I’ve recently started loaning money to third world entrepreneurs on a microfinancing website called Kiva. I think it’s a pretty cool way to contribute to the under-privileged in the developing world.
Many times in third world countries people are without established credit histories leaving loan sharks as the only available option. That’s where microfinance comes in. By lending on a website like Kiva you are helping to guarantee the principle of the loan which in turn allows people to get loans from the financial institutions at low interest rates.
And if you don’t believe microfinance is a viable endeavor I refer you to one Bill Clinton.
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Kiva (www.kiva.org) is a non-profit that allows you to lend as little as $25 to a specific low-income entrepreneur in the developing world.
You choose who to lend to - whether a baker in Afghanistan, a goat herder in Uganda, a farmer in Peru, a restaurateur in Cambodia, or a tailor in Iraq - and as they repay their loan, you get your money back. It’s a powerful and sustainable way to empower someone right now to lift themselves out of poverty.
