Offer a Microloan to someone on the Kiva site

Samuel Mante is 34years old. He is married and has a child who is currently in school. “Sammy,” as he is well-known, is a dealer in used television. The sale of used television is popular because brand new ones are expensive for many people. He also provides repairs and other services for his customers. He buys his televisions from importers at wholesale prices and sells to his customers at retail prices. He is seeking a loan to enable him to procure an expanded stock of used television to better serve his customers’ needs. He hopes to save enough to expand his shop to include the sale of refrigerators and parts. He belongs to the community group called Peace Trust Group. In this group, members provide each other as social collateral to repay the loan.

This was harder than I thought. Evidently Kiva has experienced a growth spurt lately, and you kind of have to jump on the opportunities to lend, or they go away! I thought about finding another organization to support, but I really like the personal touch of Kiva’s approach. I found an elderly widow who wants to hire someone to plow her field, and I can hardly think of a better cause. Plus it will help the person who plows the field. I’m glad I did this!

Well, all four of the projects I’m contributing to are well on track and have started to pay back their loan. As Kiva has changed the system slightly and one now can reinvest right away instead of having to wait until the entire loan is repaid, I might do that soon (not enough together yet for a re-loan today). I think I will stick to this, as it is a good and easy way to make a difference with what in our side of the world is not that much money. Well worth anyone’s while, so if you have not already, check it out!

What an amazing concept! And I learned about it on 43Things. Thank you to RCHipsterDoofus for bringing this to my attention!

So I got sidetracked and missed my original date by two weeks. That’s OK with me. I just made 4 Kiva loans which has brought my total number of loans to 50! Yippee. This is one goal that I have total control over (yes, you could argue that I have total control over almost all of my goals but…)

Thanks to Mary Hawkins for letting me know that the money that is repaid is now available to reloan as soon as it is paid. This means more chances to reloan.

I love Kiva – doing good without ever leaving my house.

my loan went to:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=60849

if you have not seen this site, you need to check it out:
http://www.kiva.org/about

you might also want to read this article on modern slavery- it briefly mentions how microloans (like those offered by Kiva and others like them) work to combat it:
http://www.utne.com/2008-07-01/Politics/People-for-Sale.aspx

Celinda is an entrepreneurial woman who is counting on her development in her homeland, Colpar. She is 24 years old and is dedicated to raising pigs, which after some time, she will sell alive or sell parts according to the occasion that presents itself. She has been involved in this work since she was young and now surrounds herself with all sorts of agricultural work, which she learned from her mother. Her daily life involves caring for her pigs and feeding them three times a day. She keeps them in a separate place that was adapted as her farm. Celinda is mother to a small, three year old girl who is her whole driving force and reason for living. In order to support her daughter, she works day after day. Her goal is to have a cattle stable and she is working hard for this. At this time, she is requesting a loan which will be invested in the purchase of more animals and, in this manner, increase her earnings.

I gave money to a farmer who needed to buy food for his calves :-) He’s even started paying money back by now and I think this is totally worth doing!

After reading about KIVA in a women’s mag some weeks ago, I’ve now offered my first loan, to a woman my age from Peru, whose blurb I found very engaging. Among other things, she sells books – now that fits. :-) I have no qualms about KIVA, thanks to good reports in the press and here on 43things. So I’m excited to see how this entrepeneur’s mini-business is going to develop!

This has been on my list of things to do for a while. My money is going to a man named Nelson who is trying to build his house in phases.

I’m very impressed with the Kiva site. There is a lot of information on the site and everything is very well explained. I felt totally comfortable taking part in the program. My mom, who tends to be on the skeptical side, thinks I’m wasting my money, but I can’t justify not helping people who who could benefit from my money when I would probably just waste in on dinner out or a night at the movies.