Wanna' Feel Good?

I've written before about Kiva, the organization founded "to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty". For just $25. you can climb aboard this bandwagon and start changing the world for better. Even in the current difficult financial times, the caring and generous givers of Kiva sent over three million dollars to entrepreneurs around the world, in February of this year. Pretty amazing figure! Maybe it is precisely because of the current widespread economic problems that so many people have come up with that $25. It's one way to feel good, to feel that there is still something that an individual can do to affect a change for the better. In fact, FYI, the top 5 givers right now (by number of loaners) are in order: Indiana, Denmark, Scotland, Team New England, and Michigan.
Nothing is ever truly foolproof, but Kiva does damn good at coming close, with a 97% repayment rate. Enough people have felt safe to reach out to others through Kiva, that during 2008, a loan was made on Kiva.org every 31 seconds.
If you have a few minutes to spare, watch the video below and you'll meet Rita Bashnet, from Bhatkepati, a town in the east corner of the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal, where this Kiva Entrepreneur runs her dairy business with cows she bought with Kiva loans. It's simply incredible what a difference the loans have made, and it really is a feel-good video, from a feel-good organization.


Kiva in Nepal: A Field Visit from Chris Baker on Vimeo.