K is for..........

K is for...........Kiva.

A few years ago, we set up an account with Kiva, a non-profit organization that allows people to loan money to entrepreneurs in developing countries. Kiva works with regional microfinance institutions to distribute member donations. As of March 31, 2012, Kiva has loaned over $300,000,000 to small business owners all over the world, with 80.46% of all loans going to women. If you are interested in learning more, just click on the graphic to go to Kiva's website.

We have made 16 loans to small business owners all over the world. 11 have been paid back in full, 4 are ongoing, and one loan was refunded. We get an email every time a payment is made on an outstanding loan, and when there is enough in our account, we look for other people to loan the money.

We started with an initial donation of $150, all of which we loaned to Comfort Anima in Ghana to help her buy supplies for her store. As Comfort repaid the loan, we in turn, loaned that money to other entrepreneurs. I may be oversimplifying, but the way I look at it, our original $150 has become the $625 we have so far loaned through Kiva. As our loans are repaid, that number will continue to grow. We have enjoyed our involvement with Kiva, and as a family, we look forward to helping more people.