But back to
Kiva. I first heard about it a month or so ago.
We were sitting at dinner and I don't remember what the conversation was or if I was even paying attention, but whichever my attention was caught when my daughter Katie said she was a lender. I thought she meant as a character in one of her video games. No she assured me, she meant lender in real life, and no she didn't make any interest off of it, and she reloaned the money over and over.
I guess its a small amount, like $50, but she's been doing it for a year. My hubby seemed to know about it, I don't know how it had escaped my attention for a year.
Kiva's mission is to connect people, through lending, for the sake of alleviating poverty.
It works by a lot of people donating small amounts for loans worldwide for small businesses. Here's some of the current people and businesses looking for loans.
The finance groups that the loans go through are rated with stars and data about how often the loans they give are repaid. In the year Katies been doing it she's only had one default and she's done several loans. The loans have different time frames for repayment and she's picked short term loans. I have another friend thats been doing it for 4 years and she's only had 2 defaults. She only picks out of the 4 or 5 star groups to lend through.
I'm not advocating for anyone here to become a lender. I just thought it was a cool system for helping people.
If you are trying to get a loan you need to apply through one of the field partners in your area, or if there isn't one try the Mix Market which helps you find microfinancing institutions in your area.
