BLADAM - Entry - Check out this outstanding microloan site! (and join me in supporting a library in Kenya)

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Check out this outstanding microloan site! (and join me in supporting a library in Kenya)

I’m usually a firm believer that charity—like praying—is best a private affair. In particular, I have an especially high admiration for generous folks who give anonymously.

With that said, however, I’m going to share with you a business that I just helped fund… and I hope you will join in!

UPDATE: I’m thrilled to note that within 24 hours after I posted the original business profile here, that business was fully funded! See the comments on this entry for more details. The profile now shown below is selected randomly (on each page view) by Kiva.

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After evaluating many possible businesses / business people to invest in, I decided to support Ms. Wamaitha in Kenya in her drive to expand her current library and continue her support work fighting HIV/AIDS. You can learn more about her and her efforts by clicking the photo above, and in the meantime, here’s a relevant snippet:

She is requesting a loan of US $ 2,000. Her budget is: US $ 1,000 to purchase assorted education books, journals and magazines, US $500 to purchase furniture for the reading space, US $ 300 to decorate the library and build shelves and US $ 200 advertise and acquire necessary license. This will increase her income to an average of US $ 100 per week. She plans to utilize the income to keep her children in school and to expand her business further. Jane is hard working and will be able to repay the loan.

You can make a loan for as little as $25… and in about 2 minutes via credit card (it’s done through PayPal, but you don’t need an account with them, just a credit card). It’s also interesting to note that 100% of loans made through Kiva so far have been repaid in full!

* * *

Unlike with my most recent post, I’m not going to tag anyone. But I think it’d be a marvelous meme—SEO-blog or otherwise—having this opportunity propagated throughout the blogosphere. So feel free to reverse-tag me and support Ms. Wamaitha or another worthy businessperson from Kiva, post about your contribution on your blog, and encourage others to do the same. Let’s see if we can meet her modest business loan need by the end of this year, and—even better—see how many other businesses we can support .

Lastly, props to my friend Huy (yes, the awesome Huy of Orkut fame ) for letting me know about this wonderful site.

- Blathered by Adam on Sunday, December 17, 2006 at 18:17 [ Permalink | Trackback ]
- Filed under Society
- Commented on by 11 folks so far. Scroll down and see for yourself (and join in the conversation!)

Comment from member JoeDuck [ BLADAM Profile \| URL ]	Adam thanks for a great post featuring a great project and cause - KIVA is awesome. I just had the honor of taking her to the 2000 level. Microloans bring biz and people together in excellent ways, and you sure can’t beat the ROI you get helping people in the developing world. Rock on! - Posted on Monday, December 18, 2006 at 17:22 [ Permalink to this comment ]
Comment from member Adam San Francisco [ BLADAM Profile \| URL ]	That is awesome! Well, now that Jane’s loan needs have been met, I hope other readers will select other worthy folks on Kiva.org and spread the word. Still smiling… what a great accomplishment to see on a Monday, Joe; thanks again for joining in and for posting the note! - Posted on Monday, December 18, 2006 at 17:26 [ Permalink to this comment ]
Comment from member JoeDuck [ BLADAM Profile \| URL ]	Hmm - I may have to ponder this more, but I think I disagree with you about keeping charity giving private. I think what you’ve done here is a good example of how we need to spread the word about how important it is to lend a hand to the developing world, especially in these powerful “pro business, pro people” ways. Keeping gifts anonymous is admirable but I’m not sure it gets the job done as quickly. - Posted on Monday, December 18, 2006 at 17:27 [ Permalink to this comment ]
Comment from member JoeDuck [ BLADAM Profile \| URL ]	Sorry, I was writing that second note before I saw yours. In my family we LOVE to argue but for now I’ll just say THANKS! - Posted on Monday, December 18, 2006 at 17:29 [ Permalink to this comment ]
Comment from member Adam San Francisco [ BLADAM Profile \| URL ]	You have a good point, Joe. So I guess I should clarify: I’m turned off by “loud and proud” charity and praying… where it seems designed to cater to one’s needs for personal attention or validation, or—equally offensively—intended to pressure others to donate when may have neither the sincere interest or means to do so. In contrast, though, as we’ve seen here and in other examples… when making a charity drive public can bring attention to important giving opportunities and provide friendly encouragement for joining in (moreso than attention to the giver), then that is pretty darn cool. So yes, your point is well-taken. - Posted on Monday, December 18, 2006 at 17:31 [ Permalink to this comment ]
Comment from member JoeDuck [ BLADAM Profile \| URL ]	Hi Adam - thanks for elaboration, good points! I really like your featuring KIVA and will try to do the same soon. I like the interactive banner thing but WordPress hosted blogs like mine sometimes won’t let you use script in the blog posts. - Posted on Wednesday, December 20, 2006 at 0:40 [ Permalink to this comment ]
Comment from member Matt Hendrickson [ BLADAM Profile \| URL ]	So my getting “Locked Up” for MDA is “Loud and Proud” chairity? LOL - Posted on Thursday, December 21, 2006 at 18:53 [ Permalink to this comment ]
Comment from member Adam San Francisco [ BLADAM Profile \| URL ]	- Posted on Thursday, December 21, 2006 at 19:07 [ Permalink to this comment ]
Comment from member JoeDuck [ BLADAM Profile \| URL ]	OK, no bragging about donations, but I do want to put in a word for my fine friend Chico the Wonder Dog… - Posted on Thursday, December 21, 2006 at 19:56 [ Permalink to this comment ]
Comment from constant traveler [ BLADAM Profile \| URL ]	Adam, thank you for posting about this. The importance of microloans is enormous, and it is very nice for you to spotlight this site. I hope that anyone with a popular website or voice uses it occasionally to let people know about sites of value. If you are a webmaster there are alot of neat ways to help just about anything you care about. Idealist.org is a site I like to mention. - Posted on Saturday, December 30, 2006 at 20:26 [ Permalink to this comment ]
Comment from Jose Learn to Read [ BLADAM Profile \| URL ]	Privacy should be maintained while donating or making any charity work. - Posted on Wednesday, March 26, 2008 at 2:16 [ Permalink to this comment ]

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