Dear Friends,
On November 2nd, 2008, I am headed to Peru! There, I will work with the Microfinance Institute, 
Microfinanzas Prisma, as a Kiva Fellow. I will be serving small business entrepreneurs who have received microloans from Kiva.org. These entrepreneurs use the microloans to start their businesses, enabling them to work their way out of poverty AND pay the loan back! In order to understand why this work is important to me and what this has to do with you, please take a moment to keep reading, you’re going to love this…
What is Microfinance?
Microfinance is the supply of loans, savings and other basic financial services to the poor. Microfinance involves small (“micro”) amounts of money (usually between $200-$1000). Why small amounts? Because an individual in the 3rd world who has no money is not likely to want to take out a $5,000 loan – even if they did, no bank would approve this loan because the individual has no collateral. Microfinance operates on the belief that access to credit is a human right and that with it, even the poorest individual can start a small business, and earn their way out of poverty.
What is Kiva? What is a Kiva Fellowship?
Kiva is the worlds first online microlending site. Lenders in the developed world can go to Kiva.org and browse through profiles of low-income entrepreneurs—a dairy farmer in Kenya, a man who wants to open a shoe shop in Honduras, or a tailor in Bulgaria. Lenders can then loan as little as $25 to the entrepreneur of their choice. With the click of a mouse, YOU can make a loan to an individual all the way across the globe and help them change their lives. Since kiva launched, lenders have made over $49 million in loans to more than 80,000 borrowers in the 3rd world. (Presently, 98.8% have been paid back in full).
As a Kiva Fellow, I will be working for Kiva and directly with the Microfinance Institute (MFI), Microfinanzas Prisma. I will work with the MFI staff both in the Lima office and in the rural branches to train them on how to effectively use Kiva and maximize the funding they receive for their clients (the borrowers). Each week, I will meet with the borrowers in order to track their progress and ensure the loan is being used effectively. I will journal about these entrepreneurs and what I saw. These journals will then go onto Kiva’s website in order to create transperancy and increase lending. I will be the link between the lender and the borrower and between Kiva and the MFI in an effort to spread the positive impact of Microfinance to the worlds most impovrished individuals.
What does this have to do with you?
The Kiva fellowship is a non paid volunteer position. Fellows receive no payment or stipends for their work and it is a fellow’s responsibility to cover all expenses. Because of this, I am asking you to donate to my fellowship. Doing so will make it possible to remain in the field longer and maximize the impact I have on the individuals I serve. By enabling me to work with these borrowers, you are impacting their lives too!
It is my belief that we have the power to change the world and I see Microfinance as a vital tool towards ending global poverty. If you believe in this possibility, then please support me. As Microfinance has taught us – even the smallest amount helps!
I feel honored to serve the individuals I will be working with and I thank you in advance for your support.
- Lori
“Poverty is not created by the poor. It is created by the structures of society and the policies pursued by society. Change the structure as we are doing in Bangladesh, and you will see that the poor change their own lives. Grameen’s experience demonstrates that, given the support of financial capital, however small, the poor are fully capable of improving their lives.” - Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank, Founder of Microfinance
Hi, this is a comment.
To delete a comment, just log in, and view the posts’ comments, there you will have the option to edit or delete them.