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Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Hatrack Perpetual Microfinance Fund

One of the things I like most about our community at Hatrack River is the annual gift to charity we've done at year's end for the last several years. I've watched Dr. Rabbit do the administration and been happy to just put in my bit. She does such a great job.

Well now, I feel like I should do something too. I'm really excited about kiva the online organization that provides microfinance capital to entrepreneurs all over the developing world. As I've posted elsewhere, I think it's a really great idea.

1) The money we contribute would collect into a rotating loan fund. The payback rate so far for kiva is 97.49%, and for microfinance as a whole, it's above 95%. So the fund should just continue to grow as people chip in here and there over time. Each time a loan is paid back, we can loan it to a new person. We could take votes on which entrepreneur to fund each month. We could all get a kick out of watching the whole thing snowball.

2) It's not charity in the sense of giving someone something one time that doesn't materially change their situation. These loans are to help people pull themselves and their families out of poverty, and allow them to increase their income from now on. Instead of giving someone a fish, these loans are financing people to buy fishing equipment, to twist the tired metaphor. =)

3) If you would like to contribute something, paypal it to me at annekateard AT bham DOT rr DOT com. I'll keep careful records, which anyone can audit at any time they like, and I'll start a lender account called "jatraqueros" (to avoid any copyright infringement on Uncle Orson's "Hatrack River" name.) I'll post updates here, and tally the votes.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
To contribute to our jatraqueros fund, paypal money to me at annekateard AT bham DOT rr DOT com. No amount is too small! OR you can go to kiva, make your own profile, and join our NEW lending team, Team Jatraquero!!! That way you get to keep control of your own funds, choose your own borrowers, and still have your loans counted toward our hatrack totals.

Our Lender Page.

Spreadsheet showing summary, statistics, loans, and future cash flow as of the last time I updated it. This takes a while to do, so unless I hear that people are using this, I probably won't keep it very current.

Monthly Record:
Feb 2007: $275 to Jose Dolores Ramos Cruz in Chihuahua Mexico for his grocery store. PAID BACK
Mar 2007: $125 to Nora Topeto in Samoa for her flea market stand. PAID BACK
Apr 2007: $100 to Laurette Abia in Ivory Coast for her cassava cakes business. PAID BACK
May 2007: $100 to Jecinta Muthoni Kamau in Kenya for her produce stand in an open air market.
Jun 2007: $350 to Elisa Amarilla Dominguez in Paraguay for her in-home grocery store. PAID BACK
Jul 2007: $150 to Arzukhanim Bayramova in Salyan region, Azerbaijan for her cattle breeding business. PAID BACK
Aug 2007: $100 to Fru Donatus Chi in Alabukam, Mankon, NW. Province, Cameroon for his motorcycle taxi business. REFUNDED
Sep 2007: $100 to Isha Kamara in Magburaka, Tonkolili, Sierra Leone to buy stock for her food market. PAID BACK
Oct 2007: $125 to Julio Chuya in Guayaquil, Ecuador, to buy ingredients for his bakery. PAID BACK
Nov 2007: $75 to Santos Filomena Medina De Huamán in Tarma, Peru, to help grow her lumber business. PAID BACK
Dec 2007: $475 to Lupe Mamani in La Paz, Bolivia, to buy materials to manufacture more shoes. PAID BACK
Jan 2008: $125 to Zubaidah in Badung, Indonesia to buy ingredients for selling rice and vegetables.
AND.....: $25 to Víctor Miranda De La Cruz in Juliaca, Peru to help him buy another phone for his call center business. PAID BACK
April 2008: $125 to Malik Goibova in J.Rasulov, Tajikistan for her material selling business. PAID BACK
May 2008: $225 to Teófilo Ramón Peralta Ibarra in Esteli, Nicaragua to buy better food for his restaurant.
AND.....: $150 to the Tzolojya Group, a group of 12 women in Solola, Guatemala for use in their various businesses selling food and clothing.
June 2008: $175 to Phorn Sok in Ping Pong Village, Cambodia for more bitter melons to sell.
Special Bonus Loan to celebrate our 17th kiva loan:
June 2008: $25 to Tep Moa in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to purchase rice seed, fertilizers, and carpentry tools for their farm.
July 2008: $550 to The Claritas Group in Santa Clara La Laguna, Solola, Guatemala, to buy supplies for a bakery, beads, animal feed, and fabric for dressmaking.
August 2008: $525 to San Roque Group in El Alto / La Paz, Bolivia for capital to buy or rent fixed stands or shops to ply their wares.
September 2008: $100 to Seblatou Adossou of Danyi, Togo, to help him increase his area of farmable land.
October 2008: $125 to Un Ran in Pour Village, Cambodia, to help her buy a cow to plow her rice field, plus fertilizers and seed.
November 2008: $150 to Moibatou Teagbanlin in Cotonou, Benin, for her scrap metal business.
January 2009: $75 to Ngov Savy in Siem Reap, Cambodia, a farmer. The loan will be used to repair her house.
February 2009: $350 to Mehrinisso Usupova in Yavan, Tajikistan, to purchase seeds for her farm.
March 2009: $225 to the Danaya Group in Fana KOULIKORO, Mali, to purchase condiments for their food stands.
April 2009: $250 to Aminata Kassongue in KOUTIALA, Mali to buy condiments for her food business. Condiments must be popular in Mali.
May 2009: $25 to Juanita in Ayacucho, Peru for purchase of fertilizer and payment of workers for her farm.
AND...: $300 to Faress in Saida - South, Lebanon for merchandise to sell at his fruits and vegetables stand.

[ October 30, 2009, 10:13 AM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
For February, we've collected $25 so far. We will wait until the end of the month to vote on our person, because entrepreneurs go up on the board and get funded quickly.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Thanks, Papa, for the sticky! [Smile]
 
Posted by Dragon (Member # 3670) on :
 
I just sent you some money... And created a paypal account just to do it. [Razz]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Awesome! [Smile]

Edit to add that I'll update the amount collected at random intervals, to keep people's donation amounts fairly private.

Also I wanted to say on this thread that most of the borrowers are using the money for capital projects, to increase the amount of income their businesses can generate. For instance, someone who sells ice cream in the city center might be buying another freezer so they can expand their offerings. Someone who does laundry for people might be buying a new faster dryer or something so they can process more loads a day. Many people who sell things retail are asking for loans to increase their stock. Others have orders from customers they need loans to fill, which will be paid back as soon as the customer pays for the order.

Lots of them have families, and they're using the increased income to pay school fees for their kids, so this will have a snowball effect on future generations as well. By keeping their kids in school longer, they are giving them higher earning potential for their entire lives, not to mention just a higher quality of life from being educated.

[ February 18, 2007, 07:17 PM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
 
Posted by Euripides (Member # 9315) on :
 
How about this man or maybe one of the farmers?
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Sounds good! At the end of each month, we can vote on who to make our loan to. I bet any particular borrower we pick right now will be fully funded by then, though.

The fund is up to $100 now!
 
Posted by Rakeesh (Member # 2001) on :
 
Microloans is something I'm already contributing to as a charity of sorts, so you'll hafta wait until March for mine, Tatiana, but I'll go with whatever is voted for or decided upon then [Smile]
 
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
 
Tatiana, this is a most excellent idea! Very very cool!


I'm going to make people I know here aware of this program so that if they know people who could benefit, they could sign up - completely separate from Hatrack. It just sounds like goodness that needs to spread. [Smile]

So far in the Asian region, I'm seeing a lot of Azerbaijan, Samoa, and Cambodia. Just because I'm curious and for no other reason. [Razz]


I've noticed also that they're looking for translators who are fluent in English and another language. If you're bilingual, it's worth checking out and seeing if you can help that way, regardless of being able to donate money or not. (As a side note, one of the languages listed as "might be needed in the future" is Sinhala, which is spoken only in Sri Lanka, so...)

They're also looking for volunteers to do website development work and other things, donations of old digital cameras that are collecting dust in your closet, that sort of thing.

They also have a number of banner ads and such that you/we could put on our websites and drive more traffic and awareness to their cause.

So, if you can't afford to donate, please consider helping out in other ways.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
They're expanding like crazy, making new partnerships with microfinance organizations all over the world (they serve as a front end), so I know they will need lots of translation done, and other services. I want to shout out to all RMs that this would be an excellent way to keep practicing your mission language. [Smile]

quidscribis, that's a great idea to encourage people to volunteer who have time.
 
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
 
Tatiana, I think that's an excellent idea - doing a shout-out to RMs. There are websites for RMs around - for keeping in touch and such. I think it might be a good idea to contact them. [Smile]
 
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
 
[Big Grin] Fahim and I discussed it, and he's given me permission to work kiva.org into a future article for the magazine he's the editor for. Not the first issue, but sometime after that. [Big Grin] Oh yeah, I love that guy!
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Euripides, one thing I really like about the guy you picked is that he has already successfully paid back two smaller loans. The organizations on the far end are doing more than just lending. They're also, many of them, conducting classes in how to manage money, how to keep records, how to run small businesses at a profit, and so on. Some of them are offering training in job skills, like computer repair. They're also offering micro-insurance, some of them, and the full range of financial services that were previously unavailable to the very poor, because regular banks found them not worth their while to deal with such small amounts.

The microcredit organizations are not only extending credit to people to whom it wasn't previously available, but they're locating in neighborhoods where they're convenient to the poor, rather than the rich. (Poverty means far more than just lack of money. It means not being welcome many places, and paying a higher cost for everything.)

One of the snowball effects this model has is that it brings flourishing businesses to poor parts of town, which means more local jobs. Generally the more economic activity in an area, the better off the whole area will become. So it helps many people indirectly for every individual it helps directly. When you add that to the generational effects, it means that really we're getting tremendous bang for our buck here. [Smile]
 
Posted by Euripides (Member # 9315) on :
 
I totally agree Tatiana. I really appreciate that you've done your research on this project too. [Smile]
 
Posted by Fusiachi (Member # 7376) on :
 
Big fan of Kiva here. Just started my account this past month.

Best of luck.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
We're up to $125! [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Yay, we're up to $145 now! This is so awesome, guys! [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Do you guys think it would be better to put it all on one loan? Or spread it around?

I'm taking votes on that. I'll tally them in this post.

Tally so far:

All on one loan: 3 votes

Spread it between several loans: 0 votes

[ February 26, 2007, 12:34 AM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
 
Posted by Dragon (Member # 3670) on :
 
I vote for all the money from each month going to one person. We can loan to a different person each month, but I think it would be more useful to loan in larger sums than to break it up into little donations.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Awesome! I'm thinking the same thing. And then when we vote on a borrower, they'll be OUR borrower for that month, and we can all watch and see how they're doing, watch them pay off the loan over time, and root for them to succeed. [Smile]
 
Posted by Dragon (Member # 3670) on :
 
Sounds great. So... the guy Euripides picked or maybe this woman?
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Oh, man, both of those look good! The guy borrower Euripedes picked is still raising funds, too! I thought sure he would be funded by now!

What picture should we use for jatraqueros? Maybe a group shot from one of the gatherings? Or maybe some Ender's Game cover art? Or maybe the little oval hatrack logo from above left? Can we use that? [Smile]
 
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
 
Or a hat rack? [Razz]
 
Posted by Euripides (Member # 9315) on :
 
I vote all in one lot.

If you decide to use cover art, the UK editions tend to look better. [Smile]
 
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by quidscribis:
Or a hat rack? [Razz]

I like this better.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Oh, that's a good idea! Does anyone want to link me to a picture they like?
 
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
 
Just a suggestion as I haven't donated, and though I'd like to, I'm just too strapped right now, for any amount of money.

Maybe after this round is over and the loan is paid back, and you start looking at another prospect I'll be able to chip in by then.
 
Posted by Dragon (Member # 3670) on :
 
That one is nice, though I also really like this classy one.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Oh, Dragon! That one is so cool! [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
I went ahead and made us an account. You can see our lender page here! We can change the picture any time we want, but for starters I used Dragon's swanky hat rack. [Smile]

I'm all excited about our first loan, which will happen in only 3 more days! [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
People who can think of clever ways to fill in our lender page info should do that. [Smile]

Occupation:
I loan because:
About me:
 
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
 
That IS rather snazzy.
 
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Lyrhawn:
quote:
Originally posted by quidscribis:
Or a hat rack? [Razz]

I like this better.
I knew there was a reason I liked you, Lyrhawn. [Razz]


Dragon, LOOOOOOVE! the hatrack. It's so coool!


Tatiana, I love the kiva lender page, too. [Big Grin]
 
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
 
That and Stargate right? Haha, the list lengthens!
 
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
 
And so it does! [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Ooooh another donation came in! We're up to $165! [Smile] This is so awesome!
 
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
 
That is beautiful.

I have yet to receive a paycheck (but soon! Have resolved the Work Permit), so I can't contribute now. I will in the future.
 
Posted by Dragon (Member # 3670) on :
 
So... who are we donating to?
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
We have one vote each for 2 different people. What do we do in such a case? Maybe we should pick someone we all can get excited about lending to?

Update: Euripedes' guy has been fully funded already. Dragon's lady is still raising funds.

Nominations are open for borrowers! Pick someone and tell us why you picked them. Here is the link again for ease of reference.
 
Posted by Dragon (Member # 3670) on :
 
Ok, I picked this woman because she has children to support and because her business is selling food, which is something beneficial to her community. I also want to support her because it says she is the only breadwinner in the family, and I'm not sure what the social norms are about that in Azerbaijan, but I can imagine that it would be difficult.
 
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
 
How does donating to Kiva work for your tax write offs?

Technically you aren't donating, because the money is paid back, but you run the risk of it not being paid back, and it's interest free so you aren't making money off it.

Does it count as a charitable contribution?
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Lyrhawn, it doesn't count as a charitable contribution, because you are getting it back. Of course, we're planning to loan ours again as soon as it's paid off, but the IRS doesn't count it as a donation. This is one you won't get tax credit for, although I still feel like we are getting far more for our money than if we gave a one-time donation which was used once and then gone. This way we get to watch it grow and snowball over time, and we're establishing a fund that will still be doing good things in the world, generating wealth and education for impoverished people, long after we're individually gone.

Dragon, your reasoning for your lady is persuasive.
 
Posted by MidnightBlue (Member # 6146) on :
 
From their FAQ:
quote:
25 If my loan defaults, can I then claim it as a tax-deductible donation?

No, because it was intended as a loan, not a donation. However you can claim it as a capital loss.

So it doesn't look to me like you can get any tax benefit for it.
 
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
 
Tatiana -

Oh don't get me wrong, I think this site, and microloans in general are a fantastic idea that over time can do far more good than a simple $50 donation to the Red Cross (not that that isn't worthy), it was just a random question I was curious about.

I got some good news in the mail the other day that means I'll have to pay less bills from now on, so let me know for sure when you get the loan paid back and you're ready to loan again, I'll have $50 waiting for you.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
I plan to have the fund ongoing, and each month we can take whatever we have collected up from that month and make a new loan. So there's no need to wait the 6 - 18 month loan period until the first one is paid back, unless you just want to. I'm going to make it a regular thing and put a little in each month, I think. That way it can just keep on growing. [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
All right, if nobody else has any nominations, I think Dragon's lady has won by a landslide! [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Wow, we're up to $265 now. [Smile] [Smile] [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Shall I leave the fund open for another few hours?

Dragon's lady is already fully funded now too.

Pick us someone else, Dragon! Or anyone! [Smile]

Link again for ease of reference.

[ February 28, 2007, 09:34 PM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
 
Posted by Dragon (Member # 3670) on :
 
Well, what about this woman? She hasn't been funded yet at all, and needs quite a bit of money. Looks like most of my reasoning for the first woman applies to her too.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Okay, she sounds good to me too!

I'll wait one more hour, in case anyone else wants to donate or make a nomination or another suggestion.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Awww, I shouldn't have waited. Now she's fully funded as well!

Dragon, want to pick someone else? If you want to wait until tomorrow when there are more choices, that would be fine. I don't see anyone on there at the moment who matches the first two you picked.
 
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
 
Dragon, the women in your link is also no fully funded.

What about this woman? She needs $250 more still, which would still leave $15 to be tossed to someone else.

Amazing how many women entrepreneurs there are.
 
Posted by Dragon (Member # 3670) on :
 
haha she's fully funded now too! This is crazy!

I'd say you should just pick someone Tatiana - they're all worthy of our funds, and clearly we can't wait long enough to discuss it or other people will happily provide the money before we can.
 
Posted by Euripides (Member # 9315) on :
 
I'm happy to leave the decision to Tatiana. No need to wait half a day to choose a loanee. [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Okay, folks, we're in business! [Smile] We just loaned $275 to Jose Dolores Ramos Cruz to help him expand his grocery store. He's got kids to support, his business helps the people in his area, and he seems like a good risk since he's been in business for a number of years.

Here is our jatraqueros lender's page.

