kiva.org

i was watching frontline last night and there was a short segment on a microlending organization called 'kiva.' grassroots, based out of san francisco, the company runs a (dare i say?) e-dating-style site that matches people over here up with entrepreneurs in third world countries through small business loans. they have incredible infrastructures set up within these countries so the money actually makes it to the people who need it, and the borrowers are held to their promises to pay back their loans. the company boasts a 100% repayment track record, and notes "In the past 30 years, over 100 million of the world's poor have received a micro-loan and demonstrated a >95% repayment rate." the frontline segment was fascinating. it focused primarily on one business owner in uganda and the effect of loans within her small community. the town as a whole gathers together to decide democratically who should and should not be allowed to apply for the loans. what's great, is that lenders are allowed to contribute as much as they want. so the effect is you have these communities of 15-20 lenders who have all banded together to help someone in uganda manage her peanut butter business, or a cambodian man expand his grocery store. and everyone receives updates. and everyone eventually gets their money back, to then invest in another venture. i'm certainly no econ expert, but from what i've read, microlending has made an enormous impact on communities across the world. when you take out the beaurocracy and the predatory lenders and make it a face-to-face transaction, money gets to people who can put it to use, empower themselves and their families, and in turn, build up sustainable communities. all of the industrial nations in the world had to start at some point with creative, resourceful, proactive and driven people trying to make the best of their resources. i am all about supporting this. visit their site kiva.org and find someone whose story resonates with you (ignore the initial dating-service-esque vibe) and let them borrow $25. man the internet is amazing sometimes.