Have a Kiva Account?

[-HRanchito]

My Kiva account just got back up to $25, so I found Manahi, a woman in Jordan who is raising rabbits and chickens, so I decided to reinvest in her!

http://www.kiva.org/lend/438611

She only is up to 3%, so if any of you guys have Kiva accounts, rabbit raising globally is a nifty thing to support
Follow this link for a free trial and free $25 loan: http://www.kiva.org/invitedby/alexandra3418

 

[arachyd]

Just my personal opinion but I consider them (Kiva, not the recipients) leeches taking advantage of the generosity and compassion of good people toward the less fortunate. The last time I looked into Kiva it was clear they were just a middleman company making a profit off the money you send to poor people trying to make it in impoverished areas.

 

[-HRanchito]

Kiva itself runs on donations to their operating costs....

It's a nonprofit. Read that again: NON profit. They pay for their office and a few salaries and webhosting with that.

Really, you're loaning the money to a microfinance institution, rather than the individual themselves, but it's not really logistically possible to do it individually until everyone in a developing nation has a paypal account of their own. I don't think it's any worse than all these charities that only use a percentage for charitable purposes.

The point is - it sucks to go to the bank and have them tell you they can't afford to give any new loans this year...or probably the next..or the next. I put $50 in my Kiva account, and have gotten 25 of it back on time. All I missed out on was a quarte of a penny worth of interest I might have gotten if I hadn't spent it on beer.

Kiva is not about handouts, it's about stimulating an economy and giving a leg up to people are alreayd working there arses off.

 

[Tegan]

My daughter had a kiva acct (she's 4, it was gifted to her by her uncle). Currently all her money (except $2.58 that's been paid back) is helping a lady develop her farm (pigs if I remember correctly). She's loaned out about 5 times now.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Interesting... never heard of it.

 

[ladysown]

$25 free trial...what's it matter in the long run? you can potentially help someone out without risking your own funds.

One goes into these types of things prepared to totally lose the dollars they invest. called CHARITY. Charity isn't a bad thing. And this instance it potentially allows someone to have a helping hand, and if the business succeeds, to have that money returned.

 

[wildeden]

Never heard of it before, I may look into it