Para México

A PRAYER FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS

2011-05-24T08:46:00.000-05:00

Thank you Lord, for special teachers,
Who teach the special child;
The child whose learning problems
Are anything but mild.
Thank you, for giving this teachers
The concern for each little one;
The dedication to keep on trying,
When hope seems almost gone.
Thank you for her patience,
Which is needed very much;
Although they seem so innocent,
They are a trying bunch.
With out this special teacher,
Their future would be quite dark,
But because of her special efforts,
They can have a start.
It takes special qualities
To teach these little ones.
It takes concern and dedication
And patience all around.
I'm sure that most important;
It takes a lot of love;
This is why, I know you have
A special place for them above.

2011-04-18T20:49:00.002-05:00

Hemos perdido la batalla contra el autismo de mi hija, ninguna terapia o medicamento funciona y su comportamiento no mejora, ya no sabemos que hacer...

$80,000.00

2010-08-24T10:00:00.001-05:00

Thanks to your efforts our team has reached the amount of $80,000 loaned. Pat yoursef in the back, and remember we still have to reach the ultimate goal of $100,000 by the end of the year. We have four months to accomplish it. Congrats everyone!

The Magnificent Migrants | Foreign Policy

2010-06-01T11:49:00.001-05:00

The Magnificent Migrants | Foreign Policy

Coolest. Thing. Ever.

2010-02-19T12:04:00.003-06:00

I give you... Sharktopus!

SyFy channel has commisioned it, and yes, I will watch!

Earthquake in Haiti.

2010-01-12T21:18:00.012-06:00

Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Haiti. As you know a terrible earthquake, magnitude 7.3, has hit the capital Port Au Prince, with several aftershocks following. Haiti’s ambassador to the United States has called the event a major catastrophe. The city of two million has been leveled according to news reports, and serious loss of life is expected.

Haiti is the poorest country in the American Continent, and this disaster will only make things a lot worse. I've never used this forum to promote causes other than Kiva, but this time please considerer aiding the rescue efforts and the rebuilding phase. Reputable international aid organizations are:

American Red Cross.
Donate.

Doctors without Borders
Donate.

Direct Relief International
Donate.

Mercy Corps.
Donate.

Operation USA
Donate.

Partners in Health.
Donate.

Save the Children.
Donate.

UNICEF.
Donate.

Thanks

Collapsed Presidential Palace in Port Au Prince.

November Stats

2009-12-18T10:35:00.005-06:00

A little late, but November stats are here! Welcome to our new members:
Mark (Kirkland, WA)
Diego (New York, NY)
j diane (Melaque, Mexico)
yess (Aguascalientes, Mexico)
The Littlest Angel (Toronto, ON)
Margaret
Yesenia
Catalina (San Pedro Garza, Mexico)
Cesar (San Diego, CA)

Feliz Navidad!

Para Mexico on the Kiva Fellows Blog

2009-12-14T07:46:00.003-06:00

Check out this article of the Para Mexico Team on the Kiva Fellows Blog, it is the first time a Kiva team has been featured on this blog...

Para Mexico on the Kiva Fellows Blog

Original source of controversy: Kiva Is Not Quite What It Seems

2009-11-19T15:49:00.006-06:00

Kiva is not Quite What it Seems, by David Roodman

Reply from Matt Flannery, Co-Founder and CEO of Kiva.org

Reply from Matt Flannery to NYT article

Seems like another big controversy is going on the Kiva community similar to that of loans to US entrepreneurs. Still trying to digest what is going on here!!!!

Confusion on Where Money Lent via Kiva Goes

2009-11-19T15:46:00.003-06:00

From the New York Times.

Permalink

Confusion on Where Money Lent via Kiva Goes
Published: November 8, 2009

Last month, David Roodman, a research fellow at the Center for Global Development, pressed a button on his laptop as his bus left the Lincoln Tunnel in Manhattan and started a debate that has people re-examining the country’s latest celebrated charity, Kiva.org.

Oprah Winfrey extolled Kiva on her TV show. Nicholas D. Kristof, a columnist for The New York Times, sang its praises. “I lent $25 each to the owner of a TV repair shop in Afghanistan, a baker in Afghanistan, and a single mother running a clothing shop in the Dominican Republic,” Mr. Kristof wrote in a 2007 column.

Kiva, a nonprofit organization, promoted itself as a link between small individual lenders and small individual borrowers like Maryjane Cruz in the Philippines, who recently sought a $625 loan to support her family’s farm.