Tomorrow starts March's fund. Papa, thanks for the sticky, but I think we can let the thread float from here on out. [Smile] I'm totally chuffed at what we've done, people! You guys are awesome!
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
What does everyone think of the person I picked? Do you like him?

He had all the qualities that Dragon stated, other than single motherhood. I like the idea of supporting single mothers, or of helping out women in third world countries where women often have very low status and lack power, economic or otherwise, to change their situation. However, it feels wrong to me to discriminate against men to accomplish that. This guy has an intact family, so when we loan to him, we're also helping out his wife and children. Eight for the price of one, so to speak. [Smile]

Do you approve of my choice?
 
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
 
Good choice Tatiana [Smile]
 
Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
 
quote:

Do not doubt him, you have the possibility to help Jose Dolores and his family, and they would be sincerely thankful for your support.

[Smile]
 
Posted by EricJamesStone (Member # 5938) on :
 
Looks like a good choice to me.
 
Posted by Dragon (Member # 3670) on :
 
I agree. And I also really liked that sentece Storm. [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Okay, I'm glad you guys approve. Jose got his loan completely funded now, did you see?

You can ignore the stuff below if you're not interested. It's just the fine print and full disclosure and accountability part, for anyone who cares. [Smile]

jatraqueros lender report for Feb 2007:

Total collected:.....$279.09
Credit card fees:........$4.09
Total amt loaned:..$275.00

Remaining balance:...$0.00

What I'm doing is starting each month out with a $25 donation from me, then at the end of the month, I'm paying all credit card fees myself and rounding the number up to the nearest $25 increment, because you have to loan in $25 increments. I may or may not also donate 10% to kiva.org to help them with their operating expenses, since they work for free. They have servers and stuff they have to maintain. This month I didn't.

I put Wallis and Futuna as our country because you had to pick one, and I didn't think it was right to pick the U.S. or Canada since we come from all over. [Smile] They didn't have a selection for just Planet Earth, which I think is quite specific enough already.

Everyone should feel free to donate as little or as much as they want. $5 is fine, or $10, or even $1. By pooling our efforts, we can accomplish much more than any of us alone. [Smile]

[ March 01, 2007, 07:02 PM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
The March fund has begun. =) We're at $25 to start with.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
w000t! The March fund is now up to $75. =)
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
$100 now. =)
 
Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
 
If we end up stopping the loaning process for whatever reason (the site goes defunct, no one wants to manage it, etc.) can we agree that whatever's left in the fund will be donated to a charitable cause we all like, such as the Heifer Project (or kiva's operating expenses)? If so, then I'm willing to chip in some cash.
 
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
 
I think if it stops donating it to kiva's operating expenses is a great idea. [Smile]
 
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
 
(We're tight this month, but we're paying off all our credit card debt, then probably in a few months refinancing our car, and so then we will have a little cash to spare, even with savings and paying on some personal loans. I will chip in some in a future month when we do. [Smile] )
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Yes, of course I will keep it going! I consider it a sacred trust! If it stops for any unforseeable reason, though, I'll just donate it to whatever cause people say.

One possibility would be sending it to kiva for operating expenses.

Another possiblity would be lumping it in with my other kiva fund, which is funded just by me, and continuing to keep it rotating forever. I have 13 businesses now in my portfolio. My lender page. Actually, I don't see any advantage to doing that. I would just keep rotating the money in the existing jatraqueros fund, because it belongs to jatraqueros.

But I don't see any reason for it to stop, really. Maybe if I get banned from hatrack? [Smile] You never know...

[ March 03, 2007, 10:09 PM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
 
Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
 
I just like to have contingency plans [Smile]

Thanks for handling this, Tatiana. It's quite a cool thing to do.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Contingency plans are good! Oh, and the way it works is we don't get any of our money back until a given loan is fully paid off. Then we get it all at once in our kiva account. At that point, it's available for us to loan again.

You're welcome! I'm really excited about it. I can just see this thing growing and growing until the income disparity in the whole world is greatly reduced. I think it's a fantastic idea whose time has come.

[ March 03, 2007, 10:21 PM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
 
Posted by Euripides (Member # 9315) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Tatiana:

But I don't see any reason for it to stop, really. Maybe if I get banned from hatrack? [Smile] You never know...

Clearly that would never happen unless someone got a hold of your hatrack password!

That's a nice looking Japanese maple; they're my favourite species of tree.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
<laughs> I hope not! (getting banned, I mean)

I suppose Uncle Orson could decide to quit paying for hatrack, like Richard thinks he should do. In that case, I'd plan to keep the jatraqueros fund rotating.

Kiva itself could die or something, though it seems to be growing like crazy now. In that case, we might not get our money back, I suppose. I'm not sure what the possibilities are there.

Suffice it to say that I consider it money that belongs to the hatrack community as a whole, and I will do whatever you want me to do with it. Hey! I know! I can donate it to the next year's holiday season gift if Dr. Rabbit is still doing that by then. [Smile]

Ooooh, I love that tree! [Smile] It's seriously gorgeous. The birds love it too!
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
One week into March. March's fund is $100. Thought I would give her a bump. =)
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
A bump to add my nomination for the official title of the geekiest thing ever!
 
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
 
I must have them!!! [Razz]
 
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Tatiana:
A bump to add my nomination for the official title of the geekiest thing ever!

Ooooo
 
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
 
Heh heh heh! Very cool! [Cool]
 
Posted by Euripides (Member # 9315) on :
 
I love browsing Think Geek, but I never actually buy anything.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
It's the 16th now and we're still at $100. Surely someone will chip in ten bucks soon just to keep the ball rolling. Our borrowers need us. [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
It's the 22nd now (well, very soon now). Happy equinox everyone (2 days ago). <celebrates> The nine day countdown starts now.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Yay, we got another $15! March fund is up to $115. [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Okay, it's almost the 24th so there is one week left! [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Five more days in the March countdown! We have $115 now, do I hear $125? [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Four days left in March. I hope we have one of those big flurries of activity at the end! =)
 
Posted by Dragon (Member # 3670) on :
 
Do we have an idea of who to fund?

(and an excuse to bump?)
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dragon, feel free to nominate. Anyone who is still around on the evening of the 31st I'll go for! [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Coming down to the wire now. Only around 3 days left. Still at $115.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Countdown continues. Two days. [Smile] Hurry and beat the rush!
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Only one more day!
 
Posted by Dragon (Member # 3670) on :
 
This woman mentions school fees in her profile... so we'd be funding education as well as the business.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Okay, she sounds good! [Smile] You are a good picker of borrowers.
 
Posted by Euripides (Member # 9315) on :
 
Sounds good to me.
 
Posted by Dragon (Member # 3670) on :
 
*bow*

why thank you!
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
All right! We loaned $125 to Nora Topeto for her flea market business. [Smile] Our lender page now shows both our borrowers. This time I chipped in 10% for kiva's operating expenses, so Premal and the guys can get by. I think what they're doing is awesome! [Smile]

Here's a screen capture of our portfolio as it stands now.

I give all of y'all a high five for what we're doing. Hatrack rawks! [Smile]

In case anyone's interested, I added a couple more borrowers to my personal lender page as well, lately (using my own money of course and not jatraquero funds). (Understand that I loan small amounts to each one, as my personal strategy, so Hatrack does far more than I can do myself.) In particular there was one lady with 4 kids whose husband kicked her out when he found she was using birth control. I just had to choose her! I get such a feeling of excitement and happiness watching the list grow longer, that I wanted to share it with y'all. <beams> I love the feeling that it's just going to snowball, as old loans are paid back and new are generated. Here is a tiny beginning of something that has the potential to become huge someday, and to transform the world into a place where everyone has enough, where respect and kindness for each other is the dominant feature of politics, and where we work together to overcome the challenges that beset us. [Smile] I get all inspired and stuff about it. [Smile]

[ March 31, 2007, 02:51 PM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
 
Posted by Dragon (Member # 3670) on :
 
yay!
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
All right! April has started! We're at $25 for April.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
One week into April we're still at $25. [Smile]
 
Posted by Jhai (Member # 5633) on :
 
I really want to donate, but it's tax month and we're getting killed. Next fall our finances should be much better, and I'll be able to start regular monthly donations.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
That would be awesome, Jhai!

Everyone, even if we can give just a little bit, just $5, it will really add up. If we do it regularly then no matter how gradually it starts, it will keep going, keep snowballing, until it's like an avalanche or a mighty river. =)

Right now it's a baby that we have to feed to keep it alive and growing. [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Time for a bump. April is officially 11/30ths over, and we have $25.

In other news, I'm starting a wiki about averting human extinction. So far I've reserved the domain name avertinghumanextinction.org. Then my volunteer IT department went to sleep. =) (Thanks, Josh!)

Anyone have any good suggestions?
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Yay, we're up to $50 now! Thanks! =)
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
It's the ides of April and time to bump. Happy tax day everybody! [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo ,

This is an update on Flea Market:

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to Nora Topeto by South Pacific Business Development in Samoa. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the next 12 - 16 months, South Pacific Business Development will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.

Kiva very much appreciates your responses online. You can read and respond to this journal online at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=comment&id=6335&ent=8472

Some of our partners choose to write their journal entries in the local language in order to keep their overhead low. If this journal entry is in a foreign language, please feel free to use an online translator such as Altavista's Babelfish (http://babelfish.altavista.com).


Thanks!

-- Kiva Staff
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Oooh, I just got a commitment for $50 a month from now on! So April is up to $100 now! Wheeeeee! And from now on we'll be starting each month at $75. I'm so happy! [Smile] [Smile] [Smile] [Smile] [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Yes! Hatrack is back up! Because the forum's been down, I'm extending April for a few more days. If you have a donation for April, please get it to me by the 5th. Then we'll choose our person for the month. [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo ,

The business you have loaned to, groceries , has made a repayment of $318.00. The total amount repaid up to now is $318.00. The payment was collected and deposited by Admic Nacional. This repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed. Note that you cannot actually withdraw or reloan these funds until after the loan term is complete.Comment:

scheduled repayment

To view your Kiva loan portfolio go to:
Image of our portfolio page

[Big Grin] We got a payment!!!
 
Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :
 
Awesome!

quote:
Note that you cannot actually withdraw or reloan these funds until after the loan term is complete.
The loan term stated in your link says "3-6 months". So can you reloan now or do you have to wait three months?
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Only 184.11 of our 275 has been paid back yet, since the payment is divided proportionally among all the lenders, so the way it works is that we get the full 275 back in our account for re-loaning once the entire loan is paid off by the borrower. Until then we don't get anything, but as soon as it's fully paid, even if it's early, we are able to re-loan it. The 3-6 months refers to the total time the loan is supposed to take to pay back, from the time it was issued until it's paid off completely. We lent it at the end of February so it should be sometime before the end of August when we're repaid.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Okay, last day for April's fund. If you want to add a contribution for April, send it to me right away. [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
April loan has been made!

We loaned $100 to Laurette Abia in the Ivory Coast to exand her Cassava cakes business. She has 3 kids and is sending the youngest two to school.

Our lender page shows all three of our borrowers now. I'm excited that it's starting to grow! [Smile] After 6, 12, or 18 months, depending on the loan terms, we should begin to have roughly one loan paid back a month on average, and so our new contributions for the month will be added to the previous amounts so we will continue to have more and more to lend. [Smile] If it gets big enough we might start having to split it up between several borrowers. That will be fun! [Smile]

An image of our portfolio page.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
I just love it that we now have commitments from two people to give a certain amount every month from now on! That's such a great way to really make a difference in the long run, slow and steady. [Smile] I want to challenge jatraqueros to make that commitment, even if it's a small amount. Even if it's only $5 a month, or $10, or $15, together we can make a difference. We can make a big impact on the world. What would Ender do? [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Will you commit to a small monthly gift to jatraqueros' kiva fund?
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Okay, it's one week into May and time to start the May fund. We have $75 for May, to start with. Who will make it $100?

Just look at what you've done so far, hatrack! You're making a real difference in the world. You're putting your money where your mouths are. You're doing your part to make the world a better place. I'm very proud of that.

[ May 07, 2007, 11:10 PM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
The ides of May have arrived (and gone). We're still at $75. Anyone care to chip in?
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo ,

This is an update on Cassava cakes selling:

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to Laurette Abia by Afrique Emergence & Investissements in Cote D'Ivoire. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the next 12 - 18 months, Afrique Emergence & Investissements will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.

Kiva very much appreciates your responses online. You can read and respond to this journal online at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=comment&id=9864&ent=10982

Some of our partners choose to write their journal entries in the local language in order to keep their overhead low. If this journal entry is in a foreign language, please feel free to use an online translator such as Altavista's Babelfish (http://babelfish.altavista.com).


Thanks!

-- Kiva Staff
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
I added some cool new businesses to my personal kiva account lately. I now have 22 borrowers from nine different countries around the world. [Smile]

So far our jatraqueros account has three borrowers from three different countries. Pretty schaweet yo. Can't wait to see what we'll choose this next month. Only nine more days. [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
One week left in May! Somebody please add something for May. We're still at $75.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Yay, we got another contribution! We're currently at $90 for May. [Smile] Thanks so much for that!

There are still six days left in May if someone wants to make a Memorial Day contribution in memory of the all the warriors who have sacrificed so much for their country through the years. [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Just four days left. I hope we can get at least one new person to contribute. So far we just have the staunch regulars. Come on someone else help us out! [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
I just added some new people to my personal kiva account since I had something of a windfall come my way recently. I had 4 people make loan payments yesterday too. So far 2 of my borrowers in my personal account have paid their loans off, and I've been able to loan that money out again to others.

The thing that has me really excited is that I realize that after the first year or so, I'll begin to see on average one loan a month being paid off, so that can be added to my new contribution to loan to others, and the whole thing will start to snowball. Maybe the snowball eventually can turn into something like an avalanche, and poverty will become something ugly we used to have on this planet, like smallpox or something. [Smile] Would that be awesome? [Blushing]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Two days left in May. We're still at $90.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Okay, last day in May. Someone pick us a borrower!
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
All right, since nobody else picked, I went ahead and chose. We loaned $100 to Jecinta Muthoni Kamau to buy more stock for her open air grocery stall. We now have 4 borrowers! [Smile] Our lender page shows them. Finally, here is a snapshot of our current portfolio.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

This email confirms that $275.00 of your loan to groceries is now redeemable.

This amount can now be re-loaned to another business, donated to Kiva or withdrawn.

Kiva

To view your Kiva loan portfolio go to:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=account


Wow, our first loan has already been paid off! That means June is starting at $350, yay!
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Almost the middle of the month. Time for a kiva bump. [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Another bump in honor of Aaron's and Julian's baptism this weekend! I get to be Julian's godmother. [Smile] I need a wand or something.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
We got another loan payment! =)

Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Cassava cakes selling, has made a repayment of $46.00. The total amount repaid up to now is $46.00. The payment was collected and deposited by Afrique Emergence & Investissements. This repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed. Note that you cannot actually withdraw or reloan these funds until after the loan term is complete.Comment:

scheduled_repayment

To view your Kiva loan portfolio go to:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=account
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Only about a week left in the month. Time for another contribution, maybe?
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Hey, only two days left! [Smile] [Smile] [Smile]
 
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
 
Thanks for keeping this page updated. I keep reading it, and keep wishing I could throw some money your way, I just have too much on my plate at the moment, even for five bucks, but this is fun keeping track of, and it's exciting to see the loans getting paid back.

Your commitment is admirable, and your updates are appreciated. [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
[Smile] Thanks!
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Okay, last day of the month! Let's see who's out there to pick. Anyone want to find a good person?
 
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
 
I like this woman.

All she wants to do is succeed at her job so she can send her sons to college. I say we help her do it. [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
All right, I picked Elisa Amarilla Dominguez.

Elisa Amarilla Domínguez is married and has 2 children, Emily, who is 5 years old, and Ángel, who is 8 months. Elisa is an entrepreneurial woman. Her husband contributes economically to the household, but she likes to work — her children’s wellbeing is her motivation. She is saving for their future so that they will be able to have access to a good education. She did not have access to much education; she only studied through 6th grade because her parents weren’t able to pay for school for her and her siblings.

Today, after much hard work, Elisa is the owner of a small grocery store located in her house. Thanks to the store, she is able to combine the time she needs for caring for her children with tending to business. Thanks to a good level of demand, and the good location of the store (there are no other groceries for a radius of several blocks), she has decided to add on to the physical area of the business. To do this she needs as loan of $800.00 to complete the expansion of the store and modernize it so that she can keep up with demand and offer more products.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Oh, darn, Lyrhawn! I wish I had seen your pick in time. I like her a lot! She looks like a great prospect. I'm sorry I didn't see your post before I chose.
 
Posted by Dragon (Member # 3670) on :
 
Aww, I forgot to donate for June. Or at least, I think I did. Anyway, I just donated independently to Lyrhawn's lady. So now we did both.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Oh, I'm so glad! That makes me feel a lot better. [Smile]
 
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
 
The more the merrier, thanks Dragon. [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dragon, thanks, as well, for being such a faithful contributor. You rawk!

