I Am So Excited :)

Yay, what a great feeling! We received emails telling us that 3 of our borrowers made payments today !

Natalya Shtefurko (in Ukraine) and Tranquilina Gonzalez and Oscar Martinez (both in Paraguay).

On Thursday last, a payment was made by the Runyenjes Community Based Distributors Group (in Kenya).

Kiva makes you feel so connected to these very real people. Check out this promo video - only 1:03 minutes of your time...



later man, jan

Used Clothing in Ghana...

Doris Dwomoh needs a loan to help build her used clothing business in Ghana. Sure does seem to be a popular profession. Strange to think that used clothes get shipped from North America for sale in developing countries. Wonder how often they get shipped back to the country they were made in?

later man, jan

Global Movement of Goodness...

One Horizon Foundation in Nassau, Bahamas has offered to match any new Kiva loan...

All you need to do is send a copy of your confirmation email to One Horizon and they will lend the same amount and send you the name of the borrower...

I made a loan last night and today Benedicta Erhimu, in Nigeria has been added to the portfolio of One Horizon Foundation...

If you would like more info contact...
William N. Kenney
Vice-President, One Horizon Foundation (USA)
112 High Street
Lexington, KY 40507
(859) 233-9777 office
(859) 533-3405 mobile

Pass it on...

later man, jan

BEES - kept in the house ????

This is an interesting Kiva loan - a friend of ours keeps bees - wonder if he knows how to keep them in the house... Even tho it's already fully funded, I'll send him the link...

"Margarita is a very hard-working woman. Since she was young, thanks to the family apiary where they raised bees, she has known how to have them in the house, looking after them and giving them the right food so that they produce excellent quality honey. Each month she collects the sweet nectar to offer it in the monthly market in the city. The earnings have become a good source of income for the family and her desire is to increase the number of panals they have, and that is why she wants a loan."

later man, jan

FORUMS - do you get hung up in them like I do ???

We have been lending with KIVA since November 2007...
but only last week did I find the forum called KIVA Friends

There are a lot of little people out there just like me who want to help others -- and I'm hooked !!!

later man, jan

I loaned some money today... to a remarkable man...

This loan is only 50% funded...

I think because the Kiva site copies the loan request sent by their partner --- and the main page only shows the first couple of not very interesting lines... "Mr. Paulino Quintana is 35 years old and married to Mrs. Isadora Ortega, who is 31. They have 1 son and live in their own home in a neighborhood of the city of Santaní."

Big deal. Move on, right?

But if you take the trouble to click the link to more... this is a remarkable story...

--- please read on... or view the original posting here...

"Paulino is a multifaceted man. He works selling clothing together with his wife. She stays at home to sell the merchandise in the small store they have set up in their home while Paulino travels the neighborhoods offering his products. In addition to his sales work, Paulino is a teacher and director of a small local school where children, especially those with scarce resources who work during the day, attend night school.

Paulino says that despite being a humble man he aspires to instill in his students the idea and the example, through his own life, that those who want to get ahead can. Working and studying is a reality for many children in Paraguay who come from poor families and who from a very young age must learn to earn a living just to eat.

He wants his country to generate more sources of work for older people. He desires with all his heart that Paraguay progresses so that two year old childen no longer have to beg in the streets and children from 4 years old no longer have to go out to sell sweets and wash windows when they ought to be learning and playing."


later man, jan

Kiva - have you tried it ??

We just added another loan to our portfolio...


Florence is 45 years old and married with three children. Her husband is a farmer. Florence has a livestock business where she rears cows, goats, pigs and sheep. She wants to use the extra business profits to invest in the pig business. Solome, Norah, and Harriet are all poultry farmers and want to use the loan to purchase more poultry feed and also buy more chicks. Sarah sells charcoal and intends to increase stock with the loan.

This is a group loan. The loan funds will be distributed among the group members, each of whom will invest in her own business. The members mutually guarantee one another's loans. If one member does not repay, the other members are responsible.

follow this link to see how you too could help someone in our world...

later man, jan