Teach a Man to Fish

The old saying goes “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.” That is what Kiva.org is all about. I have been involved with Kiva for three years now. My daughter’s seventh grade history teacher introduced my daughter to the program and I jumped on board. Kiva is unlike any other charitable organization. Instead of giving money to a charity and being unsure of where the money is actually spend, you instead loan money and that money is later repaid and can be loaned again.

So far I have made five loans. I loaned money to Marlen Argelia Rodriguez Mondragon from Honduras.

Young Marlen Rodriguez has a small grocery store in her home. She gets up at 5:00 am to do housework and later opens her business at 6:00 am to attend to her customers. She lives with her mom and has a 2 year old son. She has the responsibility of raising her son alone since her husband had to emigrate to the United States to be able to provide his family with a better quality of life. But as it has not been possible for him to help them, she has worked for more than 4 years in her grocery store. On Saturdays and Sundays she studies at the University. She is studying for a teaching degree. She lives 10 kilometers from the city.

Marlen requested $550 dollars to by supplies for her stores. Approximately 20 people helped fund her loan in March of 2009. She bought her supplies, made a profit from her store and repaid the loan by November of 2009. This loan money was then made available to me again so that I could help another person in need.

I have also loaned money to Sarah’s Tegemeo Group from Tanzania.

Sarah is 23 years old and is a single woman. Sarah owns a small salon, which she started in 2006. Everyday, she works from 8am to 8pm at her business and can earn a monthly profit of about $80 from her sales. She now hopes for a loan to buy more salon items for her business. She will share this loan with her subgroup members Afsa, Farida, Baia, Yunnis and Anitha, who have businesses of a salon, shop, cafe, clothes sales and vegetables sales.

Sarah’s group was loaned $1,200 to buy supplies and their loan is almost totally repaid. This group of women are working together to make their dreams become reality.

While not all loans are fully repaid due to personal circumstances, Kiva makes every effort to work with individuals to ensure the repayment of loans. Those getting the money are grateful that they are able to expand or start a business and improve their living conditions.

You can help too! Simply make a minimum loan of $25 at Kiva.org. It is a gift that keeps on giving!

This post is part of a blogathon sponsored by Uprinting.com to get the word out about Kiva.org. Five posts will be chosen to win a $100 Kiva credit to loan money to those in need.