55 Kiva Loans and Counting

Several years ago, I was studying the concept of micro-lending and looking for a way to become an international venture capitalist. In November of 2006, I discovered Kiva.org, an organization that facilitates lending money to small business owners all over the world -- $25 at a time. I was hooked.

My first loan was to Ivan Tenchev, a formerly unemployed Bulgarian who started up his own refreshment stall near a cooperative market in his home town. Although he was getting by, he was hoping to expand his business by securing a $1,000 loan to purchase a grill to make “djuner kebap” (a traditional Turkish meal) and two pancake toasters. Through Kiva, I, along with 39 other people, pitched in to get him what he needed. He, in turn, expanded his business and paid us all back.

From my standpoint, it wasn’t a hand-out. It was an investment, a vested advance into the hopes and dreams of a fellow man. In other words, it wasn’t charity. It was capitalism at it’s best.

Since that time, I have made fifty-four other such loans to men and women all over the world. In three short years, I have backed a clothing retailer in Senegal, a cattle breeder in Azerbaijan, a pig farmer in Peru, a fish market vendor in Cambodia, a teacher-run co-op that supports a private secondary school in Sierra Leone, a woman starting a two-acre taro plantation in Samoa, and a woman trying to create “the number one drinking pub in her community” in Ghana -- just to name a few.

Give a woman a fish, feed her for a day. Give a woman a Kiva loan, give her the tools to feed herself for a lifetime.

Although I receive no interest on these loans, I, do get the satisfaction of seeing my values in action: Passion -- watching people’s drive to make their own lives better. Personal Responsibility -- seeing people create a better world for themselves by taking it upon themselves. Gratitude -- having the satisfaction of seeing good in the world and being thankful for it. And finally, Forgiveness, for the 1.55% of people who defaulted on my loans (I have lost less than $50 bucks -- and that was in war-torn Kenya), a small price to pay for the success of the other 98.45% of people whose lives I have touched in an incredibly positive way.

In future posts, I will expound on my Four Values. In the meantime, check out Kiva.org and have some fun being a international venture capitalist -- $25 bucks at a time.