If you've been reading my blog for a while then you most likely already know about my favorite non- profit organization, Kiva. As an individual its difficult to know how you can help elevate poverty, create opportunities, support education and strengthen economies that are weak but Kiva provides a world-wide network of micro-finance institutions that lets individuals donate as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world.
Each month I donate $25 to an individual or group and as re-payments are made I re-lend those payments to new loans, in a sense, recycling opportunity. I also recently started my own lending team, Heathers Harmony, if you're interested in becoming a Kiva lender I'd consider it an honor to have you on our team! To learn more about Kiva and Heathers Harmony's involvement please check out my previous posts here.
This month I chose the Africa One Group in Tanzania.
In a group loan, each member of the group receives an individual loan but is part of a larger group of individuals. The group is there to provide support to the members and to provide a system of peer pressure, but groups may or may not be formally bound by a group guarantee. In cases where there is a group guarantee, members of the group are responsible for paying back the loans of their fellow group members in the case of delinquency or default.
Kiva provides facts about the countries they lend to, Tanzania has an average annual income of $723, and a life expectancy of only 44 years! To learn more about this countries facts go here.
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