Kiva Revisited
Several months ago I posted a story about Kiva, the charity that pools money from regular folks like you and me and uses it to make small business loans to struggling family businesses in countries all around the world. At the time that I posted that article, I loaned $50 to one of the small businesses. That loan has now been paid back in full and my $50 became available for me to get back or loan out again. I choose to loan it out again. This time I loaned $25 each to two small businesses. This is the email Kiva would send to my address book if I wanted, but I decided to post it here instead.
Hi!
I just made a loan to someone in the developing world using a revolutionary new website called Kiva (www.kiva.org).
You can go to Kiva's website and lend to someone in the developing world who needs a loan for their business - like raising goats, selling vegetables at market or making bricks. Each loan has a picture of the entrepreneur, a description of their business and how they plan to use the loan so you know exactly how your money is being spent - and you get updates letting you know how the entrepreneur is going.
The best part is, when the entrepreneur pays back their loan you get your money back - and Kiva's loans are managed by microfinance institutions on the ground who have a lot of experience doing this, so you can trust that your money is being handled responsibly.
I just made a loan to an entrepreneur named Carmen in Peru. They still need another $425.00 to complete their loan request of $700.00 (you can loan as little as $25.00!). Help me get this entrepreneur off the ground by clicking on the link below to make a loan to Carmen too:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=52942
It's finally easy to actually do something about poverty - using Kiva I know exactly who my money is loaned to and what they're using it for. And most of all, I know that I'm helping them build a
sustainable business that will provide income to feed, clothe, house and educate their family long after my loan is paid back.
Join me in changing the world - one loan at a time.
Thanks!
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What others are saying about www.Kiva.org:
'Revolutionising how donors and lenders in the US are connecting with small entrepreneurs in developing countries.'
— BBC
'If you've got 25 bucks, a PC and a PayPal account, you've now got the wherewithal to be an international financier.'
— CNN Money
'Smaller investors can make loans of as little as $25 to specific individual entrepreneurs through a service launched last fall by Kiva.org.'
— The Wall Street Journal
'An inexpensive feel-good investment opportunity...All loaned funds go directly to the applicants, and most loans are repaid in full.'
— Entrepreneur Magazine
I heard about Kiva recently and went on their web-site to donate. I got so overwhelmed and could not decide who to donate to. I put it in my favorites and have not had a chance to get back to it. You have reminded me about this wonderful program and now I will go back there and force myself to decide who to donate to.
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I can understand that. I never get past the first ten or so before I decide and never go beyond that. You just have to remember there are thousands donating and the others will get the money they need also.
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I went back into the Kiva site and the first request that came up was a self-tought Hairdresser who is trying to open up a Beauty Salon to make a life for herself and support her children. Bingo! I knew immediately she was the one I wanted to help,a fellow hairdresser. So that is who I made a loan to, and hopefully she will get the money she needs to open her salon. But if she does not get enough to open her salon, I have decided that I will loan her the rest of what she needs. I believe that God helped me make my decision on who to loan to because I was so overwhelmed and could not decide who to loan to. And when I went back to the Kiva site, the first one to pop up was a Hairdresser. And I am so excited to be doing this. This is the best thing I have ever done in my life. I have spent much of my life rescuing stray cats and finding them new homes, but now being able to help people in need through Kiva is just so exciting for me.
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Great! I'm glad you found someone to help that you could relate to. And at the top of the list. It sounds like a case of synchronicity. Perhaps some of my other readers will go to the site and contribute now.
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Is this the one you made the loan to? For a beauty salon in Cmbodia? It's the only one I saw in the first ten pages for a beauty salon. If so, I will add another donation and help her reach the $1000.
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Sorry it took so long to reply to this. This is not the one I loaned to. But I see that she has received the $1000 that she needed. It was four women that I loaned to who are trying to open a salon,and I did not realize at the time that two of the four are named Rose. How special is that! And they also have received the money they were asking for. I'm hoping we will be able to keep track of the people we loan to. I would love to know if they are successful. This is different than just donating to a charity. I got to choose who I wanted to loan to and see a picture of them and hear a little bit about them. And because of that, I feel a connection to them and want to know if they do well. Whoever came up with this idea was a genius because it changes the whole concept of giving. Now we can decide who we want to help and we know that our money is going directly to them. There is an animal sanctuary that has done this for years. Most of the animals that they have rescued can not be adopted out so they have a program where you can choose an animal from their catalog and donate to the care of that one animal. And now someone has come up with the idea to do this for people in need. I hope that Kiva will become one of the biggest charitable organizations in the world, and I cannot wait to be able to make another loan to someone in need, hopefully another hairdresser trying to open a salon.
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I think KIVA does send occasional updates to let you know how the business is doing. I don't know how long they continue doing it.
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I just went back on Kiva and they are in fact taking donations again and I was able to make one this time. I registered with them when you did your first story but I tried three times to donate and a window popped up saying the story on Oprah was so successful they were jammed and not taking donations until they got caught up. I'm glad you reminded me. I just made my first donation to a women who wants to sell clothing in Senegal. I thought since I sell clothing it would be appropriate. I'm thrilled that Oprah's show was so helpful to Kiva and it's entrepreneurs but I'm also glad I was able to make my donation and help someone start a business. So, if anyone has tried and had the same problem I did give it another try!
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