Interesting, Goofy, Shocking, Inspirational & Otherwise Postworthy Lending Teams

[Guest]

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[RichardF]

Who says religion, tasty cuisine and fighting global poverty don't mix?   
Not the followers of the Flying Spaghetti Monster!

Kiva Lending Team: The Flying Spaghetti Monster Location: Earth Category: Religious Congregations We loan because: From the "NO SET NUMBER OF NOT COMMANDMENTS, SUGGESTIONS" - VII. Thou shalt share, that none may seek without finding. About us: Members of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster Check out: http://www.venganza.org

Here's a basic template for adding more team profiles.

Code:

[table]
[tr][td][img height=200]ADD IMAGE URL HERE[/img][/td][td]
[table]
[tr][td]Kiva Lending Team: [/td][td][b][url=ADD TEAM URL HERE]ADD TEAM NAME HERE [/url][/b][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Location: [/td][td]ADD LOCATION HERE [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Category: [/td][td]ADD CATEGORY HERE [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]We loan
because: [/td][td]ADD WE LOAN BECAUSE HERE [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]About us: [/td][td]ADD ABOUT US HERE [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Check out: [/td][td]ADD URL HERE [/td][/tr]
[/table][/td][/tr]
[/table]

[RichardF]

What's going on here?!!!       

Kiva Lending Team: Manas and Sabrina Summer of Love Location: SF, DC, Dallas, Dubai Category: Common Interest We loan because: Not everyone can be as lucky as we are and we want to spread the love.  About us: We met on a fateful day at work in SF and the love started to bloom right away. We tried to deny our growing bond but it became too strong to keep in the dark. Now we want everyone to know about our summer of love.

[RichardF]

Woo-Hoo! 

Kiva Lending Team: Campus Kiva Location: Worldwide Category: Colleges/Universities About us: Campus Kiva is an international network of microfinance clubs that gives university students an easy way to play a direct role in changing lives. Campus Kiva’s mission is to educate students about the potential impact of microfinance, and to encourage microlending through Kiva's lending teams. This Fall, Campus Kiva is officially launching at 19 university campuses world-wide and it continues to grow. In the coming school year, Campus Kiva will provide its chapters with the infrastructure and resources they need to establish a permanent presence on campus. The program will offer its chapters a variety of opportunities to participate in competitions and conferences, and will strongly encourage intra-university collaboration.

[joanwilder]

This one was one of the featured teams on the front page....  I am not sure I like the idea of the silly team themes, because of the message they send first time visitors.  Am I the only one who feels some of these are inappropriate?

No pic attached because it was an odd size.

Kiva Lending Team:www.lopare.net Location: Lopare, Republic of Srpska Category: Local Area We loan because: We loan to sexy women, because they are sexy and we would like to try sex. About us: We have no girlfriends, no friends..

[abc]

Joan,
I wrote contactus about that one.
The team captain has loans to his credit.
Just not much sense, I guess.
Sheesh.

Yet another reason why I will not start any school Kiva programs.
This is so disappointing. I was really looking forward to
getting the students in our area involved in Kiva, but not now.

At this point, if I had to choose between teams or no teams,
I'd MUCH prefer to go back to No Teams At All.
Kiva would have grown without adding the team concept, and I think
the positive effect of Kiva is diluted by the idiocy
and/or abuse of this new program.

Sign me:

Bummed Out In Downeast Maine

[saabnet]

I'd MUCH prefer to go back to No Teams At All.

I think this is just like some of the lender profiles we've seen, e.g. the Mankini etc. Kiva will address this one just like they address inappropriate lender profiles - they get removed.

For me, teams has been wonderful and fun. I've hooked up with some Burning Man friends that I didn't know were lenders here on Kiva. I've found a crapload of Bloggers with interesting interests, I've been able to pitch loans to folks as a way to say, hey, thank you for this or that, and I think it has furthered the community aspect of Kiva greatly.

-Scott (Having a Blast in San Francisco)

p.s. My Burning Man Friends Below...

Kiva Lending Team: Burning Man Location: Black Rock City NV Category: Other We loan because: About us: Extending the spirit of giving and of self-reliance beyond the playa Check out: http://www.burningman.com

[abc]

Okay, Scott.
I will try to let your positive attitude sink in.
You are a good influence on me.
Still unsure about bringing elementary students into the process, though.

Ann

the glass is half-full, the glass is half-full, the glass is half-full, the glass is half-full,
the glass is half-full, the glass is half-full, the glass is half-full, the glass is half-full,
the glass is half-full, the glass is half-full, the glass is half-full, the glass is half-full,
the glass is half-full, the glass is half-full, the glass is half-full, the glass is half-full

[joanwilder]

Thanks for saying that, Ann.  That is exactly what I was thinking!  I have spoken to the principal of my nephew's school about lending with Kiva in their 4th and 5th grade classroom and she is all for it, but when I pulled up the site the other day and saw that featured lending team, I could only envision the class looking at that page projected larger than life on the wall and seeing that entry!  Or all of my university classmates and professors I had literally just invited to join my alma mater's lending team...  what kind of first impression does that give someone who is logging on for the first time to see what Kiva is about (or even those of us who are already lending, for that matter)?!

Joan

[saabnet]

but when I pulled up the site the other day and saw that featured lending team...

OMG  It was the FEATURED lending team on the HOME PAGE of KIVA.ORG?!?! That is no good! Holy cow, out of the thousand+ teams, you had to get that one.... Of course, that's the Rule of Demos, I've found. When I used to give demos for the BeOS, whenever something like this happened, I would suddenly point over the shoulder of those watching the demo and say loudly, "OMG, It's BILL GATES!". Everyone turns around to see Bill Gates and I can quickly hit the reboot button...  Probably wouldn't have worked in your situation though, sorry.

-Scott

[s_shewan]

This one was one of the featured teams on the front page....  I am not sure I like the idea of the silly team themes, because of the message they send first time visitors.  Am I the only one who feels some of these are inappropriate?

No pic attached because it was an odd size.

Kiva Lending Team:www.lopare.net Location: Lopare, Republic of Srpska Category: Local Area We loan because: We loan to sexy women, because they are sexy and we would like to try sex. About us: We have no girlfriends, no friends..

I have emailed Kiva twice about this one. I was afraid it would end up on the feature page.

Susan

Edit: I just sent a PM to Fiona Ramsey and she said that they were made aware of this team but she didn't realize that it hadn't been taken down yet.  She will look into it.