Kiva and Innovative Gift Giving

[Harry Webne-Behrman]

Hi MANIACS:

At this time of year, many of us are contemplating the process of gift-
giving. An innovative approach (brought to my attention by my brother-
in-law, Steve) is kiva.org -- they provide microloans to entrepreneurs
throughout the world, especially at the fringe of economic
subsistance. As has been documented elsewhere, microlending has
emerged as an especially robust development strategy, with significant
multiplier effects because of the nature of the businesses that become
involved and their commitment to repaying the funds so others may
prosper. Kiva.org offers an especially useful way for us, as
economically privileged Americans, to make a contribution in an
innovative manner.

Here's the website: www.kiva.org

Have a good holiday season...
Harry

[Craig Burk]

Thanks for sharing this Harry. My good friend Adam is actually in
Sierra Leone, Africa right now working as a fellow for a financing
group that partners with Kiva. Its certainly not an overstatment to
say that its been an eye-opening experience and a game-changer for
him. We get updates from him from a professional perspective every
couple of weeks in his blog, as well as from a personal perspective by
email.

Here's an excerpt from his blog:
http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2008/11/20/shine-on-sierra-leone-shine-on%E2%80%A6/

Also, here's a great article from the NY Times sharing the experience
of a group of high school students who raised $25,000 to donate to a
microlending organization:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/01/education/01microbank.html?_r=4&hp
“Adults I talk to say, ‘I don’t believe in that stuff; you should be
helping people right here in America,’ ” said a junior, Ashley Lovell,
16, who is in line to run the group after Justin graduates. “Of course
that’s very important, but I believe America has the ability to help
itself. In the countries we’re looking at, the government can’t help
the people. There’s no public funding. They rely entirely on
charitable gifts to survive.”

Happy Holidays,
Craig



On Dec 11, 3:31 pm, Harry Webne-Behrman <hwebnebehr...@ohr.wisc.edu>
wrote:

[Loving, Katherine]

And there's a local organization, the Wisconsin Coordinating Council on Nicaragua (WCCN), that has operated an excellent microcredit program in Nicaragua since 1992. The staff and board are locally based and there are frequent opportunities to travel from Madison to Nicaragua to visit loan recipients. It's a smaller, targeted, more hands-on fund that offers opportunities for direct involvement by lenders.
http://www.wccnica.org/nica
--Katherine

___________________________________
Katherine Loving, MSSW
Civic Engagement Coordinator
Campus Community Partnerships Team
University Health Services, UW-Madison
115 North Orchard Street
Madison, Wisconsin 53715
(608)263-5714
kalo...@uhs.wisc.edu
UHS is moving!
Note new address as of January 1:
333 East Campus Mall #8104
Madison, WI 53715-1381

[Harry Webne-Behrman]

Thanks, Katherine! Do you know these folks? I'd love to contact them
for an upcoming UW-MANIAC breakfast...
-Harry


On Dec 15, 10:18 am, "Loving, Katherine" <kalov...@uhs.wisc.edu>
wrote:
> And there's a local organization, the Wisconsin Coordinating Council on Nicaragua (WCCN), that has operated an excellent microcredit program in Nicaragua since 1992.  The staff and board are locally based and there are frequent opportunities to travel from Madison to Nicaragua to visit loan recipients.  It's a smaller, targeted, more hands-on fund that offers opportunities for direct involvement by lenders.http://www.wccnica.org/nica

> --Katherine
>
> ___________________________________
> Katherine Loving, MSSW
> Civic Engagement Coordinator
> Campus Community Partnerships Team
> University Health Services, UW-Madison
> 115 North Orchard Street
> Madison, Wisconsin 53715
> (608)263-5714

> kalov...@uhs.wisc.edu

> UHS is moving!
> Note new address as of January 1:
> 333 East Campus Mall #8104
> Madison, WI 53715-1381
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: uwMa...@googlegroups.com [mailto:uwMa...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Craig Burk
> Sent: Monday, December 15, 2008 9:48 AM
> To: UW Maniac
> Subject: [uwManiac] Re: Kiva and Innovative Gift Giving
>
> Thanks for sharing this Harry.  My good friend Adam is actually in
> Sierra Leone, Africa right now working as a fellow for a financing
> group that partners with Kiva.  Its certainly not an overstatment to
> say that its been an eye-opening experience and a game-changer for
> him.  We get updates from him from a professional perspective every
> couple of weeks in his blog, as well as from a personal perspective by
> email.
>

> Here's an excerpt from his blog:http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2008/11/20/shine-on-sierra-leone-shine-on...

> > Harry- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Harry Webne-Behrman]

Thanks, Craig! These 'degrees of separation' get smaller and
smaller... and the value of demonstrating that even single individuals
and small groups can make a measurable difference is also so important
to keep in mind.

-Harry

On Dec 15, 9:48 am, Craig Burk <cr...@craigburk.com> wrote:
> Thanks for sharing this Harry.  My good friend Adam is actually in
> Sierra Leone, Africa right now working as a fellow for a financing
> group that partners with Kiva.  Its certainly not an overstatment to
> say that its been an eye-opening experience and a game-changer for
> him.  We get updates from him from a professional perspective every
> couple of weeks in his blog, as well as from a personal perspective by
> email.
>

> Here's an excerpt from his blog:http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2008/11/20/shine-on-sierra-leone-shine-on...