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I loan because: I want to be active in the world
As a followup to my last post, I think I'll post about something that hardly ever draws comments -- Kiva. :) (I do have some new friends, though, so hey, new friends: Kiva.org is where microfinance meets match.com. You can pick your favorite third world entrepreneur and lend them $25 (or more), and then track their progress and get your $25 back when the loan is repaid. I basically think it is the bomb.)
I'm excited because Kiva now has lender pages.1 Here's mine:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=lender&action=view&name=lemming&rdr
As you can see, my first loan to Yesenia the fishmonger is almost paid back. When she's done I'll probably withdraw that money to my bank account, as final proof that the whole thing isn't a scam; then I'll re-lend it. Squee. :)
Kiva is now looking for volunteer translators and editors, and, sadly, a volunteer software developer. So much for me going to work for them. I can't blame them for asking, when the TIME Person of the Year was "you" and half the magazine was about crowdsourcing... someone just might say yes. Won't be me though. It's that whole problem with having to work for a living.
1I poked around a little bit... I found a guy my age who, even if all his loans are the minimum amount of $25, has $3200 in the Kiva system right now. Yet his myspace profile makes him look like someone I wouldn't care to meet in a million years. Really now... "lick me where I pee"? People, oh, people, you are so obstreperously complicated.
I'm excited because Kiva now has lender pages.1 Here's mine:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=lender&action=view&name=lemming&rdr
As you can see, my first loan to Yesenia the fishmonger is almost paid back. When she's done I'll probably withdraw that money to my bank account, as final proof that the whole thing isn't a scam; then I'll re-lend it. Squee. :)
Kiva is now looking for volunteer translators and editors, and, sadly, a volunteer software developer. So much for me going to work for them. I can't blame them for asking, when the TIME Person of the Year was "you" and half the magazine was about crowdsourcing... someone just might say yes. Won't be me though. It's that whole problem with having to work for a living.
1I poked around a little bit... I found a guy my age who, even if all his loans are the minimum amount of $25, has $3200 in the Kiva system right now. Yet his myspace profile makes him look like someone I wouldn't care to meet in a million years. Really now... "lick me where I pee"? People, oh, people, you are so obstreperously complicated.
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Kiva's totally not a scam, btw -- I only mentioned that to be snarky to a different LJ friend who once got all cynical about it. They have 503(c) status now, which means they can be externally audited, and they have blogs that always align with the rest of their website, and they've been featured in too many reputable publications to be fake. (Every now and then they get TV coverage or something and almost run out of businesses to feature, which is pretty funny. Those are the months I usually just chill out and lend double the next month.)
It's hard to explain why I get so excited. The same part of me that sort of recoils when asked for donations is very open to the idea of loaning to people who have real plans for the money. So sustainable! The visibility of knowing exactly who's got my money! Warm fuzzies. :)
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Donating $$ is kind of interesting... if I write out a check to NARAL, it isn't tax deductable because they are a PAC, but if I donate to them through the State Employees Charitable Contribution fund, it is tax deductable. I like donating money, but I don't like being called about donating money.
How did you get interested in microfinance?
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Oh, totally. Especially since, just going by the statistics, 80% of us are going to be widows at some point late in our lives. I've never thought anyone else would take care of me financially -- maybe in part because I saw what happened to my mother. The idea of going to work was really weird for her, but when I was 8 or 9 she did, and then she gave all the money to the her-and-dad unit and didn't keep any for herself, the whole time we were growing up. Ugh.
I have a bit of an issue with donating $$, probably because of growing up so poor... I'm still not used to having extra. The thought of just giving it away is still pretty scary to me (especially since if I do give some, they just keep asking. Do they care about my stability? If I kept saying yes until I were living in the streets, would they ever stop asking? Am I a freak to find that scary?). I'm trying to get better though. Kiva, especially, gives me a really nice way to keep some control over my money even while it's "out there", and get it back if I need to, but more likely just keep re-lending forever. :) They don't send mail or bother me, either.
I don't remember how I heard of microfinance in the first place. It was years ago. I've been interested in economics forever and ever, and I just immediately thought it was cool. Money gives someone money, but a loan teaches them responsibility and gives them a credit rating and then the money comes back to be used again.
Not sure if this was me or not, but...
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Also, I totally want to meet that guy (in a friends way of course). I didn't find his myspace repulsive, more it seemed to be mocking myspace and focused on irony, which is kind of like mine. I mean, I did, after all, say that my college minor was drinking myself into a stupor and fucking anything that moved.
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P.S. am I a horrible person for noticing, just noticing, that my $100-not-$25-per-loan ways make it look like I'm not as involved as I am?