Great! One of mine was paid back early, so I loaned it out again today. This time to a Lebanese woman who makes paper bags at home with some squares of paper and a glue pot. She wants a machine that makes bags so she can speed up production.
MStieb, wildblue, weather, gj83, Jenbel, RCyyz and all, welcome aboard!
I agree this is a great opportunity to link those of us interested in helping by giving a hand up (not the "hand out" we sometimes get faced with by those who may be less than worthy / entrepreneurial beyond begging or scamming) to those looking to better their lives by hard work.
I have taken a hit on one loan (of a number) - ex-partner ADMIC in Mexico has a large number of loan defaults due to the impact of the economic crisis in Mexico, and potentially other issues; Kiva suspended them from being active partners and has specialists looking to see what can be salvaged and what help they might need if they are salvageable. I trust Kiva to do the right thing, either way.
As for potential currency exchange hits, read the page form as you loan, and you are likely to see the loan is protected from currency exchanges.
Like lili - and many of you - I log in and reloan what has been paid back, and I also tend to inject a bit more from time to time. I try to keep my Kiva credit as low as I can - it's currently $4.72.
We're up to a respectable:
60 members
235 loans (!)
$6,850.00 in loans
3.92 average number of loans per FT lending team member
(I've also involved others who are even in some cases starting their own teams or joining others - kind of like weather's great idea of forwarding the information on to her women's group.)
__________________ Lend a hand up with Kiva; far more than a hand out.
Just did loan number 10 and now my Kiva credit has been reset to $0. :-)
I've yet to have anyone default and everyone is paying on schedule or ahead of schedule. This is such an impressive operation that Kiva has going. Keep on passing the word, FTers!
I have never had a Kiva loan default and the overall rate of default is very low, so the cost of the miles is the forgone interest on the loaned money.
Kiva FlyerTalkers
Number of Team Members 62
Number of Loans 251
Number of Loans per Member 4.05
Total Amount Loaned $7,300.00
Although Kiva has no political or religious agenda, some of their field lenders do. If there is anyone who prefers to loan only to particular organizations there is a FireFox add on for that.
The filter can act as a black list or a white list and the guy who put it together uses it to maintain a list of field lenders who claim to be christian.
If you prefer to lend based on a different set of criteria, that's fine, but if you prefer to not support a religious agenda or only support Christian lenders that is a choice that should be easier than it currently is.
Programs: AC E, SPG nothing but wannabe Platinum :-)
Posts: 1,510
An update: Since joining Kiva (15 July 2009) I've made 7 loans and a few have been partially repaid already. Today I checked and I have about $23 repaid so I tossed in the other $2 and made my 8th loan.
To anyone who's considering Kiva - it's easy to join, you don't get spam, loans are repaid over time and it's easy to keep the cycle going.
I think Adjo Akakpo's request was a good one, so I added my bit.
So, fellow FTers, the score is now, at the end of August:
FlyerTalkers:
68 Team Members
291 Loans
4.28 Loans per Member (average) $8,900.00 Total Loaned
*Updated as of Sept 1, 2009 10:02 am
I'm betting $10,000 by Christmas - at least! FlyerTalkers, making a difference!
And gj83, thanks for sharing the cool add-on!
(And, yes, I have had one or two loans go into delinquency - I am aware of risk issues and select the kind of business I lend to, the lender, the location, and do know I can decisions that control the loan risk. Thanks for bringing this up, GenevaFlyer.)
__________________ Lend a hand up with Kiva; far more than a hand out.
"Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu" (Isizulu)
Last edited by JDiver; Sep 20, 09 at 2:01 pm.
Reason: corekt typoe and update figures
You added to some truly impressive statistics for this year - from Kiwis to Seppos and Euros our team is "growing and loaning" and is really a microcosm of the best FlyerTalk has to offer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jswong
Just joined myself and made a couple of loans
Jeff
__________________ Lend a hand up with Kiva; far more than a hand out.
Where did everybody go? I haven't been here in awhile. (I got too sucked in to Farm Town on Face Book), but I didn't know that FT has a team on Kiva. Woo-Hoo! I've belonged since early last year, and I'm a big fan. I just moved over to your team. Yea, FT! (I also belong to prosper.com) Jean
$10,000 by Christmas - at least! FlyerTalkers, making a difference! 
