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Vote for Jessica as one of Time's 100 Most Influential People.
In the past giving internationally meant giving to a big organization- Red Cross, Worldvision, Save the Children. While it was fulfilling on some level, it felt a bit impersonal. You want to give money to those who need it, not to the salary of an executive.
Jessica Jackley saw the need for a more personal connection in the field of international giving. After formative experiences at World Vision, volunteering in Haiti, and a meeting with Mohammed Yunus, a founding father of microfinance and creator of the Grameen Bank, Kiva was formally launched. The name means unity and agreement in Swahili.
Kiva has revolutionized microfinance through Peer to Peer Lending. It was the first organization to use the web to link donors with loan recipients.
How does it work?
Log onto Kiva.org and you will see entrepreneurs from Azerbaijan to Uganda. You can loan $25 to any of the business plans on the list. The money will be then distributed by an on the ground micro-lending organization such as Lift Above Poverty Organization or IMON International. A unique aspect of Kiva is over time the money you loan will be repaid. You can then use the credit to loan to another entrepreneur or withdraw your funds.
Vote for Jessica!
In honor of her pioneering work in microlending, Time has nominated Ms Jackley as a finalist for their list of the 100 Most Influential People. Vote for her here!
The Not So Ugly Americans
I love Kiva’s work for a number of reasons. First, I love being able to give directly to an individual. My dad is an entrepreneur which gives me a deep respect for the tenacity and drive of small business owners. It’s a joy to be able to support the dreams of others.
I also feel it has great potential for peace building. Kiva gets around the World Bank, USAID, and other big international development agencies, allowing individuals in developing countries to directly connect with compassionate lenders. For example, my dad contributed to an Iraqi man looking to upgrade his welding equipment. I wish there were even more opportunities for Americans to connect with those who have suffered as a consequence of government policies. I would like to support more people in Iraq, Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Haiti…. (wow this list could get long)… etc.
What can you do
Become a Kiva lender! Kiva gift certificates are also great for holidays and birthdays
Bad economy shifted your interests to helping domestically? Check out Modest Needs- recommended by my wonderful co-worker Tina.
Snow days can mean skipping 2 meals for some DC students. Photo from flickr by jspatchwork.
DC woke up this morning to a thick blanket of ice. Many of the area schools closed, but DC public schools remained open.
Growing up in Ohio, snow days were part of the magic of winter. Each of us hoped for either a good hit of lake effect snow (which could give us a few feet) or the winning combination of near freezing temperatures and rain. However, for many DC students a snow day doesn’t mean sleeping in and sledding. Instead many kids miss the school provided breakfast and lunch and are forced to go hungry.
Despite our wealth, hunger is still prevalent in the United States. According to the Food Resource and Action Center, the US Department of Agriculture in 2007 estimated 36.2 million people experience food insecurity.
“Food insecurity occurs whenever the availability of nutritionally adequate and safe food, or the ability to acquire such food, is limited or uncertain.”
Black and Hispanic households were more likely be food insecure than the general population. The percentage of food insecure households is also increasing, and with the recession, things are probably getting worse.
DC is not excluded from the trend. According to DC Hunger Solutions 12.5% of DC households struggled with hunger between 2004 and 2006. A stunning 1 out of every 3 children in the District live in poverty.
In 2005 DC Public Schools began offering a Universal Breakfast Program which provides breakfast to all students, regardless of income. This is a good use of public money. Multiple studies have shown the positive impact breakfast has on students academic performance, behavior, and attendance.
What to do?
For more information on DC anti-hunger programs go here.
Want to help alleviate hunger in the District? Opportunities to get involved are listed here.
Due to the recession government budgets are getting slashed. If your school proposes to cut programs that serve impoverished children, speak up!
In the fight to give every child an equal chance, a good place to start is breakfast.
Paul Farmer has devoted his life to bringing health care to the poor
“…That goal is nothing less than the refashioning of our world into one in which no one starves, drinks impure water, lives in fear of the powerful and violent, or dies ill and unattended.”~ Dr. Paul Farmer
This week on NPR’s program “This I Believe” an essay was featured by my hero, Paul Farmer. You can read and/or listen to it here.
During my sophomore year in college I hit a wall. I was extremely overextended and, just like many college students, had a bit of a crisis. I was fortunate to have several professors who put me on track again. One lent me his copy of “Mountains Beyond Mountains” by Tracy Kidder. Now, five years later, I still look to Dr. Farmer for inspiration.
Paul Farmer is a physician and medical anthropologist based out of Harvard. He founded Partners in Health in 1987 after a hydroelectric project forced Haitian farmers off their land and onto infertile soil resulting in widespread malnutrition and suffering.
PIH uses a community based approach to bring free health care to the world’s poor. The group sets up clinics, rebuilds public health infrastructure, and trains community members to provide direct and indirect health care services. PIH does not do its work as an act of charity, but instead as one of outrage. Much time and passion is spent working on eradicating the root causes of disease such as poverty.
“…ill health, as we have learned again and again, is more often than not a symptom of poverty and violence and inequality — and we do little to fight those when we provide just vaccines, or only treatment for one disease or another.“ ~Dr. Paul Farmer
While the work of Dr. Farmer alone, cannot solve the world’s problems, it’s amazing the impact one person can have. Many classmates I’ve talked to have also been inspired by his work, leading them to choose a career in public health. He’s also contributed to a shift in public health perspective. The determinants of health are no longer limited to clean water and good nutrition. Instead the “upstream factors” such as poverty, government corruption, and power inequity are becoming the new targets of public health intervention.
If you, or someone you know is feeling burned out, I highly recommend “Mountains Beyond Mountains.” Having trouble figuring out what to give your boss at the holiday party? Consider donating to Partners in Health in their name.
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