World Vision is helping 60 poor fishing families in Kokmaduwa, Sri Lanka, get out from under the thumb of the local fishing fleet operator. Until World Vision stepped in, the fishers had to rent the only boats in town from the village mudalali (businessman) - at rates that are often higher than the value of their daily catch.

World Vision has set up a program that will see all 60 families with a boat of their own within three years. Initially, eight families have been supplied with the $300 fishing boats. For the next 36 months, they will make a monthly instalment of just over $8, and then they will own the boat. This is a far cry from the $11 a day charged by the mudalali to rent his boats, which, even after a good catch, left little for the fishers to feed their families on.

This is just one of hundreds of examples of World Vision's micro-enterprise credit programs in operation in countries around the world.