This week, we saw this wonderful story on ABC World News Tonight. It was about an organization called Kiva... where people can loan money to people in mostly third-world countries to help improve their lives or help start or expand a business. This particular news segment was about Americans helping out Iraqi entrepreneurs. You can read about that particular story here: ABC News: Finding Peace Through PayPal.
Apparently it resonated with a lot of folks... Kiva raised over $100,000 and 1,000 new users signed on within 24 hours after that airing of the segment.
Well, make that 1,001... yesterday I signed up.
Here is a graphic from the Kiva website of how it works:
I really love this concept... how empowering it must be for this people to be given an opportunity to improve their lives and have it not be a charity hand-out. This empowerment is also why Heifer International is one of my favorite charities... while the livestock or agricultural products are tax-deductible gifts, you are at least giving a sustainable source of food and/or income. I guess it is the whole "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime." philosophy.
A bit about my initial experience with the Kiva site.
It is easy to navigate through hundreds people in need of loans... you just want to help everyone. But to help you decide, you can sort by gender, type of loan (agriculture, arts, clothing, home repair, etc.), region of the world, and loan amount. You do not need to fund the entire loan... you can donate as little as $25, with dozens of fellow lenders chipping in to achieve the full amount. The money is transferred via Pay Pal (so via your bank account or credit card). As mentioned, since it is a loan... the loan amount is not tax deductible, but a voluntary donation to Kiva is (Kiva does not take any cut from your loan amount). These are 0% interest loans, when it is re-paid you can withdraw funds (via Pay Pal) or lend it out again. The website shows over 950 loans have been paid back in full and the ABC segment (and the site confirms) there has only been 1 default.
So I started looking around... it seems like Africa has been a part of my reading of late, so I headed there and quickly found my first two lendees:
To the left is Ceiye from Uganda. He was forced to flee his home due to rebel activity and live in a displaced persons camp. With the violence having subsided, he used his first loan to build a house for his wife and three children in his hometown. He re-paid that loan in three months. I loaned the final $25 towards his $150 loan request to add doors and windows to his home.
To the right is Victorine from Cameroon... having paid back two loans, she is looking to improve her pig farm and fresh ground nut business with the intent that the increased profits will allow her to reinvest in her business on her own... her farm also employs others in her community. This time, I dove right in and funded her full request.
While I know there is a certain degree of self-back patting going on here, my sincere intention is just to help get the word out about Kiva... if it wasn't for the ABC News segment, I certainly would have never known about it... so I just wanted to spread the word and...
Starting next week, I am going to feature a loan a month... and challenge you to join me in funding the loan (only if you absolutely can, as a former heavily in debt person I know how it goes). Maybe this blog really can do something good! Again, the minimum contribution is $25 and the amount you loan is not published (well, if you fund 100% of a loan, we can probably figure it out). In the mean time, check out the Kiva website and certainly don't wait for me if the lending spirit strike you!
Right on!
Posted by: Wendy | Tuesday, March 25, 2008 at 07:12 PM