Beginnings

The philosophy behind Microenterprise is that it provides a hand up, not a hand out, to the poor in developing countries who want to establish businesses that will lead to the individuals and ultimately communities to become self sufficient.


David Bussau and microenterprise

David Bussau inspired TEAR Fund’s Microenterprise programme. A New Zealander raised in an orphanage, Bussau headed a number of successful businesses by the time he was 35.

He responded to the devastation of Cyclone Tracey in Darwin (Australia) in 1974 by taking teams of builders from his construction company to help rebuild shattered communities. Soon after calls for help from an earthquake-afflicted village in Bali compelled him to act.

“I saw villages receive a complete new infrastructure - fresh water, roads, bridges, schools - yet the poor remained just as poor," he says. "There was little upward mobility, even after all that spending."  - Bussau

Bussau realised the poor were caught in a debt trap. He began to loan sums of around $100 to people to set up a small business. As the number of loans increased Bussau founded Maranatha Trust to manage the programme. This later became Opportunity International, the organisation which TEAR Fund New Zealand partners with to deliver many of its Microenterprise programmes.

In 2001 his pioneering work was acknowledged by the Australian Government, when he was awarded the AM, Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia, for service to international development.