But Mr. Roodman’s blog post said that lenders like Mr. Kristof were not making direct loans. Borrowers like Ms. Cruz already have loans from microfinance institutions by the time their pictures are posted on Kiva’s Web site.

Thus, the direct person-to-person connection Kiva offered was in fact an illusion. Kiva’s lenders were actually backstopping microfinance institutions, and since Kiva and other online giving and lending models pride themselves on their transparency, Mr. Roodman and others suggested it might better explain what its lenders’ money — about $100 million over four years — was really doing.

“The person-to-person donor-to-borrower connections created by Kiva are partly fictional,” he wrote. “I suspect that most Kiva users do not realize this.”

“Little did I realize what that click would unleash,” he said in an interview, later adding that the post had attracted dozens of comments, more than 10,000 hits and thousands of Twitter postings.

Much of his long post is complimentary to Kiva — after all, the information he used to write it is largely tucked away on Kiva’s site — but it has brought scrutiny of the organization. It goes beyond complaints about its transparency to questioning whether the model it relies on is viable and, indeed, whether any organization can fulfill the promise it was making to directly connect people to people.

“There’s a whole new generation of socially connected nonprofits that use the Internet to make the illusion of person-to-person contact much more believable,” said Timothy Ogden, editor in chief of Philanthropy Action, an online journal for donors. “The problem is that they are no more connecting donors to people than the child sponsorship organizations of the past did.”

In the late 1990s, several child sponsorship organizations amended their disclosures after a series of articles in The Chicago Tribune revealed that while they were soliciting money to sponsor a specific needy child, that child was not necessarily receiving the money directly.

More recently, charities that ask donors for money to buy a farm animal have added disclaimers to their pitches, stating that money might not buy a cow or a duck but finance broader programs.

Now Kiva is the latest nonprofit group to have to overhaul its explanation of how it works. Where its home page once promised, “Kiva lets you lend to a specific entrepreneur, empowering them to lift themselves out of poverty,” it now simply states, after Mr. Roodman’s post: “Kiva connects people through lending to alleviate poverty.”

Kiva is not the only site with transparency problems. GlobalGiving, whose Web site allows donors to choose among various projects to support, has raised money for philanthropic projects of three or four profit-making companies, according to Dennis Whittle, its co-founder and chief executive. It did not, however, tell donors that their money would support a company’s philanthropic projects rather than one proposed by a nonprofit.

For instance, it raised $975 for SunNight Solar Enterprises, a small start-up that develops solar-powered consumer products, so it could distribute 500 free solar-powered lights to refugees in camps. After The New York Times raised questions about the issue, Mr. Whittle said in a blog post on The Huffington Post that GlobalGiving was considering whether to tell potential donors when it was raising money for a business rather than a nonprofit.

Premal Shah, Kiva’s president, said he could foresee a day when Kiva really did provide person-to-person connection, once some legal hurdles are cleared and when people in the developing world began using their mobile phones to use credit and make payments.

“That’s the future of Kiva,” he said, “when through that disintermediation process you can bring down the costs of these transactions and put them directly in the hands of people.”

For now, however, analysts are raising questions about Kiva’s model, which relies in part on its own data, offers lenders no recourse against default and deploys volunteers to do most of its auditing.

Mr. Ogden goes so far as to question Kiva’s role in the lending process. “Kiva’s new documentation explains, if you read it, that Kiva is a connector not of individual lenders to individual donors, but of individual lenders to microfinance institutions,” he said. “If Kiva’s users want to be connected to an individual borrower, Kiva doesn’t do that, and so the big question is, do Kiva’s users want to be connected to a microfinance institution — in which case, why do they need Kiva?”

Indeed, individual lenders can support microfinance institutions directly through, for example, Microplace, or make donations to support nonprofit groups like the Grameen Foundation and Acción that support microfinance.

Mr. Shah said he thought Kiva’s distinct advantage was in making it easier for small lenders to support microfinance than the other programs.

The difficulty is in engaging the person who wants to lend $25, a mother of three in Des Moines, for instance, “and create a simple way for her to participate in microfinance, which is what we do,” Mr. Shah said.

The question is, does the lender understand that his money may not be supporting the loan he picked on Kiva’s Web site?

The uproar has proven beneficial in an unexpected way. “If anything, it has drawn more people into the nuance and beauty of this model of microfinance,” said Mr. Shah, who joined Kiva from eBay. “It’s highly imperfect, but it’s like a 3 1/2-year-old child: it has a lot of potential.”

