Sleeping Anthidium. Female Anthidium punctatum; Size: 7 mm. (Photo by John Hallmén)

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)

A boy sleeps in a hammock while his mother works at a brick kiln on the outskirts of Yangon February 1, 2015. (Photo by Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters)

A child sleeps under a table at the Jorkpan market in Sinkor district in Monrovia, Liberia on May 2, 2016. (Photo by Marco Longari/AFP Photo)

Cambodian children sleep on a pavement at a park in Phnom Penh on July 8, 2016. (Photo by Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP Photo)

A vendor sleeps at his vegetables shop at a main market in Colombo, Sri Lanka May 31, 2016. (Photo by Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters)

A vendor sleeps as his son waits for customers at their roadside vegetable shop in New Delhi, February 12, 2019. (Photo by Adnan Abidi/Reuters)

A man sleeps in a subway train in New York city on August 1, 2024. (Photo by Charly Triballeau/AFP Photo)