Leafy greens in Vahdat, Tajikistan

I was the last person to participate in this loan to Mahmadi Uldashev.
Mahmadi Uldashev is 42 years old and the father of four children. He has been selling leafy green vegetables for the past six years, starting out with dill, parsely, garlic, radish, and sorrel. His inventory also includes milk products. He is of Uzbek nationality, and lives and works in the city of Vahdat. He buys the vegetables in Dushanbe. Mahmadi would like to participate in Kiva and take out a loan of 2000 somoni for 6 months.

Memberships

I renewed a few yearly memberships,
USO Membership, Amnesty International, Greenpeace and the Smithsonian.

kiva

I made a few Kiva loans this morning. Couldn't resist the sewing machine!

	Loan Purchase of $25 to Augusta Idehen (business id=91989) Counted towards Barack Oblogger
	Loan Purchase of $25 to Juliana Alabi (business id=91991) Counted towards Barack Oblogger
	Loan Purchase of $25 to Dora (business id=91476) Counted towards Barack Oblogger
	Loan Purchase of $25 to Florence Buama (business id=92066) Counted towards Barack Oblogger

Kiva

Stopped by Kiva.org and found a bakery loan to the Ukraine.

Anatolyi is married with a toddler son. His family lives in the small town of Veliky Luchki. He owns a bakery. His business has been running for 6 years. Demand for bread has always been high, which is why Anatoly’s business has flourished. Presently, he has about 40,000 UAH in working capital. His profit amounts to 5,000 UAH. Anatolyi has requested a loan of 8,000 UAH to purchase ingredients for his bakery. The ability to buy more inventory at low prices will give him the opportunity to increase his profits and continue developing a successful enterprise while improving his standard of living.

kiva

I made two loans today while listening to Obama's speach.

	Loan Purchase of $25 to Veronica de la Concepcion Silva Mendoza (business id=87941) Counted towards Barack Oblogger
	Loan Purchase of $25 to Tran Thi Tuyet (business id=89491)

Avon Walk for Breast Cancer

I sponsored a friend of mine on her Avon Cancer Walk. Its 39 miles over 2 days. Feel free to support her efforts.

Great Hat

Couldn't resist this loan, love the brickmaking and the hat.

Luisa is 49 years old and lives with her husband in their own home. She works in her own brick-making operation, which she acquired 2 years ago. It all began as a family project with the acquisition of a piece of land with clay dirt (material needed to make bricks), and the results were good so now she has given a piece of the land to each of her children so that they can have their own production. This does not affect her as there is a high demand for bricks. She currently produces up to 23,000 a month and has hired people to help her. Luisa pays them for each 1,000 bricks and spends all day supervising their work. She hopes to keep working because she wants to continue to improve the quality of her product. This is the third time she has had a loan with MFP. She is pleased to be part of the communal bank and will keep working responsibly for the well-being of everyone. The money she requests will be used to buy a truck-load of sawdust which will cost an average of 1,200 soles and another part will be used to pay her employees since their production will increase.

Loans to Lebanon

I made a few loans to Lebanon this morning; Houssein needs money for his internet business to buy more games. I'm sure his business helps connect a lot of people to the internet, and I love supporting internet cafes. I do tend to spend a lot of time in them when I travel!

Mouhamad needs a loan to improve his cocktail shop (pub). I frequent those too when I travel.


Majed and Walid need money for their autorepair businesses.

Mongolia

I finally got in on a Kiva loan to Mongolia, to Usuhbayar Namhai. She wants a loan to buy more products for her clothing business. She drives across the border to China to purchase items!

Send a letter urging President Obama to help Iraqi refugees

I just signed a letter to President Obama reminding him about the 5 million Iraqi refuges that we created when we invaded their country. I think he will be sympathetic.

Check out the site.

kiva and vets

Made a Kiva loan today to Maria Luisa Gil Rabay in Guatemala.

