Confusion on Where Money Lent via Kiva Goes - NYT reactions & fall-out linkspam

[Guest]

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[waywardcats]

The original New York Times piece Confusion on Where Money Lent via Kiva Goes published on November 8, 2009.

Here is a link to the reaction piece on the Kiva blog by Matt Flannery Today's New York Times Article

And for the sake of transparency, here is where the NYT piece has been picked up by Fox News and Greta Van Susteren. Another Big Fat Lie which in my opinion is certainly libelous.

These issues are being discussed all over this forum, but here is one directly related thread (so far):
Kiva controversy and team lending

-Kerry-

[waywardcats]

A Public Relations expert gives his perspective:

Kiva reveals they don't fund loans as described, begins altering website to be more transparent by Shabbir on the blog Truthy PR

[alan]

And for the sake of transparency, here is where the NYT piece has been picked up by Fox News and Greta Van Susteren. Another Big Fat Lie which in my opinion is certainly libelous.

Think this means Greta van Susteren is going to be coming off the fun facts? 

[Teague Ventures]

I am new to kiva, only been around about 3 weeks.  I do not understand how this has got blown so out of proportion.  I was fully aware of the fact that I was not lending directly to the individual but that my pay back was based on a particular individual.  I learned this on my own by reading and investigating kiva for myself.  I made the choice to make several loans knowing how the system works and plan on making many more.  I hope that this will blow over and people will understand that the system is working and helping many individuals and groups.  The path that the money takes getting to and from is not the most important factor, the fact that the money gets there is the what counts.  I think anyone who has invested any substantial amount should take responsibility for their lack of knowledge and lack of research.  I am hopeful that people will look past all the negative and keep making a difference.

Fred

[AccountAbility]

I spent a few minutes on this Greta Van Susteren's site and started to feel like her criticism of Kiva was inadvertently a ringing endorsement. 

(What she is against maybe I should assume I am for?)

I guess we are just poles apart.

Dan

[Wood Fairy Glenda]

Agreed, Dan I was totally repelled by her site.  Viva Kiva and KivaFriends!

[tdcheetah]

I am new to kiva, only been around about 3 weeks.  I do not understand how this has got blown so out of proportion.  I was fully aware of the fact that I was not lending directly to the individual but that my pay back was based on a particular individual.  I learned this on my own by reading and investigating kiva for myself.  I made the choice to make several loans knowing how the system works and plan on making many more.  I hope that this will blow over and people will understand that the system is working and helping many individuals and groups.  The path that the money takes getting to and from is not the most important factor, the fact that the money gets there is the what counts.  I think anyone who has invested any substantial amount should take responsibility for their lack of knowledge and lack of research.  I am hopeful that people will look past all the negative and keep making a difference.

Yeah, I'm 3 months here rather than 3 weeks, but this is pretty similar to what I've experienced and how I feel about loaning on Kiva at the present. I've been doing a lot of reading about microfinance, and not just on/about Kiva. My Personal Microfinance Portfolio (thanks RichardF!) is still evolving, but Kiva will be a part of it as long as my reward -- peculiarly personal to me -- is equal or greater to the effort I put in and the risk(s) I feel I run.   

However, I kinda have to agree there are some mixed messages going on.  For example, I received Kiva's "maintenance" message momentarily while trying to log into the site just now. Maybe it should be updated a bit to correspond better with updated Kiva explanations elsewhere...

About Kiva

Kiva is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website. By enabling people to connect with and make personal loans to low-income entrepreneurs around the globe, Kiva is revolutionizing the fight against global poverty. You can make a direct loan of as little as $25 to an entrepreneur to purchase business-related items such as sewing machines or livestock. This can dramatically improve the life of an entrepreneur and his/her family, empowering them to earn their way out of poverty.

Lee

[Jan & John]

Hi Fred, and Lee... and Glenda and Dan and I just give thanks for the positive messages being spread around this place today.

this is exactly what I talk about all the time...

Kiva is great!
Kiva is growing!

however

Kiva must slow down and fix up those 'mixed messages'.
They just don't seem to see the importance, or listen to the message from the lenders here at KF.

They shouldn't talk about their transparency until they check to see if they have all their bases covered.

-jan-

[waywardcats]

Response from Kiva Fellow Zev Lowe, KF8, Indonesia posted on the Kiva Fellows blog.

Kiva, Transparency and P2P Microlending

[Jan & John]

Thanks for the link, Kerry. 

Knowing that Kiva needs to be careful of the 'legalese' required on the website, one person stating their ‘opinion’ in their own words carries so much more weight with me. 
And as a Kiva Fellow who is dedicating such a large portion of his life to 'the Kiva Cause', Zev made himself very clear. 
I specially like the wording... operational abstractions 

My take At the end of the day, you’re still investing your money in someone else’s livelihood. I think of it like swiping my credit card to pay for something. I’m still liable to pay for it, even though the details are complex and no money will leave my account for another 30 days. Kiva has channeled $100m in funds to microentrepreneurs in only 4 years. There’s no way that would be possible without working with their MFI field partners, and without operational abstractions that strike a difficult balance between creating a personalized user experience and maximizing efficiency.

-jan-