Have You Ever Loaned Money on Kiva?
@DeborahDiane (40055)
Laguna Woods, California
October 14, 2018 7:35pm CST
One of the charities which is supported by PayPal is Kiva, an organization which has long interested me.
It is an organization which loans money to worthy people around the world who need a little cash in order to improve their lives.
You loan the person or group $25 towards their goal. They pay back your account and, when they do, you can loan the $25 you receive in return towards another person. Kiva asks for a $3.80 service fee to cover their expenses.
If you use PayPal to complete the loan, PayPal waives their fees. The same $25 can go on and on to help people around the world. It seemed like a very worthy cause, so I decided to try it out, using some of the money that has collected in my PayPal account from MyLot and other sites which pay me.
I made my first loan to the Best Ladies Group in Lesotho. Below they describe the reason these women needed some money for a stove for the ladies to share:
"Maleseli is a 54-year-old widow who works as a teacher at a school in her village. She lives with five other members of the family in a multi-bedroomed house. She uses paraffin and gas for cooking, which costs her LSL 250 every month. Since there is no electricity in her village, Maleseli says she struggles to charge her mobile device. She and four other ladies in her village say the ACE 1 cook stove is going to help them save the money they spent every month on fuel and on charging fee to get their mobile devices charged. The ACE 1 clean cookstove is biomass and solar powered. For more information on the ACE1 cook stove please visit www.africancleanenergy.com and Facebook @African Clean Energy."
It sounds like a small loan will make the lives of these women a little easier and save them money. They should pay the loan back in 10 months, and I will reloan the money to another group. I will let everyone know how it goes!
9 people like this
9 responses
@JudyEv (325809)
• Rockingham, Australia
15 Oct 18
That is magic. I'd be happy to do this. I'll look into. once, some years ago, a friend organised for a group of us to buy a man one of the pedal-type taxis. Most of the drivers are paying exorbitant fees to the 'big boss' who owns all the taxis so they are never able to get ahead. By buying a person his own bike his income could be spent on food or education for his children. You didn't get your money back but it was still a good scheme. But this is even better.
3 people like this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
16 Oct 18
@JudyEv - I will be interested to hear what you think after you check it out. I know that many people in developing countries are charged exorbitant fees and interest rates when they try to get ahead, so this is a way to help people get what they need in order to have a better life. I love the fact that you and a group of friends bought a man a pedal-taxi. That was very kind of you.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
16 Oct 18
@JudyEv -That is wonderful! I saw the woman who needed food for her livestock and I was tempted to donate to her. I'm glad you did, instead. After you mentioned that was the last $25 she needed, I checked back on the women I loaned money to who needed the money to buy a stove. I was happy to see they have now received the full loan amount! I also noticed that some of the people needed large loans. I think I will check back from time to time and see how the different types of loans are going. It will give me an idea who I will want to loan money to next, when this loan is repaid. I think I am going to enjoy this in the coming years!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325809)
• Rockingham, Australia
16 Oct 18
@DeborahDiane I've signed in and sent my $25. It's going to a lady in the Philippines to help her buy food for her livestock. Yay me and thanks for writing about it. I choose her because it was the last $25 she needed. Some require quite big loans don't they, but I guess that's to be expected.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (458179)
• Switzerland
16 Oct 18
@DeborahDiane This is what I like of this "funding" idea.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
16 Oct 18
@LadyDuck - Yes, I like this idea, too. Many people can be helped with this program.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
16 Oct 18
@LadyDuck - I liked the fact that I can choose who to help and I can keep re-loaning the same money over and over again, helping many people over the years. I'll be interested to hear what you think.
2 people like this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
15 Oct 18
@marlina - That is true for me, too. I have heard about it for years. However, I never loaned any money. I got an email from PayPal this week and decided to give it a try. It sounds a good way to help a lot of people over the years, for very little money.
2 people like this
@sueznewz2 (10409)
• Alicante, Spain
15 Oct 18
That sounds like a wonderful way of helping people out... i've never heard of it...but will go and check ig out...
2 people like this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
16 Oct 18
@sueznewz2 - I will be interested to find out what other people think of this organization.
2 people like this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
16 Oct 18
@sallypup - I like the fact that the same $25 can be loaned over and over again for years, which means I can help a lot of people just by making a few more loans like this one.
2 people like this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
16 Oct 18
@Elizaby - Yes, I have always just given money before. However, with this system, you help people and, when they repay, you can help others. Plus, I like the fact that you can specifically choose the person or group of people you want to help. This group appealed to me. I was impressed by the fact that five women were willing to share one stove, that is how desperate they are to have a real stove. It was kind of heartbreaking.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
16 Oct 18
@jstory07 - Yes, I will write about it about in a few months when I see how it is going. It should be interesting.
1 person likes this
@RubyHawk (99425)
• Atlanta, Georgia
19 Oct 18
It sounds good but I have heard some conflicting stories about Kiva. I wouldn't hesitate to give the money to someone I knew who was needy. It isn't a lot of money but I would want to be sure it was going to the right people. I'd like to know more about Kiva.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
20 Oct 18
@RubyHawk - I understand. I thought I would try it and see what happens. Even though it is a small amount of money, I want to see if it comes back the way they say it will and also see if there is any follow-up. Will I know if the women get their stove? I thought it would be an interesting experiment and, hopefully, will do some good.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
22 Oct 18
@RubyHawk - I have been curious about this organization for some time. When PayPal started promoting it, I thought it was worth trying. I will write another post if I learn anything new about it.
1 person likes this
@RubyHawk (99425)
• Atlanta, Georgia
21 Oct 18
@DeborahDiane Yes, I would want to know if they get the stove. Ihopeyou can find out where your money goes. As you say it’s not a large amount and if it goes to a worthy cause it something we can do to help others. I might take a chance just to see what happens.
1 person likes this
