Archive for the 'Kiva' Category
May Kiva
I finalized my May Kiva loan with only two hours left in the month, but it’s done! May I present…
Amah Mawusse Akpom
Mission-Tove, Togo
Mrs. Akpom is 34 years old, married and the mother of five children. She has been in rice agriculture since 2002 as a hired hand, and hopes to be able to purchase her own plot of land. As a side business, she also prepares “gari” (a food derived from the cassava root that is often eaten with beans) in order to sell in the markets or to women who come from the city to purchase it at low prices.
Even though Mrs. Akpom has her certificate in accounting, she is currently forced to work for very low wages as a hired hand in the rice fields. Receiving this loan would allow Mrs. Akpom to work for herself and to take better care of her family. Her two eldest children are in school and the 3 youngest have not yet begun. Since her husband pays little attention to her and the family’s needs, she has moved into her father’s home with the children. She is almost solely responsible for their needs since her husband only helps to pay the school fees for the children. She is not able to feed her family more than twice a day, and the meals are not very substantial. She also cannot afford to go to the hospital, so she relies on herbal remedies and unregulated medicine when there is an illness.
Mrs. Akpom is currently asking for her first loan of $1,000 in order to purchase 5 square plots of land as part of a larger plot of land to be purchased by her solidarity group. She will use the land to plant rice and will repay her loan in 12 months.
Mrs. Akpom is a very hard working woman who knows how to cultivate rice and this loan will be a great source of joy and allow her to improve her family’s standard of living.
I chose Amah because, first of all, my previous three Kiva loans have gone to men in Azerbaijan. I figured I would mix things up a bit and lend to a woman in a different country.
Also, I would like for Amah to become the richest woman in Mission-Tove, Togo, to demonstrate women need d-bag “husbands” like hers like fish need bicycles. Go get ‘em, Amah!
I was apparently the last $25 she needed to complete her loan, so she’s fully funded and as a result won’t be appearing in my sidebar. There are plenty of other worthy entrepreneurs out there, though, so get to lending!
Best Kiva person so far:
I am REALLY excited about this. Guess what I’m doing for my April Kiva?
Helping Kamran Kasimov buy a SHOTGUN! Definitely my new favorite Kiva recipient. I’ve got a big goofy grin on my face over this one. I believe this is an omen that April is going to be a good month!
How could I forget the beer – or Kiva?
Tonight’s brew of choice was a Harp lager, by the makers of Guinness. It’s no Guinness, for sure, but thanks to my usual consumption I think my iron levels are so high I’m probably actually magnetic by now. I do have to take a break from the nectar of the gods from time to time. Don’t worry, though, St. Pat’s is coming up, and I’ll be in good form somewhere in the greater Seattle area. Look for the girl with a big collection of formerly-holding-Guinness pint glasses and formerly-containing-Jameson shot glasses – that will be me. If you find me that way at closing time, please point me in the rough direction of Moscow, I’ll find my way home.
Also, I wanted to make a quick post about Kiva, the coolest ‘charity’ idea ever. It’s a microfinance loan organization – basically, you loan money to entrepreneurs in the developing world. Loans are in $25 increments, and have something like a 99% repayment rate. I like this for three reasons:
1. I would rather give somebody a hand up than a hand out. This program helps people to become self-sufficient businesspeople. Like the old proverb says – “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”
2. I think the values taught by a loan program are better than values taught by a charity program. The recipients learn an important economic lesson – TANSTAAFL.
3. I have a really, really good chance that my $25 will come back to me eventually. That means I can either withdraw it from the program, or, better yet, turn around and re-invest it in another entrepreneur.
I’ve decided to give one $25 loan each month (plus a $2.50 donation to help Kiva with operating costs), and so far I’ve loaned to Mobil and Maksad in Azerbaijan.
I also have an automatically updating script thingy set up in my sidebar (on the left) that will start off with information about my monthly loan. As long as s/he is still in need, it will display how much they have to go – once their loan is funded, it will display a random in-need individual.
I really urge you to check out Kiva for yourself, and decide if you have room in your budget for $25 (or more) here and there to help somebody build a self-sufficient life.