than $1 every day. An unconscionable 23,000 children under age five die every single day of largely preventable diseases and malnutrition. One hundred million children of primary school age cannot attend school because their families lack the necessary funds. Though the task of eradicating poverty may seem hopeless, it is women in villages and urban centers, mothers and grandmothers, married and divorced, educated and illiterate, healthy and disabled, who are proving that there is a way out—with the help of microfinance. Transforming Lives $40 at a Time brings readers face-to-face and heart-to-heart with some of these courageous, devoted, resourceful microentrepreneurs from 13 countries on five continents who are using microfinance products and services, to provide a better life for themselves, their families and for entire communities. There is Ramatu, a poor, illiterate Ghanaian grandmother, whose income allows her to single-handedly raise her four grandchildren, pay off a mountainous debt, and even save $400 for retirement. And Theresa, a struggling Guatemalan weaver, whose income now provides an education for her children, a luxury her own parents were unable to give her. Theresa's ambitious eldest daughter Rosa has declared a previously unheard of goal, "I'm going to be a professional!" Also Hengbian, formerly a poor subsistence farmer in China, who has used her profits from her mushroom growing business to replace her straw and mud dwelling with a brick house equipped with running water, electricity and even a telephone to manage her profitable business and keep in contact with her son who, thanks to his mother, is now attending college. There is more. Access to microfinance is empowering women. They report having more self-confidence, increased decision-making power and greater influence in their communities. A Ghanaian microentrepreneur's comment captures this invaluable transformation, "Now I want for nothing. I have pride!" The photographs and stories in Transforming Lives are both a wake-up call about the billions of people still held in poverty's grip, and more importantly, a celebration of the success that is possible when we combine resources with resourcefulness to overcome the poverty of body, mind and spirit. Sample Stories  Dream Weaver (pdf)  Pay Dirt (pdf)   Praise "There are stories that need to be told—stories that put a human face on poverty, that acknowledge the rich dignity of the human spirit and that remind us that it is possible to make a difference in the world. This book, Transforming Lives $40 at a Time, contains stories that need to be told."    —Deborah Burand, past President of Women Advancing Microfinance (WAM) International, Professor, University of Michigan Law School "The power of microfinance— helping very poor families rise above poverty with dignity— is the great untold story of our time. Dana Whitaker's book gets the story out."    —Sam Daley-Harris, Director, RESULTS "Economic development jargon and all the data pale in comparison with the compelling human stories Dana Whitaker has written. In this era of cynicism about American foreign aid and fear of terrorism, Americans need to hear this hopeful message."    —Jonathan C. Lewis, Chief Executive Officer, MicroCredit Enterprises, LLC "It is rare that one is able to capture the hope and inspiration of the hard-working poor. But with her camera and her pen, Dana Whitaker has been able to do just that."    —Sarah Tsien, past Executive Director, PlaNet Finance, China "Buy this book and give copies to friends to lift their spirits. Dana Whitaker's stories and portraits of women finding their first taste of independence are awesome and inspiring."    —John O'Neil, President, The Center for Leadership Renewal, Author of Paradox of Success and Seasons of Grace "Transforming Lives will inspire you with engaging stories of microborrowers in 13 countries who, to realize their dreams, launched businesses as diverse as selling pigs and sculpting peach pit toys. The book is illustrated with Dana Whitaker's fresh, colorful photographs, and packed with data, a reading list, and resources about microfinance. I promise it will excite you about getting involved."    —Paola Gianturco, Author of Celebrating Women and In Her Hands "I got your book and I am so incredibly moved. I just finished the last words of your Acknowledgments and I'm already getting a workout on my arms, because I have to hold the book up so that my tears don't warp its beautiful pages. Transforming Lives is extraordinary. Congratulations! I am glued to my chair until I finish reading it."    —Diana, Investment Advisor