It's July now, and what better way to celebrate the freedoms we have in the good old U.S. than to help someone who lives elsewhere make a better life for themselves and their children?
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

This is an update on Cassava cakes selling written by Fahan Bamba:


Abia Laurette has successfully revitalised her cassava cakes business with her Kiva loan. She has bough new cooking equipments which are now used by her elder daughter. The family has increased the volume of cassava cake production. Laurette has also improved margin. She is very happy and thanks all Kiva loans donors. She promises to continue developing her business during the next months.

Kiva very much appreciates your responses online. You can read and respond to this journal online at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=comment&id=9864&ent=15052

Some of our partners choose to write their journal entries in the local language in order to keep their overhead low. If this journal entry is in a foreign language, please feel free to use an online translator such as Altavista's Babelfish (http://babelfish.altavista.com).


Thanks!

-- Kiva Staff
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Jecinta Muthoni Kamau, has made a repayment of $27.00. The total amount repaid up to now is $27.00. The payment was collected and deposited by Ebony Foundation (Eb-F). This repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed. Note that you cannot actually withdraw or reloan these funds until after the loan term is complete.Comment:

scheduled_repayment

To view your Kiva loan portfolio go to:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=account
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Oh, and by the way, July is half over. Time for a contribution to the HPMF fund!
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Yay, ask and ye shall receive! The fund is up to $145 for the month of July! [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Flea Market, has made a repayment of $168.00. The total amount repaid up to now is $252.00. The payment was collected and deposited by South Pacific Business Development. This repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed. Note that you cannot actually withdraw or reloan these funds until after the loan term is complete.Comment:

scheduled_repayment

To view your Kiva loan portfolio go to:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=account


______________________________
Loans that change lives
http://www.kiva.org/
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Cassava cakes selling, has made a repayment of $46.00. The total amount repaid up to now is $92.00. The payment was collected and deposited by Afrique Emergence & Investissements. This repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed. Note that you cannot actually withdraw or reloan these funds until after the loan term is complete.Comment:

scheduled_repayment

To view your Kiva loan portfolio go to:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=account


______________________________
Loans that change lives
http://www.kiva.org/
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
One week left in July. Countdown commencing. [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Last weekend in July. [Smile]
 
Posted by Hegemon (Member # 370) on :
 
July recepient? How about http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=15358 ?
 
Posted by MidnightBlue (Member # 6146) on :
 
Or http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=14760. I really wish I had money to contribute. I think this is a really great thing.
 
Posted by dean (Member # 167) on :
 
I rather like this one:

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=14642
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Awesome! Thank you guys so much for picking someone this month. I always have the hardest time choosing, so I totally want to leave that part to y'all. Hegemon, I liked your choice a lot. When I went to loan to her, she was already fully funded, so I guess that's a good thing.

MidnightBlue, no amount of money is too small. You can send $5 or even $1. It all adds up in the end. [Smile] I liked your choice too, particularly since she's in Guayaquil, Ecuador, a city I adored when I visited there.

Deany, you also chose someone really good. It was hard for me to pick between them, but finally I chose your person, Arzukhanim Bayramova, because the other lady looked just a little more prosperous and middle class, and her product was just a bit less vital to life. There was not any huge difference between them, but I had to pick so I went with my gut.

So for August, we loaned $150 to Arzukhanim Bayramova in Azerbaijan for her cattle breeding business. Our kiva lender page is here and a screenshot of as much of our current portfolio as would fit on one screen is here.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Feb 2007: $275 to Jose Dolores Ramos Cruz in Chihuahua Mexico for his grocery store.
Mar 2007: $125 to Nora Topeto in Samoa for her flea market stand.
Apr 2007: $100 to Laurette Abia in Ivory Coast for her cassava cakes business.
May 2007: $100 to Jecinta Muthoni Kamau in Kenya for her produce stand in an open air market.
Jun 2007: $350 to Elisa Amarilla Dominguez in Paraguay for her in-home grocery store.
Jul 2007: $150 to Arzukhanim Bayramova in Salyan region, Azerbaijan for her cattle breeding business.

I think we've done some good in the world. [Smile] I wish someone would make a HPMF map with a pin in each spot that our borrowers live. Then we could see how farflung our influence is. Does anyone know how to do that?
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Emily's Grocery / Despensa Emily, has made a repayment of $67.00. The total amount repaid up to now is $67.00. The payment was collected and deposited by Fundación Paraguaya. This repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed. Note that you cannot actually withdraw or reloan these funds until after the loan term is complete.Comment:

scheduled_repayment

To view your Kiva loan portfolio go to:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=account
 
Posted by erosomniac (Member # 6834) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Tatiana:
I think we've done some good in the world. [Smile] I wish someone would make a HPMF map with a pin in each spot that our borrowers live. Then we could see how farflung our influence is. Does anyone know how to do that?

If you have more exact address information, Frappr would probably work.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
I just have the cities and countries. I will look this weekend maybe and see if I can set it up. I think that would be cool, don't you?
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Almost a week into August, it starts off with $75. [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Oh, and congratulations on six months of the jatraquero kiva fund! Time flies, doesn't it?
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

This is an update on Cassava cakes selling written by Fahan Bamba:


Laurette Abia is performing very well in her cassava cake business. She has purchased a new gas furnace to increase her productivity and abandon the use of


charcoal.

Kiva very much appreciates your responses online. You can read and respond to this journal online at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=comment&id=9864&ent=18018

Some of our partners choose to write their journal entries in the local language in order to keep their overhead low. If this journal entry is in a foreign language, please feel free to use an online translator such as Altavista's Babelfish (http://babelfish.altavista.com).


Thanks!

-- Kiva Staff
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Jecinta Muthoni Kamau, has made a repayment of $27.00. The total amount repaid up to now is $54.00. The payment was collected and deposited by Ebony Foundation (Eb-F). This repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed. Note that you cannot actually withdraw or reloan these funds until after the loan term is complete. Comment:

scheduled_repayment
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Flea Market, has made a repayment of $84.00. The total amount repaid up to now is $336.00. The payment was collected and deposited by South Pacific Business Development. This repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed. Note that you cannot actually withdraw or reloan these funds until after the loan term is complete. Comment:

scheduled_repayment
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

This is an update on Cattle breeding:

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to Arzukhanim Bayramova by Komak Credit Union in Azerbaijan. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the next 12 - 18 months, Komak Credit Union will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.

Kiva very much appreciates your responses online. You can read and respond to this journal online at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=comment&id=14642&ent=18379

Some of our partners choose to write their journal entries in the local language in order to keep their overhead low. If this journal entry is in a foreign language, please feel free to use an online translator such as Altavista's Babelfish (http://babelfish.altavista.com).


Thanks!

-- Kiva Staff
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Yay! We're up to $90 for August. Keep those contributions coming. =)
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Cassava cakes selling, has made a repayment of $46.00. The total amount repaid up to now is $138.00. The payment was collected and deposited by Afrique Emergence & Investissements. This repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed. Note that you cannot actually withdraw or reloan these funds until after the loan term is complete. Comment:

scheduled_repayment
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Since July made six months of the Hatrack Perpetual Microfinance fund, (an important anniversary), I started adding cells to the spreadsheet to give us some overall totals, and I thought I would share it with you guys.

The grand total the fund has handled, including credit card fees and donations to kiva.org to cover their operating expenses (I pay for those), and counting twice that money from that first loan that was paid off that we then loaned back out is ..... (drumroll) ..... $1257.50

The total credit card fees and donations to kiva (I pay 100% of those) is (edited) $57.50.

So, the total amount we've loaned out, still counting twice the money paid back and reloaned is $1100.00 (Edit: We have $100 currently in the fund for the month of August, to be loaned at the end of the month. I knew something wasn't quite right with the fees and donations seeming too high before. [Smile] )

$275 of that was paid back and reloaned one time, so the fund total of the loans we currently have out, which will continue to circulate to help more entrepreneurs, amounts to $825.

In a few years I expect this will build up to several times this amount. The amazingly cool thing about kiva is that the same money recirculates doing more good each time. As the system of field partners grows, we'll be able to help people from more parts of the world, too. Already in the past 9 months that I've been making kiva loans, they've expanded into eastern Europe, then Cambodia, Thailand, spread into many more parts of Africa and South America. I expect that to continue in the next few years until the whole world is covered.

Anyway, I want to congratulate you guys on six months of building something that matters, that will continue to help people pull themselves up by their bootstraps, all over the world.

And I want to continue to challenge all of you to make some regular contribution, be it ever so small. We have one donor who wishes to remain anonymous who gives $50 each month, and another who is very consistent with $15 a month. These make the greatest difference to the fund. Please consider giving $5 a month or $10 or $25 or even $1 and I know it will quickly add up. Thanks for being a part of this! I think it's awesome what we've done. [Smile]

[ August 27, 2007, 06:57 PM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
 
Posted by Hegemon (Member # 370) on :
 
aka, thanks for being so diligent with this. It's been impressive to watch.

Out of curiosity, how do the credit card fees work? Is it a percentage or a flat fee for each transaction?
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
It's a percentage. I think it's 4%. It never amounts to much, so I just pay it.
 
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
 
Right now I am going through soem ID stuff, and cash is tough. My pay takes a big jump right before the holidays though, so I might be able to do something special then.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Kwea, that would be great! [Smile] Good luck with your cash crunch.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Okay, it's September 1. Time for August's loan to be made. Anyone want to pick?
 
Posted by Nato (Member # 1448) on :
 
I finally got some a little bit of money in my old Paypal account, so I'm sending it your way. Keep up the good work!
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Awesome! Thanks, Nato! Do you want it to go toward August that we're about to loan out or to start out September? I think it should be September, since it's already the 1st. Does that work for you? That gives us something to start on. [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
What do you guys think about this guy, Fru Donatus Chi in Cameroon? He wants to start a motorcycle transport business.

Another possibility would be Madeleine Lou for her food store in Ivory Coast.

Any preference?
 
Posted by Nato (Member # 1448) on :
 
Put mine toward September, and both of those possibilities were ones that I was looking at. I'd vote for Fru because he has a great name. [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Okay, let's do Fru! [Smile] One thing I like about him is that his business type and his location are both new to our portfolio, so we're diversifying. [Smile] Plus we tend to loan to females more than males, and while I think that's a good thing to try to offset some of the power imbalance by gender in the third world, I don't like to exclude males altogether, since they have many worthy businesses in need of loans.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Here we go! Our August loan was for $100 to Fru Donatus Chi in Alabukam, Mankon, NW. Province, Cameroon, for him to start a motorcycle taxi business.

"Fru was born in 1970 and is a father of two. Relying on crop cultivation as his sole source of income was not sufficient to provide for his family. He thought of expanding his activities by selling firewood but lacked the capital. This pushed him to join GHAPE, where he received his first loans of $40 and $120 in 2005 and 2006 respectively. These loans empowered him to sell firewood, which is a necessary source of energy, as well as raise money to provide for his family's basic needs."

Now he's asking for $600 to buy a motorcycle to start a taxi service. It sounds like a good business with the potential to earn him a good income as well as pay back the loan.

The portfolio pages have been expanded to give more information spread across more pages. Here's a screen capture of one of our profile pages showing our statistics and the new guy.
 
Posted by Nato (Member # 1448) on :
 
I think that one day we could create a world without banks. Given the current lending troubles in the subprime realty market, that kind of future seems even more desirable. I think "peer-to-peer" microloans are much better than for-profit bank loans.

Before long (unless it is blocked), the people will be able to construct a financial network to transfer money directly between one another, without paying corporations for the privilege. We might have to build our own Internet to get it done, but I think it could be considerably more efficient than a proprietary network anyway.

We won't be able to get to that point for a while, but I think Kiva is a good way to start. [Smile]
 
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Tatiana:
Kwea, that would be great! [Smile] Good luck with your cash crunch.

We are fine...it's not the cash so much (although it made for a lean two weeks) as all the credit issues now. Right before I try to buy my home too (maybe).

[Frown]


I know...I should apply for a loan!

[Wink]
 
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Tatiana:
Kwea, that would be great! [Smile] Good luck with your cash crunch.

We are fine...it's not the cash so much (although it made for a few lean weeks) as all the credit issues now. Right before I try to buy my home too (maybe).

[Frown]


I know...I should apply for a loan!

[Wink]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Emily's Grocery / Despensa Emily, has made a repayment of $67.00. The total amount repaid up to now is $134.00. The payment was collected and deposited by Fundación Paraguaya. This repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed. Note that you cannot actually withdraw or reloan these funds until after the loan term is complete. Comment:

scheduled_repayment

To view your Kiva loan portfolio go to:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=account
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Kwea, lol! Things are terrible right now in the mortgage credit sector! No wonder you're having trouble. Silly lenders went too far one direction and now they're overcorrecting. [Frown] Hopefully it will be straightened out soon.
 
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
 
We will see. I heard something about FHA stepping up. I will have to read more about it, I guess.
 
Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
 
Tatiana and everyone who's contributed: I think it's great that you're doing this, makes me proud to be part of Hatrack. I haven't contributed yet, but I'm looking toward the day when I feel I can.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Uprooted, thanks! Hatrack is awesome, isn't it? [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
All right all you jatraqueros and jatraqueras, it is the ides of September and we have $90 for this month's loan. It's time to step up to the plate and get behind the eight ball. We're in the starting blocks and ready to hit a home run. It's time to get the ball rolling and throw sports metaphors around like hotcakes.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Jecinta Muthoni Kamau, has made a repayment of $27.00. The total amount repaid up to now is $81.00. The payment was collected and deposited by Ebony Foundation (Eb-F). This repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed. Note that you cannot actually withdraw or reloan these funds until after the loan term is complete. Comment:

scheduled_repayment
 
Posted by Dragon (Member # 3670) on :
 
Hooray! When do you think we'll be able to start recycling our loans?
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
We already had one paid back, the first one we made.

Our five active loans now are these:
code:
        Nora Topeto			Flea Market 				$125.00 	$42.00 	Apr 17, 2007	12 months
Laurette Abia Cassava cakes selling $100.00 $25.09 May 20, 2007 12 months
Jecinta Muthoni Kamau Jecinta Muthoni Kamau $100.00 $14.73 Jun 16, 2007 21 months
Elisa Amarilla Dominguez Emily's Grocery / Despensa Emily $350.00 $58.63 Jul 2, 2007 12 months
Arzukhanim Bayramova Cattle breeding $150.00 $0.00 Aug 17, 2007 12 months

As you can see, they're all for periods of 12 months or longer. So it will probably be at least next spring before we start getting loans paid off almost every month. Emily's Grocery, the one that we loaned $350 to, was loaned the $275 that we got paid back from our very first loan, plus $75 that we collected during the month.

The one that's most recent hasn't been disbursed yet.
code:
   	  Fru Donatus Chi	motor bike taxi 	$100.00 	$600.00 	Sep 2, 2007 	18 months

It's for 18 months. Some of these might be paid off early, though.

My personal kiva fund that I started in November of 2006 gets loans paid off nearly every month now. I have 42 people total that I've loaned to. I guess since I loan smaller amounts to people with small requests, the loans tend to be shorter term as well. A lot of my personal ones have 6 month terms.

[ September 16, 2007, 03:09 PM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Cattle breeding, has made a repayment of $40.00. The total amount repaid up to now is $40.00. The payment was collected and deposited by Komak Credit Union. This repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed. Note that you cannot actually withdraw or reloan these funds until after the loan term is complete. Comment:

scheduled_repayment
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Flea Market, has made a repayment of $84.00. The total amount repaid up to now is $420.00. The payment was collected and deposited by South Pacific Business Development. This repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed. Note that you cannot actually withdraw or reloan these funds until after the loan term is complete. Comment:

scheduled_repayment
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Cassava cakes selling, has made a repayment of $46.00. The total amount repaid up to now is $184.00. The payment was collected and deposited by Afrique Emergence & Investissements. This repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed. Note that you cannot actually withdraw or reloan these funds until after the loan term is complete. Comment:

scheduled_repayment
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

This is an update on Flea Market written by Shane Xu:


Nora runs a store in front of a local supermarket. She started by selling a limited range of items such as hair clippers and sunglasses. Her loan enabled her to stock a wider range of goods for which she knew there was demand. Her store now also stocks earrings, bracelets, necklaces, and torches among other things. Business is very good with her mother helping to run the store six days a week. Nora uses her profits to purchase more stock, and pay for her children’s education. She is also saving money for the purchase of a taxi for her husband to drive.

Kiva very much appreciates your responses online. You can read and respond to this journal online at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=comment&id=6335&ent=21756

Some of our partners choose to write their journal entries in the local language in order to keep their overhead low. If this journal entry is in a foreign language, please feel free to use an online translator such as Altavista's Babelfish (http://babelfish.altavista.com).


