Kiva and Cookies

Last night I headed over to a friends house to hang out with two of my friends. They were baking Chick Pea Chocolate Chip Cookies and I decided that there were too many cooks in the kitchen, so I sat at the table and blogged.

Last year I started reading books like The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns (Khaled Hosseini), A Long Way Gone (Ishmael Beah) and Three Cups of Tea (Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin).

Reading these stories took me across the globe to places like Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sierra Leone. They showed me the injustices that occur against woman in Afghanistan or the children in Sierra Leone who are forced to become child soldiers. Three Cups of Tea was an inspirational story of one man who has made it his life mission to build schools in Pakistan to educate their children and has now build 76 schools since 1996.

After reading these stories I began to feel a little frustrated in reading about so many horrific things that are happening in this world which are so far away and occur in a world that seems so completely different to the one that I am so fortunate to live in. It bothered me that I couldn't find anything of value to do to help besides throwing my money at humanitarian aid organizations. I started to find it pointless to be reading stories which highlight both the injustices and inspirations in this world and yet not be able to respond in any tangible way. Even talking about issues seems pretty pointless if there is no action taken.

So I stopped reading those types of books and then I found a book called We to Me (Craig and Marc Kielburger). This book not just advocates but encourages you to figure out how you can be socially conscious and responsible through small, daily actions. We to Me also advocated the importance of community and the meaningful relationships that should be made, but is often lacking in Western society.

I found it refreshing to read a book that has a message that is different than the messages we are are constantly inundated with, messages that further promote our materialistic and individualistic society. I have always found that I am happiest when I am helping others and I find it easy to be aware of the ways you can impact those closest to you. And yet, I was still looking for a way to make a difference to someone across the world and still have some kind of connection. I decided that I would still continue to donate to some of my favorite organizations such as Canada Food for the Hungary, Samaritans Purse, and Muscular Dystrophy, but I wanted to do something that didn't just involve a donation and a tax receipt.

And then I found an organization called Kiva. Kiva is an organization that connects lenders with Entrepreneurs through microfinance loans. This allows people who wouldn't normally qualify for a loan to obtain a small loan that is financed through lenders such as you or me. And so through person to person microlending, poverty can be alleviated by helping people achieve economic independence.

So for about the amount I would spend on a night out with friends I instead used that money to help finance two loans.

What I love about Kiva is that you can look at the Entrepreneur profiles and choose who you want to loan your money to. I also love that one loan is comprised of many lenders. Some of the other lenders in my loans live across Canada, the United States and even countries like Norway, Spain and the Netherlands. Also, each lender has their own profile and you can see their loan activities, or even why they choose to loan through Kiva.

I really think these microfinance loans make sense because they are filling specific needs which you can help with, even though the other person lives across the world. Plus, lending money through Kiva makes me feel nice and warm and happy inside . . . and I think eating the cookies did too.

~b~