Really...who can get enough of Senerita? Ok, I'm biased. I spent a bunch of time with her and her husband a fell in love with their kind and open spirits. This video clip is based on an interview with Karil Daniels, an independent filmmaker from San Francisco who has made a bunch of grants through Kiva to women entrepreneurs around the world. Because she used an Advanta business credit card on the Kiva site, Advanta invited her to come to Philadelphia to meet Senerita, one of the recipients of her grants. It was the first time that a Kiva borrower and a Kiva lender met in the US. I had the chance to spend time with them together in the city. You can see some of the pictures from one of the series of posts from 'Senerita's story.' (click here for some of the story and pictures)
May 2008 Archives
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Jake De Grazia, on his blog, 'A More Perfect Market,' has a cool post about 'Epic Change,' an organization that "helps people in need share their stories to acquire resources that will change their lives."Jake says, "Epic Change is part of the next generation of the Ndugu Model." It's good to remember that there are other organizations creatively leveraging social media and other technology to make it easier for us to connect with people in need around the world.
So what is the Ndugu model? Jake continues...
"If anyone has ever seen About Schmidt you'll remember Ndugu. In the movie, Warren Schmidt, a newly retired midwestern widower played by Jack Nicholson, is up late one night watching TV, when he sees an ad for a sponsor a child type charity. Searching for purpose in his post-career, post-marraige life, he makes an impulse donation and, days later, gets a thick envelope in the mail telling him that he has adopted Ndugu, a Tanzanian first grader. The package encourages him to contact Ndugu directly and leads him to write a stream of hysterically and touchingly long letters about the trials, tribulations, life, and legacy of Warren Schmidt.
So. The Ndugu Model: direct support to individuals, philanthropy brought to life by human contact and return interaction. This being the '90s, instead of letters, checks, print photographs, and drawings in the mail, we have video streaming and blogs and mobile devices beaming OMG LOLs across continents.
And, either way, whether in its old sponsor a child form or in its more scalable online instantiations, the model's good. It pulls small donors deep into causes. It educates. It inspires. It engages. It reminds everyone that we can all contribute; we can all make meaningful change."
Jake then goes to say that "Kiva deserves a lot of credit for putting the online Ndugu Model on the map."
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For anyone who followed Senerita's amazing journey to the US in April during the KivaB4B launch, this short video gives a powerful glimpse into her day to day life. It's quite moving. Enjoy.
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I stumbled across a blog today that directs a portion of all of its subscription fees to Kiva loans. Declan Fallon, through his blog 'Fallond Stock Picks', has supported 55 entrepreneurs through his site. What a great idea. Building up a loan portfolio (check it out) of that many borrowers must be incredibly satisfying for the business owner. It also gives him another reason to connect with his customers/subscribers. Go Declan! I wonder which other businesses/websites are doing something similar. I wonder who's generating the most loans through similar programs. If you know of any, let us know.
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Of course, Inc. Magazine has a website and, of course, that website has a blog. It might be called Fresh Inc., but regardless it's their staff blog. Inc.com, in collaboration with Mansueto Ventures -- the company that publishes the print and online
editions of Inc. and Fast Company -- sponsored some entrepreneurs through Kiva. Tamara Schweitzer said, "I wanted to provide readers with as many details as possible about the
day-to-day lives of small business owners in developing countries and
how exactly access to microfinance was impacting their operations."
Many of my posts on this blog documented my travels and experiences with Senerita, a loan recipient from Samoa who came to the US to meet the woman who gave her a loan through Kiva. Tamara's post reminded me of why Kiva is so unique. Making a loan (or officially a grant) through Kiva is really a unique opportunity to feel the impact of your intention. Tamara's post provides a wonderful glimpse into the life of a loan recipient. I heartily recommend the post.
Click here for the jump.
Many of my posts on this blog documented my travels and experiences with Senerita, a loan recipient from Samoa who came to the US to meet the woman who gave her a loan through Kiva. Tamara's post reminded me of why Kiva is so unique. Making a loan (or officially a grant) through Kiva is really a unique opportunity to feel the impact of your intention. Tamara's post provides a wonderful glimpse into the life of a loan recipient. I heartily recommend the post.
Click here for the jump.
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Last year, my plans to find the perfect Mother's Day gift floundered in procrastination. More flowers? Some chachkie that would sit on some shelf in some bathroom? Wasn't very inspiring. At about that time, Advanta was starting to explore its relationship with Kiva.org and I had one of those brilliant flashes that I wish happened much more regularly.
A Kiva gift certficate! What a great idea!!!
My mother was planning a trip to Africa and what better gift than the opportunity to browse through a long list of African borrowers and choose one. I called my brother and sister, clearly genetically pre-disposed to procrastination as well, and the three of us contributed to buy a Kiva Gift Certificate. She loved it, of course, and the gift has become the ultimate fall back for the last minute shopper (me). My father is now a Kiva lender and anyone lined up for gifts from me in the future will be as well.
Oh...and Kiva gift certificates for your best customers??
A Kiva gift certficate! What a great idea!!!
My mother was planning a trip to Africa and what better gift than the opportunity to browse through a long list of African borrowers and choose one. I called my brother and sister, clearly genetically pre-disposed to procrastination as well, and the three of us contributed to buy a Kiva Gift Certificate. She loved it, of course, and the gift has become the ultimate fall back for the last minute shopper (me). My father is now a Kiva lender and anyone lined up for gifts from me in the future will be as well.
Oh...and Kiva gift certificates for your best customers??
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Readers are always asking Nicholas D. Kristof from the New York Times how they can help. In this short video, he recommends kiva.org to his
readers as a way for them to help fight poverty. He makes it personal by visiting the
baker in Kabul that he made a loan to. This is a great little video if you want to introduce the concept to someone unfamiliar with microcredit and Kiva.Click Here for the video on NYT.com
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Matt Flannery, CEO and co-founder of Kiva.org was recently interviewed by the Harvard Political Review (Link Here).
It's a great interview, but the final question generated a very interesting response about the ability of technology to unlock peoples' generosity and to empower them in the face of so much injustice. The empowerment, he claims, comes from ease of use. Is it all about the user experience?
Harvard Political Review: What has Kiva taught you about the world and about social entrepreneurship?
Matt Flannery: My experience working at Kiva has taught me that people are a lot more motivated and generous than you think. If you merely provide an easy way for them to channel their social motivation, their generosity is something you can unlock; if you really tap into the source, it's really powerful. When I started Kiva, I was quite pessimistic about its potential. My mind has been changed and I've been just blown away. People were looking to reach out to other people in this way--they just didn't have the opportunity. They felt disempowered. Technology and the internet can allow normal people to feel empowered again, and that's been really exciting for me.
It's a great interview, but the final question generated a very interesting response about the ability of technology to unlock peoples' generosity and to empower them in the face of so much injustice. The empowerment, he claims, comes from ease of use. Is it all about the user experience?Harvard Political Review: What has Kiva taught you about the world and about social entrepreneurship?
Matt Flannery: My experience working at Kiva has taught me that people are a lot more motivated and generous than you think. If you merely provide an easy way for them to channel their social motivation, their generosity is something you can unlock; if you really tap into the source, it's really powerful. When I started Kiva, I was quite pessimistic about its potential. My mind has been changed and I've been just blown away. People were looking to reach out to other people in this way--they just didn't have the opportunity. They felt disempowered. Technology and the internet can allow normal people to feel empowered again, and that's been really exciting for me.