This is a guest post by Gabriela Barbosa, a volunteer Team Leader for Kiva's Review and Translation Program. If you're reading this, chances are you want to make a difference in the world by helping entrepreneurs change their lives with small loans. Since its founding in 2005, Kiva has enabled over 900,000 of us lenders to make loans to more than 1 million borrowers. But what many people don't know is that Kiva depends on an army of volunteers to make loans available for funding on the website. This is the Review and Translation Program (RTP). Currently, RTP is... Continue Reading >
May 6, 2013
Kiva HQ
This is a guest post by Gabriela Barbosa, a volunteer Team Leader for Kiva's Review and Translation Program. If you're reading this, chances are you want to make a difference in the world by helping entrepreneurs change their lives with small loans. Since its founding in 2005, Kiva has enabled over 900,000 of us lenders to make loans to more than 1 million borrowers. But what many people don't know is that Kiva depends on an army of volunteers to make loans available for funding on the website. This is the Review and Translation Program (RTP). Currently, RTP is... Continue Reading >
This is a guest post by Gabriela Barbosa, a volunteer Team Leader for Kiva's Review and Translation Program. If you're reading this, chances are you want to make a difference in the world by helping entrepreneurs change their lives with small loans. Since its founding in 2005, Kiva has enabled over 900,000 of us lenders to make loans to more than 1 million borrowers. But what many people don't know is that Kiva depends on an army of volunteers to make loans available for funding on the website. This is the Review and Translation Program (RTP). Currently, RTP is... Continue Reading >
May 3, 2013
Kiva HQ
One of our favorite data visualization sites, the World Bank Tumblr recently posted this fascinating infographic about global internet use. For a larger version of the graph you can click here. The visualization skews a world map to demonstrate both the number of internet users per country as well as the percentage of the population with access to internet. The size of each country on the map represents total number of internet users, and the darker the color, the higher the internet penetration. Countries with less than 2 million internet users were excluded from the map -- explaining... Continue Reading >
One of our favorite data visualization sites, the World Bank Tumblr recently posted this fascinating infographic about global internet use. For a larger version of the graph you can click here. The visualization skews a world map to demonstrate both the number of internet users per country as well as the percentage of the population with access to internet. The size of each country on the map represents total number of internet users, and the darker the color, the higher the internet penetration. Countries with less than 2 million internet users were excluded from the map -- explaining... Continue Reading >
May 2, 2013
Kiva HQ
We’re thrilled to announce our new partnership with Kubo.financiero in Mexico! Through branchless banking and other innovative services, Kubo is bringing interest rates down and making financing more affordable for the people who need it most. Did you know that in developing countries, informal lending is a very popular way to access money? Be it for personal use or to start a company, people are quite comfortable with the idea of borrowing from relatives, friends, neighbors and acquaintances. Reasons for this vary, but oftentimes they fall into three categories... Continue Reading >
We’re thrilled to announce our new partnership with Kubo.financiero in Mexico! Through branchless banking and other innovative services, Kubo is bringing interest rates down and making financing more affordable for the people who need it most. Did you know that in developing countries, informal lending is a very popular way to access money? Be it for personal use or to start a company, people are quite comfortable with the idea of borrowing from relatives, friends, neighbors and acquaintances. Reasons for this vary, but oftentimes they fall into three categories... Continue Reading >
May 2, 2013
Kiva HQ
This Passport Series has focused on the unique challenges faced by Palestinian borrowers. With skyrocketing unemployment rates, creative entrepreneurialism becomes all the more important. Kiva is proud to provide capital to courageous, hardworking borrowers in this part of the world. So to conclude this Passport Series, we would like to share with you stories of four entrepreneurs who -- with Kiva lenders' help -- have found success in a place with limited economic opportunity. A 34-year-old father of one, Basel has a disability that impedes his ability to walk. Despite... Continue Reading >
This Passport Series has focused on the unique challenges faced by Palestinian borrowers. With skyrocketing unemployment rates, creative entrepreneurialism becomes all the more important. Kiva is proud to provide capital to courageous, hardworking borrowers in this part of the world. So to conclude this Passport Series, we would like to share with you stories of four entrepreneurs who -- with Kiva lenders' help -- have found success in a place with limited economic opportunity. A 34-year-old father of one, Basel has a disability that impedes his ability to walk. Despite... Continue Reading >
May 1, 2013
Kiva HQ
Mothers are incredibly powerful. Not only do they give life, they give their children the foundation they need to live healthy, successful, happy lives. When you give a mother the tools she needs to do these things, there’s no limit to what she can accomplish. Did you know that outside of the agricultural sector, in both developed and developing countries, women on average still earn less than 78% of the wages paid to men for the same work? This is a gap that refuses to close in even the most developed countries -- leaving millions of women worldwide struggling to... Continue Reading >