He said he had so far seen no impact on Kiva’s business, which set a record with $293,000 lent on the day he was interviewed and celebrated its fourth anniversary last month by announcing it had lent more than $100 million all told.

Overwhelmed by Kiva and Para Mexico's email load?

2009-11-03T13:27:00.004-06:00

There are teams out there with hundreds, a few of them with thousands of members, which maintain a very active and vibrant message board, which is great, except that one of the main complains floating around is the some times staggering amount of email people receive in their inboxes, as a consequence of message board activity. Many people decide to move on to other less busy teams or stop being members of any team altogether.

Too much email in your inbox generated by Kiva and Para Mexico's members? If you feel like this is your case, please don't quit, there is a way to fix that:

On your "My Portfolio" page, click on
"My Account" then
"Email Preferences"
and set "Send me Team Messages" to your desired delivery option.

You can change other delivery settings to avoid getting too much email from Kiva on that very same page.

Thanks.

October Stats

2009-11-03T13:10:00.006-06:00

Well, congratulations everyone. October was the best month in term of amount loaned: $4,600.00 was distributed among 141 new loans, well done! That's $350.00 more than the previous record month, February 2009.

Membership growth has been explosive during the last couple of months as well, 45 new members joined, 26 in October alone, making this month the best in terms of number of team members since the team was first created. Welcome:

Hugo (Williamsburg, VA)
MexiSue (Glenwood Springs, CO)
Norma(DF, Mexico)
Hardy (Dallas, TX)
Cynthia (Laredo, TX)
Paul (Oxnard, CA)
jose louis
Jessica (San Andres Cholula, Mexico)
Heber (Chicago, Il)
Audri, Estrella & Carla (Wichita, KS)
Miguel (Visalia, CA)
Amilcar (DF, Mexico)
Nehemiah (San Antonio, TX)
Irene (Ossining, NY)
Sebastian (Zapopan, Mexico)
Susanna (New York, NY)
Karen (Arvada, CO)
Anonymous (El Paso, TX)
Jose
Brad (Sommerville, MA)
Juan (Katy, TX)
Marian (Recruit-a-Thon member!)
Allison (Recruit-a-Thon member!)
Lily (Bronxville, NY)
Manuel (Merida, Mexico)
Jim Middleton (Santa Cruz, CA)
Roberto (Irving, TX)

All new members, please take a minute to read the following recommendations to make your team experience better:

Five ways to increase the Team's impact.
Five more ways to increase the Team's impact.
RSS and Kiva.
Overwhelmed by Kiva and Para Mexico's email load?

Now the graphics:

Traditional Annual 2009 Halloween Recruit-a-Thon

2009-10-23T11:58:00.003-05:00

All right, I got the nine 2010 Kiva calendars, and as promised, one of them can be yours. The past February we had the Valentine’s Day Loan-a-Thon, this time I’m thinking something different, a bring-a-new-member-thon, mmmm, too long, how about recruit-a-thon, that’s it, the Traditional Annual 2009 Halloween Recruit-a-Thon. Bring over new members to the team, friends, family, coworkers, neighbors… those who bring the most new members during the Traditional Annual 2009 Halloween Recruit-a-Thon win a brand new 2010 Kiva calendar…

The Traditional Annual 2009 Halloween Recruit-a-Thon starts NOW and ends next Friday October 30, seven days.

Don’t forget to post on the team's wall who the new member is and who recruit him/her, otherwise I won’t be able to track it down. Don’t worry about where you are if you win, I’ll be happy to ship the calendar wherever it has to go. You can take a look at the calendar on Kiva’s shop page or at the team blog.

10 Questions for Muhammad Yunus (Time Magazine)

2009-10-19T19:18:00.000-05:00

Do you think it is ethical to charge the poor interest and make a profit out of it?
Hasan Iqbal

SUNDSVALL, SWEDEN

In Bangladesh, Grameen Bank charges the lowest rate among all microcredit programs, and yes, we make a profit. But Grameen Bank is owned by the borrowers, so when we make a profit, it goes back to the borrowers as dividends.

Are microloans taking a hit because of the recession?

Katie Malone

POINT MARION, PA.

We use very local money that is going to the local poor, so there is no way the hit taken by the financial centers of the world could be transmitted to us. We don't see fluctuations in repayment rates or anything like that. We are O.K.

