How young can you be to email with others around the world

[Guest]

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[ETonesMus]

Hi
I would like to make a loan in the name of my 2 nieces and I'd like the loan to be repaid back to them.  They are 11 and 13.  Do you think they will benefit from this experience?  Is it safe for them to email with people around the world?
Thanks,
Tony

[Henry]

keep them away from that guy named Henry!  he will have them shopping with their family's credit card! for the KSClub! 

( great gift! )  My 1 year old neice won't be on the internet for a long while, but she will ultimately benefit from my KIVA account.  Whatever the value is when she gets old enough to handle (or I go first) will be hers. I think of it as my 'fun' savings account for her .

But to answer your question, there really isn't that much email contact 'going out' that is direct between "the account holder" (THEM) and the world.  We get Journal updates which can be read on their account pages.  BUT, my suggestion as with anything regarding the internet and children that age....shouldn't go unmonitored or supervised by an adult.

[Wood Fairy Glenda]

Tony - as for young people emailing to unknown people around the world, this is not a problem with the way Kiva lenders communicate with Kiva borrowers.  All is done via the Kiva site.  No personal email addresses are used and communication with borrowers is done via the local microlending organization which does not have access to their personal information either.
     I think it sounds like a great idea, and, in fact, am about to send a Kiva calendar and two gift certificates to a niece and nephew. The only thing is, they will not necessarily get feedback from the borrowers, no matter how circuitous the route.  Some of the microlenders are very good about sending updates and others are not.  It's very difficult for some of the organizations to do. So, don't get their hopes up too high about receiving messages from the borrowers.  They will be able to check things like when the loan gets to the borrower and when payments are made.  If they're lucky they might get an update, but don't count on it.

[Soriak]

That seems like a lovely idea

There's no e-mail exchange with any entrepreneur, just the ability to post comments if one so desires. (I haven't come across many yet)

I imagine they already have an e-mail address, but if not you may have to help set one up for them. It may be prudent to make them aware that they should not e-mail anyone their home address and inform their parents if someone is asking for any personal information. Although it's important not to overestimate the dangers of any online activity - even if you posted everything there is to know about yourself, it's still far less dangerous than actually leaving the house.

[KivanSteven]

Etones, I think they would definitely benefit from the experience.  I have a 7 year old that I have already introduced to Kiva, (of course right next to her on the internet every single second!) and she really enjoys reading about the people in other countries and picking out the people she feels she would like to help and would benefit the most from our loan.  In fact as far as kids go, your nieces are probably at the perfect age range to get started in something like this.  Kiva is great for teaching geography, culture, lifestyle, social reality and perspective, activism, compassionism, and its very engaging and fun.  Id also encourage them to explore both the kiva.org and kivafriends.org site because both sites make the loaning process and experience all the more understanding and exciting.

Im mentioning to my daughters teacher, as well as my aunt who teaches grade school, about raising enough money through bake sales or car washes, for example, to fund a couple short term loans, being 6 months or less, and making a project out of it...The classes which are small, could be broken up into groups of three and each group could take the $25 allotted to them to make a loan to the person of their choosing.  (Even better if a class of 15 could raise enough money for each student to help fund a loan personally).  They would monitor the loan, especially during periods of scheduled repayments and journal entires (which would make the idea all the more enriching), compare and contrast the loans funded by the class, and upon the completion of the loan they can each write a report about the process, the objective, the causes and reasons for it, the effect, outcome, and their overall opinion...of course for my daughters 2nd grade class that would not entail much elaboration, but I think getting Kiva into the classrooms would be a highly HIGHLY successful venture, especially if they ever get the journals more active.

[QueenOfHearts]

Hi Tony.....

My account will be going to my grandchildren eventually and one is listed on the account now (second is due to arrive any day now).  While Samantha is only three, I do not feel it is too young to instill a feeling of responsibility on her part to help others.  She comes with me when I shop for Toys for Tots and has gone with her mother to prepare food baskets for the poor here in Camden.  She may not fully understand but I am hoping it will all sink in slowly and she will grow up with an awareness well in place before she even knows otherwise.  She sits next to me at the computer while she helps pick out "who Grammie is going to help today".  She likes looking at the pictures and I read the stories to her.  Some of my loans we have picked together.  And Samantha already has her own email account (what can I say, her father is an IT) but she has no idea its there.  Everything with Kiva goes through my email for now but as everyone has mentioned, those email addresses are not shared.  They are even hidden here on Kiva Friends as a privacy protection to the members.  At ages 11 and 13, your nieces can post comments if they wish but that is far as any "connection" would go.  I think it is a great idea to introduce them to one means of helping "their world".  Kids that age so soon get self centered a little dose of what this world is really about would be a very good thing.

Queen

[KivanSteven]

Very well said Queen, and you can never be too young to learn the basic premise that any child can understand, that its good to help people.  Kids are a blank chalkboard, only whatever you place upon them cannot be so easily removed with the mere swipe of an eraser...your effort is an inspiring one Queen.

[Diane R]

Ahimsa Steve, you've mentioned your daughter in your lender profile: does she ever help you make your loan choices or learn about the people you partner with through Kiva?  It seems this would be such a personal and lasting way to help a child learn a way to care for others respectfully.

--Diane.

[KivanSteven]

Funny you ask because today I was going to set up an account for her so she could make her first loan all by herself...I take care of the paypal work, but she can navigate the kiva site well enough to find the entrepreneur of her choice...shes still a little young to understand it all financially and certainly has more on her mind than anticipating the pay back of the loan for the next 6 months, but you are correct, it really introduces a child to things we to may have learned as children in a more general way, but certainly not so directly and involving like this.  So if you see a loan from a 7 year old whose name is Syrenitee, thats her.  Ill probably throw a couple in there with my own funds for her to choose, track and watch as well, hopefully making it a bit more engaging for her, ya know, receiving a couple re-payments at various times each month rather than one...Ill also hopefully find a few loans with her through an MFI that has a great journal record, while encouraging her to post her own messages.  Are you familiar with any MFIs off the top of your head that have a decent or somewhat consistent journal record or at least update record?

EDIT:  And you guys can all just call me Steve, its more personal that way.

[Eli]

Very well said Queen, and you can never be too young to learn the basic premise that any child can understand, that its good to help people.  Kids are a blank chalkboard, only whatever you place upon them cannot be so easily removed with the mere swipe of an eraser...your effort is an inspiring one Queen.

One of my favorite quotes fits so well here:

In the end, we will conserve only what we love.
We will love only what we understand.
We will understand only what we have been taught.
                           ~Baba Dioum, Senegal