I usually avoid talking about charity preferring to keep these matters private but this morning I was thinking I should talk about Kiva. I first heard about Kiva back in March of 2007. As stated on their website,
Kiva’s mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty. Kiva is the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs around the globe.
Empowering individuals?!? What a great concept. My better half and I decided to join with a simple $25 donation in April of that year. We were intrigued to see how it all worked.
Our first loan went to Matilda Mensa who was raising $975 for her store in Ghana. Soon after we funded, she got her loan. Within 11 months the entire loan was repaid. We were very impressed. As of today, we have a pool of $150 (need to make it bigger!) that we have been using. We have loaned to 7 people, with the following results:
- 7 loans
- 4 loans paid back (all on time)
- 2 paying back (on schedule)
- 1 waiting for funding (only needed $25 as of today) -UPDATE 4/21 – The loan has fully funded
- no money lost!
If you want to learn more about Kiva, please check them out at their website. Please think about joining even if it is only $25.
Kiva – My Profile Page
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