The wind chill outside is -1 degrees fahrenheit here in Fort Stockton, TX (we made it out of Walmart!). It is COLD. We are stuck indoors.
Stephanie and I didn't want the weather to keep us from doing something so we made our way to Kiva.com, a microfinance website. We had a gift card and we decided to lend to 5 entrepreneurs from Cambodia, Peru, Kenya, and the Philippines who need small loads to grow their businesses.
Kiva makes it easy to lend small amounts of money to people who don't have access to typical banking services because of low-income. Each entrepreneur asks for a certain amount for their endeavor. As the lender, you can choose how much of that amount you want to lend.
And what is remarkable is that Kiva has a 98.92% repayment rate. Check Kiva out on Facebook and Twiiter.
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Are you sure you're in Texas??? That's cold! At this rate you'd have been better off driving north first! It's 40 degrees here! ;)
We are so happy to hear that you are "on the road again" Lots of prayers being sent your way!
Glad you are back on the road. Great job highlighting such a worthy organization.
We LOVE Kiva!! It's truly the gift that can keep on giving. For Christmas every year we choose something we want to give to, and 4 years ago it was Kiva. We have now been able to re-donate that same amount of money to 7 different people. All of our loans have been payed back in less than the 12 months. Way to be giving even when it's frigid out!
I don't think I've ever heard of Kiva before. Thank you for pointing out such an awesome "organization?" I've bookmarked their web page. I am an entrepreneur myself having struck out as a freelance graphic designer when my daughter was born 3 1/2 years ago. i appreciate having a place to give where I can give some meaningful assistance to other entrepreneur's, without having to be a millionaire first!
Thank you for this! We have been talking about the importance of microloans, but weren't sure how/where to begin. We will definitely start giving through Kiva.
We LOVE Kiva! So glad to read about them here, too!
About 5 years ago I gave my dad a $25 gift credit to Kiva for Christmas. He's the kind of guy who's extremely hard to shop for--he has everything he needs, and if he wants something has the cashflow to just go buy it. But he's also a business owner and a former commercial lender so I thought this would be a fun gift. He mentioned to me several months ago that Kiva has turned into a really fun project for him--every time he gets repaid by one borrower, he lends to another and has loved it!
We are excited about Hope International... same idea. In fact, Jay is partnering with them with his new real estate business. http://themcgeefamily.wordpress.com/2011/03/12/business-as-blessing-jay-blogs/