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Kiva.org - ehMac.ca Team, loan money, change lives! (Ongoing) $15,375 loaned to date!

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125K views 146 replies 20 participants last post by  18m2 
#1 ·
I've been active on Kiva.org since January, 2008. Kiva.org lets you lend money to a specific entrepreneurs in the developing world - empowering them to lift themselves out of poverty.

I've created a new ehMac Kiva Team in which I'm hoping many ehMac members will join and loan money to help change lives.

To start the group off and to really kick things into gear, I've loaned $1,250 US to about 45 different entrepreneurs. You can view their individual profiles here.

Let's see if we can hit $2000 loaned by the end of tomorrow. :)
Click here for ehMac's Kiva.org Team.
 
#73 ·
It would appear there have been some discrepancies with some of the loans I have been involved in, so I am placing a copy of the e-mail I received here today for all to read.

It would appear that KIVA now has things under control, although it does raise some alarm bells with me about KIVA:

Dear Kiva Lenders,

My name is Maia Pelleg and I'm a Kiva Fellow working with Sinapi Aba Trust (SAT) in Ghana. I completed my first placement as a Kiva Fellow in Kenya in January, 2010 and was thrilled to embark on an experience with Kiva and microfinance in the new context of West Africa. The initial goals of my posting in Ghana included implementing a repayment reporting system, facilitating a process that enables SAT to provide journal updates to lenders, and making necessary changes to increase efficiency.

I arrived in Kumasi and quickly ascertained that Ghana's reputation for tremendous hospitality stems from reality. The staff of SAT welcomed me warmly and graciously offered to acquaint me with various aspects of Ashanti society.

Unfortunately, as I discovered the kindness of SAT staff, I also found that SAT's existing Kiva system was extremely flawed and lacked proper management. A close look revealed that many loan amounts and terms published on the Kiva website were incorrect. Additionally, the presence of multiple duplicate loan postings was concerning.

Kiva took immediate action and paused SAT for fundraising on Kiva.org. We have evaluated many aspects of the SAT partnership, and I am confident that operational weaknesses can be corrected and adequate management information systems can be utilized.

I have spent the last few weeks designing a new decentralized Kiva system and have already begun implementing changes. Including loan officers from around the country in Kiva processes serves as an additional check as well as enables SAT to provide journal updates and scale in the future. Central to the new Kiva platform is an internal data system that will verify loan details and automate frequent and accurate repayment reports. Additionally, a senior regional manager will be stepping in as Kiva Coordinator at the end of this month.

I am working directly with SAT leadership and staff to execute identified changes. Just this week I trained two branches and several loan officers in how to collect borrower information and photographs for Kiva's site. I can attest to SAT's commitment to a strong Kiva partnership based on integrity and honesty. I am confident that we are able to bridge any gaps that existed in SAT's process of raising funds on Kiva.

This experience serves as a reminder of how seriously Kiva takes transparency and accountability. I hope you will share my ongoing confidence in SAT and more generally in microfinance. Sinapi Aba Trust makes a real difference in the lives of low-income entrepreneurs and I am excited to be a part of enabling them to continue their lending footprint.

Sincerely,

Maia Pelleg

Kiva very much appreciates your responses online. You can read and respond to this journal online at:

Gloria:

Kiva - Loans that change lives
 
#74 ·
I loaned through the same partner and the same message. Seems to be getting sorted out.

There have been a few field partners in the past that have been kicked out of Kiva in the past because of fraudulent activity. They do seem to stay on top of this though, which is a difficult task given how many field partners they have.

To me, it seems like the ~2% or so of loans that default, do so largely due to issues with field partners. (I've looked at the loans filtered by "defaulted" and poked through a number of them to see the reasons why.) Kiva does continue to try and collect, however.

I'm not so worried, though at the same time, it seems like a good idea to diversify among regions and field partners.
 
#75 ·
I'm not so worried, though at the same time, it seems like a good idea to diversify among regions and field partners.
That is the way I've been thinking too. One rotten apple does not spoil the barrel if removed in time, and it appears that is the case, still vigilance and careful choice of regions might be a wise move indeed when making loans in future.
 
#81 ·
No loans "went bad", but of the $1200 I have contributed, only about $37 has been paid back in total from my various loans. I am in no rush, and just hope the funds are being used well. I just plow any repayments back into new loans, although none of my loans has been paid back in full yet. We shall see.
 
#82 ·
I thought I had one loan go bad but when I checked into the details of the loan, I learned that it is structured differently than most. It pays back in a lump sum at the end of the term.

All other loans are tracking along quite well...almost ready to do another.
 
#85 ·
Just checked in to see that my previous loans had been repaid. Re-loaned those funds, added some more and made a donation to the Kiva organization.

Google has us by about $3000.
 
#93 ·
Threw another loan in with my repayments, as I do every month.

I do have a couple of loans that went delinquent (but not defaulted) but from what I can tell, the entrepreneurs have paid it back, but Kiva is sorting out a few issues with the field partners before releasing the funds. Once that comes in, I should have more to lend back.

Oh, and I lost 5 cents to currency exchange. Big deal.
 
#94 ·
I reloaned $50. Note that the donation to Kiva is now an opt-out instead of an opt-in. I was directed to my PayPal account because my loan suddenly exceeded the available credit, when Kiva had included a donation to them in the total.
 
#97 ·
An interesting article on Kiva, its competition (Zynga: apparently Farmville is a problem?) and future direction...

Kiva President On The Next 5 Years And Why Zynga Is Their Biggest Rival (Video)

“I think our biggest competitor is actually, probably Zynga. It’s not other nonprofits it’s actually competing for people’s attention. That fantasy football player in Canton, Ohio who might play two hours of Farmville at night, how do we get them to think about Uganda?…If building a real farm on Kiva can be as compelling as building a virtual farm on Facebook, then I think we’ve done our jobs really well.”
 
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