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Kiva Micro Lending Update

Published by Rick Meigs on March 5th, 2010 in Orthopraxy.

I started making micro loans through Kiva in the fall of 2006. To date, 91 loans have been made of which 58 have been repaid, 27 are being paid back and 6 ended in with a small loss.

It is interesting that those which ended in a loss were not due to the borrower failing to make payments, but because of financial irregularities (bankruptcy, fraud or poor operations) with the Field Partner. A Field Partner is the local in-country microfinance institution which connects Kiva with the borrows and then services the loan once it is funded. Regardless, I’m pretty pleased with my experience.

Here is how the Kiva system works:

A great book to read on how micro lending started and the impact it can have is Dr. Muhammad Yunus’ “Banker to the Poor.” You can read my review here.

You might consider Kiva also. Lend as little as $25.00 to a baker in Afghanistan, a goat herder in Uganda, a farmer in Peru, a restaurateur in Cambodia, or a tailor in Iraq. It’s a potent and sustainable way to empower someone to lift themselves out of poverty.

 

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9 Responses to “Kiva Micro Lending Update”

  1. BlindBeggar
    March 5th, 2010 at 3:38 pm

    A Kiva Micro Lending Update, how has it gone after four years of micro lending — http://bit.ly/9UYBvI

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  2. newstips4mamas
    March 5th, 2010 at 9:20 pm

    Kiva Micro Lending Update | The Blind Beggar http://bit.ly/9AmORo

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  3. Alex
    March 6th, 2010 at 7:10 am

    I thought you might find this interesting, given your post on Kiva:

    http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2009/10/kivaorg_role_model_or_cautiona.html

  4. Rick Meigs
    March 6th, 2010 at 3:17 pm

    Thanks Alex. Old news which doesn’t change all to good in micro lending and Kiva. The lenders, like me, are still in full control of which loans they fund. If people are not comfortable with Kiva, there are others they can go with.

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    March 21st, 2010 at 12:39 am

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    March 21st, 2010 at 12:39 am

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  8. J_cd
    March 21st, 2010 at 12:39 am

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    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  9. J_cd
    March 21st, 2010 at 12:39 am

    Pink Floyd - Shine On You Crazy Diamond (parts VI-XI) http://twic.li/ieB ?

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

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