SKS provides loans for income generating activities in an attempt to break the vicious cycle of "low income, low savings, low investment," into an expanding system of "low income, investment credit, more income, increased credit, more income." These loans carry a twenty percent flat interest rate and must be repaid in 50 weekly installments. SKS' guiding principle is to provide opportunity, not charity. Our approach is to enable the poor to lift themselves out of poverty by providing an unlimited stream of credit rather than one-time charitable grants that are short-term solutions to long-term economic problems. Moreover, improving the lives of SKS members through microfinance will likely stimulate the village economy as a whole.