Kiva

A few months ago, I was given the gift of a few certificates to use on Kiva. I was so impressed that I had to share it with everyone in my address book. Then I thought, even better, blog about it! Please check out their website. It allows you to connect with so many people around the world who are in need of small loans, loans that could drastically change their lives, and who cannot access them without the help of this non-profit organization. Here is the flow chart that illustrates how Kiva works.
What makes me so warm to this method of lending money is that it is a succesful way to help people lift themselves out of poverty. All by their own motivation and hard work, and by doing things that they are talented or trained in.

With Kiva, you can search for loans by gender, geography, or sector. Here is the first person I decided to support on Kiva.

Ofugho is a 30 year old married woman with a child.She has been working as a commercial-based tailor since 2004 to earn income to satisfy the needs of her child and husband. She is requesting for the loan amount of N50,000 to purchase tailoring materials to meet the requirement of her customers and make good income.She says thanks to all kiva lenders.

Her requested loan amount equated to $350 USD to be repaid over a period of 10 months. A person can loan as little as $25. I wanted to support Ofugho because this loan will help empower her to do and be more in her world. If she is sucessful, she can be a good example to other women in her community. My hope is that by helping this one person, it will have a small, but still very positive effect in that local community. I will keep you all updated on how her progress plays out. If you have more questions, go to the Kiva about microfinance page for more information.