You can go to Kiva's website and lend to someone for their business - like raising goats, selling vegetables at a market or making bricks. Each loan has a picture of the entrepreneur, a description of their business and how they plan to use the loan so you know exactly how your money is being spent - and you get updates letting you know how the business is going. Most repayment terms are from 6-12 months. Once you get your money back, you can either withdraw or help another entrepreneur.
Join me in changing the world - one loan at a time.
I actually heard about Kiva in a 2007 Oprah show. Kiva is legitimate. Oprah mentioned the idea of lending money to those living in Third World countries to help jump start their businesses. I was not sure about how this worked and was skeptical. Basically, you lend money and get repayment.
ReplyDeleteAll the info you need to help someone is in the Kiva website. These new or small businesses who need a few dollars and cents to start their business. Would it be difficult for you to lend just $25?
A word of caution: be careful of lending to areas in conflict since the infrastructure may not exist anymore or access to repayment may be difficult.
For the Kiva story on Oprah, see link below. This segment was also about giving through other organizations too (guests included former president Bill Clinton & Andre Agassi).
http://www.oprah.com/tows/slide/200709/20070904/slide_20070904_350_111.jhtml
Have a big heart!
Thank you for your comments, Nina! You are absolutely correct about lending to unstable regions where there could be civil unrest. I've lent to seven families around the world including Nicaragua, Bulgaria, Kenya, Lebanon, Cambodia, Mexico, and Paraguay. Of the seven regions, Kenya has been a troubled spot and my loan may never be paid back. However, the other six families are doing just fine. Two have already paid in full. So, now I'll need to lend out money to two new families that is in need!
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