14 Cows for America Lending Team

[Guest]

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[karlynwagner]

This is just a thought,... we will be in the Maasai villages in Kenya the third week of October for about a week.  If you would like to gather thank yous I could take them and deliver them in person for all of the Kiva supporters.  Just a thougth.

Karen and Gery

[marilyn386]

This is just a thought,... we will be in the Maasai villages in Kenya the third week of October for about a week.  If you would like to gather thank yous I could take them and deliver them in person for all of the Kiva supporters.  Just a thougth.

Karen and Gery

Karen and Gery,

What a wonderful idea!  If anyone has any ideas on how to organize that effort, I would love to work on such a project.

Marilyn

[Marianne N59° 23' 60 - E18° 19' 60]

Today is the 11th September, a day that shall forever be a powerful reminder of the agony we human beings are capable of inflicting on one another.
It is also a day that reminds us that we are in equal measure capable of boundless love and empathy.
I would therefore like to seize the opportunity to bring to the forefront of your mind Marilyn's challenge that every American on this Forum might make a loan in the honour of the staggeringly beautiful gift, made by the Masai people of Kenya, as a consolation to the people of America in the face of such a tragedy.
Please read Marlilyn's post below, and hopefully you will find it in your heart to join the team with one loan to a Kenyan and attribute it to the team 14 cows for America.
World citizens outside the US are more than welcome too, of course!

Thank you again Marilyn for creating this team and, thank you to all of you who wish to join

Marianne

The link to the team:
http://partners.kiva.org/community/viewTeam?team_id=8317

I have established a new lending team called “14 Cows for America””
This lending group is named after the children's book "14 Cows for America" written by Carmen Agra Deedy which tells Kimeli Naiyomah’s amazing and true story of one Kenyan tribe’s reaction in the wake of 9/11.
Kimeli Naiyomah, having witnessed 9/11 firsthand in New York City and wanting in some way to alleviate America's grief, goes back to his Maasai tribe elders in Kenya and asks them to bless his only calf so he can offer it to America as a gesture of consolation and support.. His tribe reacts by offering instead 14 blessed cows, a most sacred and cherished gift. Nine months later these 14 cows are presented to and accepted by the American embassy. This lending group is named after the children's book "14 Cows for America" written by Carmen Agra Deedy which tells Kimeli's amazing and true story.
Our lending group wishes to thank the Maasai people of Kenya for their kind offer of 14 cows to America in the aftermath of 9/11. We challenge all American Kiva lenders to make one loan to a Kenyan entrepreneur in the name of this group to thank the tribe for their kindness and generosity in our time of grief
To read more about the story, please visit www.14cowsforamerica.com.  A video of the ceremony is documented:
http://www.14cowsforamerica.com/team.html#kimeli

You can also hear NPR’s interview with Kimeli Naiyomah:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1144682
Marilyn
Team Captain

[Mona]

How great is this?!!!  The following message was just posted to the 14 cows team board!!!

Hello fellow members,
I am so happy to see that this team has emerged through Kiva! I am the author of 14 Cows, Carmen Deedy. I learned of Kiva, and most specifically of the 14 Cows team, through the young people in our marketing department at Peachtree Publishers. My husband and I went on-line immediately and loved the concept of Kiva so much that we joined on the spot, and made loans. What a brilliant and personal way to give.
I will tell Kimeli and Tom about Kiva. I believe they will both be as delighted. Kimeli will be leaving for Australia soon for the Rotary Fellowship, so I will let him know right away.
Thank you for this. What an unexpected gift. But then, that is the true message of the book, isn't it?
With warmest thanks,
Carmen
http://www.kiva.org/lender/carmenagra9699

[Mona]

These are the last 5 currency-free loans from Kenya we will see for the next time I suppose, sigh .... 

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=143838
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=143395
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=143397
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=142669
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=142821

[marilyn386]

Here is another Kenyan loan for Reviewjamila Ahmed.  Although currency risk is possible (sigh, too), I really like how the photographer captured her at work.  Also, she's married to an accountant!  I like that!

Jamila is 37 years old and married to an accountant. She has 4 children: Mulhat, 16 years old; Sumeya-,13 years old; Khalid,10 years old and Imran, 7 years old.

Jamila owns a salon and also sells beauty products. She has been doing this for 15 years. She also supplies clothes to boutiques. With the loan she has requested from KADET, she will use 20,000 KSH to purchase hair treatment chemicals, 20,000 KSH for a steaming machine and the remaining 40,000 KSH will be used to buy creams for skincare and facials.

Jamila was introduced to KADET by her friends who are existing members of the organization. Previously, she was working with Faulu.

Jamila's salon is located in a neighborhood in Malindi town and her customers are residents of Malindi. Jamila aims to build her own business premises, with the additional revenue generated from this loan, rather than renting. Jamila's hopes and dreams are to own her own house, buy a car and to establish a successful business.

MFI – KADET (4 stars)

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=143866&_tpos=1&_tpg=1