Great idea - www.kiva.org - get on board!
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Update
After signing up and participating, it seems there is a big point I should clarify
You lend money to KIVA who use it for projects and it is repaid almost all of the time BUT how KIVA works is that they lend that money to local field partners who then lend that money out at interest to borrowers. Sometimes the interest is very high (compared to loans in Western countries). The reason KIVA gives for this is that the cost of carrying out micro-loans is significantly higher than normal sized loans, and often these places are rural, not cities.
So, my advice to anyone is NOT to lend to any KIVA projects unless the field partner does not charge interest. There are some (mainly in Muslim countries) who do not charge interest to the borrowers, and probably charge a fee instead. I recommend signing up to the Muslim Kiva group as they often post links to non-interest projects on Kiva.
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Peace
Following our recent workshop in Johannesburg, one of the outputs was developing a model to do something similar by raising and utilising funds to develop people in South Africa with micro-loans.
Once we have developed our model, I will post it so that people can consider getting involved.
Imraan
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Update
After signing up and participating, it seems there is a big point I should clarify
You lend money to KIVA who use it for projects and it is repaid almost all of the time BUT how KIVA works is that they lend that money to local field partners who then lend that money out at interest to borrowers. Sometimes the interest is very high (compared to loans in Western countries). The reason KIVA gives for this is that the cost of carrying out micro-loans is significantly higher than normal sized loans, and often these places are rural, not cities.
So, my advice to anyone is NOT to lend to any KIVA projects unless the field partner does not charge interest. There are some (mainly in Muslim countries) who do not charge interest to the borrowers, and probably charge a fee instead. I recommend signing up to the Muslim Kiva group as they often post links to non-interest projects on Kiva.
Thanks for clarifying this Wakas. I've been a member on that site for a while now and lent money but this will make me abit more wary of who I lend the money to. The site is highly recommended but also check out http//www.freerice.com/ for each answer you get right they donate 10 grains of rice also helps build your vocabulary.
PEACE
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Update
After signing up and participating, it seems there is a big point I should clarify
You lend money to KIVA who use it for projects and it is repaid almost all of the time BUT how KIVA works is that they lend that money to local field partners who then lend that money out at interest to borrowers. Sometimes the interest is very high (compared to loans in Western countries). The reason KIVA gives for this is that the cost of carrying out micro-loans is significantly higher than normal sized loans, and often these places are rural, not cities.
So, my advice to anyone is NOT to lend to any KIVA projects unless the field partner does not charge interest. There are some (mainly in Muslim countries) who do not charge interest to the borrowers, and probably charge a fee instead. I recommend signing up to the Muslim Kiva group as they often post links to non-interest projects on Kiva.
yes read about this too somewhere just after signing up--never used the service since. good tip on that Muslim Kiva group though, never checked it before.
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peace I got really excited when I found out about Kiva too and then disappointed when I learned about the interest. I mean, I can totally understand it. They have to have coordinators to take the repayments and organise everything and in order to do that successfully they charge the interest to cover it. I was reading this thread waiting for something to come out about it )
Glad to hear there are some opportunities for Muslims without using interest though. Microcredit has done so much to help people and it's really heartening when something so small to some can affect huge changes to others. Muhammad Yunus got a Nobel Peace prize for his microcredit work in Bangladesh. ) Praise God.
