Kiva.org - Loans that change lives

Kiva.org - Loans that change lives

for a little while there, a week or two, kiva's entepreneurs were fully funded, thanks to a bunch of good publicity that happened all at the same time. but if you heard about them then and tried to go there, go back now. you invest $25. which, if you're in the usa, is a non-trivial but totally doable amount of money. for me, it's the amount i spent at the grocery store yesterday, and the amount of money i spent at target this weekend. so, while i can't do it without thinking about it, i certainly can do it. and maybe you can, too.

and they've rounded up more entepreneurs. a woman selling shoes in mexico; a couple who want to start a motorcycle taxi company in cambodia, a small store named 1000 Gadgets in ukraine. so now you can loan any one of those people $25, towards a microloan that they are requesting for a specific purpose. and then they pay it back. and then you lend that $25 out to someone else, in a few months.

this is a brilliant idea. i really love microlending. you can see who you're helping, and see that you're making a difference. and you can select industries, select countries, select recipients. you have a thing for shoes? select clothing vendors, and go find someone who's selling shoes to help. you particularly love one area of the world? you can sort by that, too. i suspect some members of my family may go look up 1000 Gadgets in ukraine, whereas when i get paid this weekend, i may go lend $25 to a woman who is renting movies in nigeria.

so. totally. cool. right up there with buying my grandmother ducks for her birthday. (m. socks? i am flaking on the name of that program. do you recall it?)