Thanks!

-- Kiva Staff
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Okay, it's the end of September and we have $90 to loan. I will round it up to $100 since we can only loan in $25 increments. Anyone want to pick someone?
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
"Due to a recent surge in support ignited by viewers of the Oprah Winfrey Show, the Today Show, and readers of President Clinton's newly released book Giving, there is currently a shortage of businesses in need of loans. The Kiva.org staff and our Field Partners are working overtime to get more businesses on the website. In the meantime, thank you for your patience!"

I'm not crazy about any of the 9 businesses that are the only ones up on the board at the moment. What should we do? I think maybe we should delay a little while on loaning out our September loan and see if someone we like comes up. Or if someone else can find someone they like, or if they have another idea, I'm open to hear it.

It's great that kiva is so well funded now. Eventually poverty will be something bad we used to have that we got rid of, like smallpox. But I think waiting a week for someone good to pop up isn't a bad idea. What do you guys think?
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
I found someone I like.

Isha Kamara in Magburaka, Tonkolili, Sierra Leone needed money for her food market. So we lent her $100 and gave another $10 to kiva for their operating expenses.
 
Posted by Dragon (Member # 3670) on :
 
They've got some more people up now as well. I gave to Bih Alian Ngang in Cameroon for food production/sales.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
She looks really good! I notice they have 5 pages of businesses up tonight. That's how it always happens when they get publicity. For a few days it's hard to find someone to loan to, then it tapers off at a new higher level. I'd love it if kiva were able to loan to people in all parts of the developing world. Someday they will. I really think we're going to make poverty a thing of the past. Wouldn't that be a marvelous accomplishment?
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Emily's Grocery / Despensa Emily, has made a repayment of $67.00. The total amount repaid up to now is $201.00. The payment was collected and deposited by Fundación Paraguaya. This repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed. Note that you cannot actually withdraw or reloan these funds until after the loan term is complete. Comment:

scheduled_repayment
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Starting out October with $75. Let us hear from you, hatrackers. [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Nearly halfway through October. Anyone? I'm in the hospital getting MRAs and MRIs and TEEs and peeing in a bucket. [Smile] I'm saving my little pill cups and feeding the pigeons out the window with my toast and crackers and stuff they keep bringing me that I can't eat.

That stuff has nothing to do with kiva, I just thought I'd tell you guys about it. Thank goodness they have wireless internet here and Alysson the angel brought my laptop. [Smile]

Every month so far we've had at least one contribution on top of the regular $75 that we get every month. I'm counting on you guys to come through again in October. [Smile]

We're ending poverty and stuff, guys. We rawk. Go kiva!

Edit: home from the hospital now, yay! I got them to let me go. MRI and MRA negative. <big smile of relief>

[ October 14, 2007, 08:57 PM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

This is an update on Isha Kamara:

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to Isha Kamara by CCF - Salone Microfinance Trust in Sierra Leone. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the next 10 - 16 months, CCF - Salone Microfinance Trust will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.

Kiva very much appreciates your responses online. You can read and respond to this journal online at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=comment&id=19766&ent=24156

Some of our partners choose to write their journal entries in the local language in order to keep their overhead low. If this journal entry is in a foreign language, please feel free to use an online translator such as Altavista's Babelfish (http://babelfish.altavista.com).


Thanks!

-- Kiva Staff
 
Posted by Dragon (Member # 3670) on :
 
I'm glad your tests came out alright Tatiana! And again, it's wonderful that you're keeping this going.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Jecinta Muthoni Kamau, has made a repayment of $27.00. The total amount repaid up to now is $108.00. The payment was collected and deposited by Ebony Foundation (Eb-F). This repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed. Note that you cannot actually withdraw or reloan these funds until after the loan term is complete. Comment:

scheduled_repayment
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Thanks, Dragon! Words of encouragement are greatly appreciated. [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
I need to know that I'm not alone in this ending poverty stuff. Do other people think it's worthwhile? Are we doing the right thing? <self-doubts>
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Flea Market, has made a repayment of $84.00. The total amount repaid up to now is $504.00. The payment was collected and deposited by South Pacific Business Development. This repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed. Note that you cannot actually withdraw or reloan these funds until after the loan term is complete. Comment:

scheduled_repayment
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Cattle breeding, has made a repayment of $40.00. The total amount repaid up to now is $80.00. The payment was collected and deposited by Komak Credit Union. This repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed. Note that you cannot actually withdraw or reloan these funds until after the loan term is complete. Comment:

scheduled_repayment
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Yay, we got another contribution! October is now up to $100. =) Keep 'em coming!
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Awesome, we're at $110! [Smile] Thanks.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Cassava cakes selling, has made a
repayment of $46.00. The total amount repaid is now $230.00. This
repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund
this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed.

Please note that these funds will not be credited to your Kiva account
until the loan is repaid in full or when the loan term is complete. At
that time, you will be able to withdraw these funds from Kiva.org or to
re-lend these funds to a new business.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
This article in the Guardian sounds like a really great project. I would love to get involved with it. They don't say how to offer support, though. (Edit: duh! There's a link on the right, lol.)
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Three more days in October. Happy Halloween everyone!
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Wow it's November already! I'm working long shifts in another city, though, so I think I will wait to do the honors until I get home. [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Elisa Amarilla Dominguez, has made a repayment of $67.00. The total amount repaid is now $268.00. This repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed.

Please note that these funds will not be credited to your Kiva account until the loan is repaid in full or when the loan term is complete. At that time, you will be able to withdraw these funds from Kiva.org or to re-lend these funds to a new business.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Yay, I'm home! Exciting adventure: when I arrived at my house in the rental car, I discovered that my regular keys, including my house key, were missing. Searched all my luggage and nothing was found. Attempted to break into my house (where there are spare keys) and couldn't find a way. Felt happy that house is really secure, but sad that I was locked out. Was determined to find a way in somehow. Tried all the windows and doors on the bottom floor and all were securely locked. Remembered that the lock is broken on one second floor window. Got an extension ladder out that was hanging on the back of the house under the deck and climbed up to said window and managed to get it partway open. Repositioned the ladder for another climb and got it the rest of the way open and the blinds inside pulled up but then there was no room left between the ladder and the window opening to squeeze through. This is getting complicated! Finally repositioned the ladder a third time at the limit of its safe angle of attack, and left a 6" gap at the top of the ladder between the ladder and the window opening. Squeezed through and over my couch onto the floor. Success, yay!

Oops, now I've just told everyone on the internet how to break into my house.

(Gonna fix it tomorrow so any b+e pplz hafta do it tonight, except I'm sleeping on the sofa with my shotgun tonight so better not try it. [Wink] )

Anyway, since I'm all chuffed from the big adventure, I feel ready to easily pwn global poverty. Would anyone like to chose a borrower for October?
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Okay, I picked Julio Chuya and his bread making business in Guayaquil, Ecuador. [Smile] We loaned him $125 and gave $12.50 to kiva for their operating expenses.
 
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
 
[Smile]

I well know the feeling of being determined to find a way in, having locked myself out.

It is mere bricks & mortar; it cannot withstand a Will.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Tatiana Boshenka to loans@kiva.org

show details 9:00 AM (0 minutes ago)



Reply


- Hide quoted text -
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Tatiana Boshenka <thetatiana@gmail.com>
Date: Nov 4, 2007 8:58 AM
Subject: Fru Donatus Chi
To: bobhelma@yahoo.com


Dear Sir or Madam,

We, the jatraqueros del mundo, are concerned about our kiva borrower
Fru Donatus Chi, whose loan for his motorcycle transport business in
Alabukam, Mankon, NW. Province, Cameroon was funded several months
ago but is listed on kiva as never having been disbursed.
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=16090 Here
is the link to his page. GHAPE is listed as his Field Partner
organization. Can you please let us know the status of our loan to
this borrower? This long a delay before loan disbursement has never
happened before in our year-long history of funding kiva loans.

Thank you,
Jatraqueros del Mundo
http://www.hatrack.com/cgi-bin/ubbmain/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=047531;p=1&r=nfx
Reply

Forward
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
CT, absolutely! The most powerful force in the universe. [Smile] You and I think alike.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
You know, Global Poverty is tough, and we're going to beat it into submission a lot faster if we expand our giving circle.

Would you guys mind if I invited others who would make cool hatrackers to join in what we're doing here? It would be more convenient for me to handle one group than several, we could gain some cool additional hatrackers that way, and it might mean an increase in our ability to help people. What do you think?

Maybe we could have separate funds, and compete against each other? Would that be fun? I'm thinking of hitting up the bloggernacle, a series of Mormon group blogs that I read. The denizens thereof are mostly professionals, so have more money available (than hatrackers, whom I think of as mostly students with a few of us older people sprinkled in), but are mostly LDS, so they already give 10%, and mostly have kids, so they have a lot of claims on their resources. I have no clue if they will get excited about creating a fund or not, or even if the blog owners would allow it. Maybe they don't want me spamming their blogs with requests to contribute. I'm just tossing around ideas as of now. Any thoughts?

Maybe this is a good thing that is working well as it is now, so I should just leave it alone and let it keep working?

[ November 04, 2007, 12:36 PM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
from Buma Helma <bobhelma@yahoo.com>
to Tatiana Boshenka <thetatiana@gmail.com>,
date Nov 4, 2007 9:21 AM
subject Re: Fru Donatus Chi
mailed-by yahoo.com
signed-by yahoo.com

hide details 9:21 AM (4 minutes ago)



Reply


Hello thanks for mail ok. We know that this whole thing has taken too long to be paid back ok but we promise that the money shall be disburse this month without any failure ok.Thanks
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Fast reply, but not one that exactly fills me with confidence, I have to say. Remembering, though, that English is most likely not Buma Helma's first language, I think we should wait and see what happens. I'm forwarding the correspondence to the kiva folks.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
After seeing the ugly results of spam, I'm rethinking the idea of inviting others. Spam in all its forms is insidious and evil, and I'd hate to spam anyone ever, most especially not my friends.
 
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
 
Personally, I would have no problem with a friend bringing something like this up, were I on a different forum. Just so you know.

It's different than making a relationship merely to make an opportunity, and it's different to ask once (or in one thread) than to make your requests unavoidably splayed out over all surfaces.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

This is an update on Panadería “Rosita” written by Luis Crespo:


Julio esta muy feliz de saber que cuenta con apoyo financiero para atender el negocio agradece a Mifex por llegar donde ellos y a la comunidad por ser sus clientes ellos trabajan para dar bienes de consumo masivo popular del día a día de la población meta. La familia esta contenta de que tengan esta oportunidad de desarrollo.


www.mifex.org
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Isha Kamara, has made a repayment of
$25.00. The total amount repaid is now $25.00. This repayment will be
divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business,
depending upon the percentage each lender contributed.

Please note that these funds will not be credited to your Kiva account
until the loan is repaid in full or when the loan term is complete. At
that time, you will be able to withdraw these funds from Kiva.org or to
re-lend these funds to a new business.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Jecinta Muthoni Kamau, has made a
repayment of $27.00. The total amount repaid is now $135.00. This
repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund
this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed.

Please note that these funds will not be credited to your Kiva account
until the loan is repaid in full or when the loan term is complete. At
that time, you will be able to withdraw these funds from Kiva.org or to
re-lend these funds to a new business.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Nora Topeto, has made a repayment of
$84.00. The total amount repaid is now $588.00. This repayment will be
divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business,
depending upon the percentage each lender contributed.

Please note that these funds will not be credited to your Kiva account
until the loan is repaid in full or when the loan term is complete. At
that time, you will be able to withdraw these funds from Kiva.org or to
re-lend these funds to a new business.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Arzukhanim Bayramova, has made a
repayment of $40.00. The total amount repaid is now $120.00. This
repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund
this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed.

Please note that these funds will not be credited to your Kiva account
until the loan is repaid in full or when the loan term is complete. At
that time, you will be able to withdraw these funds from Kiva.org or to
re-lend these funds to a new business.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Laurette Abia, has made a repayment of
$46.00. The total amount repaid is now $276.00. This repayment will be
divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business,
depending upon the percentage each lender contributed.

Please note that these funds will not be credited to your Kiva account
until the loan is repaid in full or when the loan term is complete. At
that time, you will be able to withdraw these funds from Kiva.org or to
re-lend these funds to a new business.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Five more days in November. I hope somebody contributes something before the end.
 
Posted by Dragon (Member # 3670) on :
 
Hooray for so many people repaying! I love seeing how many people we've helped so far.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Emily's Grocery / Despensa Emily run by
Elisa Amarilla Dominguez, has made a repayment of $67.00. The total
amount repaid is now $335.00. This repayment will be divided amongst
all the lenders who helped to fund this business, depending upon the
percentage each lender contributed.

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=13229

Please note that these funds will not be credited to your Kiva account
until the loan is repaid in full or when the loan term is complete. At
that time, you will be able to withdraw these funds from Kiva.org or to
re-lend these funds to a new business.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
All right, for November we loaned $75 to Santos Filomena Medina De Huamán in Tarma, Peru, for her lumber business.

I emailed again to ask about Fru Donatus Chi and why his loan has not been disbursed in all this time. I'm concerned about that situation. The reply from the partner last month was anything but reassuring.

Here are our current stats:

total loaned Including donations = $1,597.50
Total Loaned (loans only) = ($1,500.00)
total fees and donations = $97.50
fees = ($12.83)
kiva donations = ($97.50)
current fund incl loaned amts = $1,225.00

(Again, the total loaned amount is the current fund plus the $275 that was paid back once and then recycled. As we continue and more loans are paid back and reloaned, this difference will continue to grow. This is the multiplying effect of this type of fund. Instead of being donated once then used up, our money is recirculated again and again to help more and more people.)

Congratulations on reaching $1500 loaned to borrowers in the third world. We're making a difference, people! One day poverty will be only a bad memory.

[ December 02, 2007, 07:09 PM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
I want to congratulate everyone for giving $950 to First Book. Y'all make me glad I'm a hatracker!

Since Papa unstuck the sticky for the First Book gift, and since we're well into January now, I'll resume the kiva thread with some good news.

One of our loans was paid off, one was refunded (the one to Fru Donatus Chi which was never disbursed.... apparently he moved away before they could get it to him, and they were waiting to see if he came back), then we have $100 from December from our regular contributors. So altogether we have $550 so far to loan out for December! That's not too shabby! Things are starting to snowball a bit. That makes me excited. I'll catch up by posting the backlog of emails from kiva over the next few days.

In the meantime, please keep an eye out for a business we might want to fund. Kiva's popularity is continuing to grow due to lots of good publicity from Oprah, President Clinton, and others. Now it's getting where you have to watch closely for the good ones and jump on them quickly. However, the field partners are multiplying as well, and there is no shortage of poor people yet (though I'm sure there will be eventually), so sooner or later I'm sure we'll find someone good.

By the way, I want to warn the board that a few loans kiva has funded have defaulted. The overall default rate is above zero now. I think for that reason it is wise to deal only with the microfinance partners with 4 or 5 star ratings. The ratings are shown on the right hand side of the borrower pages. Check them out! 4 and 5 star ratings mean there's a long history of good experiences with that particular partner.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Right now there are only 3 loans on the board that are unfunded, and none of them appeals to me. I like to know what all the borrowers are going to do with the money, so group loans, of which there are more lately, are less appealing to me. I say we wait until something better comes along. We don't have to be in a hurry. [Smile]
 
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
 
It's astounding that we have all this money to give and no one to give it to!!!
 
Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
 
I know I haven't contributed, but I was poking around the site and some new ones got posted: http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=30737
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=30749
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=30738
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=30742

All are five or four stars.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
kiva is the greatest success story! It's growing exponentially still. The limit now is only how fast they can bring new MFI partners online and how fast they can get loans up. I'm so glad we are involved in this. I think it's a great idea.

Shigosei, all your people are great! Too bad I was away from the computer and didn't catch them in time. It only takes 3 hours to fund the average loan on kiva lately.

But I did find someone great, I think. She's from Bolivia and she makes shoes. Lupe Mamani works in her home workshop to make shoes that are sent to local carnivals and into Peru. Something about her smile just made me think she's a go ahead person and is going to make good use of this working capital. Her partner is a 5 star MFI called Por Mujer and the loan term is only for six months, which means we get to recycle the loan funds sooner. I was quick and we almost funded her entire loan request ourselves. That's the first time that's happened. I'm kind of proud of that. [Smile]

Edit: it turns out someone else got in there and carried $25 of it. We loaned her $475 ourselves. Because of the way I had to fund the first $350 with our kiva credit, then go back and fund the rest with new money, someone else snuck in between those two transactions. Next time I'll be quicker.

I gave $50 to kiva for their expenses, though I normally don't give 10% of recycled funds. So I think I'll keep the other $75 we have for December and add it to January's fund, which is starting out at $75 from our regular donors, as usual. So January is up to $150 so far. Let's see how much more we can add to it! I love having enough to fund someone entirely ourselves, don't y'all?

