I recently joined a microlending site called Kiva. Microloans are small loans, in amounts as low as $25, that help entrepreneurs in developing areas lift themselves out of poverty. People like you and I, who aren’t rich but who do enjoy some of life’s pleasures that aren’t accessible to many others, can help them find some of the successes we enjoy, by making tiny loans to them. Your tiny loan combined with my tiny loan, within a group of tiny loans, creates a fund that enables someone to realize their dream, doing work that will lift them out of poverty. Many of these budding entrepreneurs only need a few hundred dollars to make that dream come true, so it only takes a few of us to make it happen. And since these are loans, not handouts, the entrepreneurs pay us back in a fairly short amount of time.

You choose who to lend to – whether a baker in Afghanistan, a goat herder in Uganda, a farmer in Peru, a restaurateur in Cambodia, or a tailor in Iraq – and as they repay the loan, you get your money back.

That’s one way that each of – as individuals – can join together in tackling a massive problem – simply by being one tiny part of a solution.

I encourage you to check out Kiva and see if perhaps you might be interested in becoming a lender. You can sign up as an individual, and you can also join one of the community teams. These teams are merely a social aspect of the site, and aren’t a requirement by any means, but it does allow for some interesting conversations and joining together to make things happen. I joined the Bloggers team. I’d love to see you there as well, but there are lots of other teams that may be more to your liking. It doesn’t matter which team you join. You don’t have to join a team at all, but the team “spirit” seems to help everyone understand that by working together, we can alleviate poverty. Once you’re a part of the team, you can choose to have a future loan on Kiva “count” towards that team’s impact. The loan is still yours, and repayments still come to you – but you can also choose to have the loan show up in the team’s collective portfolio, so the team’s overall impact grows. Again, it’s just a social aspect, so the more important issue is simply being a lender – whether or not you join a team.

So let’s make history together. Let’s make an impact together. Let’s change the world together. Individually, we can make a difference. Together, we can change lives.

© Donna for DazzlinDonna, 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Afghanistan, Cambodia, farmer, Iraq, Peru, restaurateur, Uganda
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