Kiva Friends - Help with Kiva Informative Speech! Thank you!

Hello!

My name is Katherine Cole, I am sixteen years old and a senior at Lutheran High Northeast. I compete in informative and extemporaneous speaking. I have written a speech at Kiva for my informative speech this year. I would like input on the speech from those who know about Kiva already. I hope to educate and encourage people to lend through my speech. I would very much appreciate your help. Thank you for your time!
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Today I would like to speak to you about a determined entrepreneur, one of many who lack only the funds necessary to succeed in harsh third world economies, his name is Modesto Guevara. Modesto Guevara makes his living selling cattle. His cattle are in high demand but now he needs $1,200 to buy more calves. Through Mr. Guevara’s business, he is able to educate his four children, however if he cannot buy more calves, he will not be able to continue to send his children to school. No bank is willing to lend him the money he needs. Where is he left to turn?

How can the average American take $25 and help improve the life of someone half a world away? The answer lies in the financial instrument known as micro lending. A process where individuals pledge small amounts, which can be loaned in aggregate, to those in need of financing. The funds can allow a single mother in Ghana to expand her goat herd or help a 50 year old widow in Kenya purchase a reliable plow for her farm. Without the assistance of micro lending many of the loans would not happen, either the loan amount is too small for the traditional lender or the client lacks a credit history. This is not simply a handout, those who have been helped through micro lending agree to a set schedule to pay back the loan often in less than 18 months. Today, we will cover three different areas concerning micro lending; first we will lend a moment of our time to talking about how the microfinance movement started. Then we will give credit to one of the most successful organizations involved and how they used technology to expand their lender base like never before, and lastly we will borrow from personal experiences with microlending and the stories of people that have been helped through microlending.

Now let us lend a moment of our time to how the microfinance movement started. The concept of micro lending began with Mahamad Yunus, an economist and university professor in Bangladesh, Yunus began by lending money to groups of women, and this small program showed that lives could be improved if given a chance, and the loans were paid back with interest on time.

In 1976, Yunus founded the Grameen Bank. This Bank exists for the purpose of extending credit to cottage industries, much in need of additional funding. According to the October 31, 2010 episode on Frontline, since the inception of the Grameen Bank it has lent out more the $5.7 billion, $5.6 billion has been repaid, a repayment scale of 96% and has encompassed more than half a million members, 95% of whom as are women. In 2006, Yunus and his Bank shared the Nobel peace Prize for their contributions to the world of micro credit, according to an article in the Stanford magazine in December 2009.

And yet, a micro loan, which a March 17th 2010 Fox News article placed the average amount between $50 and $150, can make a world of difference for a family’s quality of life.

Now that we have lent some time to the beginnings of microfinance, let us give credit to one of the most successful organizations involved in micro lending, Kiva. Kiva has 850,000 lenders extending $184 million to half a million entrepreneurs in 209 countries according to Kiva.org on December 1, 2010. An April 3, 2001 a CNN News Broadcast called Kiva a runaway success, so much so that they recently had to limit each lender to $25 per business to enable other lenders to have a chance to at the process. Kiva comes from humble beginnings though, it began with the Flannerys, a newlywed couple. Jessica was working with the Village Enterprise Fund, a microfinance operation in East Africa. They had the idea of opening micro lending to the masses. They started with a small website showcasing people who wished to expand their small businesses. Kiva joined forces with local microfinance to act as regional field partners, which distribute the funds to entrepreneurs within given geographical areas. After news of Kiva was picked up by major blogs traffic to their site surged and all those needed loans were fulfilled within days. The greatest boom to Kiva has been in partnering with PayPal, the leader in online payments, their role is to process funds for lenders and forward them to those field partners, free of charge. This has enabled anyone with at least $25 and a PayPal account to become an international financer while at the same time helping some of those most in need by giving them the bootstraps with which to pull themselves up. As I said, anyone is eligible to take part in this process. According to a December 15th 2011 CNBC news article, over 53 % of lenders on Kiva range from ages 18-25; which account for 71% of the site’s total loans. The availability and easiness of the process astounds many who take part. Kiva nor their lenders charge interest, manageable interest rates are charged by the local field partners in order to fund their operations. These rates pale in comparison to what these entrepreneurs would be charged if these microfinance institutions were not available. Since traditional banks have little interest in loaning to these businesses, they must go to the village money lender. Who, according to Kiva’s President, Premal Shah, charge from 80 to 800%, depending upon the country.

Now that we have given credit to one of the most successful organizations involved in microfinance, we will borrow from personal experiences with micro lending and how people across the world have helped improve these entrepreneurs quality of life, as found on Kiva’s website in November of 2010.

Dennis is a cobbler in Nicaragua who needed a loan of $800 to purchase additional supplies for his business, leather, rubber, and thread, so that he can fill orders of his customers and increase his income. The loan was so helpful, that Denis was able to repay the entire loan, within just two months.

Agnes Mburu in Kenya needed only $300 to finance the purchase of a new water tank for her farm. This rain water tank will give her access to water when otherwise she and her animals would have to go without. Within one month, she has already paid back $75 of her $300 loan.

Alesi Tapusoa in Smoa needs to build a secure structure to store the goods she sells while she is not at her shop. She came to Kiva to get a loan of $300. She has already paid back a prior loan of $300 that she used to purchase her inventory.

Ayu Gusti in Indonesia wanted to use a $500 Kiva loan to expand her already successful pig raising business by purchasing an additional sow and feed. Now with my help and the help of nine others from across the world, her dream can become a reality.

Today we have lent a moment of our time in talking about how the microfinance movement started. Then we gave credit to one of the most successful organizations involved and how they used technology to expand their lender base like never before, and lastly, we borrowed from my personal experience with micro lending and the stories of entrepreneurs that have been helped.

Modesto Guevara was able to get his microfinance loan through Kiva, 30 people believed in his dream enough to collectively loan him the $1,200 he needed to buy additional calves. Now, in turn, he can afford to continue to send his four children to school.

Micro finance has been around for 30 years and has helped nearly 100 million people. Today, you too can be part of improving someone’s life, half a world away, $25 at a time.

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