How would you help the world out of recession?

Azmath Shamrad

NEWCASTLE, ENGLAND

The system failed us. There's no reason why we should resuscitate it. We have to make absolutely sure that we don't go back to the same old normalcy. We should be creating a new normalcy. That opportunity has to be taken.

Microfinancing empowers Bangladeshi women. Is it driving cultural change?

Lucas Torrin, OTTAWA

The most dramatic thing that has happened in Bangladesh in the past 25 years is the total change in the status of women. Microcredit has played a very important role in that, particularly with poor women.

Has technology like cell-phone payment changed the microlending environment?

Daniel Weldon, PORTLAND, ORE.

Not yet, but it opens up the door for all kinds of cell-phone-based banking facilities, health-care facilities, marketing facilities. The cell-phone [network in Bangladesh] has been laid out, so now it's a question of bringing the programs and content to those things.

Have you ever found an incident of corruption involving a Grameen Bank loan?

Rudi Toruan

SAMARINDA, INDONESIA

We have cases of corruption, but Grameen Bank now has 28,000 staff, 8 million borrowers and 2,600 branches. We lend out over $100 million each month and have a similar amount coming back. It's very easy to put money in your pocket. But the amazing thing is that cases of corruption are so rare.

Do you think the model of microlending that is so successful in Bangladesh can be applied elsewhere?

Sadruddin Salman

DHAKA, BANGLADESH

Today Grameen programs are everywhere. We even have a program in New York City, and it works beautifully. It's the same system as in the villages of Bangladesh. We do it in Latin American countries--in Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica--in exactly the same way.

Why has it been difficult to implement microcredit schemes in Africa?

Obi Iwuagwu, LAGOS, NIGERIA

We have a program in Zambia, and we have absolutely no problem. If somebody says microcredit doesn't work in Africa, I would not agree. I see it working.

Population growth contributes greatly to global poverty. What are your thoughts about the problem?

Bob O'Connor, OSLO

Thirty years back, Bangladeshi mothers had an average of 6.2 children. Today the average is 3.1. The population-growth rate has drastically come down, and among many explanations is the empowerment of women. They became aware of their ability to handle their lives and make decisions. Microcredit is not a population program, but it has helped women see how they can live their own lives.

As individuals, what's the best thing we can do to consign poverty to museums?

Louise Holly, LONDON

Make people believe that we can send poverty to museums. When I talk about it, people laugh and say, "It's impossible." But when you don't believe something, you can't achieve it. You have to imagine and make that imagination achievable.

VIDEO AT TIME.COM

To watch a video interview with Muhammad Yunus and subscribe to the 10 Questions podcast on iTunes, go to time.com/10questions

Kiva 2010 Calendar is here...

2009-10-16T15:23:00.003-05:00

Look at a few pictures contained in the calendar...

First Kiva team to reach $1,000,000.00 in loans.

2009-10-14T09:28:00.003-05:00

Congrats to the Atheists, Agnostics, Skeptics, Freethinkers, Secular Humanists and the Non-Religious, for being the first Kiva team to reach one million dollars in loans. But watch it, we are going to beat you soon (yeah right!).

September Stats

2009-10-13T07:41:00.006-05:00

The most relevant aspect about September is the growth in terms of membership the team had. Nineteen new members joined the team, the biggest number since October 2008, where 45 new loaners joined. It was fun tracking down the new members, and here they are, welcome to the team:

Steve (Salem, OR)
Rigo
Jorge (Vancouver, BC, Canada)
A&L (Bellevue, WA)
Queen La Chica (Duncan, BC, Canada)
Ivan (Estado de Mexico, Mexico)
El peso nuestro (Cd. Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico)
Federico (Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico)
Sergio (Distrito Federal, Mexico)
Juan & Marisol MM (San Francisco, CA)
Daniela (Baltimore, MD)
salvador (East Palo Alto, CA)
Arturo (Sylmar, CA)
Sergio (Baldwin Park, CA)
Paul (Cholula, Puebla, Mexico)
Mary (Bend, OR)
m in nyc (US)
Julianne (Portland, OR)
Deena (Mesa, AZ)

If I missed someone, my apologies. Let me know so I can acknowledge you next time.

The end of the world as we know it! Again!

