Kiva - a really great idea

[Dave]

It is said that one of thing that needs to be done to help people live peacefully is provide a means to earn a living, and the ability to feed oneself. Just by handing someone a bag of food does not give them pride or self-respect, but can make them feel demeaned and/or hopeless. I think that a organization that is doing a good job of truly helping people out is:

www.kiva.org

Kiva collects money from you and I, and distributes it to field representatives in many third world countries. These field representatives then loan out the money to local entrepreneurs, thus helping them start a business that can give them pride and self-respect, but also provide local jobs and help the local economy. The money is a loan to the entrepreneurs, and once the loan is paid off you can either cash the money out, or you can lend the money to another entrepreneur.

I think that micro-economics is a cool way to help the people of less fortunate countries. I would love to know what you think.

[Jamison Maier]

I am most certainly a big fan of the micro approach to helping the world. I know that most people aren't huge fans of the World bank, but about eight years ago they started a really cool project called the World Marketplace. What this program did was instead of writing checks to governments (which usually ended up paying for new range rovers) representatives went into villages and spoke to them about what their problems were (clean water, food, energy). After that they set up a competition amongst the villages and cities for the people who are affected by the problems to come up with creative solutions. Then, the people involved would vote on the best initiatives and then allocate money for those people to implement their plans. I think that this is a fantastic way to give aid, because it gives real power to the people to change their lives themselves.
A few years ago this same program was started up in Alaska with the Alaskan Federation of Natives with huge success. You can read some of their stories here: http://www.alaskamarketplace.org/

[joy wright]

Yes,I think this is a great idea. There's an organization in Victoria called "Compassionate Warehouse" organized by some of the local churches that collect all kinds of things - household goods toys, machines, bicycles, and send the mover to Africa or other country in need. There are similar groups in Ontario that I know of as well - .

[Marj Gibson]

I think so too

If we can get enough people with the same idea, could we imagine government able to think MICRO? Such a big idea requires us to think small.. in many villages all over the world.

It's the same difference between many small farms rather than one mega farm. Why don't governments think this way. According to BW, there's a critical mass when things can actually happen.

[Martin Jones]

And one of the first heroes of in-country micro loans is Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh, who in 1976 started the Grameen Bank, making small loans to local women to help them start cottage industries. For his efforts, Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.

You can read a brief description at http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/10/061013-nobel-peace....

Quote from the article:

"Many people had expected that the Nobel Peace Prize would be awarded to someone involved in peace negotiations.
However, in its citation, the Nobel Peace Prize committee, which is based in Oslo, Norway, said, "Lasting peace cannot be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty." ...achieving peace is about more than stopping war. A key part of preventing strife is that people have a stake in their communities and are empowered to care for their children," he said. "This is what micro-credit programs have been able to provide."

Kiva appears to be a way that you and I can be a part of furthering world peace by allowing citizens of impovershed nations to improve their economic status -- to raise their standard of living -- and so lessen despair and hopelessness, which often leads to violence.

[Martin Jones]

By the way, I'm contributing to Kiva now!