As my husband and I get closer to the big move, I get more and more nervous. I'm an anxious, Type-A person who tends to get easily overwhelmed. And the more anxious I feel, the more distracted I become--- hence the compulsive button-making lately.I was discouraged by my own job search the other night when I decided to finally set up a microloan on Kiva. For those of you who don't know about Kiva, it's a nonprofit organization that arranges microloans for entrepreneurs in developing countries. You can give as little as $25 to help someone meet their goal, and you get updates on their progress.
I initially selected a woman named Ami from Togo (above) because she only had 8% of her loan met. A few days later, she has met her full goal! It felt so good to get the ball rolling.
What I like about Kiva is the same thing I like about the handmade movement--- individuals supporting other individuals' endeavors, the idea that your actions, no matter how small, can have an impact on someone else. What a welcome and positive distraction from my own worries.
3 comments:
I learned about this organization last year when my aunt passed away. Her family asked that donations be made to Kiva in lieu of flowers.
A wonderful opportunity to help others help themselves...
Wow--that is amazing, and really uplifting. It feels good to know that so little can go so far for someone like Ami! Very inspiring--keep it up!
I've been keeping an eye on that site too--so interesting. I'm hoping that once my little endeavor has more *solid* feet itself I might be able to do something too--I'm still in the red though! Really a great site and great concept.
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