Received repayments that allowed me to make the 10th loan without adding any extra money. This loan went out to the Bolivar group in Bolivia. The Kiva loan goal has been interesting and educational and has made me feel connected to a broader global community. 5 days ago

Went to Dancille in Rwanda to buy more clothes for sale. I only had to kick in $1.50 because of repayments on previous loans. If anyone is thinking of beginning this goal, if you paste this URL http://www.kiva.org/invitedby/susan8172/for/551 or http://www.kiva.org/invitedby/susan8172, you(and I) will get an extra $25 to donate. 4 weeks ago

Rosalyn from the Philippines needed a modest loan to buy food to cook and sell. It was 0% funded when I started checking out and up to 60% by the time I completed the process, if that tells you anything about the size of this loan. :) 1 month ago

I’ve suddenly received a full loan back from my previous KIVA – I’m not entirely sure if it was a bug in the system or they finished their project early etc. But I decided to use this opportunity to give my third loan to a family in Bolivia to increase their farming income. 1 month ago

Gave a loan to a group selling beignets in Burundi! Sounds dellicious. 1 month ago

I just gave my eighth loan to Adrienne in the US. I saw that Capital One would match the donation and decided that was a nice thing for them to do. Yay! 1 month ago

This went to Gloria Santa in Ecuador. I only had to kick in another $12, since the remainder was paid off loans. I do find I tend to focus on women, since I think their access to loans otherwise is much more restricted in developing countries. 1 month ago

...went to Marilia of Ayacucho, Peru. She has a two-year-old daughter, and is buying products to sell in her store. :) 1 month ago

...went to Ismayil from Azerbaijan, who is buying materials to improve his home. 1 month ago

a 40 year old woman in the congo, selling bread with toppings – sounds delicious 3 months ago

I’m up to 7 now. I asked for this for my birthday, and my dad sent me the gift cards. The first of the three was to María De Jesús in Nicaragua to buy construction materials to improve her home. The second was to Gulrakat in Tajikistan to purchase calves and feed for livestock. The third was to Adham in Palestine to purchase tables and chairs for use by customers in his cafe, and some more coffee and tea. I’m feeling pretty good about this. 3 months ago

(1) Vanentina – Philippines – coffee/candy/snacks for general store

(2) Heang group – Cambodia – farming supplies

(3) Deborah – Kenya – a motorcycle!

Half-way there. It’s so awesome kiva gives you credits for referring people. Free money to give away – can’t beat that. 4 months ago

Vilma is 58 years old and she is a single mother of five children. Many years ago she learned about agriculture from her parents. Vilma gets up at 4 am to prepare breakfast for her children before they go to work. She then gets ready to reach the lands where she plants corn and beans, located at approximately two kilometers from her house.

The loan she is requesting to Fundación Campo will be used to have the roof of her house repaired, as well as to pay for other improvements. She will thus be ready for the winter, as her house will not get wet. In the future she wants to add a room to her house as one of her children will soon get married.

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_{Today is my birthday and I am very terrible at celebrating it. Partially because it’s close to New Years (nobody can be bothered) and because my parents do not acknowledge it. Usually I end up feeling bad for myself because I never usually do anything and just treat it like any ordinary day. However today I don’t feel as bad as I used to – the act of giving a gift to someone else but myself makes me feel a whole lot better for some reason. A gift to Vilma’s happiness is a gift to myself :-)}4 months ago

Both my kids have birthdays coming up. In addition to their present, I got them each a gift card to make a donation. They can make their own choice on who to donate to, it will come back for another donation at a later point, and I’m hoping that it will give them a little perspective on their own lives as well as give them a feeling of contributing to a global economy and of helping their neighbors. 4 months ago

http://www.kiva.org/invitedby/susan8172/for/51

That will get me another $25 to loan. I didn’t know this when I was signing up, or I would have done it for someone else. 4 months ago

Loan #1.Norayr lives with his parents and grandmother in Khndzoresk village in Armenia. Norayr and his parents are involved in cattle breeding and currently have eight cows and six pigs. Norayr’s mother makes cheese which his father sells in the local markets. Because agriculture is the only source of income for the family, Norayr wants to expand their enterprise.

