Today's post is going to be long, because they do something I'm very passionate about.
Kiva.org is the world's first loaning site for micro-credit. Micro-credit is
making loans of smaller sizes available to the disadvantaged sections of the society. People who need amounts of money as small as a couple of hundred dollars to meet their needs. Such small loans aren't given out by banks, because they feel poor people are also bad customers and the cost of providing small loans is really high. So other agencies called micro-finance agencies provide such small loans. BTW the Nobel Peace prize for 2006 was awarded to Grameen foundation and its founder Md. Yunnus, who are the pioneers of micro-finance.
Read more about micro-finance on the wikipedia.
So what is Kiva.org in plain english? Kiva is a place where you can be a part of the revolution that micro-credit is, by loaning a small amount to some poorer people in the third world. The website has profiles of borrowers and the loan amounts they require. You can lend a part of the loan or the whole of it. The minimum amount you can loan is 25$.
Kiva.org is a web2.0 site which actually exists outside the internet, in fact most of its work is done off the internet. They have currently have partners in Africa, South America and Lower Europe. So you can loan to people in those continents. They still haven't started operations in India, because of regulatory issues. But anyways if you are looking to loan to people in India, you should be able to do so by the end of summer, because of a new to-be venture here. ;)
All you require to loan is a Paypal account. So go on and become a member, a 'loaner' and do some social good. Check out the widget on the left column of this blog to see a borrower.
Kiva is a non-profit organization and they run on donations. Also you do not get any returns on your loan. Most loans are repaid in about 8-9 months.
making loans of smaller sizes available to the disadvantaged sections of the society. People who need amounts of money as small as a couple of hundred dollars to meet their needs. Such small loans aren't given out by banks, because they feel poor people are also bad customers and the cost of providing small loans is really high. So other agencies called micro-finance agencies provide such small loans. BTW the Nobel Peace prize for 2006 was awarded to Grameen foundation and its founder Md. Yunnus, who are the pioneers of micro-finance.Read more about micro-finance on the wikipedia.
So what is Kiva.org in plain english? Kiva is a place where you can be a part of the revolution that micro-credit is, by loaning a small amount to some poorer people in the third world. The website has profiles of borrowers and the loan amounts they require. You can lend a part of the loan or the whole of it. The minimum amount you can loan is 25$.
Kiva.org is a web2.0 site which actually exists outside the internet, in fact most of its work is done off the internet. They have currently have partners in Africa, South America and Lower Europe. So you can loan to people in those continents. They still haven't started operations in India, because of regulatory issues. But anyways if you are looking to loan to people in India, you should be able to do so by the end of summer, because of a new to-be venture here. ;)
All you require to loan is a Paypal account. So go on and become a member, a 'loaner' and do some social good. Check out the widget on the left column of this blog to see a borrower.
Kiva is a non-profit organization and they run on donations. Also you do not get any returns on your loan. Most loans are repaid in about 8-9 months.
3 comments:
Yup, they are doing some amazing work. I'm waiting for the day they'll enter India.
Nice site here, I've added it to my Feedreader. -:)
Thanks buddy. keep reading :)
Hi,
so do you know about this new-to-be venture which starts no earlier to the end of summer?You did surpass my expectations, you actually run ahead of time.:D
Keep posting.
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