microlending causes a stir

I received quite a few comments about my previous post regarding microlending and today I see that the founder of Ebay has just given $100 million to Tuft university on the condition that the school invests in organisations that make small loans to poor people in developing countries.

Pierre ( the ebay founder) realised that nearly 700,000 ebay users support themselves part time or full time selling through ebay and sees that this economic empowerment can flow to developing countries if it has a chance.

Kiva certainly isn’t the first bank to offer these loans. Grameen was probably the first bank to make microlending successfull and now boasts 3.7million borrowers in 46,000 villages doing loans as small as $40.

Read more about ebay’s gift to Tufst

Microlending… you can lend a poor african farmer money… and get paid back

Seth Godin just blogged this great site called Kiva which allows you to lend an African farmer $25 to buy seed or start a small store selling soap or other necessary commodities and you get paid back. It’s these small amounts that make a real difference.

We have experienced this first hand as we have helped friends and relatives in Indonesia and Thailand get ahead with seemingly trivial amounts of money. The problem for these people is they just can’t access spare cash and the money they need is too small for a bank to touch… we have set up water delivery businesses, sewing businesses, export businesses with loans/donations ranging from $100 to a few thousand. This is why we love Kiva so much… we know that some flour, sugar, eggs is enough for a village lady to make some small cakes that she can sell in a market and the profit allows her to not only pay back the loan but support her family.

The best part about Kiva is that your money goes direct to the person needing the money. So unlike many other charities out there, your money is not wasted on admin expenses or expensive houses for the aid workers overseas.

So if you want to help out, visit Kiva to learn more.

Land mines or Life Straws?

The situation in New Orleans has us thinking. People are suffering because they don’t have water to drink. Yet they are surrounded by water and for $2 an ingenious invention called the ‘lifestraw’ could be given to the people thus eliminating dehydration and water born diseas. This incredible device filters and purifies water as you suck water through the straw.. it removes all sorts of bacteria and waterborn pathogens etc. What’s more it can filter around 700 litres of water… which is enough water for someone to live on for a year! The lifestraw was invented in Denmark to help the millions of poor people who die of water born diseases each year. What amazes me is that a landmine costs around a few dollars (the USA is the largest produces of land mines) and there seems to be no problem distributing those to the poor countries/people of the world. I just wish you could buy lifestraws in the hundreds and donate them to communities… find out more from the Life Straw website

Post Secrets

This has nothing to do with food but it is so compelling I just have to share it with you. PostSecret is a community were people mail-in their deepest secrets on home-made postcards. You can see how therapeutic it is for people to get these things off their chest and the artwork and emotions in some of these cards is just incredible… the best of these postcards have been compiled into two books. So grab a coffee and spend some time at PostSecret quite an emotional experience.

The Death Clock - When Am I Going To Die?

Here’s a sobering reminder of your mortality… find out when you’re going to die. When Peter (the owner of the Spirit House) entered his details it turns out he only has a few more years left. We’re now trying to prevent him from spending our inheritance.The Death Clock - When Am I Going To Die?