My sister recently forwarded me information on Kiva.org. Kiva identifies people in third-world countries who are struggling to make ends meet, but have endeavored to better their situation not through charity but entrepreneurship. It arranges “micro loans” to basic small businesses so that they can get off the ground.
Muhammad Yunus actually won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for pioneering the idea of micro loans and in my opinion it’s the best kind of charity because I’m not putting money toward short-term alleviation but a person’s long-term “personal infrastructure” on top of which they will become self-sufficient and, one by one, make the world a better place.
I selected “Keo V” from Cambodia as my micro loan recipient since she’s a mother of 4 and already has a business. She just needs a little capital to buy a van and then she’ll have a growing enterprise!
Update: I received this email from Kiva on 12/13/07:
This is an update on Keo Vannak:
Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to Keo Vannak by CREDIT MFI — World Relief in Cambodia. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the next 12 months, CREDIT MFI — World Relief will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.
I have to admit, it’s pretty amazing to think that a few trips to Starbucks for me constitute a life-changing loan for a whole family halfway across the world. I think I might make some more microloans. This is really fun!
Recent Comments