Mom and I joined Kiva 1 year ago today.
Ramona’s profile
Mom’s profile
Between the two of us …
With our individual $25 contributions, we’ve joined forces with over 620 people from 26 different countries to send over $25,000 to 33 developing businesses in 20 countries. Almost $6,000 of that has already been repaid.
Feels pretty amazing.
Actually, Kiva always feels pretty amazing.
I’m connected to the world now. I can make a difference in people’s lives, not in big grand gestures, but from one person to one person. I’m part of an international community that is out there, on the ground, making a positive impact on people’s individual lives.
There’s a way for me to directly help someone in Kenya (Geoffrey Onyango) when they’re being rocked by election violence. I care about Kenya’s election violence because I know someone (Mary Otieno) in the middle of it. I can address immigration concerns by helping someone in Mexico (José Labrada) improve their living conditions.
(all of these examples are taken from my and mom’s portfolios .. I say “I” but that’s a generalized “I” .. some of these are technically mine, some are technically mom’s, but for the sake of the post, it’s all generic)
I have seen the amazingly creative businesses out there around the world – photography and film; embroidery, fashion design, iron working, even a wine bar.
And I’m part of these businesses.
There are now Kiva teams, for the lenders to get together. We have a team – Part of the Solution. There are teams for Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Mormons, Catholics, and Atheists. There are teams for businesses, schools, people celebrating weddings or 40th birthdays or how much they all like pets, cats, or bicycling.
And I have something in common with all these diverse groups. We all have loans together.
So there’s this sense of being part of a very specific and individual interaction – I am loaning $25 to Kan Pheap in Cambodia to buy a cow. And then I step back .. and there’s the sense of being part of something much, much larger. Kiva itself is only 3 years old. And in 3 years, 350,000 people from everywhere have banded together and have sent 47 million dollars abroad. That’s not exactly “micro”finance.