Ethiopian pilgrims pray during a Mass service for Ethiopian Christmas at the Bole Medhane Alem cathedral in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Monday, January 6, 2025. (Photo by AP Photo/Stringer)

Ukrainians wearing traditional costumes sing Kolyadky or Ukrainian Christmas Carols, as a part of Orthodox Christmas in Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday, January 7 2016. Orthodox Christians mark their traditional Christmas Day Jan. 7, with many ancient symbolic events. (Photo by Sergei Chuzavkov/AP Photo)

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)

Osman Abdulahi carries fish at the Orobo beach in Hamarweyne district of Mogadishu, Somalia on November 5, 2021. (Photo by Feisal Omar/Reuters)

Doctor Dvora Ancona wears a glove bearing writings against violence on women as she arrives to attend La Scala opera house's gala season opener, Giuseppe Verdi's opera “Don Carlo” at the Milan La Scala theater, Italy, Thursday December 7, 2023. The season-opener Thursday, held each year on the Milan feast day St. Ambrose, is considered one of the highlights of the European cultural calendar. (Photo by Luca Bruno/AP Photo)

Monastic dormitories stand on the hillside at the Serthar Wuming Buddhist Study Institute on November 4, 2006 in Serthar County of Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China. The Wuming Buddhist Study Institute is located in Larung Gar Monastery on an altitude of 3,700 meters (about 12,136 feet). The institute has the largest conglomeration of monks and nuns in Tibetan Areas, with over 40,000 monastics from the Tibet Buddhism Nyingma School, Gelug School, Sakya School and Kagyu School, including more than 10,000 nuns. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

An Indian worker makes a roll of the kite thread being prepared on a roadside on the outskirts of Amritsar, India, 24 November 2020. The kite string or the “Dor”, in the local language, is made of crushed glass, glue, colors, and egg to make it strong enough to hold the kite. (Photo by Raminder Pal Singh/EPA/EFE)

Bus hostesses adjusts their hair before photos outside the Great Hall of the People the eve of the opening session of the annual meeting of China's National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, Saturday, March 4, 2023. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)