[ January 09, 2008, 10:11 PM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Shig, I love the hats that the Peruvian ladies wear! Don't you? I totally want to start a fad of wearing those hats here in the U.S. They're awesome!
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Catching up on December's emails from kiva:

Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

This is a receipt acknowledging your tax-deductible donation of $7.50 to
Kiva.org's operational expenses. If you contributed to a loan, you will
receive a separate receipt from PayPal confirming the entirety of your
transaction.

Thank you immensely for your gift! We will use this for administrative
costs which consist mostly of transaction expenses, IT costs and
stipends for partners in the field.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, run by Isha Kamara, has made a
repayment of $25.00. The total amount repaid is now $50.00. This
repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund
this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed.

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=19766

Please note that these funds will not be credited to your Kiva account
until the loan is repaid in full or when the loan term is complete. At
that time, you will be able to withdraw these funds from Kiva.org or to
re-lend these funds to a new business.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, run by Jecinta Muthoni Kamau, has made
a repayment of $27.00. The total amount repaid is now $162.00. This
repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund
this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed.

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=11094

Please note that these funds will not be credited to your Kiva account
until the loan is repaid in full or when the loan term is complete. At
that time, you will be able to withdraw these funds from Kiva.org or to
re-lend these funds to a new business.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Flea Market run by Nora Topeto, has
made a repayment of $84.00. The total amount repaid is now $672.00.

I'm going to quit repeating the boilerplate text, okay? I'll just tell the part that is different.

===================================================

Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Cattle breeding run by Arzukhanim
Bayramova, has made a repayment of $40.00. The total amount repaid is
now $160.00.

====================================================

The business you have loaned to, Cassava cakes selling run by Laurette
Abia, has made a repayment of $46.00. The total amount repaid is now
$322.00.

==================================================

The business you have loaned to, Emily's Grocery / Despensa Emily run by
Elisa Amarilla Dominguez, has made a repayment of $67.00. The total
amount repaid is now $402.00.

======================================================

We are very pleased to notify you that the business you have loaned to,
Emily's Grocery / Despensa Emily run by Elisa Amarilla Dominguez, has
repaid the full amount of this loan $800.00. The payment was collected
and deposited by Michelle May Kreger.

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=13229

The funds from this repayment will be deposited in your Kiva account as
"Available Kiva Credit" in the next 2 to 3 days. At that time, you can
re-lend these funds to a new business, withdraw them into a PayPal
account or you can donate them to Kiva.org's operational expenses. For
further instructions regarding any of these processes, please visit our
help center: http://www.kiva.org/about/help.

=====================================================

This email confirms that $350.00 of your loan to Emily's Grocery / Despensa Emily is now redeemable.

This amount can now be re-loaned to another business, donated to Kiva or withdrawn.

=======================================================

Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

Thank you for your loan to a Kiva business! 100% of every dollar you have loaned will be sent to your designated entrepreneur, and will be used by them to build their business.

Your Loans:
$300.00 - Duvaly Shoes - http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=30736

===================================================

Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

This is a receipt acknowledging your tax-deductible donation of $50.00
to Kiva.org's operational expenses. If you contributed to a loan, you
will receive a separate receipt from PayPal confirming the entirety of
your transaction.

Thank you immensely for your gift! We will use this for administrative
costs which consist mostly of transaction expenses, IT costs and
stipends for partners in the field.

Kiva.org is a Section 501(c)(3) charity and has provided no goods or
services in exchange for your contribution. Please consult with your
tax counsel regarding the deductibility rules that apply to your gift.

Best Wishes,

Kiva Staff

======================================================

Okay I did $300 to the shoes, then $50 to kiva from our kiva credits, then I went back and did a second transaction of $175 to the shoes lady. So the total should be $475. I'm not seeing an email about the $175 though our lender profile shows $475 so I guess it registered it all. Odd that we didn't get another email, though.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Okay, time to award January's loan. Anyone want to pick someone?
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
I did something a little different this time. Because I love having our group fully fund someone, and because I liked this business, we loaned $125 to Zubaidah for her business selling fried rice in her Badung, Indonesia neighborhood. I liked her because her loan amount was so small, because I think food production is a great thing to do, her microfinance institution is rated 4 stars, and because the loan term was originally set at 5 months. It since changed to 12 months for some reason. Maybe I read it wrong the first time but I don't think so. Maybe it was a mistake they were in the process of correcting when I picked up the loan. I added $2.50 donation to kiva.

Anyway, that leaves us with $25 more to loan to someone else.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
.... so I picked Víctor Miranda De La Cruz to support, and gave another $2.50 to the kiva guys to help their good work.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
I found this post on the page of Jecinta Muthoni Kamau. It's very disturbing.


Update from Ebony Foundation (EbF) - Kenya

Entrepreneur:
Location: Pondamali, Nakuru, Kenya

Dear Kiva lender,

As a recent Kiva blog post (http://www.kiva.org/about/inside) discussed, the situation unfolding in Kenya has disrupted the day-to-day operations of many of Kiva’s microfinance partners, like Ebony Foundation.

James Maina, Director of Ebony Foundation (EbF) (http://www.kiva.org/about/aboutPartner?id=25), has provided the update below for you. Due to the exceptional circumstances (including lack of reliable internet) where James is working in Kenya right now, Kiva is posting this update on his behalf.

Thank you,

Kiva Team

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dear Kiva Lenders,

I wish to thank you for your continued concern and support during this very difficult moment in Kenya’s history. We have been a peaceful Country in a generally troubled region and people sort of took the peace for granted.

The country is now battered almost to a pulp and blood spilt with vengeance, senseless killings and wanton destruction. Markets, food stores and shops have been looted. Hospitals are dysfunctional and health centers incapacitated by riots and barricades. The violence, death and destruction witnessed in the Country for the last couple weeks has jolted the Nation into conscience and every body is now craving normalcy.

While peace is slowly returning to all affected parts of the Country, the impact of the riots has been devastating. Hundreds of people have been killed turning thousands of innocent children into helpless orphans and over one million people have been displaced, becoming internal refugees over night.

The impact of the riots is most felt in the micro and small business sector. Over 1 million small businesses were looted and or burnt down destroying the only source of income to millions of Kenyans. Most of the fighting and destruction occurred in slum areas in Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru and Kericho in Rift Valley. These regions are home to over 70% of Ebony Foundation’s clients and as you can imagine almost all of our clients in these regions have been affected by the riots. Only one region- (Mount Kenya) which is home to about 20% of EbF’s clients was spared the violence. The economy in this safe region is now getting stretched as the residents have to now house the displaced population.

We have recently completed auditing the riot’s impact on our clients and as of yesterday about 4,900 of our clients had been badly affected by the riots:

-- About 1,532 of our clients were displaced and both their homes and business premises burnt down. This population is currently housed in church compounds and police stations.

-- Another 2,479 clients had their business premises burnt down or looted leaving them with no source of income at all.

-- 833 clients had their homes looted or burnt down and about 56 clients are missing and feared dead or critically injured.

We arrived at these figures through a survey being administered at holding grounds, police stations, and through reliable reports from groups and community leaders. Our staff and local group officials have also been committed to conducting field assessments. I am sending a photo today which you may share with the lenders. The biggest tasks at the moment are to feed and house the displaced people, and to finance the reconstruction of the small businesses that were affected in order to enable the people to reclaim their source of income. In addition, Ebony Foundation is now helping other MFI’s audit their clients.

Eb-F has formed the following committees to address the above issues:

-- A humanitarian committee that is working with the International Red Cross to provide food, shelter and medical care to the victims.

-- A business reconstruction committee that is working with the affected clients to re finance and rebuild the small businesses that were looted and/or burnt down.

-- A compliance committee that is studying the legal and contractual aspects of the affected loans to arrive at the best policy action.

Thus, we ask for your continued patience as many loan repayments will be late, and it even may be impossible for some loans to be repaid in full at all. Thank you for your patience as we work hard to address all of these difficult issues, to serve our borrowers and help them recover, and to repay loans as quickly and as much as is possible in the coming months.

Sincerely,

James Maina

Executive Director

Ebony Foundation

Kenya


Posted by Jessica Flannery, Kiva Staff, from San Francisco, United States
Jan 14, 2008
 
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
 
That sucks...and I am not talking about our money. [Frown]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Panadería “Rosita” run by Julio Chuya,
has made a repayment of $109.00. The total amount repaid is now
$327.00. This repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who
helped to fund this business, depending upon the percentage each lender
contributed.

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=22562

Please note that these funds will not be credited to your Kiva account
until the loan is repaid in full or when the loan term is complete. At
that time, you will be able to withdraw these funds from Kiva or to
re-lend these funds to a new entrepreneur.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, run by Isha Kamara, has made a
repayment of $25.00. The total amount repaid is now $100.00. This
repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund
this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed.

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=19766

Please note that these funds will not be credited to your Kiva account
until the loan is repaid in full or when the loan term is complete. At
that time, you will be able to withdraw these funds from Kiva or to
re-lend these funds to a new entrepreneur.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Cassava cakes selling run by Laurette
Abia, has made a repayment of $46.00. The total amount repaid is now
$414.00. This repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who
helped to fund this business, depending upon the percentage each lender
contributed.

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=9864

Please note that these funds will not be credited to your Kiva account
until the loan is repaid in full or when the loan term is complete. At
that time, you will be able to withdraw these funds from Kiva or to
re-lend these funds to a new entrepreneur.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Duvaly Shoes run by Lupe Mamani, has
made a repayment of $84.00. The total amount repaid is now $84.00. This
repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund
this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed.

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=30736

Please note that these funds will not be credited to your Kiva account
until the loan is repaid in full or when the loan term is complete. At
that time, you will be able to withdraw these funds from Kiva or to
re-lend these funds to a new entrepreneur.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, VENTAS Santos run by Santos Filomena
Medina De Huamán, has made a repayment of $113.00. The total amount
repaid is now $226.00. This repayment will be divided amongst all the
lenders who helped to fund this business, depending upon the percentage
each lender contributed.

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=25712
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

This is an update on:
- Llamadas Víctor, run by Víctor Miranda De La Cruz

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to Víctor Miranda De La
Cruz by Microfinanzas PRISMA in Peru. We are excited to watch this
business grow. Over the next 6 months, Microfinanzas PRISMA will be
collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress
updates on the Kiva website.

Kiva very much appreciates your responses online. You can read and
respond to this journal online at:

Llamadas Víctor, run by Víctor Miranda De La Cruz:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=comment&id=32122&ent=40211

Some of our partners choose to write their journal entries in the local
language in order to keep their overhead low. If this journal entry is
in a foreign language, please feel free to use an online translator
such as Altavista's Babelfish (http://babelfish.altavista.com).
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Cattle breeding run by Arzukhanim
Bayramova, has made a repayment of $40.00. The total amount repaid is
now $240.00. This repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who
helped to fund this business, depending upon the percentage each lender
contributed.

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=14642
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Flea Market run by Nora Topeto, has
made a repayment of $84.00. The total amount repaid is now $840.00.
This repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to
fund this business, depending upon the percentage each lender
contributed.

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=6335
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Catching up on posting our email updates, as you see. I was a bit behind. Being a mommy is time consuming, not to mention the difficulty getting computer time. [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

This is an update written by Denysse Figueredo on:
- Emily's Grocery / Despensa Emily
, run by Elisa Amarilla Dominguez


Elisa Amarilla Dominguez would like to thank all the lenders who have
helped with their donations to amplify the grocery store. The store has
been stocked with more general goods like flour, sugar, oil, Yerba Mate,
and refreshments. The increase in diversity of goods along with quantity
has allowed Elisa to charge lower prices and still make more of a
income. Elisa is thankful for a healthy family, a prosperous small
business, and for a chance at a better life. Once again, Elisa thanks
you from the bottom of her heart.

Kiva very much appreciates your responses online. You can read and
respond to this journal online at:

Emily's Grocery / Despensa Emily, run by Elisa Amarilla Dominguez:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=comment&id=13229&ent=42584

Some of our partners choose to write their journal entries in the local
language in order to keep their overhead low. If this journal entry is
in a foreign language, please feel free to use an online translator
such as Altavista's Babelfish (http://babelfish.altavista.com).
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Wow, it's past time for the March loan to go out. I've been crazy busy because my plant is having an outage in a week and I've got two major projects I'm managing for the outage. I'm going to be working 12 hour shifts, actually 13 hours because of the turnover meetings, and then I have a 2 hour round trip commute each day. Then in the time left over I have to provide some sort of food for my son and talk to him, and also sleep. Oh, and this happens six days a week or maybe seven, and lasts for six to eight weeks. I haven't quite figured out how it's going to work. But I haven't forgotten about the Hatrack kiva fund. I may pause it for a couple of months and then make up for it with a big contribution to celebrate a successful outage at the end.

I'm planning to keep this going forever, and keep letting it snowball, even if I'm the only one contributing, but this is the second month in a row that I got no participation from board members. All you people who have promised to give in a few months when they have some money, it's time for you to step up to the plate now. [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Still in the middle of the outage, for another couple of weeks, but I wanted to post this good news!


Dear jatraqueros del mundo,


Good news: you've been repaid!


This email confirms that $125.00 of your loan to Flea Market on
www.kiva.org is now redeemable.


To view your Kiva loan portfolio - and re-loan this money to another
entrepreneur, donate to Kiva's operational expenses, or withdraw your
cash - go to: https://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=account


Thank you for helping to break the cycle of poverty through lending.


- The Kiva Team
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Panadería “Rosita” run by Julio Chuya,
has made a repayment of $109.00. The total amount repaid is now
$545.00. This repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who
helped to fund this business, depending upon the percentage each lender
contributed.

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=22562

Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The business you have loaned to, Cassava cakes selling run by Laurette
Abia, has made a repayment of $46.00. The total amount repaid is now
$506.00. This repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who
helped to fund this business, depending upon the percentage each lender
contributed.

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=9864

The business you have loaned to, Llamadas Víctor run by Víctor, has made
a repayment of $59.00. The total amount repaid is now $118.00. http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=32122


The business you have loaned to, VENTAS Santos run by Santos Filomena,
has made a repayment of $113.00. The total amount repaid is now
$452.00.

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=25712


Selling rice and vegetables run by
Zubaidah -, has made a repayment of $11.00. The total amount repaid is
now $22.00. http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=34505


Cattle breeding run by Arzukhanim
Bayramova, has made a repayment of $40.00. The total amount repaid is
now $320.00.
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=14642

Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

We are very pleased to notify you that the business you have loaned to,
Flea Market run by Nora Topeto, has repaid the full amount of this loan
$1,000.00. The payment was collected and deposited by South Pacific
Business Development.

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=6335

The business you have loaned to, run by Isha Kamara, has made a
repayment of $25.00. The total amount repaid is now $150.00.

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=19766


Just catching up a bit. Back on schedule soon, I hope. My outage work should be done in another week or two. [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
As an interim loan, just to get our money in use, since we had $125 in our kiva account that had been paid back by Nora Topeto's flea market, I loaned it to Malika Goibova for use in her material selling business. The things that attracted me to her were that she is in Tajikistan, a new country for us (I think), her stern expression, her lender's five star rating, and how colorful her picture is. She looks like a great investment to me. [Smile]
 
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
 
She sells materials?
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Yes she sells fabrics.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Still not back in full swing, as we're at the beach now, but two of our loans were redeemed and I wanted to keep the money working. So I loaned our $225 to Teófilo Ramón Peralta Ibarra who not only has a cool name, but runs what looks like a pretty nice restaurant in the jungle in Esteli, Nicaragua, and has a five star microfinance partner, Ceprodel. The loan term is fairly long, about 14 months, but this is money we've already circulated once, so I think it's appropriate.
 
Posted by MidnightBlue (Member # 6146) on :
 
I just wanted to post to say I'm glad this is still going. I'm hoping to be employed soon, so I'll probably be making a donation at some point over the summer, either through here or setting up my own account.
 
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
 
I just sent a small donation. I didn't send much, but at least it is something.

Keep this up....it is nice to read about something positive once and a while.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Thanks for the encouragement, MidnightBlue! Sometimes I get to thinking that nobody at Hatrack is interested in this anymore.

Rob, thanks for the contribution! You've motivated me to restart the regular monthly loan.

Everyone, don't worry about sending a donation that's small. What's small to us is very large to someone in the developing world. You make it possible for their dreams to come true.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Here's some catching up on notices:

Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The loan you have made to Isha Kamara has received a repayment of
$25.00. The total amount repaid is now $175.00. This repayment will be
divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business,
depending upon the percentage each lender contributed.


http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=19766


Please note that these funds will not be credited to your Kiva account
until the loan is repaid in full or when the loan term is complete. At
that time, you will be able to withdraw these funds from Kiva or to
re-lend these funds to a new entrepreneur.

.....

