Lasqueti Lenders on Kiva

Kiva.org is an organization that coordinates "micro-loans" to people around the world to help them finance endeavours to improve their own lives.

Micro-lending is a way to extend credit to those in poverty, designed to spur entrepreneurship and self-reliance.  Founded by Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank in 1978 the idea of micro-credit has proven itself to be an effective mechanism to raise people out of poverty by their own initiative.

At Kiva, this works on a very personal scale - you select and lend a specific person or group a small amount (as little as $25), and Kiva coordinates the loan and re-payment schedule.  I've been lending for 2 years and never had a loan default - in fact the re-payment rate is close to 99%, which means the money you lend today will be re-paid, usually over the course of several months, and then can be re-loaned to someone else.  It is a real win-win, costs very little to be involved with, and is a hopeful, positive action you can take in such troubling times when so many are in such desperate need.

There are 10 members now on the "Lasqueti Lenders" team - please add us as your default team - http://www.kiva.org/team/lasqueti - and all your loans will count towards our group total.

To date, we have cumulatively loaned out over $2000 to 72 different borrowers!  For a very small investment of $25 or $50 that can be re-cycled again and again.

It's fun and it's rewarding - I encourage you to give it a try!