Guest feature: Mary of For A Life Inspired on Kiva

I love finding blogs that write about important topics that make the world a better place, so you can imagine my delight when I clicked to For A Life Inspired. You may remember that I just wrote a guest post for Mary of For A Life Inspired last week. When Mary asked me to write a guest post for her, I asked if she’d like to write one for FLC, too! I’m so glad she agreed and wrote a feature on such a great organization and cause.

When I was thinking of a topic that would resonate with the core of Eva’s passion to make a difference, it was with perfect timing that I received an email from Kiva.org. I had loaned $25 to a group of women who sell goods at a corner store in Nicaragua a few months ago, and the e-mail was to notify me that it had just been re-payed in full. Sweet! I quickly went to the website and found a woman who owns a food stall in Vietnam and is looking for a loan to be able to buy more produce to increase her revenue. She hopes one day to be able to send her son to University. I took that $25 that was in my account and sent it to her.

Have you heard of Kiva before? It is a wonderful non-profit that provides an opportunity for individuals worldwide to change the lives of those in poverty through micro-finance. Micro-finance is a service in which small loans are offered to people in poverty that have nothing in the way of collateral to offer in return. These entrepreneurs who do not have the liberty of standard banking services can now receive the capital necessary to run a farm, start a clothing shop, buy produce to sell in a food stand, or start other business ventures. Ideally, this increases the success of their business, allowing them to repay the loan and have the financial ability to send their children to school, afford better nutrition, and overall improve their quality of life.

Through Kiva, you can choose a borrower by searching through their database of people in over 50 different countries. Each profile has a photo of the person or group and a small part of their story and ambitions. Once you pick a person that jumps out to you, you can loan a minimum of $25 towards their total need (100% of what you give goes directly towards that loan through Kiva’s partner micro-finance institution in that country). You can stay up-to-date on the status of your loan on the website while the money is posted back to your account as it is re-payed. You can then choose to re-lend it to another person or draw it out of your account.

By helping to provide the funding for a woman in a small village in Nicaragua to buy the sowing machine and fabric needed to make clothes to sell, you are helping to give her the sense of worth and dignity that comes with her own empowerment. It truly allows for a ‘hand up’ instead of a ‘hand out’ as people are equipped with the tools to lift themselves out of poverty instead of being kept passive (it also has contributed to the advancement of gender equality in many societies).

Photograph that I took of a woman in Calcutta, India, in the middle of her work day.
She is delivering fabrics to be sold. (January 2010)

To me Kiva has been a wonderful yet simple way of contributing to the creation of opportunities for people through each loan I make. I have loved being able to feel connected to these hardworking entrepreneurs across the world as they seek a better quality of life. It is unimaginable to know what my measly $25 means to someone in Africa. What could potentially buy me a new t-shirt has the ability to contribute towards a means of livelihood, opportunity, and hope for a beautiful person in another part of the world. I love that.

You can read more about micro-finance and the work that Kiva is doing here. Join the over 600,000 individuals who have already joined the community as lenders and take part in an effective way to change lives.

“The key to ending extreme poverty is to enable the poorest of the poor to get their foot on the ladder of development. The ladder of development hovers overhead, and the poorest of the poor are stuck beneath it. They lack the minimum amount of capital necessary to get a foothold, and therefore need a boost up to the first rung.”

– Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute, Author of “The End of Poverty”

Logo with permission from kiva.org

Comments

Hannah (Culture Connoisseur)
26 July 2011 - 4:23 pm

I totally dig the micro-financing movement. I really think it has the power to change in ways non-profits previously were unable to do. It’s does away with enabling and really invites change to sweep a country…changing lives along the way!

Jessie
26 July 2011 - 9:26 pm

This is so inspiring. Thanks for letting us know about Kiva. By the way, I just host a new giveaway so stop by and enter for a chance to win a piece of fabulous jewelry of your choice!

Jessie
http://www.mixandchic.com

Misty :)
26 July 2011 - 11:33 pm

This is absolutely amazing! When I get out of school and find a good job, I think it would be nice to be able to help out with this kind of thing!! I’m going to have to keep this bookmarked or something, otherwise I will forget about it!

But to be able to make that much of a differenct to someone is unbelievable. We waste so much money on stuff that we don’t need. Why not use it to help better someone else’s life? This is such an awesome idea, and whoever came up with it is a genius!!

www.StarHughes.com
27 July 2011 - 6:55 am

Wow, what an amazing website and amazing cause! And how neat to think that you’re helping these women around the world feel empowered and make something of themselves. Great guest post!

Krystal/Village
27 July 2011 - 9:01 pm

I have heard of this but I’d never read a review from someone who has used it so this was awesome to read!

Kayla @ Exquisite Banana
27 July 2011 - 11:04 pm

Way to go, Mary! I need to get involved asap. Eva, did you know that Mary and I are friends in real life? She’s just as awesome and sincere as she comes across on the internet. Maybe one day we can all meet up together and have a big happy joy party!

Eva
28 July 2011 - 1:56 am

I’m SO pleased to read so many positive thoughts on this fantastic feature by Mary!

Kayla – What a small world we live in! That’s amazing that you two know each other personally and the thought of all of us meeting up one day is that much more fascinating! I’m crossing my fingers for one day… you’re giving me yet another reason to definitely go back to visit all over America and now I’ll actually have people to visit in the different states! : )

Liz
28 July 2011 - 7:31 pm

Kiva is such a great organization. It started off as just an idea and now it’s a movement, so awesome. Great review, I definitely need to get involved!

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12 August 2011 - 12:01 am

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