María Luisa, 43, is the mother of four children. She lives in Sumpango Sacatepequez, a town about one hour west of Guatemala City. She is a very entrepreneurial and resourceful woman who supports the betterment of her family by sending her children to school and improving the quality of their home. María Luisa sells food products to the workers of a factory that is located in San Lucas Sacatepequez, about 10 kilometers from her house. She began by selling a small number of food items but her customers asked for other items such as fruit, sodas, and candies. These requests gave María Luisa the idea of selling a greater variety of food items. By doing so, she knows that she can increase her revenue. She has also started making delicious meals to sell – and she now has a much bigger clientele. Her current capital isn’t enough to buy what she needs, so she is requesting a loan to help her grow the business. She feels very happy to be an important part of her family and to help support the education of her children. Her dream is to save and have a beautiful house someday and to see her children grow up to become professionals.

I also bought some more snacks for the volunteer office at the West VA to give out to hungry patients/vets.

Kiva credit

Once again I have Kiva credit burning a hole in my pocket. Since they issue all the partial credits at once, the loans quickly get funded. I try to restrain myself to let new people in, so my credit just sits for a bit. Its a good thing, that there is still more lenders than loans. Kiva has now generated over 60 million for funding to help people. What an accomplishment.

this morning I couldn't resist and made a loan to the Zlotescu Petru Group in Moldovia.

Million acts of Green, Fair trade Coffee delivered, and Green America

I'm back from my short jaunt to Canada. I was quite impressed to see the wide publicity about their 'one million acts of green', Canadians are recording what they are doing to help. They have surpassed a million! The web site is worth checking out, and I hope all my Canadian friends and family are taking part.

I arrived home to my monthly delivery of fair trade coffee from Vashon Island Coffee Roasterie. It costs a bit more with shipping, but I know exactly where the beans come from and I often get personal notes and cards included, and they do remember me when I call (even though I only buy a few pounds a month!).

I also came home to a few renewal notices, including one for 'Green America' which was formely Coop America. They publish the Fair Trade Guide (on the side of this blog) as well as a great directory of green businesses. The first directory I got I thought "I don't know what to do with this", then found myself using them all the time. I do believe I found out about Vashon Island Roasterie through Green America.

Kiva

I made a Kiva loan today as I pack to go out of country for a few days...

Mambo ("Hello") from Tanzania! This is 35-year-old Juliana Misoji from Mwanza. She is separated from her husband, and has 3 children between the ages of 11 and 19 years old. Juliana has been running a grocery business since 2008. Her shop is a very basic structure made of wood with a tin roof. She sells items such as beer, soda and water. She works in her business for 12 hours per day, 7 days per week. Juliana currently earns about $160 USD from her business. She is requesting a loan of $400 USD to purchase drinks like beer, soda and water. In the future, she plans to open another business. Juliana thanks you for your support! ABOUT SELFINA! SELFINA has taken a lead role as a pioneer of micro-credit in Tanzania through Micro-Leasing. The organization is engaged in the economic empowerment of women in Tanzania through the provision of a leasing and leaseback microfinance facility. Customs and traditions in Tanzania make it difficult for women to own land and assets, thus they are termed non-creditworthy by financial institutions. This leads to poor financial support and poor access to basic needs and services for women with low incomes. One of the primary advantages of micro leasing is that is allows clients to use the equipment as collateral for future loans with SELFINA, thus enabling them to borrow larger sums in the future.

Updated map

I updated my map, then found two loans on Kiva from countries I haven't loaned to before.
I am now up to 20% of the countries of the world.
And I just loaned to the Sudan and Phillapines, to:

	Loan Purchase of $25 to Ediltrudes Estopito (business id=88301) Counted towards Barack Oblogger
	Loan Purchase of $25 to Dina Justine (business id=88349) Counted towards Barack Oblogger

Kiva

I made a kiva loan today, then made another when I went back to look for it. I couldn't resist the sewing machine.

The first loan was to Thérèse and the second to Marie, both in Benin. I think these are my first loans to Benin, and someday I should update my chart!

	Loan Purchase of $25 to Marie Rose ADJINAKOU (business id=88425) Counted towards Barack Oblogger
	Loan Purchase of $25 to Thérèse KOSSOU (business id=88416) Counted towards Barack Oblogger

Kiva

I made a loan today to Nurbibi Rajabova in Gissar, Tajikistan. I sorted based on 'old to new' (after not finding any new 'julia' loans) and found her.

