Kiva Update

About four months ago I wrote a post about the website Kiva. Kiva is a microfinance website. Members can donate money to lower income people across the world in amounts of $25.00 or more. It is an opportunity for people that normally might not be able to, to obtain loans for their businesses or personal expenses.

Since I've joined up I've made eight loans. A couple of my original ones have been fully paid back (allowing me to make additional loans) and one is currently delinquent in making his repayments.

It is a great learning experience. After reading through many profiles looking for the right loan to make you obtain an understanding of the the lives others in the world live. One potential lender I looked at was trying to raise money to rebuild his business after it was destroyed in political unrest.

I finally found a loan that met my current personal preferences; an individual (not a group), 12 month or shorter repayment plan, from most countries. Thus far I've given loans to people in Bolivia, Kenya, Ghana, Peru, Philippines, Ukraine, Tanzania, and Tajikistan.

So far it has been a very interesting experience. I still have to do some more independent research on microfinance, but it seems to be a great way to help. Loaning someone money and expecting it to be repaid helps to teach some responsibility where just giving money does not.

I'll be sure to give more update as things develop. Has anyone else used Kiva? If so do you have any interesting stories?

Kiva

I have recently begun experimenting with microfinancing. Microfinancing is a way for low-income and/or self-emploed people without access to regular banking services to get loans. It is an interesting subject so I decided the best way to learn more about it was to jump in and participate in it.

The site I'm doing this through is Kiva. From what I can tell Kiva is the current leader in microfinancing. There are thousands of members giving money to people across the world who need loans.

Here's how it works:

• You sign up for Kiva and fund your account with a credit card or PayPal
• Browse the many available loans that are available. There are filters to narrow your search to certain geogrphic areas, etc
• Make a loan of $25 or more to the individual of your choice. There will also be a request for a small donation for the operating costs of Kiva itself when you process the loan
• Months later repayment of the loan will begin (suprisingly it looks like there is a very high repayment percent right now)
• Take the money that has been repayed and repeat (or pull the money out of your account)

Currently there are three loans that I have helped to fund:

• A woman in Kenya who needed money to buy a cow
• A woman in Ukraine who needed funds to stock up on inventory for her seasonal business
• A man in Tanzania who wanted to make improvements to his pub

It will be a learning experience and will allow me to help entrepreneurs across the world. As my experiences with Kiva continue I'll be sure to post any important updates.