2009-10-05T13:34:00.003-05:00

Massive property destruction, millions dying, a whole city gobbled up by the ocean!!! Hollywood loves, LOVES destroying our biggest metropolitan areas and most recognizable landmarks over and over again. Earthquake? Checked. Meteorite? Checked. Alien invasion, zombie attack and lethal virus? Checked, checked and checked! Oh, and super big monsters and nuclear war too!

But the movie 2012 promises to be on a new level of cheesy special effects, unbelievable plot and terrible acting. I mean, the world is coming to an end, do I see frenzied panic on the face of the denizens of this movie? Do they fall on their knees in paralyzing fear as anybody on this situation would do? No, they are cool enough to drive a limo dodging crumbling streets and freeways, even through a falling skyscraper!

I dare you to sit and watch…

The Mayan calendar ends in 2012, big deal, go purchase a new Mayan calendar and we save the world!

August Stats

2009-09-11T11:29:00.006-05:00

August was our third best month! We added $3,900.00 to our amount loaned, a growth of 33.33% more than July, well done!

We have nine new members, welcome:
Raul (Denver,CO)
Damien (Italy)
Dominic (Baton Rouge, LA)
Diana
Cornelia (Hamburg,Germany)
Alexandra (Vancouver, BC, Canada)
Maria (Castle Rock, CO)
Hector (Monterrey, Mexico)
Rachel (Gurnee, Il)

Again, team stuck on page 7 for some time now:

Impact within the Kiva community (out of 8467 Kiva lending teams)
Number of Loans	866	Ranking: 69
Quantity Loaned	$33,975.00	Ranking: 68
Number of Members	145	Ranking: 65

Now the graphics:

By the way Happy Birthday Para Mexico!!!

It is hard to believe that one year has gone already, it sure looks like yesterday when this group started just a few days after Kiva implemented the feature.

At the end of the team's first month, $225.00 where loaned and 14 members had joined. Look at us now, with nearly $35,000.00 loaned and 147 members. I guess we can conclude this team has been a success!!

Thanks to the founding members that joined over the first month:

Nuri
adelas y elias
Azucena
Ricardo
Christine
Cindy & Dan
Carlos
Eli
Jim & Conchita Burmeister
Gabriel
Andres
Ximena

And thanks everyone for joining the team and supporting more than one thousands entrepreneurs in Mexico and around the world. Let’s make the second year as successful as the first one!

2009-08-18T22:17:00.005-05:00

One thousand loans!!! Another great milestone, congrats everyone...

Futbol Tragedy: Mexico's Decline as a Soccer Power - By Andres Martinez | Foreign Policy

2009-08-12T08:21:00.001-05:00

Futbol Tragedy: Mexico's Decline as a Soccer Power - By Andres Martinez | Foreign Policy

Shared via AddThis

July Stats

2009-08-03T11:47:00.003-05:00

July was an OK month. We did not break any records, and it wasn't one of the best months, be the team kept wrowing on total amount loaned, number of loans and membership. Five new members joined on July, welcome:

Brian (Walnut, CA)
Rosa (Brawley, CA)
Claudia
Let (Toluca, Mexico)
Monica (Toluca, Mexico)

We reached the total amount loaned of $30,000.00 finally. It took us 6 months to reach $10,000.00, 3 months to reach $20,000.00, and three more months to add another ten thousands.

The conflict with Admic Nacional has finally reached a solution. Despite the fraud orchestrated by the managers, Adminc Nacional will repay the nearly $50,000.00 it owes to kiva lenders over a two year period. Better than nothing. It is really sad that that an organization whose goal is to help out those who need it the most has betrayed so many people that in good faith trusted them with their hard earned money. I’m also disappointed with the information Kiva is disclosing about this, they don’t mention further details about the nature of the fraud or if the responsible people have been held accountable.

Fundacion para la Vivienda Progresiva and Fundacion Realidad are the field partners serving Mexican Entrepreneurs left. They seem to be in good standing and repaying thier debts.

Now the graphics...

$30,000.00

2009-07-28T11:58:00.002-05:00

Thirty thousands dollars loaned to entrepreneurs around the world. Congratulations team, way to go!

No hard feelings...

2009-07-27T08:20:00.002-05:00

Fly the undressed skies

2009-07-20T14:41:00.002-05:00

I guess I speak for a lot of people when I say that nobody really listens to the onboard safety announcement when flying on your generic national airways company. But If I happen to be flying on Air New Zealand, I'll be paying a lot more of attention to such announcement. It's safe for work, don't worry! But a lot of fun...

