The new type of loan for an activity that isn't a loan to "the working poor" - Maria and Aldo are "the studying poor" - fits in quite well with what we've heard in the past few months about Kiva branching out into significantly different types of lending. Education loans in particular were heavily trailed by Premal in that interview he did for the SF Public Press in April this year.
Personally I think this would be a good arena for Kiva to move in to, and I would love to be able to support these types of loans.
It reminds me though of a Kiva Community conference call where the idea of loans to Teach for America participants was floated:
Loans to teachers through Teach For America (TFA)
An opportunity has come up with Teach for America which places young college grads into tough schools to teach. Turns out that these teachers need money to get set up. They are just out of college. TFA already makes loans to these teachers, 18 month terms. There is some discussion of having them raise money on Kiva. We would like to hear your perspective on this. They do 2,500 loans to these teachers.
I would be more inclined to loan to them because they have steady employment.
It really mixes the message though, their not being the working poor. I like it, but maybe it needs to be separated out into a new website or subsection. These graduates have external resources. It’s a great organization but these graduates are not going to be poor for the rest of their lives.
Would the borrower description include a complete explanation of their situation?
Premal: I think we would have the description include whatever the teacher felt comfortable with. That can be changed as lenders provide feedback. Probably not a separate section on the website, there would be a call-out sections (like that with group loans). Would that be in line with your expectations?
Why do they need money?
These loans are to cover their starting expenses, moving and setting up a new apartment.
the way to sell it is to note that they teachers are going into the worst inner city schools.
one way to address the mixed message would be to provide loans to new loan officers with the MFIs. Premal liked that idea. MFIs do such loans to staff, but they're not allowed to post them on Kiva, as there would be an element of "self-dealing".
this idea seems to be sufficiently far away from Kiva’s core mission of alleviating poverty as to appear astonishing and absurd that Kiva is seriously contemplating it. Repeated and endorsed what a previous caller had said, that recent graduates who (laudably) serve in this way are exercising a choice. Kiva is about helping people in poverty who have very few choices.
Premal: let me fast forward to the future. 10 years from now we would like Kiva to be about social transformation - "lending for social change" in a marketplace where activity is transparent
I want to understand where we are going wrong here. Just like on Ebay you can find many things, and leave it to the internet to decide? Would it do more good long-term?
I think it would. As long as you position it properly, I think it will bring in new lenders.
Premal: TFA is now Teach for All, and they are getting started in new countries. I really like the agency of the people who choose to do this, and it’s a powerful point.
I was in the minority on the call, and thought this was a promising idea, I will be curious to see how this is received if it is the case that Kiva is considering launching such a program.
-Kerry-
