Fund 43 microloans through Kiva.org

My last two loans were largely financed through repayments on my first 5 loans. How cool is that? It’s a revolving door of good will…:) This loan also goes to a family in Cambodia. This one counts toward Team Obama!

“Mrs. Chann Lou, 50, and her husband, Mr. Chamroeun Pha, 55, live along National Road Number One about 17 kilometers from Phnom Penh. They were married in 1979 and have seven children: six sons and one daughter. Three of their children have full-time employment and one son is married and lives outside the family home. Chann has been selling grocery items for two years. She buys them from Koky market a bit far from her village and sells them at her house. Her husband has been farming for 30 years; it’s a skill he learned from his parents. Chann is requesting her first loan of $500 to purchase grocery items to sell.”

This one goes toward the 43things team on Kiva!

“Mrs. Savoeun Hoem, 36, and her husband, Mr. Mao Khoem, 42, were married in 1989 and have four children: three sons and one daughter. One of their children has full-time employment, two children are in school and another one is still young. The family lives in a small village along National Road Number 5 about 17 kilometers from Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. Savoeun has been selling and planting lotus fruit for over four years. She buys them from her villagers and sells them in the market at Phnom Penh. In addition to selling lotus fruit, she sells fish and grows rice as well. Her husband has been selling beef for three years. He buys cows and sells them to the slaughterhouse. Savoeun is requesting her first loan of $1000 to purchase a trailer to connect to her motorized hand tiller for carrying rice.”

Joined the 43T Kiva team – what a great idea (thanks for the invite from Flash!). Used some Kiva credit to add to the pool – it’s getting harder and harder to get in on these loans as more people find out about it. I’m so glad I was able to help fund this one!

Johana del Socorro, a teacher and 37 year old single woman, has a 6 year old daughter who is in first grade. Johana works at INTAE, and has the responsibility of certification. She is asking for her seventh loan, which she will use to purchase construction materials like stone quarries and iron. Next, she will buy cement and other materials in order to build a room. Johana has demonstrated responsibility and honesty with the loans that she has been granted so far. Moreover, she is known as a worker and helper among her friends. She would like a bigger loan and a longer period of time in order to solve her housing problem, not to mention that she is without help as both the mother and father for her daughter.

“The Village Bank consists of 29 people and is located in Traeuy Troeng Village in Kandal Province; they plan to use the loan differently. For instance, Mrs. Tork Ly is the village bank president who is a pig breeder and raises ten pigs. Since her pigs are growing bigger and bigger, she does not have enough money to buy pig food to feed her pigs. Thus, Mrs. Tork Ly has decided to ask for a loan to invest in more food for her animals. Her husband, Mr. Lin Nget, is a farmer who owns a hectare to cultivate rice.”
Here’s what’s amazing to me about this process – the loan request was posted Oct. 1, funded Oct. 3, and disbursed Oct. 5. Unbelievable!

Cash flow is finally picking up a bit with a few sales from my show at the gallery. So, I thought I might loan some money to someone else who’s trying to make a living wage with their art. I found a group of four Pakistani women looking for a loans to supplement their businesses – one needs to buy cloth for her rug-weaving business, another to buy bangles for her jewelry business. So, my third loan goes to them.

My first two loans are each already 25% repaid!

Well, since we were given livestock (a horse!) free of charge, I thought it would be appropriate to help someone else purchase livestock. Balibekova Matluba is a 30-year-old woman in Tajikistan trying to purchase another milk cow. Passin’ on the good karma…
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=48852

I just received word that the first loan I helped fund has been disbursed. It goes to a group of 10 women on the island of Savaii in Samoa. 8 of the 10 are using their loans to fund their taro farms, while another is starting a dress and t-shirt making business. The last is funding her fish and chips business (using money for ” stove, a fryer, oil, a sack of potatoes, 2 pots and tongs”). I am excited to see how these women fare in their undertakings. Amazing how such small sums of money can give people such hope.