Poverty, political repression, war, racial and religious hatred--none of these can prevent enterprise from taking root in the most parched soil in every corner and crevice on earth. On these pages are a handful of the millions of men and women who have overcome severe adversity by starting tiny businesses. They often began with microloans and grants of as little as $50 from nonprofit groups like the Trickle Up Program (New York City), the Foundation for International Community Assistance (Washington, D.C.), Accion International (Boston), Mercy Corps (Portland, Ore.) and the Acumen Fund (New York City). But what they have made of this seed capital is entirely their own.

Bushra Lateef Skail, 41
Al Kut, Iraq
Skail decided to help the widows of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88) by revitalizing a sewing cooperative, selling mostly linens to hospitals. Her business survived the first Gulf war and Saddam. But last spring, during the invasion of Iraq, her factory was razed and looted; almost all of the sewing machines and looms were stolen. Today, with $55,000 in grants from Mercy Corps, she is rebuilding. She employs 200 people spread across two shifts. Now her biggest threat is competition from lower-cost Chinese producers.

Naseer Ahmad, mid-30s
Khuda Ki Basti, Pakistan
Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto has argued that the secret to loosening the bonds of indigence lies in private ownership. Naseer Ahmad's fortunes turned after he took an innovative home mortgage loan from a Pakistani affiliate of the Acumen Fund: For a $175 down payment and monthly repayments of $6 to $8 for the next half-dozen or so years, he got to own a plot of land and start construction of a two-room home--from which he launched a weaving business. Ahmad is pulling in $3.50 a day by making saris and small rugs and selling them to wholesalers in the cloth markets of Karachi. It is enough to support him and his family.

Pierre Fougere Cherisme, 30
Torbeck, Haiti
In 1997 Cherisme opened a crafts shop in Torbeck, near the southern port of Les Cayes, selling objects drawn from Haiti's rich voodoo culture. With political violence growing, tourists stopped coming. Aid to Artisans, a nonprofit in Hartford, Conn., stepped in as middleman. With that hookup, Cherisme sells $50,000 a year worth of crafts, mostly abroad, and employs 25 full-time and 15 part-time artists. Last year he started working with a California importer. This year his stuff showed up at the New York International Gift Fair.

After expenses (including paying 4 outside workers), her family of 11 nets $4 a day. Ma has used some of her profits to send 2 of her 9 children to school and to start construction on a more stable house -- one that can withstand a monsoon.

Sherida Mkama, early 40s
Kamanga, Tanzania
In 1995 Mkama was barely scratching out a living for herself, her husband and her ten children by raising and selling tomatoes. With a $50 loan from the Foundation for International Community Assistance, she bought spare parts for her bicycle so she could get to the ferry that would take her to the market in nearby Mwanza. With subsequent loans, she bought better seed and fertilizer. Now, on a good day, she can pull in a profit of $4.

Harriet Mukoba, 40
Kampala, Uganda
After her husband died of , Mukoba supported her four children, as well as six orphans she took under her wing, as a seamstress. With a $100 grant from Trickle Up she replaced two dilapidated sewing machines. After being trained by Widows & Orphans Family Support, Mukoba set up shop selling baby clothes. Her operation has grown to three employees, five sewing machines and three stores.

Fatima Syed Zada, 38
Kabul, Afghanistan
Once the Taliban fell and women could work again, Zada used a loan from her brother-in-law to buy machinery and heel molds to make shoe heels. After a U.S. bomb injured her husband in December 2001, she was forced to provide for him and their five children. She nets $7 a week. Applying for a Mercy Corps business loan, Zada hopes to buy a generator and her own stall at the Kabul market.

José Arnulfo, mid-40s
Sonsonate, El Salvador
Arnulfo made baskets, brooms and bassinets from 1986 until a February 2001 earthquake destroyed his business. With the help of a series of loans, totaling $700, from an El Salvador affiliate of Accion, Arnulfo built back his enterprise. Today he buys his wicker in bulk and travels two hours to San Salvador to hawk his wares. He sells $300 worth a week; half is profit.

Cha Ma, 48
Mandalay, Burma
Reinvesting the profits from the sale of two pigs, Ma began a family business making slipper soles from inner tubes her sons had collected. She first sold slippers to consumers, then found a wholesaler to buy her entire stock. After expenses (including paying 4 outside workers), her family of 11 nets $4 a day. Ma has used some of her profits to send 2 of her 9 children to school and to start construction on a more stable house--one that can withstand a monsoon.






Contributed by Tatiana Serafin. Reprinted with permission from forbes.com.

To read another Global Envision article about microenterprise, see Lessons from the Field: ICTs in Microfinance.