Make a Small Loan, Make a Big Difference

I just made a loan to someone in Africa using a revolutionary new website called Kiva.

You can go to Kiva’s website and lend to someone in the developing world who needs a loan for their business - like raising goats, selling vegetables at 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 entrepreneur is going. The best part is, when the entrepreneur pays back their loan you get your money back - and Kiva’s loans are managed by microfinance institutions on the ground who have a lot of experience doing this, so you can trust that your money is being handled responsibly.

I just made a loan to an entrepreneur named Maureen Kakyazzi in Uganda. Maureen is 36 years old. She has a canteen for home product sales. She wants to use the extra profits to re-invest in the business. Ruth has a public pay phone and wants to use the loan to buy more air time cards. Betty has a charcoal selling business and wants to add in stock. Juliet and Specioza both have retail shops and want to increase capital. This is a group loan. The loan funds will be distributed among the group members, each of whom will invest in her own business. The members mutually guarantee one another’s loans. If one member does not repay, the other members are responsible.

They still need another $1,050.00 to complete their loan request of $1,775.00 (you can loan as little as $25.00!). Help me get this entrepreneur off the ground by clicking on this link to make a loan to Maureen Kakyazzi too.

Tuesday morning update: I just made a second loan. Tatu is 30 years old and is single. Tatu owns a food vendor store which she started in 2006. She works every day from 6 am to 5 pm at her business. In the past, Tatu has taken out one successful loan from BRAC Tanzania to expand her business. She now hopes for a loan to buy more food items for her business. She will share this loan with her subgroup members, who have businesses dealing in genge (small food vendors) and drinks selling. Learn more about this group here.

You have one life - make a difference. Would you join me in changing our world - one loan at a time.

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.  Give a woman a micro credit and your feed her, her family and her community for a life time.”  Bono

Dream Venti…