Loaning to Peru

Well I finally got in on a Peru loan, which is to a new country to me. Today I loaned to María Luisa Simeon Rojas to help her with her hotel business.

kiva

Well it seems KIVA is only limiting the $25 to be per business, not total. But I am still going to restrain myself, they are currently down to only 19 loans.
But I did make a loan to Honduras this morning, to Bertha Portillo who lives in Danli and owns a small store.

kiva is doing well.

Kiva is rationing loans, asking people to only lend $25 to make sure there is enough. So I had to choose amongst 4 Honduran loans. I choose Daysi Damaris Martinez Rodriguez who sells clothes in her house.

Kiva loan

Today I helped in a loan to Victoria Carranza from Honduras who has a grocery store and needs capital. I think I'll have Honduran beans for dinner in celebration.

Tugs at the heart

I often log on to Kiva to see how the loans are going, and if there are any from Honduras, and what's new, etc. I just stopped by and this loan just tugged at my heart. Gabriela Escobar Cabrera has a school and office supply store and a fantastic smile.

Thanks to my vigilant friend Kay, I was able to get in on a few Honduran loans. They go so fast. Any Xiomara Aguilera wants to increase her tortilla business in Choluteca, Honduras.

Dania Iveth Castillo Flores lives there also, and wants a loan to increase her grocery business.

Martha Maria Gomez is from Danli and wants money for her clothing business.

Honduran loans

I made two loans to Honduras yesterday, it was not easy I had to wait till they came out of other people's baskets. Karen Lisbeth Romero wants money for her clothing business, and Gloria Emerita Reyes wants to improve her home business.

Weaving in Guatamala

I made a KIVA loan to Vidalia Panjou Ajquichi to help support her weaving. I wish I could buy her weaving directly. Perhaps some day.

kiva stories

I just made a loan to Regina Jose in Mozambique. Her story is inspiring, despite many set backs and physical difficulties, she is still persisting and making her life better.

Herstory

Regina Jose was born August 1, 1956 in the Chamanculo neighborhood of Maputo. Her parents abandoned her when she was 5 and she went to live with another woman and was raised by that woman's mother. At the age of 13, she lost this second mother and went to live with her older brothers until she was 19 years old. She studied through the 7th grade. She also had small businesses. When she was 30, her older brothers died and she lived with her nephews.

She learned to weave textiles, and she made cloth and towels for sale. Later, she left this activity to sell drinks instead. She also tutored children from grades 1 through 5 in her home, and was able to save enough money to build a stand where she carries out her business today.

She lives with 8 people, 6 of whom she supports. She learned of Hluvuku through a neighbor. Because she is disabled and cannot move about easily, she took advantage of the fact that one of the loan officers works in the area and she applied for a loan.

She has applied to buy inventory for her business. In the future, she hopes to build a hair salon and to buy a car to make transportation easier. As a disabled person, she moves with the help of a small cart and some transport vehicles will not accept her onboard.

Today I attended a meeting for Non-profits in Second Life and have been in contact with several people about other space for KIVA. It was very interesting. I blogged about it on the Kiva friends forumn.

Tonight I am going to sit at a table for Obama that we set up at one of our local street fairs. Its good to have life outside SL too.

Sewing in Togo

I got links to 4 new sewing-related KIVA loans, but only one was still in need of lenders. So I am lending to Anty KOUEVI for her business. She's going to make more "pagnes" (colorful traditional cloths commonly worn as sarongs).

Cakes and Cloth

Got in on a loan today (with difficulties) to Sing Nhan who wants money for materials for her children's sewing business. Those cakes look great.

New loan

I made a loan yesterday I didn't get time to post. Its to Marina Loginova in the Ukraine for her shoe shop. There is still funds needed if you want to join me.

Beauty Salons in Nicaragua

I made a loan today to Raquel Moreno who is in Nicaragua and wants money to build a wall. She has a business in her house and thinks it will be more professional if there is a wall dividing. I concur. And wish her luck.

New lending strategy

Its always hard to decide on loans. So many variables to choose from. I do have a lending strategy, I tend to lend to people from Honduras, seamstresses, people called Julia, people from countries I haven't loaned to, and people from other Latin American countries, specifically Mexico. Thanks to Agents of Change I have an interest in Mexico.

so today I decided to lend to the oldest loan from Mexico. Noe Muñoz Cornejo is in Acuna and wants money to add a room to his house. These types of loans aren't as popular on Kiva, but it will eventually get funded.

Seamstresses and hard-to-fund loans

A new seamstress loan recommendation (thanks Kay), Ana Ramirez Mosquea in the Dominican Rebublic. Ana is one of five microentrepreneurs in her Bank of Hope solidarity group, all of whom have gone through Esperanza's business training courses. Each of the five members will receive a share of this $975 loan for their respective businesses and will be accountable to each other for repaying their share of this loan together. This group-lending method strengthens social ties in the community and helps ensure that members cooperate to help one another repay their loans and invest wisely in their businesses and families. This money will go towards the next loan received by this Bank of Hope; once they finish paying back their current loan it will be activated.

