Kiva.com

I just wanted to get the word out there about kiva.com. If you haven't already heard about it, it is a great program to finance small businesses in the developing world. By using a type of credit, termed microfinancing, poor people in developing countries are able to get small loans to start a successful business and pull themselves out of poverty. Microfinancing was developed by Muhammad Yunus at the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh to give loans to very poor people who were traditionally not deemed credit worthy. By giving small loans to poor people at reasonable interest rates, microfinance programs not only allow people to raise the necessary capital to meet initial business expenses, but to build credit that is essential for securing larger loans in the future, allowing them to expand their business or diversify. This is the important difference between microcredit and charity. By giving people loans that they have to pay back, they get to build up a credit rating that will show traditional banks that these people are credit worthy, and we know how important that is. The great thing about kiva, is that you don't have to give a great deal of money to help support an entrepreneur. Twenty-five bucks will do, and it will go a long way in helping these people build their business. It is easy to give, and the website keeps you up-to-date on the business' progress. So, if you want to do a little bit to help someone a whole lot, go to kiva.com and find out more.