BRITTANY YEAROUT
Perspectives Editor
Lend, not give, is the innovation of a new non-profit organization known as Kiva. Created in November 2005, Kiva, the Web based startup, allows people to loan money to a wide range of small, struggling businesses in the Third World.
It is simple, yet rewarding on both ends of the deal.
Only $25 is what a person needs to help the impoverished entrepreneurs of the Third World, which is only .0006 percent of the $44, 630 Pepperdine students pay a year. And while students will never get that college cash returned to them in the mail (though hopefully these degrees will eventually pay for themselves), with Kiva there is a 99 percent chance that the money will be back in their pockets in no time.
An Internet connection and money is all one needs to become a microlender and assist struggling Third-World entrepreneurs in getting out of poverty.
Here’s how it works: by visiting www.kiva.org and reading different descriptions of businesses, a person can help buy specific items, like a motorcycle taxi or farm animals, for a business owner of her choice.
How far does a lender’s money go in improving lives? Fiona Ramsey, the public relations director of Kiva, said “a very long way.” Elizabeth lives in Uganda and has five children. She sells fish in a small village and used to purchase the fish from a middleman. After taking out a loan through Kiva, she was able to go straight to the source and now smokes the fish she catches, providing a wider variety to her village. Elizabeth tripled her money and is now able to pay school fees for her children, buy regular meals and medicine.
This is an example of the kind of service and business-directed ingenuity that Pepperdine tries to cultivate and students work toward. Kiva is connecting people in such a cost-effective way that even college students can make a difference.
Kiva has moved more than $10 million from 93,692 lenders throughout the world, according to its Web site.
The company’s low operational costs are covered by donations, grants and Paypal, which allows people to send and receive money through the Internet and processes the collateral-free, zero-interest loans without any fees. This means the full amount of the loan makes it to the entrepreneur. But the company expects to start having to take a fee from every loan to maintain.
“We might be introducing a two percent fee but it hasn’t been finalized,” said Ramsey.
Remember that, “No one likes to be in a position where they can’t support themselves,” said Ramsey. “Business needs investment, that is just how it works, and the poor are discriminated against in the financial sectors. So Kiva helps the working poor build a business long enough for the $25 to be repaid and where they can support themselves,” said Ramsey.
This non-profit organization is something that Pepperdine students and their families should get involved in. I already have.
The average lender gets paid back within 12 months so it is quick and easy, painless, yet rewarding. In the end, the lender can see how successful that particular business has become through the Kiva Web site, and then decide to take out the money, or use the paid-back $25 on another entrepreneur.
If anything, Kiva should be an inspiration to anyone who wants to not only have a successful business in the future but one that can positively influence other peoples’ lives. The world needs more businesses like Kiva that are helping rid the world of poverty.
09-06-2007