Thursday, November 22, 2007

Giving While Getting...A Good Start to the Holiday Season

A woman by the name of Ramona Russell has come up with an ingenious idea to honor her sister, Liz, who was recently lost to cancer. She has created a website, www.uptownliz.com, that promotes products and companies that contribute a portion of their sales to charitable organizations. She calls it "retail philanthropy". As if shopping weren't great already, now you browse her site by cause or product and link to a charitable company to make your purchase, all the while knowing that your dollar is going to make a difference in the world. Her mission is to "build a bridge between compassionate consumers and concerned companies in order to improve the world around us". What an awesome idea...and now we're honored to be a part of Ramona's site, since one of our major company missions is to give back by supporting Kiva (read more about our mission here: http://www.avascloset.net/aboutuspage.html). Check out Ava's Closet tees on Uptown Liz at www.uptownliz.com.

Monday, November 12, 2007

How Kiva Works

I've chosen to post two separate blogs because this is a lot of info. I'd like to give an update on our Kiva loan. As you know, we pledged to donate a portion of our profits to Kiva.org, an online organization that allows you to loan money to business owners in developing countries (impoverished countries don't have the financial means to provide loans to individuals to begin or grow a business, this creates a vicious cycle of poverty that is almost impossible to break out of without outside help, which is why we believe Kiva is such an amazing concept). We're talking loans as low as a few hundred dollars to a few thousand, any amount of which someone can donate (you can even lend as low as 10 dollars). Kiva chooses these outstanding entrepreneurs based on the recommendations of existing microfinance institions in severely impoverished areas, who are familiar with the individual's background, both personal and business. Kiva.org then provides all this info on their website, kiva.org, for viewing. In short, the process goes like this:
1. Lenders pick a business on kiva.org and make a loan using their credit card.
2. Kiva transfers the funds to local partners who disburse the funds to the business owner.
3. Over time, repayments are made by business owner who also provides business updates
4. Funds are returend to lender, who then may re-lend the amount or withdraw (we pledge to always re-lend).

So that's how it works...stay tuned to find out more about our sponsored business owner.

Giving Back

So, here's more about our sponsored business owner: After researching the pages and pages of business owners looking for a loan (most of which were smart, single parents with the responsibility of caring for multiple children and elderly relatives), we chose Mr. Herminio Cantero from Paraguay. Herminio is 47 years old, and he and his wife of 23 years, Isabel, have 4 children together. When he was 27 he started working cultivating his land. At that time he and his wife decided to take their small savings of US $160 and invest it to create a small garden where they cultivated various types of vegetables.

Thanks to their effort and enthusiasm, after 20 years they continue to dedicate themselves to the same business which they have now expanded into a large production where they grow an enormous variety of agricultural products. All of the children help them on the farm in addition to 19 employees who help with different activities such as irrigation, cultivation and plowing the land.

Currently he distributes his products to various supermarkets. His dream is to construct an artesian well for the irrigation of his cultivations. Herminio asked for a $600.00 loan to build a greenhouse to increase his output. The loan is a 12 month loan to be paid back monthly. His loan was disbursed on September 20. As of today, 8% of this loan has been paid back.

In beginning this process, we also researched the credentials of the local microloan institutions that oversee the selection of potential borrowers and the disbursement of funds. We chose Herminio partly because he was chosen by Fundacion Paraguaya, an organization with a zero percent default and delinquency rate, with 596 loans currently disbursed on Kiva.

We'll keep updating the info we receive on Herminio. It feels good to use our own blessings to support a hard working fellow human being. You should check it out too, www.kiva.org.