These are hard times, but we're still mostly way better off than the
struggling masses in the rest of the world. I just took a look at our
Kiva.org Team and the results are something to be proud of!

Number of Team Members          7
Number of Loans         96
Number of Loans per Member      13.71
Total Amount Loaned     $2,425.00

If you have $25 to loan (not donate, loan, it's available with no
transfer charges when the loan is repaid) consider joining our team :

 http://www.kiva.org/community/viewTeam?team_id=535

We began the team about a year ago.

The more people we can help to earn an honest living to support their
family and provide services to their community, the better the world
will be. We are so privileged, those of us talking about our iPhones
and Polycoms, most of us can afford to share our a few bucks from time
to time.

Eating my own dogfood

I just saw an episode of "Curb Your Enthusiam" where a guy was
collecting money for a charoty walk but then he was sitting in a café
sipping coffee during the walk.

Here are my stats:

Number of Loans Made    211     (average lender: 4.6)
Number of Successful Invitations        6       (average lender: 0.24)
Number of Loans Made by My Invitees     104     (average lender: 0.67)
Number of Gift Certificates Given       10 (average lender: 0.35)

Total Amount Lent       $5,400          (avg lender: $162, which is damn good)

Total default rate on my loans over 2 years: 1.2%

I'm not tooting my own horn here, just sharing with you this thought:

Imagine how many lives may have been changed for the better because of
those 211 loans made! The Kiva people have done an amazing thing:
harnessed the Internet for GOOD, by assembling people like us who can
spare $25 together to make up useful loans or larger amounts.

If you feel like joining this effort, please do, and if you do, please
join our team, too:

 http://www.kiva.org/community/viewTeam?team_id=535

See you in September!

Randy