I have heard good things about microloans throughout my lifetime. Today I made my first personal microloans through a web site called Kiva.
My personal belief is that people will act more responsibly with money they have been loaned than they will with money that is just given to them. My initial experiment with microloans is a modest one. I’ve loaned money to five different borrowers. If the money is repaid I plan to expand the amount and scope of my loans. I don’t normally get excited about most of the events that take place during my day, but today, I am excited.
It makes me feel good to think about the positive impact I may be able to have in the lives of some far away human beings who have access to much more meager resources than those I can muster. Even if I lose the money I have invested in these peoples’ lives, I will be glad that I undertook the experiment. It will have been a positive calculated risk.
Today’s five microloans included a group of restaurant owners in Cambodia, a photographer in Nigeria, a group who wants to sell cereal in Kenya, a grocery store owner in Ecuador and a carpenter in Vietnam. The money that funded these loans came from ad revenue from this blog. If you have clicked a Google ad here in the past, now you have some idea where part of the money is going.