Having a little money lying around and want to help someone out. Well, here’s one idea:
Sixty people from around the world are partners in a $1,500 loan to a woman in Lebanon who needed a new refrigerator for her grocery store. [Bennett Samuel and Ashley Luse are] founders of the Calvin Kiva, part of a broader movement to help people advance economically through loans other lenders might not make. The Internet site www.kiva.org brings people with even small amounts of money to loan together with those who can use the credit.
“This is Fatmeh,” said Samuel as he showed an image on his iPod Touch of the borrower whose loan he helped make. “She’s already paid back 25 percent.”
Quite a nice idea – mix between charity and loan sharks (the good stuff at least). Which brings me to the new, recently launched UNDP program for Lebanon:
The LIVE LEBANON initiative connects Lebanese people and associations from around the world in support of local development projects in Lebanon. It relies on the long tradition of generous contributions made by Lebanese expatriates living all over the world. LIVE LEBANON is an innovative partnership between civil society, local authorities, the private sector, and Lebanese emigrants. The project aims to support the development of Lebanon focusing on its most underprivileged regions.
So if you do have a little money and would like to make a generous donation, these two sites may worthwhile.
As the Live Lebanon website says: CLICK, COMMIT, CHANGE
[New Post] A Little Money Goes a Long Way http://jadaoun.com/blog/2009/11/30/a-lit…
Imported from Facebook
Micro lending has been around for a long time.
True. But if I’m not mistaken, in Lebanon at least, people were talking about it as an abstract concept and a way to circumvent the failings of the banking system to finance SMEs. I think these two websites make the it seem more tangible (not endorsing either of them, by the way).
I always doubted Kiva’s credibility until I saw one of my university mates in the list of donors (he’s Lebanese btw). But I still wonder how can they be assured that their money will be returned?
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