I'm a Microlender!

[pegkerr]

Here's a very cool idea:

I have always been intrigued by the concept of microlending, the idea that by giving extremely poor people, particularly women, a small amount of credit, this enables them to nurture small businesses so that they can repay the loan, and at the same time make a material difference to themselves and the welfare of their families.

I was poking around the Brotherhood 2 site that I mentioned previously (brotherhood2) Apparently, one of their projects is, as they charmingly call it, "Decreasing World Suck":

WorldSuck, as far as John and Hank can tell, is actually somewhat difficult to define. But it’s clear that some things increase WorldSuck, while other things decrease WorldSuck.

Malaria, for example, increases WorldSuck. While corndogs definitely decrease WorldSuck.

As part of the Brotherhood 2.0 project, Hank and John Green have decided to create the Brotherhood 2.0 Foundation for Decreasing Suck Levels Worldwide (also known as the Foundation to Decrease WorldSuck (FDW))

It was on this page on their site that I first noticed the link to an organization called Kiva.

The idea is breathtakingly simple. Kiva matches people who need microloans with people who are willing to give microloans. I have taken the plunge, donating $25 via PayPal to help enable a woman in Togo, Neyo Degboe, buy some equipment to grow her fish-smoking business. She supports, besides herself, eight other people. She'll pay the total loan of $800 back over the next sixteen months (microloans actually have a very low default rate). I get nothing for the use of my $25--no tax deduction, no interest. Just the knowledge that I have, for a very small amount of money, improved someone's life somewhere else in the world. And that's actually worth a great deal to me. Money is so tight for us right now that I have cut back on our charitable giving, but $25 I can spare, and I can feel good about what that small amount can accomplish. Kiva will give me periodic reports on how her business is doing.

Here's a .pdf of a New York Times article about Kiva. This is cool. Let me know if you take the plunge, too.

Comments

[tassie-gal.livejournal.com]

I saw a really interesting documentary on these the other day. I personally think that they are great - whats interesting is the theory behind it - that women are more likely to pay back the loan which is why most micro-loan foundations target women. There are some in Africa that allow men, though apparently the repay rate for them is only something like 70-80%.

[jbru.livejournal.com]

I've run into microlending before and I intend to get involved in it. I want to get my finances back into a state of greater stability first, but once that's accomplished, spreading the wealth around is definitely on the agenda.

The other charitable organization that accomplishes similar goals that I like is Heifer International, an organization that will take one's contribution and give a deserving family/village a livestock base to improve their lives. This can be something like a hive of honeybees that gives a family supplemental income and increases crop yields or a water buffalo that provides both milk and muscle to a subsistence-farming family. They have a variety of choices of animals to gift from those that provide milk, to others that provide wool and so on. You can gift a full animal or just a share, depending on your means.

[roadnotes.livejournal.com]

My office donated enough for two heifers to Heifer International last year (some of our students had made a great presentation about their trip to Africa, and we decided that the way to thank them was to donate heifers to the village they'd visited). I think these groups are wonderful.

[livsmama.livejournal.com]

I discover the neatest things through your journal Peg. I took the plunge too. We have the same tight money/backing off on charitable giving thing here. But this looks like it really makes a difference.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Yay!

[roadnotes.livejournal.com]

I think I'm going to do this, to start the fall (which, for me, starts with Labor Day and the new school year). I'll update you as soon as I send the money out.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Excellent! Yes, please do!

[lilisonna.livejournal.com]

I discovered Kiva about six or eight months ago, I guess and ponied up a donation. As of this point, about half of it has been paid back. Once it's all back, I'm going to load out the same amount again and add in 50%. I do wish it counted as some form of official donation or gave some percentage in return; I would give more if that were the case.

Ah well. The charity money just goes elsewhere.

[seagrit.livejournal.com]

Awesome! I'm usually a lurker reading your posts, but I had to speak up this time. I've been a Kiva lender since January 2007, and I think Kiva is an absolutely incredible idea. I love the fact that if you keep "reinvesting" the same $25 for new loans, your $25 can easily turn into $100, and help four people. It's great that you've found it and posted about it. There are a lot of interesting discussions going on about Kiva at kivafriends.org too.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Thanks for de-lurking and letting me know about kivafriends.org.

[nmsunbear.livejournal.com]

Wow, that is so cool! I give to several charities that do microloans -- Accion is a great one -- but I love the hands-on directness of this. I will definitely be participating. Thank you!

[aeditimi.livejournal.com]

my mother in law introduced me to kiva. it's great for small church organizations, too. the great thing is that you can then reinvest the money in another person as soon as you get it back, or add a loan at any time and watch your 'portfolio' grow as recipients pay back into the pool and you make a new loan. I also love that you can search by region and gender and such to find a business you want to loan to (so for example if you come back from a mission trip in Ecaudor, you can look for people in need in South America--no one in Ecuador, sadly-- and give to people that you might feel even more connected to). I don't, however, like that they've capped the loans. I wanted my Sunday School kids to raise money for this, and if they had, say, $100, I think they'd rather support one person a lot rather than four, but oh well.

Several people in my family are lenders, and as I said, I'm encouraging my church to do it as well. I'm waiting for my husband's paychecks to stat coming in in mid September, and then we can invest in several projects, I hope.

[snippy]

Yeah, I did it a few weeks ago. My lender page is here.

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the nudge. I have now lent to a mother in Mexico who wants to add on to her tiny house.

[satakieli.livejournal.com]

Oh! I had no idea you didn't know about Kiva. I think I actually first encountered it in a financial blog that you linked to. Glad you've decided to do it!

[satakieli.livejournal.com]

Oh, also: I believe the guy who first came up with the idea of microloans was awarded a Nobel prize this past year (peace, not economics or something). Can't remember his name at the moment.

[schnoogle.livejournal.com]

I thought this was a nifty idea when you first posted, but it wasn't until it popped up on my flist again the other day that I decided to donate.

http://www.kiva.org/lender/vickelchen

[kaustin.livejournal.com]

I had read about Kiva elsewhere but this post gave me another nudge towards creating a Kiva account. I've even created a lending team, though I don't actually expect anyone to join it.

Thank you

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

I did!