At the end of October I blogged about Kiva, a microcredit organisation that helped facilitate loans from people like me to entrepreneurs who couldn´t access the traditional financial system because they did not have the requisite capital. I lent a group called Emprendedores de Sicuani $25 to help them acquire merchandise. Today I had my first repayment of one-third of the amount.
Since I have credit on my pay-pal account (due to winning a prize for my “Video technology in football” piece), I decided to make another loan now that I can see the money is paid back. I chose to lend another $25 to Manuela, a woman who lives in the city of Pucallpa, which Jun and I will be visiting in the new year. Manuela is a single mother of two children and sells general merchandise from a small store set up in her home. She needs a 2000 sol loan to buy grocery items and beverages to sell in her store.
I encourage all who would like to help alleviate poverty in the world to sign up to Kiva and make a loan to someone who is trying to help themselves. It feels great and all this at no cost to you.
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