Kiva

I heard about this great website from a friend of mine and I checked it all out today. It is such an amazing idea! I must share it with you. What you do is you go to this website and you can see profile of people from developing countries that are needing loans to start their own business. You can get information about them and the business they are wanting to start. Then you can make a loan to them. What happens is several people make loans to them so they get the full loan amount they need to start their business. Then they pay everyone one back over a certain period of time. Once the money is paid back to your account you can either take the money back or you can make another loan. The money is all managed by the organization and during the repayment period you get updates about the person you loaned to and how their business is developing. It's such a simple yet powerful way to help people!

What I love about this is that it really is a way to help people help themselves. So often you hear people say that people just want handouts. But I don't think that is true. I think the majority of the people in this world want to take care of themselves and their families. I think people want to work and provide for themselves. This a way to help them make that happen!

So I looked through all the profiles and I choose to lead $50.00 to a gal in Mexico that is opening a grocery store. She is close to my age and has a couple kids. She only needed $950.00 in total so I'm thinking that only a few more people will need to donate to get her the loan so she can get to work. I'm anxious to see how well she does.

I think this would be a great idea for parents to do with their kids. You can teach them about giving to others, developing a business, and about another culture. And with the updates along the way it's a great way to connect to the person you are helping. Heck maybe one day you can take a family trip and eat at the little restaurant you helped get off the ground. Pretty awesome if you ask me.

So please go visit Kiva and let me know what you think. I'd love to know who you help!

Jessie