We are very pleased to notify you that your loan to Julio Chuya has been
fully repaid in the amount of $650.00. The payment was collected and
deposited by Guillermo Garcia.

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=22562

The funds from this repayment will be deposited in your Kiva account as
"Available Kiva Credit" in the next 2 to 3 days. At that time, you can
re-lend these funds to a new entrepreneur, withdraw them into a PayPal
account or you can donate them to Kiva's operational expenses.

.....

We are very pleased to notify you that your loan to Laurette Abia has
been fully repaid in the amount of $550.00. The payment was collected
and deposited by Afrique Emergence & Investissements.

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=9864

(These two loans were the ones paid off recently. - T.)

.....

Thank you for your loan to a Kiva entrepreneur! 100% of every dollar you
have loaned will be sent to your designated entrepreneur, and will be
used by them to build their business.

Your Loans:

$225.00 - Teófilo Ramón Peralta Ibarra -
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=48618

(This is the loan we recently made with the money from the two repaid loans. - T.)

....

The loan you have made to Lupe Mamani has received a repayment of
$84.00. The total amount repaid is now $336.00.
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=30736

....

The loan you have made to Malika Goibova has received a repayment of
$105.00. The total amount repaid is now $105.00.
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=39952

....

(Our latest payment notices. -T.)
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
I just had a thought about this that I want to share.

I think being a parent does more good for the parent, maybe, than it does for the child. In the course of trying to teach our children life-lessons, they can sometimes actually sink in to our own brains and hearts for the first time. I was just explaining to my son how real achievement is almost never something you do with one all-out extraordinary effort, then reap the rewards. Almost all real achievement comes from consistent ordinary everyday efforts kept up over a long period of time. Like graduating from college requires you to wake up and go to class day after day for four years, and building a six-pack is something you do by working out three or four times a week for months on end.

I think I'm beginning to see that with kiva, the important thing is that we consistently contribute, even small amounts, over the months and years, and eventually it builds into something extraordinary. It's not so much about making a huge push as it is about staying the course over the long haul. Maybe that lesson has finally been written on my own heart just now while I was trying to teach it to Sasha.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
To kick off the new kiva season, and in honor of Kwea's contribution, which was the first in a long while, we've made a loan of $150.00 to the Tzolojya Group(group members Santos Ajcalon, Pabla Saminez, Rebeca Poncio, Juana Pich, Jesus Yaxon, Isabel Bocel, Matea Tuiz, Vicenta Ajcalon, Tomasa Pich (not pictured), Francisca Saminez, Rosita Chumil, and Anita Chipin) in Solola, Guatemala for use building their businesses in clothing sales, food sales, etc. I've been to Guatemala and seen how hard these women work who sell the traditional woven clothing of the various indigenous Guatemalan groups. The clothes themselves, most often huipiels or blouses that are woven and embroidered in intricate patterns, are quite gorgeous. Because of my love for that country and its people who work so hard and have so little, I try to lend to these women whenever I see them up on the board.

If any other jatraquera/o has a favorite developing country or group they would like us to loan to, please let me know. Somehow the connection is more personal that way. For me it's Ecuador and Guatemala, two places I visited and dearly loved.

At the same time as this loan, I contributed $15 to kiva's expenses.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The loan you have made to Isha Kamara has received a repayment of
$25.00. The total amount repaid is now $200.00. This repayment will be
divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business,
depending upon the percentage each lender contributed.


http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=19766


Please note that these funds will not be credited to your Kiva account
until the loan is repaid in full or when the loan term is complete. At
that time, you will be able to withdraw these funds from Kiva or to
re-lend these funds to a new entrepreneur.
 
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
 
I agree about that lesson, and I wish I had realized it when I was younger. I think I knew it, intellectually, but realizing day in and day our is something that was beyond me.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Yeah it's tough for me too. I think there needs to be something in there about enjoying the process and not focusing too much on the end result, too, maybe. I don't know. The Bhagavad Gita says something like that, I think, that working only for the fruits of your labor is bankrupt. It's better to love the work itself or something.

On achievements that take a long time of consistent effort to realize, it's too easy to get discouraged if you're thinking only about the end result day by day. You have to find a way to love the effort itself, somehow.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
We got a lot of mail from kiva today!

Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The loan you have made to Arzukhanim Bayramova has received a repayment
of $40.00. The total amount repaid is now $400.00. This repayment will
be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business,
depending upon the percentage each lender contributed.

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=14642

The loan you have made to Zubaidah - has received a repayment of $11.00.
The total amount repaid is now $44.00.
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=34505


This is an update on your loan to Tzolojya Group.


Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to the Tzolojya group,
consisting of Anita Chipin, Rosita Chumil, Francisca Saminez, Tomasa
Pich, Vicenta Ajcalon, Matea Tuiz, Isabel Bocel, Jesus Yaxon, Juana
Pich, Rebeca Poncio, Pabla Saminez, Santos Ajcalon by Friendship Bridge
in Guatemala. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the next
13 months, Friendship Bridge will be collecting repayments from this
entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.


Kiva very much appreciates your responses online. You can read and
respond to this journal online at:


http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=comment&id=50815&ent=59029


We are very pleased to notify you that your loan to Santos Filomena has
been fully repaid in the amount of $675.00. The payment was collected
and deposited by Microfinanzas PRISMA.

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=25712

The funds from this repayment will be deposited in your Kiva account as
"Available Kiva Credit" in the next 2 to 3 days. At that time, you can
re-lend these funds to a new entrepreneur, withdraw them into a PayPal
account or you can donate them to Kiva's operational expenses. For
further instructions regarding any of these processes, please visit our
help center: http://www.kiva.org/about/help.

The loan you have made to Víctor has received a repayment of $59.00. The
total amount repaid is now $236.00.

Good news: you've been repaid!


This email confirms that $75.00 of your loan to Santos Filomena on
www.kiva.org is now redeemable.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The loan you have made to Lupe Mamani has received a repayment of
$84.00. The total amount repaid is now $420.00. This repayment will be
divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business,
depending upon the percentage each lender contributed.


http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=30736

Also, we got a contribution for June! =)
 
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
 
Good deal!
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Another payment. =)

Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The loan you have made to Malika Goibova has received a repayment of
$105.00. The total amount repaid is now $210.00. This repayment will be
divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business,
depending upon the percentage each lender contributed.

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=39952

Please note that these funds will not be credited to your Kiva account
until the loan is repaid in full or when the loan term is complete. At
that time, you will be able to withdraw these funds from Kiva or to
re-lend these funds to a new entrepreneur.
 
Posted by ana kata (Member # 5666) on :
 
For our June loan, we invested $175 in the business of Phorn Sok selling bitter melons in Ping Pong Village, Cambodia. How cool is that?

Her MFI has a 5 star rating and her loan term is 12 months. $75 of the money was from the repayment of a previous loan. $20 of it was a new contribution this month. (Thanks for that!) The other $80 comes from our regular donors and from me. I also gave $10 to kiva for their operating expenses.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Just a suggestion: for birthdays and holidays of family and friends, or any people who seem like the kiva type, why not buy them kiva gift certificates? It's a great way to spread the meme. [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The loan you have made to Teófilo Ramón Peralta Ibarra has received a
repayment of $27.00. The total amount repaid is now $27.00. This
repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund
this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed.

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=48618

Please note that these funds will not be credited to your Kiva account
until the loan is repaid in full or when the loan term is complete. At
that time, you will be able to withdraw these funds from Kiva or to
re-lend these funds to a new entrepreneur.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Something that's very cool on my personal account is that I get loans paid off just about every month now, so I can loan that money again. It's so much fun when it gets to that point! It's growing arithmetically (not exponentially) but it feels like it's picking up some hefty momentum and starting to snowball into something big.

I still just add small amounts. I'm putting in about 1 new loan per paycheck, as well as reloaning everything that comes back paid off. But it really feels like it's taking off. I'm now up to 101 loans on my personal account. I can't wait until our jatraqueros account, which has always had larger amounts per loan, does the same thing.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

We are very pleased to notify you that your loan to Lupe Mamani has been
fully repaid in the amount of $500.00. The payment was collected and
deposited by Pro Mujer Bolivia. Congratulate Lupe Mamani by leaving a
comment on the loan's page.

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=30736

The funds from this repayment will be deposited in your Kiva account as
"Available Kiva Credit" in the next 2 to 3 days. At that time, you can
re-lend these funds to a new entrepreneur, withdraw them into a PayPal
account or you can donate them to Kiva's operational expenses. For
further instructions regarding any of these processes, please visit our
help center: http://www.kiva.org/about/help.

Or, to view your Kiva loan portfolio go to: https://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=account.

Best wishes,

- The Kiva Team

Wow, what a great boost that's going to give to July's loan!

By the way, in honor of our 1.5 year anniversary, I made a bonus loan of $25. Details to come later. [Smile]
 
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
 
I love reading these updates! I haven't donated to kiva yet, but I hope be able to do so soon. [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Thanks, ludosti! Sometimes I worry that I'm becoming a bother with this. I love it so much, though! I think we're doing something that really matters.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
The loan you have made to Malika Goibova has received a repayment of
$105.00. The total amount repaid is now $315.00. This repayment will be
divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business,
depending upon the percentage each lender contributed.

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=39952
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

This is an update on your loan to Tep Moa in Cambodia. Thank you for
your loan. It has been disbursed to Tep Moa by CREDIT, a partner of
World Relief in Cambodia. We are excited to watch this business grow.
Over the next 18 months, CREDIT, a partner of World Relief will be
collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress
updates on the Kiva website.

Additional notes from Kiva:

1. This update was posted from Cambodia by Kiva’s Field Partner, CREDIT,
a partner of World Relief. If you appreciate this update, please
consider supporting another entrepreneur listed by this Field Partner .
You can view other fundraising loans of CREDIT, a partner of World
Relief here:

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&partner_id=9&status=fundRaising&sortBy=New%2Bto%2BOld&_te=j

2. If this journal entry is in a foreign language, please feel free to
use an online translator such as Google Translator:

(http://translate.google.com/)

3. Also, please feel free to add a comment online about this update that
will be shared with the Field Partner:

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=comment&id=54010&ent=66009
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
To celebrate our 17th loan, we did a special bonus loan of $25 to Tep Moa in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to purchase rice seed, fertilizers, and carpentry tools for their farm.

We had loans paid back of $475 this month, so we were able to loan $550 to The Claritas Group in a village on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, surely the loveliest spot in the world, for their various businesses.
 
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
 
Very cool!
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
I didn't have time to go into more detail yesterday. Wow, I admire the parents among you for how much you can do online. I get so little computer time now, and what I do have is in little snatches within which I can't seem to compose a coherent post. I always thought "mom's brain" was a physiological phenomenon that came at the end of a pregnancy but I have it now. =)

I also read an article called "the maternal brain" in Scientific American a while back, though, that said mothers have a lot of things happen to their brains that make them smarter and more capable. Aside from the fact that the opposite seems to occur to the moms I know, I'm trying to figure out if that can even make sense from an evolutionary perspective because if one's brain can be made sharper with little metabolic cost, why does it not happen before motherhood as well? But I digress.

This post is really to tell jatraqueros about kiva friends, a community of kiva lenders. It's so awesome! It's the nicest group of people! Some of the lenders on there absolutely inspire me with how much of their time and effort they put into alleviating poverty around the world. They care so much about everyone. It brings tears to my eyes.

For example, someone noticed that one of the kiva borrowers, Regina Jose, who was disabled, had no wheelchair. The one she'd previously had was old and just fell apart, so she was confined to her house. One of her journal updates mentioned that one of the things she hoped to do with the higher income generated by the loan is to buy a new wheelchair.

So the kiva friends went into action and figured out how to get a wheelchair made for her in South Africa and delivered to Mozambique. Within a couple of months Regina had her wheelchair. Here's a picture of her receiving it with prayers and tears of thanksgiving. If you want to read about how it all came about, here's the thread on the kiva friends forum. I'm so grateful for a chance to have been a part of this! Taking part in this project just suddenly gave me the faith that the human species is going to make it after all. We'll just figure things out and fix them, one by one. It's a great feeling.

Anyway, I wanted to share the opportunity to be part of kiva friends with all my jatraquero homies. =) You're all kiva friends. Thanks for everything you do!

[ August 03, 2008, 01:05 PM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dear jatraqueros del mundo,

The loan you have made to Teófilo Ramón Peralta Ibarra has received a
repayment of $27.00. The total amount repaid is now $54.00. This
repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund
this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed.

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=48618
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
kiva has a cool new feature! Check out our map view, showing the places in the world where we have loans. =) Isn't that awesome?

(Go to this link then click on the "map view" link from our lender page.)
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Kiva has instituted team lending! Go now to this link and join team " jatraqueros "! From now on we can all have our own accounts, with our own control of funds, and also keep team stats and totals. I'm very excited about this idea!

I'm sending everyone invites whose email address I can find. If I don't send you an invite, please email me and ask for one, or else just go to the site and join up. I left the group membership open.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
kiva has begun putting the partially paid amounts back in our kiva funds, so that we can go ahead and loan them out again. So this month our partially paid amounts added to the fully paid off loans came to $529.43. So we made a loan for $525 to the San Roque Group, a group of women in El Alto / La Paz, Bolivia who currently travel around selling their wares, and want to build or rent fixed stands or shops. The women are:
Valentina Tancara
Maria Quenta
Graciela Mamani
Sonia Condori
Marcela Quenta
Silvia Quenta
Carmen Mamani
Delia Quispe
Olga Quispe
Gladys Quispe
Monica Quenta
Lidia Mamani
Toribia Flores
Delmira Luque
Hilaria Luque
Fransisca Luque

This is only a six month loan, which means we get to turn our money over faster, and help more people. The field partner is a five star, Pro Mujer. And I just love the way the borrowers look in the picture, particularly the proud lady in blue in the front, with two children peeping out from either side of her voluminous skirts. =) I'm excited about this loan.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Woohoo! We have 5 members in our team already, and over $700 in loans! =) Way to go, people!
 
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
 
I'm in on the team! I'm Gregory(but don't ever call me that [Smile] )

Tatiana, your lender page is intimidating...and awesome.

Kiva makes me very happy. One of my loans was payed off recently and i've been trying to re-lend, and every time i go on there are no loans available for me to lend to! They all fill up too quickly. I'm TRYING to give money and there's no one to give it to.

Thanks again for doing all this AK. I think it's about time I make a new donation to our Hatrack account.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Yay! Welcome to the team! I love your kiva lender picture, Strider. =)

Up until a few days ago kiva kept all our funds until the loans were completely paid off, then put the entire amount back in our accounts. On Thursday or Friday they started giving us back all our partial payments. So suddenly everyone on kiva is flush with cash, and that's why the number of loans available to fund has dropped precipitously. Only a few days ago there were 700 or so, last night there was one. I'm sure there will be a lot more available soon, so just wait a few days and keep checking back. I'm saving about $300 in my personal account and $75 in the jatraqueros account to loan when some good ones hit the site again.

I like to pick fairly short term loans, with 4 or 5 star MFIs, and I like the business to be something important, like farming or food sales, or internet cafes, rather than cosmetics or beauty salons or off-license liquor stores, you know? I also really prefer the picture to show the person with their business, rather than standing against the wall in the loan office. I know those are more expensive and time-consuming to get, but it seems to show more diligence on the part of the microfinance partner. Also they're more fun to look at. =)

So I think it's fine to wait until the good stuff reappears. I'm sure that won't be more than a week or two.

I'm so excited about the new teams, and the partial payments! Kiva makes me very happy too!

(btw, my lender page is just what happens when you add one loan a paycheck over a couple of years, meanwhile re-lending all the loans that get paid back. I lend small amounts to spread my risk, and affect more people. It really doesn't cost me much at all, and it's so much fun to watch it snowball over time! You should see some of the kiva friends' pages, though. There are some very wealthy people on there, and people who've funded thousands of loans!)

[ September 01, 2008, 01:48 PM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Update to say there are now 500 loans available on the site. I'm glad they recovered quickly. I found six people that I really like among the new borrowers, so I was able to put to work some of that refunded money that was burning a hole in my pocket! =)
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Another update: the team now has six lenders and $900 in loans! Check it out!
 
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
 
quote:
Only a few days ago there were 700 or so, last night there was one.
Actually, at one point there were zero! They had a neat picture and a special message. I wanted to take a screen capture, it was such a beautiful page to see.

quote:
I like to pick fairly short term loans, with 4 or 5 star MFIs, and I like the business to be something important, like farming or food sales, or internet cafes, rather than cosmetics or beauty salons or off-license liquor stores, you know?
yeah, I know. there was one available last night and it was a guy who was converting part of his house into a pool hall, and something about it just didn't sit right with me. it was the only loan available but I decided to pass on it. I don't know how much of it had to do with the nature of the business, or just the fact that the guy looked really sketchy. Then after it was gone I felt a little bad and wondered if I was being biased.

oh, and that kiva picture is the same as my goodreads picture...so you should've seen it before. [Razz]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
I hear you on the pool hall. I don't feel bad or judgmental about passing up that sort of loan because someone always funds them. I think it's fine to pick business that appeal to us personally. I've found that it's a good thing to wait if someone appealing isn't currently up on the board, because in a little while there will be, then I'll be glad to have money left for them.

