And so i’ve finally made my contribution to Kiva. Actually, I’m not even sure it’s called a contribution because Kiva basically provides microloans to entrepreneurs in developing countries. Unlike us who need tens of thousands of dollars to start something, these folks need far less and the businesses they build have a quicker and much more direct impact on their communities.

This time, I’m making a loan to, Zuhro Juraeva, from Tajikistan who needs the money to expand her clothing business. A snippet about her:-

“Zuhro is married, she is 45 years old and has five children. She has specialized secondary education. She sells women’s undergarments, socks and other clothing. She has been selling on the market for 20 years. Mainly what sells well is socks and mahsi (Tajik national socks from leather). Her business is expanding each year. Zuhro travels for the merchandise herself. She brings over the goods, but sometimes she pays her business neighbors. Thanks to Kiva’s support she is expanding the variety of goods she sells.”

Since this is the first time I’m using Kiva, I thought I’d share with you how it works:-

1. Once you’ve signed up for an account, you can start going to the lending page where there’s a whole listing of people who need loans. Clicking on it brings you to a page that details who they are and who else is lending to the entrepreneur. On the page, you’ll see other details like the repayment schedule as well who the field partners are. Kiva works with field partners who are the ones on the ground with the entrepreneurs. Stats on their performance are also listed.
2. If you’ve decided to make a loan, just click “Lend” and you’ll be brought to a Paypal page where the necessary transactions can be made. You’ll also be asked if you’d like to make a donation to Kiva itself, which is a non-profit organisation. Kiva doesn’t take a cut of the loan so 100% of what you loan goes to the entrepreneur. Hence, they need your support as well. No worries if you don’t want to contribute to Kiva though, you can just make no donation to Kiva.
3. After you’re done, you’ll get all the standard verification receipts and stuff. Kiva also mentions that I’ll receive updates on how the entrepreneur is doing but that’s something i’ll have to wait to see.

Overall, it was really easy to take part in this. And I think you should too if you want to help out in small ways that I think will change lives(I think businesses are the key to changing communities…if done right that is). If it helps you decide, Lenovo has also been a rather big fan of Kiva(at least they mention it all the time on their blog).

UPDATE: Here is a video of how Kiva works.