Leaving for Haiti on Tuesday

I took my first malaria meds a few days ago. Today I got my last shot. Tuesday the team leaves for Haiti!

So - what do you want to know about Haiti? Is there anything you'd like me to try to ask, observe, or photograph? (I am told that photography outside the school grounds will be very limited due to security concerns.) I have received one request from a friend to keep an eye out for any microlending activity. I'm happy to look into other topics as well -- so leave a comment and let me know what interests you!

I am told that I most likely cannot get online to post any actual blog updates from Haiti, so I will be taking down blog updates the old-fashioned way (pen and paper - gasp :) and posting the entries upon return. Be sure to subscribe to get blog updates via email so you don't miss anything. See "subscribe" button on the right-hand side of this page.

My first Kiva loan

I made my first Kiva loan today! I loaned $50 to Edina in Tanzania for her fabric and sarong business. Edina is 29 years old, and is married with 2 young sons. Her business currently makes a profit of $45 per month, and she requested the loan so she can open a shop for her business.

It seems to me that Kiva is an innovative, practical way to do micro-lending that is only possible with the technology we have today. It directly connects people with a few extra dollars (from all over the world) to people in developing countries who can really use that money. And it's not a gift -- the recipients are expected to pay the loan back, and default rate is very, very low. And the best part -- when Edina pays back her loan, I can loan my original $50 to another entrepreneur of my choice. I can keep recirculating my original capital over and over again, for as long as I like! Or I can withdraw it, if I prefer.


Kiva has gotten a ton of great press lately. Here are a few highlights:

'Revolutionising how donors and lenders in the US are connecting with small entrepreneurs in developing countries.'-- BBC

'If you've got 25 bucks, a PC and a PayPal account, you've now got the wherewithal to be an international financier.'-- CNN Money

'Smaller investors can make loans of as little as $25 to specific individual entrepreneurs through a service launched last fall by Kiva.org.'-- The Wall Street Journal

As of this writing, 13 people (including Greta Van Susteren of Fox News) have loaned Edina a total $625. She still needs $725 to fully fund her loan request. As you can see by these numbers, when each person lends a small amount, it can make a huge difference for a family in the developing world. With just $25, you can make a loan and change someone's life. Will you?

More from Muhammad Yunus

Here is a speech from October 2007 that Muhammad Yunus gave at Boston University. It's called “The End of Poverty: Because Poverty Is the Absence of Every Human Right”. This is fascinating stuff. I have picked up his new book, "Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism," and will start reading it on the plane to Haiti. Thanks to Irving Wladawsky-Berger's blog for this tip.

Muhammad Yunus, Subprime Lender

Muhammad Yunus, Subprime Lender

By EMILY PARKER, March 1, 2008; The Wall Street Journal

Queens, N.Y. In a Jackson Heights shop for colorful saris and glittering bracelets, several women have gathered to meet with their banker. They laugh and chatin Bengali. Sultana, a 39-year-old woman wearing a headscarf, hands him $128 in cash. She is making her first repayment of the $3,000, six-month loan she'll use to help with her husband's candy store.Welcome to Grameen America, Muhammad Yunus's brand-new microfinance venture. Mr. Yunus, along with his Bangladesh-originated Grameen Bank, won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for battling poverty by lending out small sums of money tothe poor. The loans are mainly for income-generating activities -- from making baskets to raising chickens. Since its establishment in 1983, Grameen has given out billions of dollars in loans, helping to pull families out of poverty and inspiring similar operations all over the world.

Read the entire article and post some comments to let me know what you think.