This post is related to my May 8th post as well as my May 16th post. I first became aware of Kiva through Bill Clinton’s book, Giving, and then came across it on some other blogs, especially Julia’s blog, How I Changed the World Today. I then began lending to Kiva and I just now made another loan to Kiva before I wrote this post. In fact, I was the first lender to this group of entrepreneurs in Paraguay.
The thing that I find so compelling about Kiva is that you are loaning money to worthy recipients, not giving it. Kiva lets you lend to a specific entrepreneur in the developing world–empowering them to lift themselves out of poverty. You loan as little as $25, receive updates, and get repaid as the business succeeds.
Theoretically (and in reality), you could take $100, give four $25 loans over a staggered amount of time and, as each loan is repaid, you could re-invest that $25 back into Kiva. Your initial $100 investment could go on helping worthy recipients for years and years. I can see how this method of giving might appeal to a broader base of people–especially in these economically difficult times. There are all sorts of stats available on each loan offered so that you can track when your money will be repaid, the past history of the lending partner, etc. It’s a very grassroots way of participating.
What others are saying about Kiva.org:
‘Revolutionising how donors and lenders in the US are connecting with small entrepreneurs in developing countries.’
– BBC
‘If you’ve got 25 bucks, a PC and a PayPal account, you’ve now got the wherewithal to be an international financier.’
– CNN Money
‘Smaller investors can make loans of as little as $25 to specific individual entrepreneurs through a service launched last fall by Kiva.org.’
– The Wall Street Journal
‘An inexpensive feel-good investment opportunity…All loaned funds go directly to the applicants, and most loans are repaid in full.’
– Entrepreneur Magazine
This blog post is part of Zemanta’s “Blogging For a Cause” campaign to raise awareness and funds for worthy causes that bloggers care about.
Candace
Memorial Day has passed so even though it’s not officially summer, for all practical purposes, it has begun…especially in Phoenix. Do you have a fun trip or trips planned? Visiting family? Going to the beach? A stay-cation? Just some relaxing with good books and good friends? Going to a lot of summer movies? A lot of happy hours? Working on some interesting creative projects?
The above is a mail art pass-along I started many years ago (looks like 1997)–just a postcard that had the car and the title on it to begin with. I sent it to one person who sent it to another (who sent it to another) and eventually it came back to me looking like this. Kinda makes me want to go on a road trip everytime I look at it.
I’ll be visiting Indiana (and Chicago) at some point but haven’t narrowed down the dates yet. Maybe Tony and I will take some day or weekend Arizona trips. I need to give my camera a workout and get some different perspectives and new vistas. We’re being more than encouraged at work to take additional time off this summer and I am more than willing to comply.
What are you going to do?
Candace
A tangle of stuff left over from the weekend:
Yes, Katie, we do have dandelions in Arizona, at least in our yard.
Sheila’s and Jim’s mailbox. We were at their house for a delicious barbecue on Monday.
Jim’s airplane:
Flag on our porch on Monday.
New moon tonight, guess I need to get that remote…even with a tripod, I still had a little camera jiggle.
It’s an “untidy heap, clutter, muddle, mess, confusion, disarray, tangle, imbroglio; hodgepodge, mishmash, miscellany, motley collection, mixed bag, medley, jambalaya, farrago, gallimaufry.”
Candace
It rained again in the middle of the night but the morning was clear and bright again. All the critters were out including our cadre of outdoor kitties, most of whom spent the last couple of days in the carport and other outdoor covered areas. Ebony was happy to be able to roll around on the carport roof again.
And his sister, Ivory, was scampering around on the neighbor’s roof.
She has a tipped ear, as do most of our outdoor neutered cats, so that people will know they have already been fixed. The vet forgot to tip Ebony’s ear. Ebony and Ivory used to be feral but are now tame. This is their sister, Edie, who is still semi-feral. We can touch her tail sometimes but that’s about it…she’s shy. Edie still needs to be spayed.
WB is their grandpa or great-grandpa or great uncle or something related…definitely not their dad, his neutering preceded their existence. He just woke up.
Jessi was dumped in our neighborhood several months ago and now lives in our yard, too.
Last night there were 11 outdoor cats for dinner. A couple belong to neighbors, the others live in the alleys closeby and know where the food is, and the rest live mostly in our yard.
The mockingbirds love to taunt and divebomb the cats. Unfortunately, occasionally the cats win. I guess that’s urban nature. This guy was enjoying the early morning sun, too.
If you don’t like cats, I guess you won’t like these photos 
Candace
