A nice problem to have
Kiva is officially a victim of its own success. They have filled every loan on its website. I have seen this once before about six months ago and it has just happened again.
As a proud Kiva lender I am glad to see this. This flip sid
e is a simplistic view that suggests that there is more people willing to give money than receive it.....Hmm - What's wrong with this picture?
I don't have the answer however I suspect it's down to three categories:
1) There is a shortage of field partner resources to turn the demand for funds into a loan requests on Kiva (no doubt a labour intensive process). I know that there lenders who are also supporting Kiva with as translators to help widen that bottle neck but I suspect it may be an issue.
2) There is plenty of demands for funds however not everyone is entrepreneurial enough to frame their requirements inline with something like a business plan.
3) They have just allowed active Kiva lenders with credit from partially repaid loans re-invest into new loans (quite a few million I imagine).
Either way, please support Kiva when you can. They are doing a really good job.
Kiva Update August 2008
I have talked about my defaulted loans in the past so please don't let that put you off. Just understand that you should manage you risk.
For my portfolio's performance, please see the image below. Click on it to see it full size.
My Third Kiva Loan
Chum Saroeun
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Location: Phnom Penh City , Cambodia Activity: Construction Loan Amount: $700.00 Loan Use: To buy wood and cement to build a home. Repayment Term: 18 - 18 months Status: Raising Funds Partner Rep: Nick Lazos Partner: CREDIT MFI -- World Relief Chum Saroeun is seeking a loan to buy wood and cement for the construction of his new home. He lives in Phnom Penh and works as a mototaxi driver and earns $5/day. His wife (pictured here), Hak Sopha is 43 and sells shoes at the local market, earning $4 profit/day. They have 3 children and 1 nephew who also lives with them, and they are now seeking better housing for their family. The new home will also be used as a small grocery shop, and should generate enough income to continue sending their children to school. |
My Second Kiva Loan
Jane Wanjiru Njuge
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Location: Kiambu , Kenya Activity: Farming Loan Amount: $1,200.00 Loan Use: Jane would like to buy a dairy cow and animal feeds Repayment Term: 10 - 18 months Status: Raising Funds Partner Rep: Martha Gitau Partner: Women`s Economic Empowerment Consort Jane was born 30 years ago in Nyathuna in Kiambu. She is married with 3 children. She completed her secondary education in the late 90's and joined a secretarial college in Nairobi for two years. She later worked for one year and was not satisfied with the money she was earning and decided to shift to the business world. She joined WEEC in 2000 and was among the first women in Kiambu to join the program. Her first born is in form two in Kirangari High School while the last two boys are in upper primary school. Jane, together with her chairlady, has worked hard to make the group strong and cohesive.For the last 10 years she has been engaged in dairy, poultry and horticulture faming. Currently she has 5 grade cows and about 50 chickens. The cows produce an average of 50 litres daily and she sells this to Limuru Dairy Farmers’ Co-operative Society, Ltd., which is affiliated with Kenya Co-operative Creameries (KCC), at USD 0.3 per litre. She also supplies eggs and horticulture products to hotels. Jane is very happy because it is from these business earnings that she has managed to raise and educate her children and she is seeing her life changing. Jane wants to increase her production of milk by adding another dairy cow and animal feeds if a loan of USD 1200 is given to her. She intends to make her repayments on monthly basis within a period of 12 months. |
My first Kiva loan
Location: Kangema , Kenya
Activity: Farming
Loan Amount: $300.00 (I contributed $25 myself)
Loan Use: Judy would like to buy a high grade dairy cow
Repayment Term: 10 - 18 months
Status: Raised
Partner Rep: Alice Kangata
Partner: Women`s Economic Empowerment Consort
Judy is 39 years old. She is married and has 3 children. She is a member of the ACK church in Gakoigo. Judy is a strong member of Maragwa Ushuhuda women's group. Her main economic activity is agricultural farming. She grows bananas, maize and beans. Her plan is to further diversify her activities through incorporating dairy farming. With the revival of the Kenya Cooperative Creameries, Judy wants to take advantage of the good price offered by the Cooperative for the milk.
She has applied for a loan of USD 300 to enable her to purchase a high quality dairy cow. The loans committee has approved her loan. Judy’s repayment period will be 12 months.
Visit www.kiva.org.