Behold Siaka reigning supreme over his kingdom of cassava plants. All through late July while his neighbors were harvesting their yields, Siaka lay in wait, counting down the moments until his master plan could be hatched. You see, he and his wives are locally known for their business of manufacturing and distributing attiéké, a delicious starchy dish, like rice or couscous. Siaka is a beloved community luminary, one of the few non-city-dwellers I've met here proficient in English. He's also our village's own farmer version of Warren Buffett, dedicating countless hours to writing out business plans and plotting out how to get some sort of foothold on his future.

Today Siaka took the first step in his ascent to becoming the business tycoon he's destined to be. He took a microloan through an online microcredit institution called Zidisha. And it's all thanks to his own persistence as well as the awesome legwork and string-pulling of friends (previous volunteer Amanda and her family, former assistant PC director Dan Rooney, and James and Julie alongside their entrepreneur friend also named Siaka).

On the Zidisha website, Siaka made a profile and within a few days, generous donors from all over the world chipped in. Before he knew it, the money was wired to the Banfora Ecobank: a thousand bucks for a gas-powered cassava grinder and some sifters. On a first-come, first-donate basis, a group of philanthropists (most of whom had never met Siaka before) pitched in their pennies, which he'll pay back each month as he builds his empire. Today, Siaka has the honor of being the second Zidisha loan in the country and has further invested in solar panels so that his village women employees can work into the night. Here's a look at the online system that made his loan possible: