Charities & Causes

KIVA - not a charity but an amazing way to help people

Charities & Causes

Posted by: AdeLady

8th Jan 2013 08:29pm

I dont give to charities now, I put money into my KIVA account and choose who I want to help. The people I help are borrowing the money to set up a small business or for study expenses or community thing and repay it. You can then pass it onto someone else or take it out of your account. I keep my rotating and top it up from time to time. A percentage is kept by the association for running costs, and they help the people and vet them to make sure they are really who they say they are.

You cant claim the money as a tax deduction, but you sure get a really great feeling when you see your money being paid back and know that you have HELPED SOMEONE HELP THEMSELVES. Helping them also helps their community.

Why not check it out, it doesnt cost to look. Tell me what you think.

Comments 8

Anonymous
  • 7th Apr 2015 12:35pm

I do not give money to any charities but do give goods to those who support locals in need. The bleeding heart stories seen daily on TV are, in my opinion, a con.
The world's biggest problem at present is NOT global warming per se, but the explosion in population. Take Africa as an example.
It has 1 billion people in it, 44% of whom are under 15 years of age. This means that within 20 years, at present growth rates, this continent will have 2 billion people, 80-90%of whom will be unemployed and unemployable and asking the world for a handout. If a charity was fair dinkum, it should support population control in these continents. I would gladly contribute to this.
Result, a catastrophy of unprecedented scale rearing it's head in Africa, Asia and Central and South America..

DLO
  • 1st Apr 2015 12:47pm

I know some young people living in Ghana and LIberia who would like to be able to get help with self employment through a programme such as this, how do they go about getting involved with Kiva?

mysteron347
  • 13th Nov 2014 08:57pm

I used to be a big Kiva supporter (same username, capitalised initial.) I recall setting the alarm for months so that I could eke out my meagre funds to best advantage - willing expiring loans to be funded as they expired at 3am...

Sadly, no more. I still support the principle, but I'm afraid that some of Kiva's practices just are not acceptable.

I brought this loan to their attention: http://www.kiva.org/lend/662714 and even pointed them to the appropriate Ugandan law http://www.acode-u.org/documents/oildocs/waste_management_regulations.pdf to no avail, the refused to intervene, telling me that all of the appropriate licences and training were in place. Excuse me? This person proposed to borrow money for a motorcycle to transport ASBESTOS and RENT land for asbestos-dumping? The regulations are similar to Australia's - teh land wold be permanently contaminated and he and his workers would be put in mortal (but delayed) danger. His entire community would be exposed to (illegally) uncovered asbestos. Children playing in the debris-piles? OK - they won't get asbestosis for twenty years or so - maybe by then someone will have developed a cure that will be available in Uganda at reasonable cost.

Kiva refused to remove this loan. Most Kiva lenders are frankly not really that interested in being repaid. Sometime is quite fine. However, Kiva seems to accept a MFI abandoning loans (as happened in Congo) as a legitimate reason for no-repayment. I had one recently where the borrower's reputation was maligned and the loan "defaulted" because the MFI's employee was pocketing the repayments.

There are other concerns - the "Group" loans where the nominated borrower appears chosen because their reason is the most acceptable to the lenders. Kiva has stepped in in the past to remove loans which were for legal but distasteful purpose ( http://www.kiva.org/lend/485271 for instance - "website development" - but what isn't obvious now is that it was for a gun-sales business) but not when someone is operating an illegal asbestos-clearing operation? What else is being covered up by these "group" loans?

Sadly, Kiva has grown too big and is now interested in large long-term loans, not the short-term small loans it originally funded. It's lost its way in my view - a very great shame.

Yogi
  • 26th Jul 2014 05:25pm

I did a spot of research on Wikipedia.

Besides Kiva, there are some other organizations out there.

Milaap, headquarters Singapore, Based in Bangalore, India for Indian people only.

Vittana, Headquarters Seattle, developing countries, student loans.

Zidishu which means to grow, expand in Africa, peer to peer lending.

Rang De India, low income families, student loans

United Prosperity Provides guarantees for local banks.
Borrowers develop credit history with their local bank.

Microcredit Summit Campaign
First meeting in 1997 and every year since. Hilary Clinton spoke at the inaugural meeting.

There are quite a few out there, take your pick!

skydancer12
  • 6th Aug 2013 09:30am

Thank you so very much!
i'd heard of this service but didn't know the name of the organization or how to get more information about it; so many thanks for posting the info I so desperately wanted.

annacathryn
  • 16th Jan 2013 10:44am

I got a KIva giftcard for Christmas. I think it's a great idea. My only problem is trying to decide who should receive my money!

skydancer12
  • 6th Aug 2013 09:33am
I got a KIva giftcard for Christmas. I think it's a great idea. My only problem is trying to decide who should receive my money!

mong other 'charities' I give to, I go online to a site called "CLICK TO GIVE.COM", i CN CHOOSE WHICH CAUSE i WANT TO GIVE MY POINTS TO! eVERYDAY i GO TO THE WEBSITE, CLICK AND i'M ALLOTTED A POINT, THERE ARE 6 DIFFERENT CAUSES OF WHICH i CAN CHOOSE!

AdeLady
  • 16th Jan 2013 09:01pm
I got a KIva giftcard for Christmas. I think it's a great idea. My only problem is trying to decide who should receive my money!

It took me a while to find who I wanted to help, for some reason I tended toward women, probably because they are the underdog in those countries, but to me they are the backbone. Recently I have included groups in my loans. I feel so uplifted when I talk about KIVA and what I can do for them and what it does for these people. I am glad you are joining the family, I hope you enjoy it.

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