Kiva.org

Submitted by fyl on 5 December, 2007 - 09:49.
There is an excellent article on Kiva in Stanford Magazine. Kiva is a micro-lending presence on the internet or, at the article puts it
Somewhere in the center of the sun are Matt and Jessica Jackley Flannery, founders of Kiva, a web-based nonprofit that helps individuals make loans to small businesses in developing countries. What makes Kiva different from other microlenders? “If you have $10,000 to lend, you have many options,” says Matt, ’00, MA ’01. “If you have $25 to lend, this is the only option.”

The concept is innovative and a good use of this amazing tool called the Internet. While some of us may decide to make a loan, I am also posting this information here in case you know a business that could benefit. There have been loans grated to Nicaraguan businesses but there are currently none listed in the in need list. So, point those businesses (or people who might want to lend) at kiva.org.

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Fyl

Submitted by cyanstorm on 5 December, 2007 - 15:29.

I have been an active lender at Kiva for several months now, it amazes me that of 12 loans I have provided not a single one has defaulted. That tells me these entrepreneurs are hardworking, honest folks. This is indeed a great way to help people help themselves as most of these loans are provided to them at a much lower interest rate than their local loan sharks. As for Nicaraguan business...there WAS one (electrodomesticos Rodriguez, Mario Roberto Rodriguez Cano) however it seems Kiva got a hold of something fishy and terminated the loan, following is an email I got from Kiva a few weeks ago:

Loan Refunded Entrepreneur: Location: Managua, Nicaragua

This loan has been refunded for the following reason:

As you may be aware, each business on Kiva.org's website is posted by one of Kiva.org's 70+ Field Partners in the developing world. A Field Partner is an independent microfinance institution that has a history of lending to the poor for a social purpose. They screen each entrepreneur, post his/her profile on the Kiva.org website, and administer your loan.

Our Field Partner in Nicaragua, Prisma Microfinance, recently discovered that certain Kiva loans in its Nicaraguan branch office did not reach the entrepreneurs listed on the Kiva website. Prisma notified Kiva immediately of this issue. Kiva’s staff visited the Nicaraguan branch to take full account of all businesses posted on Kiva.

We have completed the review and we wish to inform you that the entrepreneur listed on the Kiva site did not receive the loan you made in full. Prisma is working diligently to investigate how their systems could be improved to prevent such a situation from re-occurring. Until these operational issues are resolved, Prisma has paused listing any new businesses on Kiva and is fully refunding your loan.

We realize this isn’t the outcome you had in mind when you decided to lend money to a developing world entrepreneur on Kiva. The vast majority of Kiva loans are dutifully administered without issue. Kiva.org will continue to audit Field Partner operations to ensure your loan is being dutifully administered – and to be transparent about the results – even if its bad news.

Thank you very much for your support, and we hope you will choose to re-lend these funds to another developing world entrepreneur.

Thank you,

The Kiva team

Update to my post.

Submitted by nicalink on 10 March, 2008 - 03:06.

There are more Nicaraguan business owners signing up with the micro lenders and requiting loans through www.kiva.org than before. They've always needed the financing. The difference is that now they're using the services.

Here's my lender profile: http://www.kiva.org/lender/tulio

Directory of Nicaraguan owned Businesses in the US www.nicalink.com

Prisma fishy with mine as well.

Submitted by nicalink on 7 December, 2007 - 03:20.

As a Nicaraguan born US Resident, I looked to Kiva in order to attempt to provide some help to Nicaraguan entrepreneurs through micro financing. Not too many Nica entrepreneurs are participating / borrowing. I find myself lending to other Latino Americanos due to this.

It seems to be going well though. The loans are being repaid, and the $ is being re-lent by me through Kiva.

However, I've had 2 loans refunded by Kiva for loans which were made to Nicas through Kiva's partnership with Prisma Microfinance. Prisma posted monthly payments, but apparently the $ never made it to the actual borrowers.

I hope your other organizations do a better job to ensure the $ gets to the actual borrower.

You can see my profile at http://www.kiva.org/lender/tulio

There you will see the 2 refunded loans.

P.S. I went into this with the expectations that I may never see the $ again. I just wanted to help small Nica Businesses.

Once I saw some loans being repaid, I continued to re-lend the $ and lend more. Who knows, maybe I can buy myself something nice when all the $ is re-paid. I'll still keep lending through Kiva as long as loans keep getting paid back.

Think of this as stuffing $ into a mattress. No interest is earned, the currency may depreciate, and the rats may just eat your bills. Regardless, it's still a way to help others. When you donate to charity, all you get back is satisfaction and a potential tax break. In this case, you actually may get some cash back.

Tulio Solorzano

Directory of Nicaraguan owned Businesses in the US www.nicalink.com - post your business here.

Web Design and Development www.tulio.us