Being a Lender
September 5th 2009 08:04
I've written about Kiva elsewhere, and just want to mention it again, here.
It's a particularly Internet-based charity scheme. Whereas World Vision and Oxfam and the innumerable other helping groups all began their lives before the Internet arrived, Kiva is connected to the Net in more ways than one.
Primarily it's a system whereby people can help fund small businesses around the world by offering a small short-term loan. Each lender only offers US$25 at a time, and the accumulated loans are then sent to the person running the business. In the normal course of events, repayment of the loan starts about a month after it's begun. Once the $25 has been repaid to you, then you can fund another person somewhere else. There are always plenty of opportunities. And the borrowers seem in general to be good
repayers. Certainly I haven't seen any signs of problems in this regard.
It helps if you have a Paypal account; the money can be paid directly out of this to Kiva. But I expect there are other ways to do it too. Photos of borrowers (without any sign of theatrical dark eye circle) are presented alongside the information about them, their business (most people already have established small businesses) and the amount they require. This can vary a great deal, depending on what sort of work they're doing.
I currently have five people who are paying back loans - and two others have already repaid their loans in full. I'm afraid I've been a bit random as to who I fund: the borrowers have come from Samoa, Tajikistan, Nicaragua, Ghana and Paraguay. I've just noticed that three of the borrowers have been from Tajikistan, a place I need to find out more about, as I'm not even entirely sure where it is!
I don't think it's a big deal where these people come from, as long as they're getting some help. The Kiva site is well laid out and very informative - increasingly so, as it grows. So far they've funded US$9,000,000 worth of loans, in only a few short years, and are expecting to get to $10 million very soon.
I think it's another example of the power of the Internet; people can do something small and it becomes something big. It doesn't make us significant, but helps us become part of something significant.
The photo is of my first loan recipient, a woman from Tajikistan who sells clothing.
It's a particularly Internet-based charity scheme. Whereas World Vision and Oxfam and the innumerable other helping groups all began their lives before the Internet arrived, Kiva is connected to the Net in more ways than one.
Primarily it's a system whereby people can help fund small businesses around the world by offering a small short-term loan. Each lender only offers US$25 at a time, and the accumulated loans are then sent to the person running the business. In the normal course of events, repayment of the loan starts about a month after it's begun. Once the $25 has been repaid to you, then you can fund another person somewhere else. There are always plenty of opportunities. And the borrowers seem in general to be good
It helps if you have a Paypal account; the money can be paid directly out of this to Kiva. But I expect there are other ways to do it too. Photos of borrowers (without any sign of theatrical dark eye circle) are presented alongside the information about them, their business (most people already have established small businesses) and the amount they require. This can vary a great deal, depending on what sort of work they're doing.
I currently have five people who are paying back loans - and two others have already repaid their loans in full. I'm afraid I've been a bit random as to who I fund: the borrowers have come from Samoa, Tajikistan, Nicaragua, Ghana and Paraguay. I've just noticed that three of the borrowers have been from Tajikistan, a place I need to find out more about, as I'm not even entirely sure where it is!
I don't think it's a big deal where these people come from, as long as they're getting some help. The Kiva site is well laid out and very informative - increasingly so, as it grows. So far they've funded US$9,000,000 worth of loans, in only a few short years, and are expecting to get to $10 million very soon.
I think it's another example of the power of the Internet; people can do something small and it becomes something big. It doesn't make us significant, but helps us become part of something significant.
The photo is of my first loan recipient, a woman from Tajikistan who sells clothing.
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