The shoemaker in Turkey, the potato seller in Vietnam, and the weaver in Bolivia are among the billions of low-income entrepreneurs who make the world go round. They are also the type of people who can benefit significantly from microfinance. Every year, the Consultative Group To Assist The Poor (or CGAP) hosts a photo contest asking entrants to submit photos based around the idea of microfinance.The purpose of the contest is to give amateur and professional photographers a chance to show the different ways that poor households manage their financial lives and make their lives better through financial inclusion. Photo: South Asia Regional Winner – “Bricks Worker”, Bangladesh. A private enterprise worker is working at a brick field. These small businesses are creating new job opportunities for many poor people. (Photo by Moksumul Haque)

Adrian Reyes, representing Canada, prepares backstage before competing in the Miss International Queen pageant on June 24, 2023 in Pattaya, Thailand. Thailand hosts Miss International Queen, the largest and most prestigious international transgender beauty pageant. The pageant, held annually in Pattaya, Thailand is held takes place during Pride month. Throughout Thailand, Thai LGBTQ activists have held Pride events calling for equality and pressuring the incoming government to move forward with legislation that would allow marriage for all. (Photo by Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images)

Swimmers in fancy dress take part in a Christmas Day dip at Exmouth, Devon, England, Saturday, December 25, 2021. (Photo by Ben Birchall/PA Wire via AP Photo)

Mother hen chicken with cute tiny baby chicks all protected beneath her wings keeping warm outdoors only their 12 legs visible poking out the bottom outside. (Photo by Matthew Troke/iStockphoto via Getty Images)

An arctic fox in Iceland spotted on March 19, 2025 by Marc Freebrey, a marketing officer from Gloucestershire. (Photo by Marc Freebrey/South West News Service)

Gold Medalist Kristof Milak of Hungary during the medals ceremony of the 200m Butterfly final on day five of the swimming competition of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Tokyo Aquatics Centre on July 28, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Aleksandra Szmigiel/Reuters)

The view at night from the Shanghai Tower in Shanghai, China on August 7, 2015. The tower is technically smaller than the Burj Khalifa in Dubai but, while the observation deck of Dubai’s mega-structure is at 556m, the Shanghai Tower’s is at 561m, meaning the view is a little higher. (Photo by Paul Reiffer/REX Shutterstock)

A light railway train passes through a residential building on March 18, 2017 in Chongqing, China. Chongqing Rail Transit No.2 and a 19-storey residential building have been built across each other. The railway set its Liziba Station on the sixth to eighth floor in the building with noise reduction equipment. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)