How can small investments lead to large returns?

Photojournalist and filmmaker Barbara Pyle finds the answer to this question in a rural Filipino fishing village, where an innovative loan program is helping women overcome poverty and powerlessness.

In the past, Filipino women could not get bank loans without the consent of their husband.  That’s all changed now ... women from scores of villages are receiving loans to start their own small businesses.   See how loans of 100 to 200 US dollars put business plans into action.

Pyle meets one young woman named Lala, who uses her loan to raise and sell pigs.  Earning her own income has given Lala new confidence.  Her husband now values her opinion on everything from finances to family size.  Lala says “Three is enough, because I’m now using IUD.”

Join Pyle as she attends a family planning meeting in the village church.  Instead of hymns, the women sing empowering songs about contraception.

Pyle explores the question, “What happens when women have a new deal in the deck of life?”