Introductions

[Guest]

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[Wood Fairy Glenda]

  Hi Everyone! I'm Glenda, a volunteer both in Madison WI where I live and in various places throughout the world (building houses and water systems, assisting medical personnel, working with kids, wildlife study, reforestation.... in short, anything that sounds interesting).  At home I work mostly in ecological restoration and conservation: http://waa.uwalumni.com/lakeshorepreserve/. I love KIVA - fits right in with my highest priorities - and I've already met a very nice KIVA lender in my own town.  A great way to make personal connections with the whole world.  Wood Fairy Glenda

[DevMelJo]

Hi this is Devin, Melissa , and Joseph, We saw a special on pbs tonight April 10th 2007. It blew us away! We own a small business and believe in helping people help themselves. We currently have 2 deaf employees and always try to promote helping disabled and less fortunate members of our community through training and support, not charity. We fell in love with Kiva instanly and spent hours on the site. This world is getting so small, but globalization doesn't have to crush poorer people. With the help of organizations like Kiva and it's members we are now able to help people help themselves without greedy middle men dipping their fingers into the pot. Thanks for this awesome forum too. We already received some great ideas from other members.

[multimutts]

Hi

My name is Patti, and I am a Kiva addict.     

My first thoughts of something 'Kiva like' were while watching the news coverage after the tsunami.  I remember a news story about a man who ran a small orphanage with his wife.  He had saved a lifetime to have a little building that they all lived in by the sea, and a small boat from which he fished and supported everyone.  When the tsunami came, he gathered as many children as he could into the boat, but couldn't find his wife in time .... and they set off to ride out the event.  At the end of it all, his boat was damaged, his home was demolished, his wife was dead, and everything he had worked a lifetime for was gone.  The story ended pointing out that it would be possible to rebuild, but how? .... repair of the boat, and rebuilding of the home would cost the equivalent of several hundred dollars .... and he had already spent his entire life savings in acquiring these things the first time around.

I guess I live a pretty insulated, calm, surburban kind of life ...... my initial thought of 'What about insurance?' was really silly  .... and I remember thinking as I watched this that while I felt extremely ill at ease giving money to a large charity and just trusting that they would 'do the right thing' .... I only wished there was a way to help more directly, and to be certain that my money would be doing good.  I knew, as I watched this story, that if I could have reached out and helped this guy rebuild and start again, that I would have done so .... but there didn't seem to be any way to help ...so I turned off the television.

But I still remembered the picture of that guy on a beach .... surrounded by debris ... and not knowing what he was going to do. 

I think that many months later, the memory of that picture made me recognize Kiva as something special.  Something that I wanted to be a part of.  My name is Patti, and I am a Kiva addict.    

More about me: I live in a small town in New Hampshire (US) and I work as an Animal Control Officer for a nearby mid-size city.   I share my household with a loving husband, six dogs, four cats, an african grey parrot, a redfoot tortoise and a western hognose snake.   On occasion I drink too much coffee, and eat too much chocolate, and I'm sure I have my other flaws and faults. 

But I have my good points too.

My name is Patti, and I am a Kiva addict. 

[Carlos]

Hi, My name is Carlos born and raised in Carolina Puerto Rico.  I just recently retired from the US Air Force and now I spent my days working with different projects in Latin America.  Yesterday was the first time I heard of Kiva.  Like most people watching TV last night I tuned in to my local PBS station to watch Frontline, and that's where I discovered Kiva and all that it does.  The different stories and the joy of all loan recipients was amazing.  This was so exciting that I knew then that I had to become part of this effort.

[Marley]