Nurbibi Rajabova lives in the Gissar district with her family. She has three children, and is 34 years old. She completed secondary school. She rents a cafeteria in the district's center. Business is good, but the facility needs repairs. To that end she came to us for a loan. The loan will be used to purchase construction materials. One she has improved the cafe's condition she will be able to attract new customers, and earn more income. The loan will be repaid over 12 months.

Student loans in Afganistan

There are some new great loans for students in Afghanistan up at Education Generation. I donated part of funding for Mohammad Qasim.

He is a 20-year old student. Once he completes the Business Management program at the Afghan-Canadian Community Center, he would like to pursue a career in Information Technology. Mohammad learned the value of education from his father, who is a teacher at a local high school. He wants to serve his community, and would like to work with an international organization. In his free time, Mohammad is an avid soccer player.

Kiva

I was attracted to this loan because she wants to buy flooring to cover her dirt floor, in a house where she rents rooms. Her name is Marddy Elieth Ramirez Maradiaga and she's in Nicaragua. Like many Kiva lenders, her dream is to make enough money to educate her daughter.

Kiva lets us help the people who work hard and spend thier money wisely.

Kiva loan

I found a loan to a caterer in Guatemala who started from her grandmother. What a great loan.

Maria Angélica, as a little girl, took the initiative at the age of eight to help her grandmother in the preparation of food, which was her grandmother's business. Later she helped her grandmother at the market sell the variety of food that she prepared. After a time, Angélica worked with her grandmother to sell the food in little bags to the shoppers in the local market of Sumpango. After several years, her grandmother gave her the opportunity to share the sales giving her three days each week to sell the food, which helped her gain experience in food sales. Eventually, her grandmother was not able to continue with the business of food sales and left the business to Angélica, which gave her the opportunity to take responsibility for the business and change the types of food sold to obtain more earnings. Now she works on her own budget, which is why she needs a loan to buy merchandise in large quantities at an agreeable price, and in this way make greater earnings. Her desire is to increase her business to support her family and help meet the daily needs of life.

kiva

I made a few Kiva loans today.

	Loan Purchase of $25 to Elizabeth Fodjour (business id=87580) Counted towards Barack Oblogger
	Loan Purchase of $25 to Sandra Lorena Aleman Arana (business id=84922) Counted towards Barack Oblogger
	Loan Purchase of $25 to Hicham (business id=86083) Counted towards Barack Oblogger
	Loan Purchase of $25 to Adela Cárdenas Gonzáles (business id=87160) Counted towards Barack Oblogger

Snacks for Vets

I bought some snacks today - a flat of top ramen, and two flats of cup of soup and lots of crackers. I'm going to bring it to the VA, when I brought the magazines in this week and told them about our new Obama Works site they asked if we could collect snacks. Apparently they like to give them to the vets (especially the homeless ones) because it stops them from stealing at the cafeteria or store and ending up in jail. I can easily buy a few flats every week and deliver them when I go in.

kiva

An old friend of mine made a loan to Kiva today, inspired by me. Then she inspired a few new people to learn about Kiva. I love the way this works.

I made a loan to

Reginalda Sinay Cojon (business id=87332)

Counted towards Barack Oblogger

Kiva

I made a loan today - first one I saw. Loved the clothes.

The loan was to Rebeca Chamale Siney in San Raymundo, Guatemala.

Kiva

Today I made a loan to the Julia Medina Cerezo Group in Bolivia

Loan Purchase of $25 to JULIA MEDINA CEREZO Group (business id=82079) Counted towards Barack Oblogger

Another group by Julia

Continuing my narcissistic philanthropy, I made a kiva.org loan tothe Julia Joens Paredes Group in Peru

Kiva and Obamaworks

Kiva has lots more loans now, I made two this morning.

	Loan Purchase of $25 to Julia Carlota (business id=85494) Counted towards Barack Oblogger	($25.00)
	Loan Purchase of $25 to MIRIAM JULIA (business id=83962) Counted towards Barack Oblogger	($25.00)

Am I a narcissistic philanthroper?

I am cleaning my house for an ObamaWorks meeting of our local group. 25 people have RSVPd and its our third official monthly meeting. We are collecting travel size/hotel soaps and shampoos as well as food for the shelter and magazines for the VA (I bring them in every week anyhow). Our last diaper drive (for Jan 19) was very successful, we got over 16,000 diapers donated to our local shelter. Got thier attention, they've never had 'enough' before.