A few years ago, a family in Niquinohomo, Masaya, Nicaragua was forced to shut down their chicken farm – a business that had been their livelihood for as long as Cintya Torrentes could remember. The farm belonged to Cintya's parents and it wasn't producing enough to support their family of five.

"I thought I was going to have to leave my family and find work someplace else, maybe even in a different country," Cintya said.

Jobs are scarce in Nicaragua, where nearly 50 percent of its residents live in poverty. Organizations like the Asociación de Consultores para el Desarrollo de la Pequeña (ACODEP) help women like Cintya stay and work in the country by offering business training and microfinancing to female entrepreneurs.

Microfinance, also known as microcredit, was developed thirty years ago by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus. It’s a system of small loans lent to those previously considered "unbankable." The idea is that the loans, often as little as $2, will be repaid slowly with minimal interest, creating a banking structure where none had existed, and giving people access to services they’ve never had before.