I haven't been active much on goodreads lately, but now that you've reminded me I want to add a couple of books I've recently read. =)
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
I made a thread for us on the kiva friends forum, under the team heading. Here it is.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
I've started reading this blog lately, in which kiva fellows, people who volunteer a year of their time to spending time in the field working with kiva's microfinance partners, post their experiences. It's really amazing. I can't say enough how astonishing and engaging it is. I feel so much more a citizen of the world from reading some of these posts. I feel like I'm there.

Check it out! I think you'll enjoy it.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Now that we get repayments posted almost daily, our kiva credit account keeps having money in it. And because everyone else's does too, there have been days and weeks when there were few loans on the board from which to choose. That's a great thing because it means everyone who is trying to borrow is getting funding, but it makes it harder to find someone good to lend to.

I finally found a good borrower for $100 that has been sitting idle in our account. Today I made a loan of $100 to Seblatou Adossou of Danyi, Togo, to help him increase his area of farmable land. It's a 12 month loan with a four star partner. Because it's growing more food, I think it will be very important in this time of worldwide food shortages. I'm glad this loan was available to us.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Our kiva credits continue to grow as our loans are repaid. I'm still accepting contributions to the "jatraqueros" account, for anyone who prefers to do it that way. Our anonymous regular lender likes to contribute in that way, so the account will remain open for her, and for anyone else who would rather let someone else handle the kiva transactions. Of course, I'll continue to reinvest all the funds in the account as they are repaid.

But now that kiva has support for team lending, and we have our cool jatraqueros lending team that anyone can join, I expect most people will want to keep their own accounts and just assign their loans to our team. That way everyone can choose their favorite entrepreneurs to loan to, and retains ultimate control of their funds. I think that is even cooler! You can view our team page, see a list of our loans, browse the member list, or write a team message. Please join the team so you can see what we're doing, even if you can't make a loan at the moment. And if you'd like to loan in less than $25 increments, you can still paypal the money to our team account and get in on the action that way for whatever amount you'd like to contribute.

We're still experiencing record traffic on the kiva site, so it's hard to find good loans lately, though it's starting to get easier. Today we loaned $125 to Un Ran in Cambodia to help her grow rice. Global hunger is on the rise, so the more rice grown the better. [Smile] It's a five star MFI, and the loan term is 18 months.

[ October 23, 2008, 09:24 AM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
 
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
 
Tatiana, do you ever donate some of our money to Kiva for operating expenses? I'd be fine with some of our jatraqueros fund being used for that as well, I don't know if that's something you'd want to check with the rest of the donors first though, or just make an executive decision. Up to you!
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
When I first put "new money" into the system, I usually donate 10% above what we loan. But when we reloan funds that have been paid back, I generally don't pay that 10% over again. I feel that if we did that it would dilute the building power of our fund. kiva lately has won awards from American Express, and gotten grants from other sources. They also have a source of income in the interest they earn on the funds they're holding at various points in the process, though that's much less now that they return partially paid loan funds.

I know that they need funds to operate, and yet, I'm feeling lately as though they have come far enough to get those funds mostly from other sources. I'm not sure how well they're doing but they do seem to be getting by. I do still feel they need occasional infusions, but I use my own funds for those. Any money contributed to the fund by the group goes 100% toward fulfilling loans to entrepreneurs.

However, any time a member feels like I should do something differently, I'm glad to comply if the other members agree. Right now we have $20.89 in kiva credit. That will increase day by day as loan payments are posted. If anyone wants me to donate part or all of that to kiva, let me know.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Today there are hundreds of loans up on the board, which is a good thing, because we have choices. Here are my priorities for picking.

1. Must be a four star or five star microfinance field partner. Lately one of the big partners, MIFEX in Ecuador, went belly up and something like $250k in loans defaulted. We didn't lose anything in our jatraqueros portfolio, luckily. But it was very disappointing. And though it's a small percentage of kiva's loans (perhaps 1% or 2%), it's upset everyone a lot and caused me to rethink our strategy. Right now I don't want to invest more than one loan per MFI, to spread our risk. And I want to be careful which MFIs I choose.

Note: We have one loan of $100 to Ebony Foundation, which hasn't kept up with regular payments. As you know, there was a lot of violence and destruction in Kenya with the riots following the election this year. It's possible that the borrower lost her entire stand and all her goods in the riots. Or she may have had to leave the province, or even been killed. That one is at risk, I believe. We'll have to watch and see what happens.

2. The business has to be something worthwhile. Though there's nothing wrong with cosmetic sales or soft drink sales, I'd rather we use our hard-earned money to fund something that will bring more positive benefits to the area, such as general stores, food production and sales, transportation, etc. Agriculture in this time of food shortage is particularly favored. However, I'm reluctant to lend to pig farmers or dairy farmers, worthy as those professions may be, because I'm unsure how well the animals are treated, and I know that matters to many jatraqueros.

3. I try to spread the loans around to various countries in diverse regions of the word. Right now all the best agriculture loans are going to Cambodia and Peru, but we already have several of each so I'm holding off from those and looking for some in other countries.

4. Though I want to give males and females an equal chance, the low status of women in much of the developing world means they're overrepresented among the very poor. So for that reason, and because we're hoping to do our part to improve the status of women, we loan somewhat more to women than to men. However, because jatraqueros are equally male and female, I try to be sure our percentage of male borrowers is a good bit higher than that of kiva as a whole.

5. A bunch of little things, like if it's a single mom raising kids, or if the person is disabled, or has other difficulties, also can give a boost to a particular loan in my eyes.

If anyone has other criteria they think are important, please let me know. I want our choices to reflect not just me but the entire group.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
For today, we loaned $150 to Moibatou Teagbanlin in Cotonou, Benin for her scrap metal business. Dealing in scrap metal is good for the environment, as it cleans up junk from neighborhoods, recycles products that would otherwise be wasted as rust, and generates an income stream for lots of people who collect it. Add to this the fact that Moibatou is a female in a male-dominated sector. She's working through a promising new MFI, and the loan term is 10 months.
 
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
 
that all sounds great to me!
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Strider, thanks for the feedback!
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Today I thought I'd introduce the group to some of our fellow lenders on kiva, people who are an inspiration to me.

Here's Claus Peter from Germany. He currently has 2400 loans.

There's also Good Dogg on Front Porch, who has about 6500 loans at the moment.

But it's not just about the number of loans. Diane of Diane and Charlie (not the former Prince and Princess of Wales) only [Wink] has a couple of thousand loans, but her impact is felt tremendously as she regularly participates in various projects that the kiva friends organize. She was instrumental in getting Regina her wheelchair, for instance, and routinely acts as the financial head of various projects, since she has free overseas money wiring privileges. She takes payment in kiva gift certificates, which she spends on more kiva loans to feed her addiction. [Smile]

There are some really wonderful people on kiva friends!
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
One more link for y'all. Here's a cool page where they've made a collage of recent borrowers, along with kiva statistics. I'm enjoying mousing over the various pictures and seeing the stories.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
I want to congratulate all our members on joining team jatraqueros.

Kwea, also known as Rob, is a long time kiva fan and supporter. He was the very first to join team jatraqueros upon its creation.

Dragon, who alternately goes by the name of Jen, has been a faithful and devoted team member from the start of the fund almost two years ago. I think Dragon, like me, was raised on hatrack, since I remember her coming to gatherings when she was quite young. She was the second to jump on the jatraqueros bandwagon.

Fusiachi, who's otherwise known as Wade, was also an early joiner of the jatraqueros team when team lending became a feature of kiva earlier this year.

Strider, who's known on kiva as Gregory, joined next and has been one of the most active members.

Next comes our beloved Kama bot, who is affectionately known as kamila in her kiva instantiation. Programmed to be the cutest and most flirtatious software agent ever written, she also has excellent philanthropic subroutines, as evidenced by her kiva activity. Kudos to all the talented coders who brought us KAMA.

Our latest members to join are Nate and Denis. We hope to hear more from them and learn about their kiva experiences.

We have a total of 41 loans now in 22 countries since team lending was instituted on kiva. Plus the original group account, jatraqueros del mundo, has 23 loans and is still growing.

Congratulations to our team members and to all who have contributed throughout the months and years of our kiva presence. The hatrack community can be proud of fostering such a spirit of service and enterprise in attacking poverty at its root. Let it never be said that jatraqueros only can talk about the world's problems and never act. Projects like the annual seasonal charitable donation and team jatraqueros prove this isn't so.

In honor of hatrack's annual seasonal gift, I'm pausing activity on the original jatraqueros account for the month of December, as usual. Of course, kiva jatraqueros and team members with their own accounts will continue lending activities on their own schedules. And don't forget that kiva gift certificates are an option for that philanthropic person on your list who already has everything.

Thanks again, everyone, for all you do! Together we're eventually going to end poverty and help make sure every child born on earth has a warm safe and healthy welcome.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Hi jatraqueros del mundo,
We'd like to give you a repayment update on the loans you've made
through Kiva.

A total of $340.23 has been repaid this month! This means you now have a
total of $346.16 in Kiva Credit in your account.

Click here to re-lend, withdraw or donate these funds! Or you can show
your friends some Kiva Love with a Kiva gift certificate.
https://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=account

Below is the repayment update on your Kiva Portfolio:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zubaidah - in Indonesia (Activity: Food Production/Sales)
You Loaned:$125.00
Newly Repaid:$10.42
Total Repaid So Far:$104.17 (83.34% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=34505
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Teófilo Ramón Peralta Ibarra in Nicaragua (Activity: Food Production/Sales)
You Loaned:$225.00
Newly Repaid:$16.07
Total Repaid So Far:$96.42 (42.85% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=48618
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tzolojya Group in Guatemala (Activity: Clothing Sales)
You Loaned:$150.00
Newly Repaid:$23.01
Total Repaid So Far:$69.22 (46.15% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=50815
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phorn Sok in Cambodia (Activity: Fruits & Vegetables)
You Loaned:$175.00
Newly Repaid:$14.58
Total Repaid So Far:$72.91 (41.66% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=52964
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tep Moa in Cambodia (Activity: Farming)
You Loaned:$25.00
Newly Repaid:$1.39
Total Repaid So Far:$6.95 (27.80% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=54010
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Claritas Group in Guatemala (Activity: Food)
You Loaned:$550.00
Newly Repaid:$84.50
Total Repaid So Far:$169.21 (30.77% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=58467
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
San Roque Group in Bolivia (Activity: Traveling Sales)
You Loaned:$525.00
Newly Repaid:$174.98
Total Repaid So Far:$262.49 (50.00% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=58473
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seblatou Adossou in Togo (Activity: Agriculture)
You Loaned:$100.00
Newly Repaid:$8.34
Total Repaid So Far:$25.00 (25.00% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=63650
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Un Ran in Cambodia (Activity: Farming)
You Loaned:$125.00
Newly Repaid:$6.94
Total Repaid So Far:$6.94 (5.55% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=70538

To view your Kiva loan portfolio go to:
https://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=account

Want to receive these updates more/less often? You can change the frequency at which you receive repayment updates under Kiva Email Preferences:
https://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=account&action=emailPreferences

The minimum lending amount is $25, but you can apply any amount of Kiva Credit to a purchase. To learn more about using your Kiva Credit to lend, click here:
http://www.kiva.org/about/help/questions?subtopic=Re-lending%20or%20Withdrawing

If you have any questions, you can find our Frequently Asked questions and our contact info at the Kiva Help Center: http://www.kiva.org/about/help .

Best wishes,
Kiva Staff
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Okay, as you can see above, we got a bunch of repayments on our around the 15th of the month. I suggest we wait until about the first of the month to pick a loan, as there are a lot more available then the way things fall out with the new repayment system (known as P2 to kiva insiders).

The way the new repayment system works is that we get credited with partial repayments as soon as they hit kiva's bank account from the MFIs (microfinance institutions) in the field. If you remember, before we didn't get paid back until each loan was paid in full. Then we received the total loan amount. So the new system frees up a lot of capital for people to make new loans. Because of this, round about the 15th - 20th when everyone's payments hit their kiva accounts, all the available loans get snapped up by eager lenders flush with cash. Then they run out of cash and the loans that hit the site from around the 1st to the 14th just languish.

That's when I say we should make our move. Then we have leisure to pick just the loans we like. And even with the MFIs defaulting on us occasionally, and with our exacting selection criteria (loan must be used in a way that will generate more income, must be used for something wholesome and beneficial, mustn't involve usury, cruelty to animals, or destructive environmental activities, etc.), we'll still be able to find that one perfect loan that suits us to a T.

We did loan $75 to a business last week, just to get some of our liquidity into use. I'll write it up for the board next time. If you can't wait to see it, you can go to our profile and click on her there. The baby's expression is what hooked me, of course.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
One of the lenders on kiva friends is in the habit of posting a good luck comment on his every loan's journal page. One time he got a reply from a borrower who was ecstatic to find that people from around the world were wishing her well and hoping for the success of her business. I thought that was such a cool thing for both the borrower and the lender that I've started doing the same thing. I'll pass along any replies we might get. In the meantime if any of you would like to send your encouragement and best wishes to our lenders, please do. I'm sure if they receive the message it will fill them with excitement and enthusiasm. Just follow the links to the pages for the individual loans, and at the bottom are all the journal entries (if any) along with a place to add your comments. Hopefully we will get an answer at some point as well, though not all the messages will make it through to our mostly remote borrowers with no internet. I think the fact that people care, though, makes even more difference to the businesspeople than the funds alone could possibly do. It makes them realize that, in the grand scheme of things, they really do matter. I get a great kick out of that thought.
 
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
 
That all sounds great Tatiana. It works out well, every time you post I'm reminded of the fact that I probably have some free money in my account!
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
I finally posted details for our two latest loans. See the first post for more information. I'm picking mostly farmers lately to help, mainly because I'm worried about the global food shortage. Anything we can do to get more crops into the ground could end up saving lives.
 
Posted by Kama (Member # 3022) on :
 
quote:
Ms. Ngov Savy looks remarkably young for her age!
I'm pretty sure that age must have been a typo [Wink]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Yeah, maybe 28 or even 18. [Smile] On the other hand, I knew a Japanese lady in her 60s who looked not much older than Ms. Savy. So who knows?
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
We have a new loan today. I'll post details later. Check lending team jatraqueros for information in the meantime. [Big Grin]

I think it's pretty cool that we have 63 loans now from our team, and the jatraqueros account has 26. From small beginnings come great things.

[ March 02, 2009, 04:36 PM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
There's a new spreadsheet that one of the kiva friends made that gives you a fantastic view of your account. I'm trying to figure out how to make it available to everyone to download and look at. It's impressive. It shows all our loans, and then summarizes them and breaks them down in every way you can imagine.

Someone help me figure out the best way to post it. It's for windows excel. Should I just take a series of snapshots and post those? It would be a lot, like 25 or something. I'd much rather make the spreadsheet itself available to people. Do most people have Excel or something that can read Excel files? It's full of macros, though I don't think you need to run them again, once I've loaded the data from our account, and run the routines to do the analysis once. Is it possible to upload Excel files to somewhere like Photobucket for anyone to download? Somebody said something about making a Google document. Would that work? And if so, how would I do it?

[ March 18, 2009, 07:03 PM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
I think I figured it out. Y'all tell me if this works. jatraqueros kiva account summary.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Click on the tabs at the bottom for "summary", "stats", "loans", and "future cash flow". Let me know if it works for you. [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
I think this information is extremely cool. Now that we have it, we can use it to spread our portfolio risk evenly among the different MFIs, countries, sectors, etc. We can also monitor the outstanding loans for delinquent payback. It's got a whole lot of information in it that can be useful in many ways.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Because it's a lot of work to set up the spreadsheet, export the info from kiva into the spreadsheet, then convert it to a google document for online viewing, I won't do it again, at least not frequently, unless it seems that people really want to see it. Post or email to let me know if you want to see it. It has all the information to allow us to gloat over how much we've accomplished, [Smile] . Come to think of it, I'll probably do it from time to time just for my own enjoyment.

That said, let me introduce you to Mrs. Aminata Kassongue, an entrepreneur in Koutiala, Mali who sells condiments. This is one of a number of very attractive loans coming from Mali lately. It is only a six month term, so we get our money back quickly to loan to someone else. It's a 4 star MFI, and we share it with only one other lender, LaurentD of Brussels Belgium, who is truly a prodigious lender.

