I believe that micro-lending is the miracle cure for poverty.
http://www.kiva.org/lender/jtdooley
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Increasingly, individual investors can make microfinance loans themselves through charitable organizations and the Internet.
Microcredit, which was made popular by people like former US President Bill Clinton, is the practice of making small loans to the world's poor. While the goal is the charitable one of helping them out of poverty, investors are discovering that most borrowers -- 97% industrywide -- repay their loans, according to San Francisco-based nonprofit outfit KIVA.
A loan of $50 or $100 could be life changing because it would enable someone to start a business selling produce or producing crafts.
I have personally made two small loans through KIVA over the past year or so with 100% repayment. I just completed two new loans to small entrepreneurs’ in Cambodia.
The first is Mr. Dy Savann, 61, and his wife, Ouk Chea, 60. They are farmers in Thmor Village, Kampong Cham Province, where they grow mushrooms. They both earn about $10 per day and have five children, two married and three single. One is a grocer in Siem Reap, while another is a motorbike taxi driver. The other three children are students. Mr. Savann seeks a $1,100 loan to expand his mushroom growing business. He hopes this investment will improve his family’s financial stability and pay for his children’s education.
The second is the Ro Teng Group. Mrs. Somaly Chork, Village Bank President, is a single mother with two children in Ro Teng Village. Both of her children attend school. She is 32 years old and she sells vegetable for a living at the Ro Theng market. On average, she can generate approximately $2.50 of income per day. As she is a widow making very limited income, her and her family's standard of living is quite poor; specifically, she is unable to pay for her family’s expenses, such as her children’s educational costs. In order to get her family out of poverty, she is hereby requesting a loan to buy more vegetables to resell at the market for a profit. Mr. Chandy Na Sang and Mr. Som Oark Von are not pictured; instead, their wives are pictured in the photo.
About Group Loans
In a group loan, each member of the group receives an individual loan but is part of a group of individuals bound by a group guarantee. Under this arrangement, each member of the group supports one another and is responsible for paying back the loans of their fellow group members if someone is delinquent or defaults.
A growing number of private banks are offering individuals advice to help them invest in microloans. Internet based non-profits like KIVA are enabling individuals to make small loans to entrepreneurs in more and more remote parts of the planet.
Poor peoples' credit is very reliable and these organizations work very closely with the people who borrow that money. As responsible world citizens we want to reduce poverty, and we want these small entrepreneurs’ to pay us back.
It’s great to see KIVA expanding to our neighborhood here in Asia.
John Dooley
