Saturday, January 02, 2010

Kiva



We just made a loan to a woman in Nigeria, a co-operative in Bolivia , these beautiful women of the Makotekokoumana Group in Mali and another group in Vietnam using a new website called Kiva. For more information our lender page is here.

You can go to Kiva's website and lend to someone across the globe who needs a loan for their business - like raising goats, selling vegetables at market or making bricks. Each loan has a picture of the entrepreneur, a description of their business and how they plan to use the loan so you know exactly how your money is being spent - and you get updates letting you know how the entrepreneur is going.

The best part is, when the entrepreneur pays back their loan you get your money back - and Kiva's loans are managed by microfinance institutions on the ground who have a lot of experience doing this, so you can trust that your money is being handled responsibly.

It's finally easy to actually do something about poverty - using Kiva you know exactly who your money is loaned to and what they're using it for. And most of all, you know that you are helping them build a sustainable business that will provide income to feed, clothe, house and educate their family long after the loan is paid back.

Join us in changing the world - one loan at a time.