He's the superstar of European lenders on kiva. Check out his lender page. He currently has 7816 loans, and he often loans more than the minimum $25 per loan. On this loan, for instance, he chipped in $50 and we picked up the other $250. I'm glad for the chance to honor LaurentD for his abundant lending. =)

And we wish Mrs. Kassongue much success with her condiments stand. The wares look quite appealing in the picture. I wish I had some now.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
By the way, our jatraqueros team has now loaned 81 loans, or an average of 9 loans per member, for a grand total of $3,650, in the time that we've been a team. This doesn't include the jatraqueros account from before team lending was possible. That one has 27 loans or a total of $5175, some of which are included in the 81 above, because since team lending began, I've assigned all our loans to the jatraqueros team. However you look at it, though, the total is quite impressive. [Smile]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
I did two loans for May. The first one I just couldn't resist only had $25 left to fund so I went for it. It was to a girl named Juanita in Peru. It's only an 8 month loan and it's for fertilizers and labor wages for her farm. The second one was for $300 to a guy named Faress in Lebanon. We now have 29 loans and we're circulating about $2500 in our fund now. I'm just reloaning whatever money comes in, lately. I'm assuming everyone who wants to play is making their own accounts nowadays and joining team jatraqueros. So the rotating fund will keep rotating but there's rarely anything new added to it.
 
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
 
I think that just the fact we have this is very cool, and thank you for keeping it going.
 
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
 
I love that Team Obama is the 3rd largest team on Kiva!

Tatiana, on the page that shows our statistics, i'm a bit confused. It says we have 95 total loans, and over $4000 loaned. That's the total loaned by the team and members of the team since the team has been together? so it includes individual loans, but not any that were pre team, correct?

also, thanks for the explanation above, i always wondered why we had a member named jatraqueros!
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Yes, That's correct. They wouldn't let me add the past loans of the jatraqueros account (the account we had before teams existed) to our new team. So only loans going forward count toward the team totals. So that would be all the loans that any of the members choose to put toward the team.

I put most of my individual loans from my Tatiana account toward our team, with only a scattering toward the other teams that have recruited me, because I feel like this is my home team. And of course all the subsequent loans by the account named jatraqueros will go toward team jatraqueros. I'm just relending all funds that are repaid to that account now. There aren't any new funds going in, now that we have a team where we can each have our own accounts. Our regular anonymous donor has suspended new donations for now, as well. So I'm just continuing to cycle the fund back to new loans as the old loans are paid off.

As a side note, my personal account hit 200 loans recently. <celebrates> It says 199 but actually I made a mistake and picked the same loan twice. It took several weeks to be funded and I had forgotten about it by the time I chose it the second time. So kiva counts that as a single loan (quite properly), while I count it as two. [Smile]

I'm excited about hitting 200, but I'm very small potatoes compared to some of the kiva friends. The most prolific lender (Good Dogg) is about to pass 10,000 loans! And there are a few more who aren't far behind him. Laurent of Brussels and Claus-Peter from Germany are closing in. Diane R, bikeme, etc. all are in the multiple-thousands of loans so far. They're really hardcore! One kiva friend got the kiva symbol tattooed onto her ankle. I love it! =)
 
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
 
that's awesome. congrats on 200!
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Thanks!

You know, one of the most important things kiva does has nothing at all to do with money. By connecting us and giving us a stake in each other's success across the world, kiva is helping to make the world into one big family. As a Latter-day saint, I feel this is an extremely important function. In no way is this official, but it's my feeling that all of our temples all over the world are primarily dedicated to achieving this same end. "If you aren't one, you aren't mine."
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
There's a controversy now on kiva that I think the team needs to know about. A few of the loans that kiva has listed involve cockfighting, or rather raising fighting cocks for sale. That upsets me quite a lot, and I hope kiva will decide not to list loans involving blood sports in the future. Cockfighting is something people do in rural areas here, too. It's pretty ugly, and involves the birds with razor blades attached to their feet fighting to the death while people bet and look on to enjoy the spectacle. To me, it's really beyond the pale.

kiva doesn't list loans for prostitution businesses, even in countries where it's legal. They draw a line and don't help drug traffickers get their businesses going. You know? The only question is where the line is drawn, and so far kiva has decided not to ban cockfighting loans from countries where the sport is legal.

So, I want to ask what you guys think about it? I hate even being associated at all with any organization that promotes cockfighting in any way. I want to know what y'all think, though. Especially those of you who have contributed to our fund.
 
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
 
quote:
I hate even being associated at all with any organization that promotes cockfighting in any way.
you summed it up. What can we do?
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
I'm not sure what we can do. Take our money elsewhere, if they don't change the policy? There's not another good person to person lending platform like kiva, though. There's donors choose, where you get to pick a small project to give to. Most that I've done there are for teachers in the U.S. wanting books for their kids.

That's a good thing, but I feel like kiva reaches the world's very poor far better, and also it's nice to be able to help more people by lending again and again the same funds.

There's microplace, which even earns interest on your loan, but it only shows representative borrowers of the Micro Finance Institution to which you're lending, so the person to person connection is lost entirely.

I'm open to ideas and possible responses to the problem.
 
Posted by Kama (Member # 3022) on :
 
I'd wait for kiva's official position before making any decisions.
 
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
 
i did a search on this and it apparently has been going on for over a year(found an article from 2/08). So unless recent articles will push this into the public spotlight a bit more, I think we know what Kiva's official position is.

I don't like the idea of taking our money elsewhere either, but I do think we should make our displeasure known, at least to start with.
 
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
 
Just don't loan it to any of those places. We can control where OUR money goes, right? [Big Grin]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Kiva has made known that their official policy doesn't preclude blood sports that are legal in the target country. This might include dog fighting as well, someday, though as far as I know there have been no dogfighting loans yet on kiva.

Kwea, that's one answer that some kiva friends are following. I feel okay about doing that for off-license liquor stores, animals raised for slaughter, and such things. For some reason cockfighting just sticks in my craw. I feel that from me personally it requires more response. Like I don't even want to have anything to do with any organization that associates itself with that. But for the group account, I'll do whatever you guys decide.

Strider, here's what I've done to let them know how I feel. I posted on kiva friends forum that I'm taking my personal money out of kiva over this. (I just don't feel right about keeping it there.) And that I was consulting with the team to decide what to do about the team account. Kiva officers all interact with us on that forum.

I'll also write to contactus@kiva.org and say the same thing. I'll send a message to the kiva friends -- kiva liaison, Diane R, that it's a big problem for me, and I encourage those of you who are concerned to do the same.

[ May 12, 2009, 11:21 PM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
I'm opening the voting.

1) Keep on lending, but avoid loans for businesses associated with blood sports.

2) Remove the fund from kiva and put it in another charity.
 
Posted by aiua (Member # 7825) on :
 
I just joined Kiva a few days ago, though on my university's team. Even if I had known about the cock fighting, I still would have joined. All that means is I look a little more closely at where I'm making my loans. As it stands now, my three have charcoal, tailoring, and concessions businesses.
 
Posted by Katarain (Member # 6659) on :
 
Mind you, I'm not a contributor, so I'm not going to vote...but it seems to me that your loans are going to support the individuals who you fund, not the Kiva organization. Withholding money is withholding money from them, not from Kiva, as it would be for a conventional charity. Just avoid the businesses involved in bloodsport and fund the other ones. Why punish the non-bloodsport businesses?

It doesn't seem to make sense to have this be the deciding factor. You're not going to donate to non-bloodsport businesses because it is possible to donate to bloodsport businesses using the same medium? That kind of sounds like you're not going to donate to a charity using PayPal because someone else could use PayPal to pay a terrorist organization or something like it.
 
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
 
If PayPal made it a policy to transfer funds to terrorist organizations, the governments would shut 'em down.

And forgetting the blood sport aspect entirely, the kiva is funding household terrorism. We ain't talkin' about a high-class audience here: the profits from cockfighting has always been from giving folks an excuse to gamble and get drunk.
And guess whose wife gets beaten and children get deprived cuz some drunkard wants to steal her money to fund his addictions.
Every kiva cent spent to support cockfighting is probably depriving poor families of several hundred times more in necessities.
 
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
 
i'm voting 1 for now. while i'm upset, i still believe in their mission and I'm not ready to abandon it.
 
Posted by Kama (Member # 3022) on :
 
I see nothing wrong with gambling or getting drunk in general.
 
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
 
apsectre, people use money for food too, and kill for it. Why don't we kill anyone holding food and prevent that problem too?


[Roll Eyes]


I vote just to loan to people doing those businesses, the whole POINT of kiva is being able to control your cash and where it goes to maximize the type of impact you want to have(not to fund terrorism, despite aspecte's "eloquent" examples) on a community.
 
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
 
quote:
I see nothing wrong with gambling or getting drunk in general.
my problem isn't gambling or getting drunk, it's the chicken fighting.
 
Posted by Kama (Member # 3022) on :
 
yes, mine too.
 
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
 
same here
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Sounds like we have a consensus. We'll keep the money in the jatraqueros account rotating with kiva loans that don't support bloodsports. Thanks for your votes, guys.

I'm taking the money in my Tatiana account out as it pays off, and I think I'm going to start looking at microplace. I'll let you know how it looks over there. Right now they loan on the MFI level only, but are looking at the possibility of going person-to-person at some point.
 
Posted by Kama (Member # 3022) on :
 
Tatiana, a friend sent me this link once: https://www.myc4.com/Portal/Default.aspx
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Thanks, Kama! That's a good alternative place for putting my funds.
 
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
 
An interesting development. I'm rather of two minds on it myself and I'm not unsympathetic to both sides.

quote:
Seemed like a good idea last month when Kiva, the microfinance Web site specializing in loans to Third World entrepreneurs, opened up to Americans sinking under the waves of the Great Recession. The Pissed Off Kiva Lenders Team thinks otherwise.

The group, representing 420 registered Kiva users at last count, has risen up against the San Francisco nonprofit's "shift from making loans exclusively where the needs are greatest to where they are the least." The group's published broadsides are accompanied by compare-and-contrast thumbnails, juxtaposing an affluent-looking San Francisco graphic designer who recently got a $7,000 loan to buy computer equipment and a Peruvian peasant woman who borrowed $350 "to buy wool for knitting."

We get the point. So, apparently, do 43 percent of respondents to a Kiva-posted poll as of Wednesday afternoon. Then again, 48 percent favor the program, which started a month ago and has so far funded approximately 40 U.S. applicants. There is also a pro-U.S. countergroup, called the Kiva Happy Lenders.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/08/BUK518KLG6.DTL&type=business

(usual caveats about web polls)
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Yes, it's interesting to me that some people are very upset about kiva lending to people in the US. I don't see any problem, myself. A small minority are quite against it, though.

I was offline (IPS trouble) for 8 days in early July, so I've just now done the July loan. Go to our portfolio to see the entrepreneur I picked. I'll add an entry here soon.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Update: I've loaned to people each month around the first of the month, which you can see if you go to our lender page.

However, I'm seriously worried about kiva lately. They've made a number of questionable decisions and alienated almost their entire core lender base. Another MFI went belly up (Ebony Foundation in Kenya) and while there's some indication that the post-election violence played a part, many of the loans they funded were well after the violence. It seems that fraud has played its part.

I realize that as for MFI failure, we're nowhere near the mature default rate, which could go to 10% or 20% or higher. I think people will pull their money out of kiva when that happens, and kiva itself will be in danger of folding. They've made so many terrible business decisions during what for them is an up time, the steady increase in lending that they've encountered so far.

And if they close their doors, I don't think we can get even a cent back that we loaned. The lender agreement basically makes the loan indistinguishable from a gift.

So here's what I propose to do with the money. I have exact records on who gave what when. All the money funded by hatrackers I plan to withdraw as it's paid off and give it to a charity of the board's choice. This might be first book, or heifer international, or perhaps you'll want to give it to Florence's school, when I tell you about it.

Florence Kaluuba is a wonderful lady in Uganda who runs the Mirembe school for young girls, many of whom have been abandoned by their families and were street people. She teaches them to be teachers, or seamstresses, or how to run childcare facilities, hairdressing, and several other professions. Her graduates are in great demand. All the teachers have jobs waiting for them when they get out.

Her students learn also how to be good mothers to their children. The teacher graduates among them often go on to teach school in villages and neighborhoods where there was no school before. In this way there is a multiplier effect because each student of Florence's school teaches more students and so on. Overall the education level of the country advances, and education is the biggest driver of development. So by helping Florence we help the whole society.

Her seamstresses sew uniforms for the school children, her daycare professional students keep the young children of the students, etc. So that each facet of the school aids the other areas.

Here's the entire topic on the kiva friends forum documenting how we found and have donated to Florence's school in the past. We hold fundraisers from time to time for the purpose. Florence in turn gives us budgets of how she proposes to spend the money as well as photos of the classes, graduation ceremonies, and updates on the accreditation process, etc. The school is now accredited and has a good local reputation.

Here's a summary topic capturing in shorter form all the information we have received along the way about the school. It has captured my heart. These girls' lives have been turned around totally, and they go on to transform the lives of those around them, and of their own students, in turn. Florence works tirelessly to implement her vision. I think this is as worthy a cause as any I've seen anywhere, and so that's why the portion of funds I've contributed to the kiva fund (minus all the fees and kiva donations, which I paid myself not using any contributed funds for that) is going to Florence's school.

I'll donate the contributions of other hatrackers to whatever organization y'all choose. If you also decide to support Florence's school that will be easy. I'll just transfer all funds over as they're repaid. Otherwise it will take more accounting but I'll be glad to donate to First Book, Heifer, or whatever charity is chosen.

All good things have to come to an end, as you know. I wish kiva well and I hope they're able to get it together in order to be a sustainable steady-state operation at some time in the future. However, I would feel remiss in my duty to oversee this fund if I didn't flag the problems and exercise due diligence in saving as much of the fund as possible from future defaults. The money going to Florence would be a donation, not a loan. But I don't think there could be a worthier cause in which to invest our contributions.
 
Posted by Jhai (Member # 5633) on :
 
I suggest people give to Givewell's top rated charities - i.e. charities that have been vetted as actually producing cost-effective results.
 
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
 
Browsing that site, I don't agree with their selection criteria.

quote:
Does the charity publish high-quality monitoring and evaluation reports on its website? A charity meets this criteria if it freely publishes - on its website - at least one technical report that (a) discusses how the impact of a project or program was evaluated, including what information was collected and how it was collected; (b) discusses the actual impact of the project. (Why is monitoring and evaluation so important?) We seek enough evidence to be confident that a charity changed lives for the better - not simply that it carried out its activities as intended. Different programs aim for different sorts of life change, and must be assessed on different terms. We do not hold to a single universal rule for determining what "impact" we're looking for; rather, what we look for varies by program type. (For more, see, What constitutes impact?)


Does the charity stand out for program selection? A charity meets this criteria if it focuses primarily on (or publishes enough financial information to make it clear that 75% of its recent funding is devoted to) what we consider "priority programs" These programs have particularly strong evidence bases, enough to lower the burden of proof on a charity running them. (Why do we look for charities implementing proven programs?) Such programs include administering vaccinations, distributing insecticide-treated nets, and treating tuberculosis, among many others. (For more, see our full list of priority programs.)

I don't care if a charity's evaluation and monitoring reports are on their website, as long as they are publically available in some way. And while I agree with many of thier priorities, 75% of funding or more matching a list of specific programs is not vetting cost-effectiveness, it's vetting whether or not the organization has the same priorities as Givewell does.
 
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
 
Tatiana, I think you've done a fantastic job managing our loans. Whatever you decide is the most effective way to use this money, i'm fine with that. I came in pretty late though I think, most of my loans have been made after the team was formed.

But whatever I did contribute, please use as you wish.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Thanks, Strider!
 
Posted by Jhai (Member # 5633) on :
 
dkw, from what I can tell, Givewell's priorities on evaluation & monitoring are exactly identical to what any good development economist will tell you is important in tracking whether an intervention actually has measurable results. *shrug*
 
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
 
From their own statement, they make their initial review based on whether the information to make those calls is on the charities website. Not whether evaluation and monitoring reports exist, not whether they are available upon request, whether they are on the website. I checked several organizations that I am familiar with, that I know meet their criteria, and they were given 0/3 stars because they didn't have the information on their website. I think that is stupid and borderline dishonest. It would be more ethical to list them as "not reviewed" or leave them off the list altogether.
 
Posted by Holden Karnofsky (Member # 12216) on :
 
I am the co-Founder of GiveWell. I'm just posting to say that I think dkw raises a valid concern, and we have recently made a blog post discussing this issue. http://blog.givewell.net/?p=445
 
Posted by Jhai (Member # 5633) on :
 
dkw, I would say that lack of easily available public information is a big red flag for me in donating to a cause, and also a bad signal for the charity's actual work.

Given a limited number of donation dollars, I would prefer to donate to an organization which has their act together enough (and considers transparency an important enough issue) to get their information up on a website.

I realize that not everyone donates using this sort of approach. But, then, I'm the sort of person who gets really irritated by news that someone donated a bunch of money to a liberal arts college in the US or to organizations like the Boy Scouts. It's all about opportunity cost with me.
 


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