Kiva - Loans that change lives.

What is Kiva?

Kiva's mission is to connect people, through lending, for the sake of alleviating poverty.

Kiva empowers individuals to lend to an entrepreneur across the globe. By combining microfinance with the internet, Kiva is creating a global community of people connected through lending.


Pendo Luisi, 27 years old, borrowed $175 to open a cafe in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Kiva was born of the following beliefs:

• People are by nature generous, and will help others if given the opportunity to do so in a transparent, accountable way.
  
• The poor are highly motivated and can be very successful when given an opportunity.
  
• By connecting people we can create relationships beyond financial transactions, and build a global community expressing support and encouragement of one another.
  

Kiva promotes:

• Dignity: Kiva encourages partnership relationships as opposed to benefactor relationships. Partnership relationships are characterized by mutual dignity and respect.
  
• Accountability: Loans encourage more accountability than donations where repayment is not expected.
  
• Transparency: The Kiva website is an open platform where communication can flow freely around the world.
  

As of November 2009, Kiva has facilitated over $100 million in loans.

---> Linky <---

It is my intention to set up a Home Made Life Paypal account and for one year, all donations made by members towards the running of the forum will be entered into a Kiva Loan account. I will keep the records on the public forum so we can all monitor the progress.

I believe in and have promoted microfinancing for many years, I am especially delighted to have found Kiva and have the opportunity to support to the best of my ability.

I would also like to encourage members, if it is within their means, to register. The minimum loan is $25 which isn't really that much to those of us in the West, but can mean a vast amount as a microloan to a person running or setting up a business in the developing world.

Are these loans interest free?

How Kiva Works

1) Kiva Partners with a Microfinance Institution

Kiva partners with existing microfinance institutions around the world (we call them Field Partners). These organizations that have expertise in microfinance and a mission to alleviate poverty facilitate Kiva loans on the ground. Our Field Partners know their local area and clients and do all the leg work required to get Kiva loans to the entrepreneurs posted on Kiva.org.

2) Field Partners Disburse Loans and Upload Stories

Field Partners disburse loans as soon as they are needed. They can do this up to 30 days before the loan request is posted on Kiva's website or 30 days after (most choose to disburse funds before the loan request is posted). The Field Partner collects entrepreneur stories, pictures and loan details and uploads them to Kiva. Volunteer editors and translators review the loan requests and publish them to Kiva.org. Many Field Partners require mandatory savings as part of the loan cycle in order to ensure that borrowers represent a good lending risk and can build up cash reserves.

3) Lenders Browse Profiles and Lend

Lenders browse loan requests and select which ones they'd like to fund. Lenders can fund as little as $25 and as much as the entire amount of the loan. To help streamline the loan transaction process, loan requests posted by the Field Partner are rounded up to the nearest $25 increment. Kiva aggregates funds from Kiva lenders and provides them to the Field Partner.

4) Kiva Disburses Lenders' Funds to the Field Partner

The Field Partner uses the funds to replenish the loan they've already made to the entrepreneur. Kiva provides these funds on a schedule that accommodates the Field Partners' banking procedures.

5) Entrepreneurs Repay Their Loans

The Field Partner collects repayments from Kiva entrepreneurs as well as any interest due and lets . Kiva know if a repayment was not made as scheduled. Interest rates are set by the Field Partner, and that interest is used to cover the Field Partner's operating costs. Kiva doesn't charge interest to its Field Partners and does not provide interest to lenders. Kiva also gives Field Partners the option to cover currency losses Learn more

To minimize the expense and maximize the efficiency of money transfers, Kiva works on a net billing system. This means that, for any given month, we subtract the amount of Field Partner repayments from the amount of loans made by Kiva lenders. Kiva only asks our Field Partners to send payments for the difference and they have 30 days to send payment.

6) Kiva Provides Repayments to Lenders

If there is already money in the Field Partner's account, or once their payment is received, Kiva uses these funds to credit the appropriate lenders with their loan repayments. Lenders can re-lend their funds to another entrepreneur, donate their funds to Kiva (to cover operational expenses),or withdraw their funds via PayPal.

They're a good idea for gifts as well. As a change from a goat or a book token.

Do this already and didn't think to post Sorry, will go away and look hard at the other stuff I do in a similar vein and see if any can be shared on here if people want to join in.

feel bad now that had not posted before, but doing "charitable" stuff feels to me sort of private, you know? (Damn that british reserve!)

