I like what they do with microfinancing in india. Give someone a little bit of money to start a simple street business, i.e. food vendor, and only give him a bit more if needed to help his business run. The real problem is throwing money at problems without much thought. We westerners have done this way too much.
Credit unions are useful too, for similar reasons. There's a difference between borrowing a little money to lever yourself out of poverty, and borrowing an obscene amount of money so you can buy that dream house your salary won't stretch to half of because You're Worth It.
