Microlending really came into its own in 2006. Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank won the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to “create social and economic development from below.” The basic idea behind microlending is that if you provide a loan for as low as, say $10-$50, you can provide an impoverished person with the money to start a grocery, barber shop, tailoring service, or any other enterprise, and so promote the well being of both the borrower and his local community. Most of these people and communities have either been ignored by commercial banks or their home countries do not have adequate banking systems. This is not charity. Repayment rates are better than those experienced by a lot of credit card or finance companies. Some banks discovered this and are now starting their own microlending departments.
Now you, too, can become a microlender and, for as little as $25, directly help a specific entrepreneur lift themselves out of poverty. Kiva.org has established relationships with microlenders around the world. Specific business proposals are presented on the website, and you chose exactly the businesses you want to support. Processing is handled through paypal. Kiva is a non-profit organization and your loans won’t earn any interest. Still, this is not charity, and you can watch the success of the endeavors you support unfold through monthly updates.
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Thanks for the link to kiva.org! Love the books project, too.
NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF made the same comment in his column in today’s New York Time. “You, Too, Can Be a Banker to the Poor.” Here is the link.
http://select.nytimes.com/2007/03/27/opinion/27kristof.html?hp
Update from the editor: bend of bay put a little money into kiva loans around the time this post was written. So far not a single payment has been missed. That’s right, zero delinquencies. All loans are just about fully repaid, and the repayments will be used to make new loans.
Update from the editor: Our Kiva borrowers have never missed a payment and we continue to make new loans from the same initial pool of cash.
Update from the editor: Any commissions received from amazon.com for sales of items linked to our pages are used to make new loans.
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In spite of the global economic meltdown, all our kiva borrowers continue to pay on time. As loans are repaid, we re-lend the money to other borrowers.
Still no losses. Not a penny! Commissions from links on our pages are used to make new loans.
We have been lending money since December 2006, and have not lost a penny. Most new loans are funded by repayments on our earlier loans, augmented by any additional commissions we make from links on our pages.