ˈkiːvə/
noun
a chamber, built wholly or partly underground, used by male Pueblo Indians for religious rites.
Kiva is also the name adopted eleven years ago by a micro-financing project. I read about it in Rory Sutherland’s Spectator column, Wiki Man, and joined the Spectator Readers’ team eleven months ago. First a few basics. The loans made through the Kiva platform are not tax deductible – because you hope to be repaid. The loans do not accrue interest to the lender, although the intermediary who administers the loan may charge the borrower interest. So far I have made six loans, each of $25, and two have been repaid so far.
My borrowers are in Rwanda (two), Kenya, Indonesia, Moldova and El Salvador. Two thirds of my borrowers are women and the money is being used in renewable energy, farming, retail, poultry, agriculture and to stock a food stall.
Kiva has 1.4 million lenders and 1.9 million borrowers. Loans average $400 – so I’m a meanie. Around 98% of loans are repaid – a figure commercial banks might envy. The founders of Kiva who live in California, chose the name because it means “unity” in Swahili.
I am certain that small loans made via Kiva are better targeted and more effective than the tax payers’ money governments spend on overseas aid. Here is a random borrower.
Ñepytyvo Group
Ita, Paraguay Arts | Crafts
The Ñepytyvo group is in its 7th cycle of the women’s committee program, where all work and help one another to get ahead. It is a group with enough members and where each one has their own venture through which they want to continue improving their living conditions.
Each one of this group’s members stands out for being very self-sacrificing women. But among them all Ms. Olga, who is this group’s president, stands out. She is a very hard working woman who has worked since youth and helps her family through the means of selling clay handicrafts. She sacrifices herself in order to be able to improve their living conditions and give something better to her loved ones.
She requests this loan for purchasing large quantities of clay, and in this way be able to continue with her handicrafts and in this way be able to continue fighting to improve her living conditions.
Translated from Spanish
by Kiva volunteer K. Bailey Morton
About Fundación Paraguaya
Fundación Paraguaya is a financially self-sustaining social enterprise that promotes entrepreneurship in urban and rural areas through microfinance, education programs, and more. Its focus on agriculture has helped many farmers boost their crop yields. And a number of other borrowers have taken out loans to start and grow social businesses that have helped deliver eyeglasses, medicines and other helpful services in their local communities.
This is a Group Loan
In a group loan, each member of the group receives an individual loan but is part of a larger group of individuals. The group is there to provide support to the members and to provide a system of peer pressure, but groups may or may not be formally bound by a group guarantee. In cases where there is a group guarantee, members of the group are responsible for paying back the loans of their fellow group members in the case of delinquency or default.
#Repeat Borrower | #Woman Owned Biz