June Stats

2009-07-01T10:55:00.006-05:00

June was our second best month, we loaned $3,925.00, an increase of 16.90%, not bad! Membership also had the biggest grow in three months. An unusual amount of people is joining Kiva as a result of the opening of its platform to entrepreneurs of the United States. That increase may be trickling down to our group. Welcome our 12 new members:

Christian
Leticia (Wapato, WA)
Ivan (Mexicali, Mexico)
Bob (Sapulpa, OK)
Pepe (DF, Mexico)
Emilio (San Jose, CA)
Brent (New York, NY)
Gabriel (Los Angeles, CA)
Bryan & Nicole (Houston, TX)
jose jesus (Tlatizapan, Mexico)
Liz (Westbrook, CT)
David (Evansville, IL)

Again, not a lot of change of the position of our team within the Kiva community, we have been stuck on page 7 for some time now.

Impact within the Kiva community (out of 7289 Kiva lending teams)
Number of Loans	866	Ranking: 64 (+3 from previous month)
Quantity Loaned	$27,150.00	Ranking: 68 (+2 from previous month)
Number of Members	133	Ranking: 62 (-1 from previous month)

Now the graphics:

I have been presenting the same graphics and information for some time now, if you have some ideas about some other data about your team you would like to see, let me know.

I have not receive any communication from Kiva regarding the problems with Admic Nacional, got an email reply with pretty much the same information as the field partner's web page. That issue is still pending.

Sin Nombre

2009-06-17T14:04:00.003-05:00

I just saw “Sin Nombre” at our great Capri Theatre here in Montgomery. I left the theatre speechless, hard to believe that such a beautiful movie can show so accurately the brutality and dangers awaiting immigrants traveling through Mexico hoping to reach the United States. It is not a feel-good movie, it hits you hard over and over again, and then some more.

The movie is about two teenagers, Sayra, a young Honduran girl planning to trek with her Dad and Uncle all the way from Tegucigalpa to New Jersey, and Willie/Casper, a Mara Salvatrucha member in Tapachula, Mexico, who turned his back to his gang and is being hunted. They will meet each other and will end up traveling together to the North. This is a movie you just have to see. Go to your local art cinema, add it to your Netflix queue, ask for it on you closest video-rental store.

Kiva now open to entrepreneurs in the USA

2009-06-10T12:52:00.008-05:00

It has been a very busy day for Kiva today. First a TV segment on ABC’s Good Morning America! this morning featuring a story about Kiva. As if that was no big deal, Kiva got a big name behind them to sponsor their efforts, Maria Shriver, the wife of the Terminator Governor himself.

So why is Kiva getting the spotlight today? They opened up their platform to entrepreneurs in the United States, here is the official announcement:

“Today Kiva got a little closer to its mission of connecting people around the world for the sake of alleviating poverty. Starting today, lenders can make loans to microentrepreneurs in the US.

When Kiva first started, it focused on lending to entrepreneurs in Africa. In the last 4 years we have expanded to many more regions around the world, focusing in developing nations. However, our desire has always been to be a truly global organization, and to allow individuals anywhere in the world to make loans anywhere else in the world. Kiva believes that poverty exists in many forms throughout the world and that we can play a part in helping alleviate that poverty by allowing people to lend through our website.

Therefore, to be a truly global organization, Kiva is expanding into microfinance markets in the developed world. Since over 70% of our lenders are currently from North America, the United States was a natural first choice. We know there is much more to be done to fully achieve our mission of connecting people throughout the world, but we are very excited about this first step. We look forward to the day when money is flowing in all directions around the world through Kiva: a Guatemalan woman making a loan to an entrepreneur in Detroit, a man in Uganda making a loan to an entrepreneur in Rwanda, and an Italian lending to a Filipino farmer. We are excited about these possibilities and look forward to seeing them become a reality.”

The debate on this new feature has been animated to say the least. There are members that are very enthusiastic and believe that lending to entrepreneurs in the USA was the last missing feature to help more people leave poverty, and grow the Kiva lenders base.

Some others believe that entrepreneurs in the USA are far wealthier and in less need of help that people in developed countries. This will siphon funds that may otherwise could have gone to a truly needy entrepreneur that does not enjoy the opportunities that Americans have.

Browsing through the new loans on Kiva, I realized that some US entrepreneurs are well educated and already enjoy a good standard of living, for instance, Mark. Mark has an Architecture degree, is currently employed as a graphic designer, and he is planning to open his own small business, Urban Digital. He is requesting a $7,000 loan to fund his company. Mark was succesfull in getting the funds he needed from Kiva.

