Introductions

[Guest]

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[Edo]

Thanks David!
I noticed there is quite active Kivafriends.org WCG team. I might join you there as well, once my current team challenges end. 

[Admacg]

Dia Duit everyone,

I've just joined Kiva and came across this forum. A friend mentioned a loan he'd made on facebook and
I got curious, had a look at the site, and made my first loan. It's just the sort of think I was looking
for and I really like the concept of empowering others through loans. I've also made a gift to
someone of a Kiva card, another great idea. Hoping to make another few loans once payday comes
around again.

Slightly off topic, but one of the most amazing acts of generosity that has inspired me came from the
Choctaw Indians during the Irish famine. From Wikipedia:

Midway through the Great Irish Famine (1845–1849), a group of Choctaws collected $710 (although many articles say the original amount was $170 after a misprint in Angi Debo's The Rise and Fall of the Choctaw Nation) and sent it to help starving Irish men, women and children. "It had been just 16 years since the Choctaw people had experienced the Trail of Tears, and they had faced starvation ... It was an amazing gesture. By today's standards, it might be a million dollars" according to Judy Allen, editor of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma's newspaper, Bishinik, based at the Oklahoma Choctaw tribal headquarters in Durant, Oklahoma. To mark the 150th anniversary, eight Irish people retraced the Trail of Tears  In the late 20th, Irish President Mary Robinson extolled the donation in a public commemoration.

More detail http://www.bukisa.com/articles/109765_choctaw-indians-and-the-irish-potato-famine-aid

Anyway, look forward to chatting to some of ye and making a contribution to the forum.

[Amy-in-PHX]

Dia Duit everyone,

. . . . . . . .

Slightly off topic, but one of the most amazing acts of generosity that has inspired me came from the
Choctaw Indians during the Irish famine. From Wikipedia:

Midway through the Great Irish Famine (1845–1849), a group of Choctaws collected $710 (although many articles say the original amount was $170 after a misprint in Angi Debo's The Rise and Fall of the Choctaw Nation) and sent it to help starving Irish men, women and children. "It had been just 16 years since the Choctaw people had experienced the Trail of Tears, and they had faced starvation ... It was an amazing gesture. By today's standards, it might be a million dollars" according to Judy Allen, editor of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma's newspaper, Bishinik, based at the Oklahoma Choctaw tribal headquarters in Durant, Oklahoma. To mark the 150th anniversary, eight Irish people retraced the Trail of Tears  In the late 20th, Irish President Mary Robinson extolled the donation in a public commemoration.

More detail http://www.bukisa.com/articles/109765_choctaw-indians-and-the-irish-potato-famine-aid

Anyway, look forward to chatting to some of ye and making a contribution to the forum.

Hello and welcome, Adrian!  Thanks for that story about the connections between the Irish and the Choctaw Tribe of the central USA.  Most interesting, and inspiring.  I would say, not-at-all off-topic, for introducing yourself in the forum.  What is "Dia Duit," please?

[Admacg]

Thank you Amy,

Dia Duit is an Irish greeting - its translation is 'God be with you'.

The story of the Choctaw Indians is pretty inspiring, isn't it?
Amazing that people who had faced starvation were able to make
such a huge, selfless donation like that. Some stories just restore
your faith in human nature.

[kalleward]

Hello!

This post is coming far too late, but my name is Dan and I'm from West Michigan.  I learned about Kiva during a time when I was extremely hesitant about microcredit / microfinance and it's true ability to make a substantial, positive impact on the life of another human being.  Kiva's methodology and transparency has impressed me more than I would have ever expected, so after years of research (months of it being done by following the dialogue in this forum), I'd like to introduce myself as a "new" member of Kiva Friends and an incredible fan of Kiva for almost a year now.

I've been living in Michigan for almost a year after quitting an events job in Chicago.  The events I managed with others were pretty large (LPGA, Chicago's Thanksgiving Parade), and while I was there I was overwhelmed by how much influence an event could have to sponsors.  So many sponsors would brilliantly use these events to capture community-wide attention for their own brands / campaigns.  I came back to my roots in Michigan with the goal to produce an event that would support a cause with the same ultimate concept in mind.  Out of it came the creation of two triathlons and a campaign named TriKiva.  We had a "soft launch" last week with our beta website (TriKiva.com), and begin our "hard launch" tomorrow, April 18.

I've only made a few posts, but I wanted to give full credit where it's truly due, so thanks to everyone, including those from the Kiva staff who offered their time and the endlessly creative and passionate supporters of Kiva who offered ingenious ideas and encouragement.  Kiva can be looked at not only as a registered non-profit organization, but as a community of thousands and thousands of people.  The very realization of this campaign isn't due to my own work as I imagined it would be, but to a community of Kiva Supporters.  I worked odd-jobs about 30-40 hours per week just to save the money for the large financial investment this became, and couldn't have made it work without everyone's help.  Just listen to how I describe the long-awaited beginning with an excitement like it's the end.

This introduction is far past overdone and quickly approaching sappy, but hello all Kiva Friends!

Cheers,
Dan

[KyRoamer]

KyRoamer here. I am from Louisville, Kentucky and active as KyRoamer on twitter, milepoint.com. flyertalk.com, cruisecritics.com and tripadvisor.com. You might guess that I like to travel and you'd be right. I joined Kiva March 18, 2011 and set a goal of $1,000 in loans by year end. 1 just completed loan 94 and am now shooting for 120 by year end. I expect to have loans outstanding exceeding $2,250 by then.

Join me at Milepoint or Flyertalk if you like to travel and enjoy getting the most benefits (upgrades, freebies, etc) at the lowest costs. Both have dedicated communities of knowledgeable travelers. If cruising is your passion, cruisecritics cannot be beat. 

This is all just between us. My wife knows about Kiva -- sort of .

[David2051]

Welcome to Kiva Friends!  We're practically neighbors...

 

[o]

Not sure if this is the right place, but I noticed that at least 3 Kiva staff members have signed up on Kivafriends in the last 2 days!   to rachel_kiva, timp and LauraAtKiva!