I also made a loan to Shakir Islamov in Azerbaijan. Its a new loan and I"m the first lender, and I'm curious to see how long it will take to fund. These types of loans used to fund in about a week in Jan/Feb.

Seamstresses

A friend sent me this link thinking I would be interested in her loan. She's a seamstress who has taken advantage of her opportunities and opened a shop. I'm going to go sew some clothes for my shop.... (in SL).

Kiva

Well, this Kiva loan caught my eye, its to a Guatemalan women Alma Ortiz de Muñoz and she has the same birthday as Barak Obama! How's that for a shallow reason to lend money! I'm sure Alma will make the most of her loan and use it to increase her business and give her family a better life. Its hard not to want to support a mother who is willing to work hard for her kids.

Igive

I set up an Igive account with my Selected Cause:"KIVA-Loans". Igive is a shopping portal that donates part of the funding to the charity of your choice. Kivafriends have set up to collect money for more loans. I made a drugstore.com purchase today to contribute.

Cobbler in Nicaragua

Well I made the next best thing to a Kiva loan to Honduras, one to Nicaragua with Prisma. I am lending today to Denis Gonzalez who is a cobbler and wants money for supplies. He has two school aged girls, and this will help them with their schooling too.

Sometimes I wonder what all these kids will be doing. What if one of Denis daughters ends up curing malaria or something? I think the effects of Kiva will be really felt in the next generation. The data from Banglash are impressive in this regards, many children ended up at University.

House loans in Mexico

I'm lending to a Mexican Kiva lender who wants money to build a house. They bought the land a few years ago and are paying rent, and need the initial capital to build. There are lenders who don't like this type of loan, because it doesn't directly affect a business and there isn't any guarantee that they will have the funds to pay it back. There is no descriptions that they work and can afford it, and there is more faith in these types of loans.

Well I have faith, I think the MFI has screened them to make sure they aren't burdened with the loan payments. And I think that they will actually work really hard to make sure they pay the loan, because they really want their own house. And on the flip side, its $25 to me. So I think the risks and rewards are worth the payoff.

I've been building in SL a lot lately, I see the need for houses..

Solar Living Institute

I just became a friend of the solar living institute. I will be getting a one year subscription to SoLutions newsletter, as well as Plenty Magazine. The purpose of the Solar living Institute is to educate, train, produce, and inspire. Its a good time to invest in alternative energy.

Weaving and motocycles

I just couldn't resist helping Heang Loeng in Cambodia with this loan, she wants it for weaving materials and a motorcycle, since I am both a weaver, and a motorcyclist (my last bike was a 750cc Honda).

I am also helping Kiva in Second Life today, I am arranging for a free both for us in a charity mall. 'cause I need one more thing to set up!

Obama table at the street fair

Yesterday I helped out at the street fair, we've set up an Obama table. This is the second week, and we plan to do it every Friday. It was a lot of fun, got to meet some nice people and everyone seems very supportive of Obama. Our group is now meeting twice weekly, which is exciting.

Hope for Change.

Kiva TV and Kiva loans

Have you seen the new Kiva TV?

Makes me want to loan. So today I made a loan to Azerbaijan, its been a while. Elmira Makhmudova wants $475 for her strawberry farm.

Happy 4th

In honor of the date, I sent off a few letters to anysoldier.com.

Happy Birthday USA. Wish you weren't at war.

Alley Cat Allies

I'm sending off another check to Alley Cat allies today. They are doing significant changes in animal control, keeping feral cat populations down. The results from the Fredericksburg, Virginia project that they performed last year worked better than expected. Many cats were TNR (Trap Neuter Return) and they convinced a few naysayers that the program really is effective.

Feral cats need help too.

Multiple Sclerosis and Green Energy

I made a donation to the 2007 Southern California chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society today. On the reply card they had boxes you could check if you had MS, had a family member with MS, knew someone with MS, or other. I checked off other. I had a friend in grade school who had it, so I guess in some ways I donate for her. But I mostly donate 'cause its the kind of place that really helps families out.

Their card says "No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted". Aesop.

I took a look at my electric bill today. A while back the city of Pasadena gave us an option where we could choose to have part of our electricity be renewable. It costs a bit more, and you could pay either a fixed amount or a percentage of your electricity. We choose 100%, and apparently weren't the only people who did. The overall response was better than the city anticipated. And its not costing us that much, we paid $28 for 2 months extra (bringing the total around $190 for 2 months, so adding on less than 15%). Its a pretty easy way to be green. You might want to have your city look into it.

Groceries in Honduras

Sonia Maribel Pineda is looking for a small loan to help her grocery business, and I helped her today. She just needs a little bit of capital.