Kiva allows individuals to contribute a small amount of money that is then loaned to entrepreneurs in impoverished communities. When that loan is repaid (currently almost 97% are repaid), then the individual that originally made the loan can choose to loan the money out to another entrepreneur, donate it to kiva to help with their operating expenses, or actually get the money back.
Fisch has created TEAM SHIFT HAPPENS as a way to encourage people to give and to Pay It Forward.
You can either make a $25 loan yourself, or, what I’d love to see, do the same thing that I’m doing (make a $25 loan, then purchase two $25 gift certificates and email them to folks you know and ask them to do the same). If you’re a blogger, also consider blogging about this and making the same request to your readers. I realize not everyone will be comfortable with that, or has $75 to spare, so please contribute what you can. If you wish, it would be great if you then add your loan so it counts toward Team Shift Happens so we can see what we can accomplish together, and leave a comment on this post.
You can either make a $25 loan yourself, or, what I’d love to see, do the same thing that I’m doing (make a $25 loan, then purchase two $25 gift certificates and email them to folks you know and ask them to do the same). If you’re a blogger, also consider blogging about this and making the same request to your readers. I realize not everyone will be comfortable with that, or has $75 to spare, so please contribute what you can. If you wish, it would be great if you then add your loan so it counts toward Team Shift Happens so we can see what we can accomplish together, and leave a comment on this post.
After reading lots on Kiva's website, I am convinced that this is a good place for me to donate a bit. This organization supports women in poverty. So, I have donated $25 to this woman in Guatemala. I wanted to donate something to the country of Guatemala so I searched the site and chose this woman's business. You can find a cause or a country that you are committed to helping and make your decision that way. I also purchased a Gift Certificate for Mary Lee so that she can choose an one of Kiva's entrepreneurs to lend to. Then I invited her to Pay It Forward by purchasing a gift certificate for someone else.
I thought this idea was a good one and wanted to bring it to the Kidlitosphere and invite our readers to participate.
The thing I love most about blogging is the way that it brings communities together. When we started this blog, authors and librarians were not part of our social and professional network. Now they are. As we begin to learn more about 21st century literacies, we find ourselves reading lots of tech/ed blogs. The learning communities are no longer separate and we love that about blogging. So this seemed like a perfect team to join:-) Hope you'll check it out.
Super idea!
ReplyDeleteThanks for participating Franki, and for getting a gift certificate for a friend as well.
ReplyDelete