Kiva Loan

This morning I got an email telling me that the Kiva loan I lent out last summer has been paid back in full! So this morning I got to pick a new person to help with my $25. Last time I picked a group of three women living in Africa who wanted to expand their store, and today I helped a woman living in Peru who has a dairy farm.

Kiva is a really admirable program, in my opinion. Ever since I learned about microloans in my international studies class in undergrad (an excellent book to read about the subject- Banker to the Poor by Mohammad Yunus), I’ve been a big fan. It’s amazing how an amount that seems so small can be a big help to someone. These microloans are great because the people get to use the money to improve their lives in whichever way best suits them, and they don't get taken advantage of by larger financial companies. It's really a wonderful idea, in my opinion, and I love being able to help out individual people instead of just sending money to an organization. It's awesome to pick out someone who you feel connected to or who you think your loan would best help.