Why I love Kiva & Advanta

I first heard of micro loans years ago when the Grameen Bank began their innovative program of helping small entrepreneurs in the Third World, and I thought it was a brilliant concept. Then more recently, when I learned about Kiva, I thought that it was one of the very best ideas I had ever heard of, and I realized that it is a great opportunity for me, as just one person, to be able to help in a meaningful way. I was really inspired and immediately picked four women to receive my loans.

It is such a great feeling to know that I can participate directly in the Kiva/Advanta partnership, so that a small loan I give to a Third World entrepreneur can make a big difference in her life and help her advance her business and result in financial security for her and her family.

Poverty is the root cause of much of the world's problems - wars, disease, hopelessness, environmental damage, crime, drug trafficking and more. Now, because of the brilliant partnership between Kiva and Advanta, ordinary people who want to do something meaningful can take direct action.

I hope that when millions of people in the developed world learn about the Kiva B4B Community, they will realize what a powerful force for positive change it truly is, and they will get involved.

I was glad to be invited to Philadelphia to participate in the launch of the B4B program and meet Senerita, one of the women whose small business I had made a loan to. In fact, I was so inspired from that experience that I added another four loans to my list.

I focus on lending to women because when you help women, you automatically help their children, and also because women in Third World countries usually have the least amount of personal power, and building their own business can help change that.

I hope many people will read about Senerita, watch some of the video that Erick took and displays in other parts of this blog, and then go to www.kiva.org and start making some micro loans! -- Karil Daniels