Seems to me like for this particular case, Mark could have found different funding resources that woud not have taken resources of Kiva lenders from other truly needed entrepreneurs. I am not saying that Mark's aspirations are not legitimate and he is less deserving, but I believe that it serves Kiva's purpouse better to find other entrepreneurs who to lend to.

May Stats

2009-06-01T21:18:00.004-05:00

Oh well, I took a month long hiatus from editing this blog, but the monthly stats are back! Unfortunately my internet access is somehow limited right now, so I will not be able to provide complete information as in other months.

Total amount loaned grew by $3,850.00. Our third best month. Seems like nothing will beat our own February 2009, where our total amount loaned was $4,250.00.

Also after some stagnation on new membership, we have eleven new team mates, including our first member from Singapore.

Welcome:
Octavio (Mexico City)
Anonymous (Singapore)
Gerardo
Anonymous (Chihuahua, Mexico)
Andrea (Anchorage, AK)
Paulina (Kitchener, ON)
César (Toluca, Mexico)
Abril (Villahermosa, Mexico)
Johnny (United States)
Alfonso (Berkeley, CA)
John & Jeanne (Auburn, AL. One more member from Alabama, War Eagle!)

Now the graphics:

April Stats

2009-05-01T12:20:00.004-05:00

The total amount loaned grew a respectable 20.34% during April, for a total of $3,275.00. Our third best month so far. We added 109 new loans, making our team jump four places, to position 63 out of 6279 Kiva lending teams.

I have notice that altough our team is not very big compared to other monster-teams such as AASFSHNR, Kiva Christians and Team Obama, our Number of Loans per Member is actually higher than two of them:

AASFSHNR: 4.11
Kiva Christians: 6.88
Team Obama: 4.39
Para Mexico: 5.70

No doubt our team members have a high commitment in this cause. Keep up the good work!

On team membership, it was the slowest monthly growth. Five new members joined us, one left us, for a net gain of four. Welcome:
viri (Los Angeles, CA)
Judith
Rosy
Sharon (Toledo, OH)
Ruth (Shoreline, WA)

Now the graphics:

Meet the World

2009-04-20T12:01:00.004-05:00

Grande Reportagem is a Portuguese news magazine that is recognised for its investigative reports and excellent photo-journalism.

The creative team on this magazine devisde the concept “Meet the world”. In each case, the colours that appear on various national flags were used to symbolise a social or political issue that is specific to the country in question.

Icaro Doria, a member of the concept team, said:

"We started to research relevant, global, and current facts and, thus, came up with the idea to put new meanings to the colours of the flags. We used real data taken from the websites of Amnesty International and the UNO."

Grande Reportagem “Flags” campaign is the winner of EPICA D’OR (PRINT) 2005.

The countries represented above are United States, Somalia, European Union, Colombia, China, Burkina Faso and Brazil.

About that microloans for home improvements discussion...

2009-04-13T09:30:00.002-05:00

Over the last few days, the team have been discussing whether is a good idea to fund loans to people trying to improve their home, as opposite as to someone who will fund a micro business. I think this post I read some time ago from a Kiva Fellow doing some research on housing in Nuevo Laredo may shed some more information about this topic. A bit long, but worth the time.

Posted by Brendan McBride; August 30, 2008.
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Progressive housing 101, or, an intro to why housing microfinance matters
30 August 2008

I promised a long time ago to write about housing in Nuevo Laredo.

So I will exercise self-control and delay the gratification of writing about my recent outing to a lucha libre pro wrestling extravaganza. I will write instead about how housing gets built here in Nuevo Laredo – more of a sweaty struggle than the lucha libre on any day – and why housing microfinance is important in this process.

Visiting Kiva borrowers and writing journals represents a big part of my work for Kiva at my partner organization, FVP (Fundación para la Vivienda Progresiva, or Progressive Housing Foundation). For those of you who not yet gotten addicted to reading them, journals are updates that give a fuller sense of the Kiva client and the impact of the loan. So far I’ve visited over 100 borrowers to interview them for a journal. More than 50% of FVP’s portfolio is in housing loans, so I have spoken to many individuals and families who have borrowed Kiva capital to make housing improvements.

One sure icebreaker in Nuevo Laredo when talking to borrowers is to ask if they built their house all at once.

