Monday, June 23, 2008

Be a lender and support entrepreneurs

Greetings from Saigon (or Ho Chi Minh City as it's called today). This is my last day in Vietnam before I move on to Cambodia today. Just wanted to pass along a link to a cool non-profit a friend of mine sent me the other day. Basically, you can pick an entrepreneur of your choice in a developing country to provide a loan. So this is not really donating money - you get the money back (after 12 months they say). Pretty cool idea.

Check it:
http://www.kiva.org/

Ps: I just gave out two loans. $50 to a Vietnamese pancake maker and $50 to a Tajikistani farmer. Will keep you updated if I see my money again :-)

Pps: I've been continuously getting my money back and re-lending it. Fantastic microfinance platform!