Tapping The Far-Reaching Altruism of Microcredit

The extent that a US dollar can benefit someone in the developing world can hardly be understated. Of course, this doesn't drive most of us to give freely and without discretion. There are, unfortunately, those who could hemorrhage a dollar as quickly as they hemorrhage a lei, without benefiting either themselves or their family. But well directed, well timed, gifts of capital for small businesses can improve not only owners of that business, but their families, the patrons of that business, the workers they hire, the communities they develop... the benefits reach immeasurable depths. To sum up, a little money goes a long way.

I recently discovered a non-profit organization called Kiva. They aggregate several microfinance institutions who have approved potential borrowers throughout the world. The only step remaining is to involve the sypmathetic hearts of Internet-enabled entrepreneurs, who can make non-interest bearing loans of a minimum of $25 through a PayPal account. With enough contributions, this can aggregate to a loan of anywhere between $100 to $2000 to those who could turn such an investment into a thriving business.

If you have a few extra dollars sitting in a PayPal account, consider how far such a gift could go. Some of the profiles of those in need are especially alluring. I contributed a gift to a family in Afghanistan, who, despite having an established business in handweaving carpets, didn't have the funds available to buy fabric. The image of their profile shows several children beside an unfinished carpet. They were only asking for a loan of $175. You could expect that local loan sharks make such a dilemma extremely dangerous for the family.

So I figure, if I can't travel, and if I'm forced to live at a ridiculous American premium just to breathe this air, the least I could do is make some effort by offering a loan to someone who could make it go very far on a local currency. If you're wondering what the risk involved could be, consider that microcredit institutions have a 97% repayment rate. If you spread your donations, chances are good that you'll have your money returned, nearly in full, when the loans complete.