  I'm Marley and I'm pleased to be meeting all of you. I live in beautiful northern Vermont, near the eastern shore of Lake Champlain. I've been a mother and homemaker. My oldest daughter is in college now and the other will finish high school in two more years. So I'll be out of a job soon.
  I've been excited about microlending since I read Mohammed Yunus' autobiography Banker to the Poor about four years ago. I wanted to be one of his field officers. The women he was lending to otherwise had to go to scalpers who would take nearly all of a days profits from them for less than a 24 hour loan. His story is amazing.
  When I read Nick Kristof's article in late March, I was ready to sign up! Plus. Kiva was making loans in Afghanistan, a place I've wanted to make a difference in. (Has anyone else been following Sarah Chayes reports from there? She's a former NPR reporter who was asked to stay and help rebuild the country.) I've been trolling the Kiva site for borrowers from there since. I was delighted this past weekend when I was able to make my first loans there. It was when I was following up on the Afghani client group Tuesday that the Kiva site showed me a screen directing me here. Since I can only loan so much each month before becoming financially irresponsible at home, it's great to support my Kiva attachment through all of you.
  Mary, of #23, I read the Kristof column about the women's sanctuary in Pakistan, and it's vulnerability, too. It make me look at the list of countries where Kiva loans. Not there, yet. Does anyone know how to engage Kiva in a conversation about starting loans in a new country? Are they open to linking lending to other social crises?
  I wanted to tell other people about Kiva, like many of you. I made a trail at Trailfire called "Loan $25; Change the World." I found some early final reports in the journal pages on the Kiva site that I included. They tell the stories of how the first loan to a few of the earliest clients in Uganda changed the circumstances in their families and businesses. It also gave a good picture of how the MFI worked to help them start. To find it, google Trailfire; my trail is in the News section.  For maximum enjoyment of the medium, sign on for an account. Then the markers will appear on each page and you'll be able to use the arrow function to move along the markers. Otherwise, you can access the trail summary and hyperlink to each page. This will work best with Firefox or Opera browsers, where tabbed pages let you move beteen the summary and hyperlink most easily. The journal pages are markers two thru four. I would have used the Kristof column as the opening page, but I had trouble marking it. I may have another go at that.

[longjonblu]

I happened to be watching TV two nights ago and the program talked of KIVA. I was so excited about the show and what Kiva was doing that I had to go on line to check it out. Two days later I made my first loan. I had goose bumps for the thrill of doing it. I have since emailed many of my friends about KIVA.
  In the 60's I had to oppertunity to join the Peace Corps(Iran-1967-68). Seeing all the poverty was such a shock to this small town farming community kid. I have had many experiences in seeing poverty first hand in South America and Vietnam. I knew that I had to be involved in something bigger that myself. I only wish that I had more money to lend but with a family of 4 kids here at home I can only help in small amounts.
 I wish much success to all the clients from all over the world. I would like to see the possibilities of lending money to Vietnam? Thank you. John Heiss/Eugene,Or.

[davidkeithjones]

Hey everyone,

Im Dave and im from Toronto, Canada. I just joined Kiva a short while ago and im loving it so far!

[Ari]

Hi Marley and longjonblu,

1. It's my understanding that Kiva doesn't initiate contact with new MFIs.  Instead, they rely on MFIs interested to contact them.  So if you're interested in a particular country, try finding an MFI there and tell them about Kiva.

2. Kiva partners with an MFI in Vietnam, but there haven't been so many loan requests from there on Kiva.   Keep checking back, eventually you'll find one.  You can also type vietnam into the search box beside the "find business" button (although I think there's a system glitch right now, that isn't working for me).

[Jen]

Hi everyone! I'm Jen - live in Harlem NYC, teacher, dancer, craftster, classical/jazz music fanatic and now kiva-gaga! I'm thrilled to be here, and to have the opportunity to chat with fellow kiva supporters. Feel free to drop me a note to say hi anytime!

[flyinfur]

I'm Jodie and live in Oklahoma City.

I lend with Kiva for several reasons: I've been reading about microfinance for years but didn't know how to get involved; I've been on several medical missions to underdeveloped countries and seen firsthand how difficult living conditions can be); and at the most difficult point in my life, I came home to find that an acquaintance in another city had sent me $100. That meant my kids and I could eat for two months. It's amazing what a boost a small amount of money can be.

Personal? I work two jobs; full time I am a research nurse for a head and neck group (mostly cancer studies) and my part time job is inpatient psychiatric nurse. I come from a family of nurses (mom, aunt, sister, brother-in-law), and I was NOT going to be a nurse...so I'm not quite sure how that happened, except that it must be in the genes. My original degree (French) was about as far from nursing as you could get.

One of my kids is now on her own (and also a nurse) and the other one starts college this year (but refuses to be a nurse...we'll see).