Microloans (Blog)
 

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

Microloans

I was looking into this today, I will be setting up my account on this in the next few days.

What a great idea. I have registered and will review loans requested and see where I can help out.

Thanks for writing about this Steve. I had no idea such an organization existed.

Awesome! Charities keep about 95% of the donations to pay salaries, doesn't make me want to give them any money. These microloans will be where I tithe. :)

Omg, I am so happy you are doing this!! <3. Sooner or later, I knew...

I've thought about this before but it ended up on my "To look into at some point" list.

I need to think about it.

It might help some farmer build a business, and you feel better. But...

Ummm. There's an objection to this in my head but it seems unwilling to form itself into words.

I guess I will stew on this and think about it later.

With Kiva there is administrative overhead that gets financed through interest payments.

Wow I love this... first learned about the concept while watching a program on Halogen Tv. This is definitely something I'll be getting into and I really love that Steve is promoting it!

One of the most "famous" boosters of Kiva and microloans in America today is Bob Harris. Much of the last couple of years of his life has been spent traveling for Kiva in preparation for his forthcoming book "The 1st International Bank of Bob". His lending team (of which I am a member) often ranks near the top of the monthly lenders list. (It seems like we're always just behind the atheists.)

Bob was a contestant on Jeopardy about 15 years ago, and his book about that experience, "Prisoner of Trebekistan" is also well worth reading if you are interested in personal growth. His story is just amazing, not only how winning on Jeopardy changed his life, but more importantly how losing on Jeopardy changed his life. I was lucky enough to meet Bob last month at the Trivia Championships in Las Vegas, and I managed to only say one stupid thing to him while I was there. I was thrilled to meet him. He is an inspiration.

-M

That's cool with me. :cool:

im so grateful for this positive difference being made

what an awesome thing to do

I'd like to have lots of money and do that

That's very nice of you to promote micro loans on your site, Steve!

..and Team Pavlina is an awesome idea! :)

Steve you keep introducing me to great things

Kiva's vision is a good start, doing positive things to help people grow. My buddy made a video on it a few yrs back

Do What You Love | Kiva.Org Promo | 2009 - YouTube

CHECK IT OUT !! :cool:

This is really cool. Sounds like something I will participate in after I get my own finances figured out.

I researched microloans during my studies of International Development in the early 00's, back when it was first becoming really big with Grameen Bank. My girlfriend has also had accounts with a local Danish microloan-org - since 2007. Unfortunately they had to downgrade operations because a lot of the debtors could not return payments, but they are still in bizz.

There's been a lot of debate about the efficiency of microloans in recent years, much like the general debate on the impact development assistance and 'fair trade' (which we've also worked with for over a decade) and I suspect that the bottom line still is: sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It depends a lot about circumstances.

A recent, very thorough report from the national British development institution - DFID, their pendant to USAID - had a very skeptical conclusion about the impact of microcredit. I still believe that it works, under the right circumstances, and possibly coupled with other types of assistance/aid/reforms, but I have to admit I haven't kept up-to-date on the debate.

It's great, though that Steve has introduced this type of very personal way to assist people in less materially prosperous parts of the world (to put it mildly); - a way to help them cover their basic needs by becomin self-sufficient. That can only be a good thing.

But do check around before you commit to supporting any particular microloan initiative. Common sense, maybe - but still... it's easy to bet carried away. And no, I haven't heard anything negative about Kiva - it appears they are one of the major and more reputable players in the bizz.

But keep in mind, apropos the recent evaluations mentioned before, that the general positive impact of microcredit is still very much a contented issue.

Steve - "I like that you can review the details of each loan and make loans in alignment with your values. I wouldn’t fund a slaughterhouse operation, but I’m happy to help a farmer upgrade the irrigation system for his fruit trees."

You have no idea what you are talking about. The loans were already given BEFORE they were placed in the website.

From Wikipedia: Kiva (organization) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"When Kiva began, lenders chose who could borrow their money. Since then, the system has changed, so that loans are disbursed to borrowers before their stories are posted to Kiva‘s website."

to NY Times: Confusion Over Where Money Lent on Kiva Goes - NYTimes.com

“The person-to-person donor-to-borrower connections created by Kiva are partly fictional,” he wrote. “I suspect that most Kiva users do not realize this.”

Or even directly from Kiva.org: Kiva Terms of Use Agreement (Last Updated January 26, 2011) | Kiva

"A Field Partner may voluntarily choose to pre-fund your Borrower in the short-term from its own funds in anticipation of receiving your Loan as backfill."

Not against the concept and this may be better soon (as in the NY times article) but you ARE currently funding "the slaughterhouse operation".

anyone actually pay attention to the interest rates on these loans? Kiva (organization) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Some of them are up to 80%. You're pretty much giving lenders your money for free so that they can make money off or your money. At least a bank will give you interest back on the money you put in.