I have no idea why I feel that way and it is plain daft to feel like that, but hey ho...

off to research links and get them together to post.

There is now a Homemadelife Paypal account set up and I have registered on Kiva, unfortunately there seems to be no way for me to register as HML, so it is in my name

The Paypal Donate button at the top left of forum links directly to donate funds into the Homemadelife Paypal account. There are no bank or Credit card accounts associated with this Paypal account and all funds donated will be used to participate in Kiva Micro finances.

As the fund grows and I make decisions as to which individual or groups to lend to, I shall start a new thread detailing them and what they do.

I will also make available, to anyone who asks, a screenshot of the Paypal accounts to ensure that all transactions are transparent.

Sounds wonderful Badger!

The Homemade Life Kiva team page

---> Linky <---

joined!

Thanks Badger, I've joined too. Sounds really good..

Hairyloon wrote:They're a good idea for gifts as well. As a change from a goat or a book token.

Good point HL

If any HML member decides to make a donation to the HML Kiva fund as a gift for a loved one and would like to have a certificate of some kind to give in lieu, then please let me know via PM of the details and I shall sort something out.

Just like to add that our Kiva account now has the $25 I transferred in today - with thanks to my wonderful and much loved and long suffering generous husband.

Thank you for our newest donation - you know who you are and I thank you, money now transferred into our Kiva account.

I will start researching for our first person/cooperative.

I am leaning strongly towards >> These ladies in Kyrgyzstan <<

Thank you for our 3rd donation of the day - thank you thank you again and again.

Our Kiva account is building beautifully thanks to our lovely members.

I would like our membership to have a look through the >>> list of people <<< requesting assistance and add their recommendations. I have read through so many and have been overwhelmed by each and every story and quite frankly want to help every single person listed.

Remember that your donations are not used as charitable gifts but as loans to hard working people whose circumstance can be improved dramatically by small amounts of money.

For example


This group is called DULCE MARIA (Sweet Maria), because they
like the name and because they want life to become sweeter. It’s
located in the state of Mexico, in Mexico. The group has 10 members.

Magdalena Morales García is the president of the group. She is 40 years
old, studied until second grade in elementary school, is a merchant and
has 4 children in total, 1 girl and 3 boys. She sells clothes and
embroidered tablecloths and aprons. She started selling the clothes a
year ago and the embroidery 13 years ago. She is soliciting the loan to
stock up on clothes and thread for her embroidery. Her customers say
good things about her, since she lets them pay for the clothes in
instalments and the embroidery she does is very creative and beautiful.
She feels very happy and excited requesting the loan, since she will be
able to grow her business and increase her sales. She wants this loan
so that she can become known in other communities; she needs a large
amount of stock in order to sell outside of her community. She also
hopes to keep her children in school, since they are the ones that
motivate her to get ahead.

This photo was taken in the house of Maria Luz. Magdalena’s table
clothes are visible, as well as the aprons and clothes that she sells,
of which there is an amply supply in the photo.

The Kyrygyzstani ladies look okay to me.

I have read through lots of the lists as well and wish I had more money to loan!

I like the Kyrygyzstani ladies as well, and there is a

similar > group from Paraguay < as well

I am leaning towards those groups and individuals who are agricultural or craft based.

Unfortunately it seems that any loans made to people in Nicaragua or Pakistan may not be repaid, not though any fault of the individual, but from government interference in the schemes. If I think that there are any that particularly stand out, I would like to have a pros and cons discussion with the membership about making the loan, bearing in mind that we may not be repaid. It is heartbreaking the small amounts that people need, I wish I were rich enough to help more.

ok

We have made our first loan to the Ladies in Kyrgyzstan.

I was going for groups or individuals who were growing or rearing food, also I was looking for education schemes especially in Africa

Hurrah! is it not amazing how such a small ish sum of money can feel so good!

we nearly went to the pub for lunch as a treat today, and 2 pints and 2 meals would have totalled about £16, which is about $25 I think....

puts it in perspective really, doesn't it.

Compostwoman wrote:Hurrah! is it not amazing how such a small ish sum of money can feel so good!.

Oddly no, just frustrated that I cannot do more - starting to feel somewhat impassioned about this now. Though I promise not to turn into Gelforf. There will be no

" GIVE ME YOUR ---KING MONEY, NOW!!!"

from me

I am a glass half full type, myself...

We can't solve ALL of the problems in the world but we CAN help to solve some of them.

I am as a rule, but its a bit upsetting to see so many people who need help and having to choose one over another.