Kiva
Kiva’s mission is to connect people, through lending, for the sake of alleviating poverty.
I’m a huge fan of Kiva. This is a program that is right in so many ways. I urge my readers to visit the Kiva website, read up on how it works, and participate.
The best way is to register for a Kiva account and enjoy selecting the loans, donating, checking on progress, joining a Kiva team and so on. I’m a member of the BookCrossing.com team, for example. Being part of a community of like-minded people is its own reward, quite apart from the pleasure of helping those in need.
However, the minimum Kiva loan donation is US$25, and like the passengers in my taxi whose tips I donate to Kiva, smaller amounts are also welcome. I keep track of the tips – fifty cents here, a dollar there – and when they reach $25, I select and make a loan. I’ve set up a donations page here.
I’m going to try to write up a brief account of each loan, with some background information and photographs. Learning about people and places around the world is something that has fascinated me since childhood and Kiva loans are made in some of the world’s most remote and exotic places.