Have you heard of Kiva.org, the microlanding organization where they believe loans change lives. The founding thought leader of microlending, Muhammad Yunus founder of Grameen Bank, has already won a Nobel prize.
I like the approach to charity – teach someone how to fish vs giving them a fish. And a lot of people do as well. So a few months back a bunch of GovLoopers got together and thought let’s form a group and give back. In a way, these is the Gov 2.0 version of CFC. Grassroots. Impact. Personal. Social.
In a few months, the GovLoop team has made a great impact:
Statistic Name GovLoop
Number of Team Members 19
Number of Loans 48
Number of Loans per Member 2.53
Total Amount Loaned $1,550.00
I urge you to join the GovLoop Kiva group here: http://www.kiva.org/team/govloop
and join the discussion on the GovLoop group: https://www.govloop.com/group/kivamicrolendingteam
We will feature a new loan every couple weeks and report back on the results
Here is the latest loan request to fill:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=118830&_tpos=5&_tpg=7
Mrs. Tuhumwire Maudah is a courageous lady of 43. She owns a retail shop located in Ishaka Trading Centre. She is married with six children. She is using the loan to invest more in her business, purchasing retail items such as sugar, soap, dry cells, etc and she expects to get big returns in terms of sales.
Her husband is a very hard-working businessman who owns a commercial building and rental houses in Ishaka trading centre. He also has a banana plantation and a farm with 8 cows where he gets bananas and milk for sale that earn him more income. Mrs. Tuhumwire Maudah’s future hope is to educate her children.
And here is the last loan we filled :
This is a lady who works in the food catering business. She has a restaurant not far from the Adidogomé market. She makes Togolese dishes, such as fufu made from yams and pâte made from corn. Her dishes are much appreciated by her customers. The goods necessary for her restaurant business are exhausted, so she wants to stock up again and is requesting her second loan from WAGES to buy ten piles of yams, five sacks of corn, and various other food items. She is married and the mother of two children.
Wow – how impressive and awesome!
Even small amounts of investment can make such a huge difference in that part of the world -great job!
Kiva is a wonderful organisation and I am very proud that GovLoop are supporting it. Last year I worked with The Tech Museum in San Jose, and virtually, who list many such projects where a seemingly simple idea can make such a difference to so many people. Read more here http://www.techawards.org/
Kiva is also present in Second Life (www.secondlife.com)