Loan #2.Segunda is the coordinator of her group Manantial de Vida (Spring of Life) 1, 2, 3 & 4. Her group is located in Samana peninsula, an area of the Dominican Republic with a nascent tourism industry, where running water (none of which is potable) and electricity are unreliable. She makes her home here in a simple, rented structure with her four children, and is a single mother. Segunda is excited to be taking her tenth loan with Kiva partner Esperanza after having successfully repaid her previous loans and grown her business. She plans to use this loan to invest in her clothing business by purchasing jeans, blouses, skirts, sock, t-shirt, etc. She will use the profits to save and to start building her house. 4 months ago

We gave to a widow in Albania who is raising 6 children on her own. ♥ 5 months ago

Mwanaisha in Kenya.

Mwanaisha is requesting her first loan from Yehu for 20,000 KES to purchase flour, meat, salt, rice, meat, vegetables, beans, and other supplies in order to meet customer demand. In the future, she plans to expand her business to provide better service. 5 months ago

Idriz, thirty-nine years old, is married and has three children between the ages of one and five years old. He works on a farm, earning a very low salary, and his wife is a housewife who stays at home to care for the home and the children.

Idriz has always wanted to have his own small farm, but he could not. Now he is requesting a loan in order to start a small stable and buy a cow. This loan will help him to cut family expenses, such as those for milk and other dairy products. In the future, he hopes to expand his farm.

His goal is to give his children a better education. Idriz wants to thank all Kiva lenders for their support!

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Thank you Spatz for helping me get started and for giving me my first free loan! It took me forever to decide who to pick but I think I chose my first borrower well :) 6 months ago

We gave a loan to a woman in Kenya to buy produce for her grocery stall.

We should have enough in repayments to give a 10th loan by the end of the year. (Also I’m hoping for Kiva credit for Christmas. It’s such a fun gift.) 6 months ago

I just made my seventh loan, for a lady who wants to resell fabric. I like fabric! I sent credit to the Ravelry group, one of my favorites (although I belong to the one for 43T, too). 7 months ago

This months loan goes to Josephine:

Josephine has a welding business in the Philippines. It’s her fifth loan, so she seems to be a successful welder!

Keep up the good work, Josephine!

And so I made my 10 loans. I’m happy that I was able to do so!

And with the money paid back, I’ll move on to my new goal – give 100 loans :) 9 months ago

We gave a loan to a woman in Honduras who runs a store out of her home. The loan will help her buy stock for her business.

We also gave a loan to a woman in the Philippines. She raises pigs and needs money for feed. (Her husband works overseas to send money to the family, and she raises and sells pigs and is supporting her 4 kids’ education.) 9 months ago

As all my loans rates arrived today – and I now have three fully paid back loans – I was able to give another loan today!

It goes to Eulogia in Cusco!

The member is Eulogia. She is 27 years old, cohabits with her partner, and has 2 children. She alternates her daily activities with the business of raising livestock, and raises cows to later sell them to clients who order them. She has been doing this for many years, and it has been going very well due to the great effort that she puts into her business every day. At the same time, she works in the buying and selling of vegetables, and in this way works to get her family ahead.

This member is asking for the loan to buy a cow.

She is very happy for the loan, and promises to repay all payments on time.

Good luck, Eulogia!

_{The number of loans is difficult – Kiva counts expired loans, too, while I personally don’t. So Kiva thinks I have given 10 loans and I think I have given 9}10 months ago

I just gave my next loan. It goes to Sinforosa in Bolivia.

Sinforosa, 31, is single and has two children who are 11 and 13 years old. She provides sewing services; she makes indigenous style blouses in her own shop located in Sacaba’s Esmeralda neighborhood.

This loan is her first sequence within the institution and Sinforosa will use this loan to buy an industrial sewing machine for her business. Her reason for requesting the loan is because she wants to improve the quality of the work she does since she has pending orders to fill for various markets in the area.

The business challenge Sinforosa faces is lack of equipment and sometimes of materials when she gets wholesale orders. She depends on the orders she gets and will use profits to buy fabric.

Sinforosa is a hardworking person who’s wish is to have a larger workshop and to hire laborers to teach clothes making to youngsters.

I hope you can follow your dream, Sinforosa!

Free loan trial: http://www.kiva.org/invitedby/silvia3813 11 months ago