Partner: Christian Service Society
Partner Since: 2010
Programs Supported by PEER Servants: Microfinance, Education
2024 GDP per Capita (Nominal): $2,698 (3% of USA)
How does one empower the overwhelming number of materially poor on the outskirts of Kolkata, India? The Christian Service Society (CSS) has been doing it for 35+ years with initial micro-loans of $100 or less. CSS loan officers ride the Indian Railway for up to two hours each way to reach their clients – 100% of whom are women and 99% Hindu or Muslim. CSS uses the surplus from the microfinance to support village pre-primary education centers, teen tutoring programs, dengue fever prevention programs, animal husbandry programs, and more.