\nshows I’m interested in, I turn to Hulu. A few weeks ago, began noticing ads on Hulu for a website called “Kiva<\/a>”
\nthat allows people all over the world to make micro-loans to
\nentrepreneurs primarily in developing countries. To be honest, I
\nthought the idea sounded interesting but I didn’t think much of it.
\nAnd then recently, I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, “Stuff You Should Know”<\/a>
\nand Josh & Chuck began talking about starting a team on Kiva to
\nbring their listeners together to make a difference.
\nWell, now my interest was piqued so I decided to check the site out.<\/p>\n
Kiva It So, I encourage anyone who UPDATE 10\/19: Thanks to commenter “SR” for pointing out some of the criticisms regarding Kiva’s communications. For more information on how Kiva micro-loans work, I encourage you to check out this blog post from Tactical Philantropy<\/a> and Kiva’s updated “How Kiva Works”<\/a> page. As noted in the former article, Kiva’s practices are actually better at helping impoverished entrepreneurs get a start, however I think that whenever money is involved, you can never have enough information.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Evelyn Cash I really don’t watch much TV anymore. When I want to catch up on the shows I’m interested in, I turn to Hulu. A few weeks ago, began noticing ads on Hulu for a website called “Kiva” that allows people all over the world to make micro-loans to entrepreneurs primarily in developing…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":205,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-meritdemerit-badge"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Thumbnail](\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/124\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/10\/98928_ACarlman_1of1-thumb-2896x1944-8644-thumb-350x234-8645.jpg\")
<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n
\n
It turns out that Kiva has been featured on CNBC<\/a>, FOX<\/a>, Forbes.com<\/a>, Time<\/a>
\nand many other news and entertainment outlets, so I thought it was
\nabout time to get this up for those who read this blog. Kiva was
\nfounded in 2005 by Matt and Jessica Flannery after witnessing the power
\nof micro-loans first hand during a trip to east Africa a year earlier.
\nMicrofinancing provides savings, loans and other financial services to
\nthe poor and usually involves small amounts of money. Micro-loans
\nallow people who wouldn’t normally have access to traditional financing
\nto obtain relatively small loans for a variety of purposes (source: “About Microfinance”<\/a>).
\nJust one year after it’s founding, Kiva loaned over $1 million and the
\nsite has been steadily growing since that time. By November of 2008,
\n$50 million in micro loans had been made through Kiva and the site is
\nstill going strong (source: “Background”<\/a>).<\/p>\n
\nallows users to make loans of as little as $25 to entrepreneurs around
\nthe world using the website. You can simply browse through the
\nlistings of entrepreneurs who have been approved for loans through
\nKiva’s micro-lending partners and choose the individual or group you
\nwant to loan to. I opened up an account on Thursday and made my first
\n$25 loan to a farmer in Togo<\/a>
\nwho was $50 away from raising $900 for fertilizer. By Friday morning,
\nshe had reached her goal and I received and email informing me that the
\nfunds had been distributed to her through the micro-lending partner in
\nTogo. I have to say that it gave me a great feeling to know that I had
\nhelped
\nher raise her funds and that she could use the money to help her
\nproduce
\ncorn and other crops to sell and feed her family. According to the
\nit’s website, Kiva’s micro-lending partners have repayment rate of about 98%<\/a>
\nso there is a good chance that the loan will be repaid by the end
\nof it’s 18 month life. At that point, I can either donate the money to
\nKiva or loan it to another entrepreneur and keep the ball rolling. <\/p>\n
\nis clear that Kiva is a company that recognizes interdependence and
\nputs it to work in a very practical way. It’s given me and the other
\n575,000+ Kiva lenders an opportunity to actually make a difference in
\nthe lives of people that we wouldn’t normally know anything about. As
\na Buddhist, I look at Kiva and see the teachings of interdepence,
\nkarma, loving-kindness, generosity and compassion working in real-time
\nfor everyone involved. But, I think anyone who recognizes human
\nsuffering and the value of reaching out a hand to help can plainly see
\nthe benefit of a site like Kiva.<\/p>\n
\nreads this post to at least check out the Kiva website and browse through the
\nstories, I found the site both interesting and inspiring. Also, if
\nanyone has more experience with Kiva (afterall, I’m a brand new member)
\nplease comment with your story. We’d love to hear from you!<\/p>\n