(from the Ranan Lurie Competition, 2006)
As a white person, I am obligated by White People Law to love social justice. This includes hopefully singlehandedly fixing the Russian economy, which is pretty much based on natural gas and vodka, and striving to improve the lives of people in third world countries in general. This desire stems primarily from having come from a third world country and also from my 10th grade World Cultures teacher, Mrs. Bej. When we learned about poverty in Africa, I couldn’t sleep straight for two weeks, and wondered how ANYONE could go on with their lives when that kind of stuff was going on.
I had the same feelings, both when I came back from Russia after seeing rampant poverty and not even poverty, but just generally despondency, in my hometown. And also when I came back from Israel in 2006, I wondered how anyone could sleep or do anything when there was a war going on. It turns out, that people (me definitely included) tend to forget quickly what is going on in other parts of the world. For me, it’s a challenge to get out of my comfort zone and remember that somewhere else, someone is struggling.
That’s why I was so glad to find Kiva. It works on the principle of microfinance, developed by famed Bangladeshi economist Mohammad Yunus. The simple principle is that you lend small chunks of money to those that banks are hesitant to lend to. They are charged MUCH higher interest rates if they don’t pay it back. There is usually peer pressure to pay it back because the money, in the Yunus model, is lent to groups of villagers, women who have chicken farms or sewing businesses, in the loosest sense of the word business.
Kiva works by lending your money directly to the people who need it. As they get the money back, they pay you back, leaving you free to lend money to the next person in your Kiva account. The money amounts are usually from $200-$2000 dollars,and a pool of Kiva lenders contribute to the whole amount. The money goes directly to the businessperson in need, leaving little room for corrupt governments and bureacracy. Right now, I am lending to two people: on in Tajikistan, and one in Lebanon. Both are women (intentional on my part) who run small grocery stores. One has, so far repaid 17% of her total debt and one has repaid 0%, but she has a whole year to do it. The best part about Kiva, I think, is helping out people like this who have pretty much been screwed over by numerous governments and by societal customs that dictate they take care of their parents, no matter how heavy the burden.
In economic theory, this kind of lending would never work. That’s why economic theory is wrong a lot of the time, and that’s wonderful.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Hello,
I have already seen it somethere…
Have a nice day
Pett