Helen has been on our staff for a long time. She moved over from being a caregiver at the little children's home to be a home supervisor at Shiphrah Paanakan (Exodus 1 Birthing Home) because of her extraordinary leadership and industry.

All of her skills were on display today when I visited her small restaurant. It doesn't even have a name, but she and her husband, Noel, sell hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken, and soft drinks.

Noel leaves for the market at 4 every morning to buy the meat and other supplies for the day. Their shop is open all day--their busiest hour being from 11 pm to midnight.

Helen has been sharing with me about their struggles in business. Profit margins are slim, of course--and the rain doesn't help. But they would probably be making it if they hadn't taken a 5/6 loan in desperation to get started. 5/6 means that every month they pay 20% of the principle as interest. For them, it's P2,000 ($45) every month--just in interest. Last month they didn't even make the interest payment, let alone any progress on the principle.

I visited just to get a better feel for the situation. And Helen's charm is winning. With the utmost of simplicity they've managed to create a dignified and appealing environment.

When I was there, besides grilling a P10 (c20) hamburger, they were packaging chicken skin chicharon (imagine deep fried chicken skin done up sort of like chips) for sale in local call centers.

Of course, everyone in the neighbor- hood is related or at least friends. Practically every home has some little store out in the front of it, from a barber shop to a bakery, from an internet cafe to a used clothes store. And graffiti. (This is a censored detail of a more ambitious work.)

Email me about our loan programs for staff. I have such an urgency to see them succeed. Helen and Noel work so hard for their 7-year-old, Michelle. All they need is a little break. A two-hundred dollar loan would hardly make them millionaires, but it would get the loan sharks off their backs. And a little leg up, with a lot of industry, could make a world of difference.