Kiva.org Adds Microfinance Loans to My Facebook News Feed

January 15, 2008 at 11:39 pm · Filed under Microfinance

I made my second microfinance loan tonight to Andrei Mironov, a seller of ceramic tiles in Vasilyevka, Ukraine. Here’s Andrei:

When contributing, I noticed that I had the option on the thank you page on Kiva.org to add my loan info to my Facebook news feed. Here’s what the option looked like:

Now, here’s what my loan looks like in my Facebook news feed:

It’s features like this and I’m sure many others that are helping the loan applicants get funded so quickly. Kiva.org’s success in attracting money loaners is evident in this post on their site:

“Our new service is experiencing record traffic. In fact, on average, loans fundraising on the Kiva website receive full funding within a day. We want everyone to have a chance to lend, so we’re temporarily limiting loan contributions to $25 per business. We hope to remove the limit soon, as we work with our Field Partners to post more loans on the site.”

Pretty cool!

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My First Microfinance Loan

January 15, 2008 at 4:15 am · Filed under Microfinance

I just made a loan to someone in the developing world using a 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 business 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.

The entrepreneur receiving my loan is named Ashurov Ravshan and lives in Tajikistan. He still needs another $425.00 to complete their loan request of $1,050.00 (you can loan as little as $25.00!). The money I contributed toward Ashurov’s loan will go toward purchasing a horn pedigree bull and pedigree milk cow. Help me get this business off the ground by to make a loan to Ashurov Ravshan too.

It’s finally easy to actually do something about poverty - using Kiva I know exactly who my money is loaned to and what they’re using it for. And most of all, I know that I’m helping them build a sustainable business that will provide income to feed, clothe, house and educate their family long after my loan is paid back.

UPDATE: Ashurov’s loan request has been met. Best wishes on the new pedigree animals Ashurov!

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Mom’s Drawings

January 8, 2008 at 1:14 am · Filed under Art

Last year, I gave my mom a couple different kinds of Moleskine notebooks. She’s already filled a complete Moleskine Accordian Album with beautiful sketches. She’s uploaded some of her work to Flickr. Take a look:

Note: The cat in this photo is the brother of my cat here in New York. He was a bit too unstable to move across the country, but lives the farm life with my parents now.

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