Kiva - update 2

This morning a client called and during the call we got onto winning Lotto, as you do, and he asked me what I would do if I won a massive Lotto.  I of course, along with everyone else probably, have put considerable thought into where I would spend my millions should I ever have the good fortune to win Lotto.

Apart from paying off our mortgage, travelling, giving some money to our parents & siblings to help them get a bit more financial security, the thing I really would want to do is set up my own charity.

Not a charity charity, more of a here's a hand up not hand out charity.  Finding people who have great ideas, but no backing, and giving them the financial boost they might need to have a crack at their dream/idea.

The full ins and outs of my charity are a bit all over the place and definitely for another post :)  but it did turn my mind to the hand up charity I'm currently involved with, Kiva.

For those who haven't read my old posts, Kiva is "a non-profit organisation with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Leveraging the internet and a worldwide network of microfinance institutions, Kiva lets individuals lend as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world". (from Kiva website)

I joined Kiva back in March 2009, and since then I have lent US$1,500, spread across 60 people whose idea/dream/plan caught my eye.

All of the people I have leant to have been women, I'm a subscriber to the theory if you help a woman, she in turn will help more people throughout her community and family, than a man may.  I'm not saying a man won't help as many, but in alot of countries females don't get the opportunity that men get, and if you can empower a woman she will take it with both hands because it's rarer for them than for men. If that makes sense, there is a quote out there somewhere that succinctly summarises my thinking, but I can't find it at the moment!

Anyway this was going to be a quick post just to update how our Kiva group was going!

I setup a team in Kiva called 'Aussie & Kiwi Savers' made up of members of a site I use Simple Savings, I thought I might be able to get a bit of support from fellow members, however the support that has been given is mind boggling.

I established the team in May 2009 and our team as at today 25 May 2011 is:

81 members
822 loans
US$20,775 worth of loans

Over US$20,000 of loans, that's amazing!  So much more than I thought would happen when I posted about Kiva on Simple Savings!


Again, just for any newbies I'm not advocating everyone get involved, I would highly recommend anyone who is interested in joining reads everything they can on Kiva, either through the Kiva website http://www.kiva.org/   or by googling Kiva, and make your own decision.

There but for the grace of God go I.............. rings so true to me when I think of Kiva.......

Till next time,

Kiva - update

Just a quick post after I've been on the Kiva site, reloaning my repayments, I realised it's been a while, back in June, since I updated on Kiva. My old post is here.

To update, of my now 46 loans, 25 are full repaid.

Currently as at 19th October 2010 the team I made, Aussie & Kiwi Savers is made up of :

79 members
501 loans (202 are 100% paid back already)
US$12,600 worth of loans

Again, just for any newbies I'm not advocating everyone get involved, I would highly recommend anyone who is interested in joining us reads everything they can on Kiva, either through the Kiva website http://www.kiva.org/   or by googling Kiva, and make your own decision.

There but for................. rings so true to me when I think of Kiva.......

Till next time,

Kiva - my way to help out

People who know me through the website Simple Savings might have read the thread I started last year re Kiva.

I thought I'd post on my blog on it also, for anyone dropping by who might be interested. The background is:

I saw a show on Kiva on Oprah in 2007 and filed it away to look into, the founding couple were so inspirational and the show had a big effect on me and really made me think.

Basically Kiva is micro-financing, their website states "Kiva's mission is to connect people, through lending, for the sake of alleviating poverty. Kiva empowers individuals to lend to an entrepreneur across the globe. By combining microfinance with the internet, Kiva is creating a global community of people connected through lending."

I got to thinking, what if I was born in a developing country and had some great ideas to help improve my life, but no way (or effective/safe way) to access capital, would I approach Kiva, my answer was yes. I see what Kiva is doing as a hand up not a hand out.

So I eventually checked out Kiva in May 2009 and made my first loan.

That loan was to a lady called Magdalena Suriaga from the Philippines. Magdalena was asking for a loan of US$425 to buy farming products in the off season so she wouldn't have to pay the higher prices in the planting season.

I and 14 other lenders lent Magdalena US$25, and over the following 6 months Magdalena made repayments, and repaid the full $425 in October 2009.

Needless to say I was then hooked, hooked on helping people, especially women, make a go of their ideas, where the only thing lacking was capital.

Since May 2009 I have  made 31 loans, totalling US$775, these loans have been made to people in Mongolia, Cambodia, Philippines, Kyrgyzstan, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Samoa, Kenya.

I have focussed on women who are in primary production, I really do believe that if women around the world had more power, access to wealth and resources, that the world would be a better place. Women are the educators, they raise the children, and have more of a village view rather than a self view (generalisation, not in every case).

Of my 31 loans, 9 are full repaid.

Most repayments are made on/around 15th of each month, I really enjoy checking my repayments and selecting who I can lend to again, now that most months I get enough repayments to cover another US$25 loan.

I ended up starting a Kiva group - Aussie & Kiwi Savers - inspired by and made up of Simple Savings members.

Currently as at 22nd June 2010 our team is made up of :

68 members 
335 loans (82 are 100% paid back already) 
US$8,425 worth of loans

I'm not advocating everyone get involved, I would highly recommend anyone who is interested in joining us reads everything they can on Kiva, either through the Kiva website http://www.kiva.org/   or by googling Kiva, and make your own decision.

As with everything in life, there are good and bad, while I have not had any late/non payers on my loans, I know some people have, I would recommend if you do join Kiva, you research the lenders closely, I only lend through providers who have a good record, and who have been on Kiva for a while.


Till next time,

August already! eek

4 August 2009 - reposted April 2010


Cannot believe it's 5th August, that's crazy, April seems like a blink ago!

Few updates:

House - loving it, still getting everything unpacked/organised/decluttered etc, but it's so amazing to lie in bed and look at the pressed ceiling and think wow that's ours!! Amazing!

We cracked a bottle of beautiful Petersons champers on the front verandah on our first night, my lovely partner retrieved the cork from the middle of the road :-)

We cooked our first meal on the Sunday, a lamb shoulder in the slow cooker (first use), scrumptious, melt in mouth stuff.

Our neighbour is terrific which is a relief, he an DP have mated up, and his son jumps the fence to play with the puglet, so it's working well! Plus he bought the bins in for me last week, yay!

Pug - his usual happy self, had the weekend in the kennels while I was in Syd, he loved it, they spoil him rotten and he gets to play with heaps of dogs

Work - busy, working 8am-7pm most days, but loving it still, busy time of year about to kick off, so hopefully all the foals arrive safely and everything goes to plan.

Birthdays - had DP's nephew's birthday in Syd on the weekend, got some oldschool 'Choose Your Own Adventure' books on ebay for him, they're 2nd hand, but he loved them, yay. Was a good day, DP & I made pizzas, there was lasagne, wine, all the good stuff.

Business - we now have a pty ltd for DP to use when he goes contractor soon, alot of paperwork involved, but should work well, fingers crossed.

Kiva - I've now got 4 loans:

• Magdalena in the Phillipines - farming - 60% repaid
• Pillar in the Peru - vet supplies - 33% repaid
• Fotu in Samoa - farming - 0% repaid
• Evelyn in Phillipines - cattle frmer - 0% repaid

so far have $18.34 repaid, as soon as it hits $25 again I'll be re-loaning, yay, love giving a hand up, not a hand out :-)