Mothers are incredibly powerful. Not only do they give life, they give their children the foundation they need to live healthy, successful, happy lives. When you give a mother the tools she needs to do these things, there’s no limit to what she can accomplish. Did you know that outside of the agricultural sector, in both developed and developing countries, women on average still earn less than 78% of the wages paid to men for the same work? This is a gap that refuses to close in even the most developed countries -- leaving millions of women worldwide struggling to... Continue Reading >
Apr 30, 2013
Kiva HQ
This is a guest post from Kiva Zip Director Jonny Price. What's next? I’m a huge West Wing fan, and one of my favorite quotes from President Jed Bartlett is that whenever his team achieves a tremendous success – broker a peace deal in the Middle East, or resolve a dispute between trade unions and their employers, for example – the President asks “what’s next?” I think it’s a great way to approach life. Well we haven’t brokered any peace deals recently, but we are excited to announce that Kiva Zip... Continue Reading >
This is a guest post from Kiva Zip Director Jonny Price. What's next? I’m a huge West Wing fan, and one of my favorite quotes from President Jed Bartlett is that whenever his team achieves a tremendous success – broker a peace deal in the Middle East, or resolve a dispute between trade unions and their employers, for example – the President asks “what’s next?” I think it’s a great way to approach life. Well we haven’t brokered any peace deals recently, but we are excited to announce that Kiva Zip... Continue Reading >
Apr 26, 2013
Kiva HQ
Little ones were buzzing about the office yesterday in celebration of Bring Your Child to Work Day! Proud Kiva dads and their tots at Kiva HQ in San Francisco. Celebrated the fourth Thursday of April since 1993, Bring Your Child to Work Day is a national holiday created to give kids of all ages a peek into the working world. We kept them busy all day with a variety of projects (and pizza and cookies). Older kids had the opportunity to shadow employees with careers they are interested in, while younger kids just ate up the opportunity to hang out with mom or dad at their work... Continue Reading >
Little ones were buzzing about the office yesterday in celebration of Bring Your Child to Work Day! Proud Kiva dads and their tots at Kiva HQ in San Francisco. Celebrated the fourth Thursday of April since 1993, Bring Your Child to Work Day is a national holiday created to give kids of all ages a peek into the working world. We kept them busy all day with a variety of projects (and pizza and cookies). Older kids had the opportunity to shadow employees with careers they are interested in, while younger kids just ate up the opportunity to hang out with mom or dad at their work... Continue Reading >
Apr 24, 2013
Kiva HQ
Providing loans in the Palestinian Territories is clearly very challenging. The people who live there face both high levels of poverty and scarce employment opportunities. Given this environment, we at Kiva are pleased to work with responsible and effective partners to deliver loans in both the West Bank and Gaza. Today, we work with two of the most impactful microfinance institutions in the region, and Kiva lenders have made over $5 million in loans to more than 2,800 borrowers with their help. Noman (pictured below) is one of them who was able to improve his livelihood. Meet our... Continue Reading >
Providing loans in the Palestinian Territories is clearly very challenging. The people who live there face both high levels of poverty and scarce employment opportunities. Given this environment, we at Kiva are pleased to work with responsible and effective partners to deliver loans in both the West Bank and Gaza. Today, we work with two of the most impactful microfinance institutions in the region, and Kiva lenders have made over $5 million in loans to more than 2,800 borrowers with their help. Noman (pictured below) is one of them who was able to improve his livelihood. Meet our... Continue Reading >
Apr 23, 2013
Kiva HQ
"Globalization and new technologies are often seen to have changed the world for the worse. For me, Kiva is an expression of how to harness these forces for the good, bringing together people from across the planet to change lives in a sustainable way. I want to be a part of that change by giving time as well as money." City: Brussels, Belgium Language: English Review & Translation Team: The Write Stuff Time with Kiva: 2 years and 4 months Outstanding contributions to Kiva: Kyla... Continue Reading >
"Globalization and new technologies are often seen to have changed the world for the worse. For me, Kiva is an expression of how to harness these forces for the good, bringing together people from across the planet to change lives in a sustainable way. I want to be a part of that change by giving time as well as money." City: Brussels, Belgium Language: English Review & Translation Team: The Write Stuff Time with Kiva: 2 years and 4 months Outstanding contributions to Kiva: Kyla... Continue Reading >
Apr 23, 2013
Kiva HQ
This is a guest post contributed by Kiva Fellow Esther Honig, who is stationed with our partner Fondo Esperanza in Chile. In a rural town outside the southern city of Curico, Chile, I’m sitting at a small fold-out table with a 60-year-old Kiva borrower. I’ve just taken photos of her posing proudly inside her business, a small cinder block restaurant that she’s owned for the past 10 years. She’s flattered to have her picture taken and to know that thousands will see her on the internet. But, in order for Kiva to use any of these images, she must sign a release... Continue Reading >
This is a guest post contributed by Kiva Fellow Esther Honig, who is stationed with our partner Fondo Esperanza in Chile. In a rural town outside the southern city of Curico, Chile, I’m sitting at a small fold-out table with a 60-year-old Kiva borrower. I’ve just taken photos of her posing proudly inside her business, a small cinder block restaurant that she’s owned for the past 10 years. She’s flattered to have her picture taken and to know that thousands will see her on the internet. But, in order for Kiva to use any of these images, she must sign a release... Continue Reading >