That usually gets a big laugh – a kind of “you don’t know how things work around here, do you?” laugh.

To understand how housing works in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico (and in a lot of Latin America) requires rewiring (or maybe discarding?) the typical 21st century American conception of how a house gets built. Houses do not just look different here; most of the process that brings them into existence is different from the process by which new houses are born in the U.S. – different in terms of the time it takes, how the capital flows, who maintains control of the process, and many other factors.

My icebreaker usually gets a laugh – or a sneer – because it often takes years for families to build their houses to fit their needs. The relatively low household incomes of FVP clients mean that it takes a long time to gather the capital to make housing improvements. Most families thus make housing improvements in stages, using gradual savings and occasional windfalls to purchase building materials and incrementally build their houses, wall by wall, sometimes block by block.

When you drive through some neighborhoods many of the houses look like construction supply yards, with future building ambitions measured in stacks of concrete block. The same number look like construction projects abandoned at various stages of completion. On one block you can sometimes see houses ranging from a wooden shack up to a two story concrete home with balconies – a textbook graphic of the stages of the housing process in that neighborhood. If you have never been to a developing country, this afternoon drive through one such neighborhood gives a sense of how the housing stock is in a perpetual state of evolution.

Time moves slow on housing improvements because money does not accumulate quickly for most families. Traditional mortgage financing is not an option for most low-income families. Part of the reason is that low-income households simply cannot make the payments that would be necessary to carry even a modest (say $15,000) conventional mortgage. Furthermore, many are self-employed or work informally, making it difficult to prove income even if it were high enough. And the land that they build on often falls short of having full title, so they lack collateral to secure a bank loan. These are only some of the reasons.

Even if these factors were in place for low-income households, most banks are not set up to offer small housing loans and would struggle to break even on small loans. Some government programs have had success in helping low-income families, but are typically only available to workers in the formal sector, i.e. not those who are self-employed or work in informal enterprises. (Probably more than half of FVP clients with Kiva capital fall into the latter categories.)

So households rely on their own wits and resources to build their own housing. This process is called by various names: progressive housing, self-help housing, incremental housing, and informal housing. Variations of this strategy account for the great majority of housing production in the developing world. (By the estimate of one author, Diane Mitlin, upwards of 80% of housing in the developing world is built this way.) The main characteristics of this process are 1) an almost complete lack of involvement on the part of formal institutions (banks, government permitting or inspections, formalized contractors or developers) 2) an incremental approach, building in stages over several years 3) household control over most aspects of the process.

This latter point means that each household, in a sense, becomes a micro housing developer. Each family acquires its own land, buys its own materials, provides its own labor or pays an informal contractor to complete the work. All of these inputs to housing require capital, which the family raises however it can – self-financing, you could call it.

As you might have guessed, the process of building housing in a low-income neighborhood of Nuevo Laredo is not exactly like building a house in, say, the suburbs of New Jersey.

To start, the order of the construction process in neighborhoods built incrementally is almost the opposite of building a new house in the U.S., as this crude comparison shows:

Typical new house in U.S.:

1. Land purchased
2. Installation of services (water, sewer, electric)
3. Paving of roads
4. Construction of home

Typical incrementally built house in low-income neighborhood of Nuevo Laredo:

1. Land purchased
2. Provisional home construction starts
3. Home construction gradually transforms into more permanent materials
4. Installation of services, usually electric and water first, then sewer later if at all.
5. Paving of roads, if at all.

Households acquire land by various means - some by purchase and some by occupation. (Purchase seems to be more the norm in Nuevo Laredo now.) Low-income families usually purchase in relatively unsettled areas on the outskirts of the city, where prices are most affordable. For many if not most families, this is likely the biggest sum of money that they have ever paid for anything in their lives. (The average salary of a factory worker here is about $2,000 dollars a year. I never heard of a plot of land costing less than $1,500 in 2008) Families often buy the land in installments, paying a downpayment to the seller and the paying the rest over several months or even several years.

Other families acquire land through occupation. This is a much longer story that would take another blog. To generalize, it means that a group of families “invades” (that’s the word they use here) a plot of uninhabited land (often owned by the city), typically on the periphery. The city often “regularizes” these settlements once they have grown into neighborhoods, eventually granting some form of legal title to the occupant.

At this point families are landowners, but that’s about all. It is typically land without services – no electricity, no sewer, no water hookups, definitely no cable or internet. Often they have a bill of sale or some proof of an exchange of ownership, but less frequently have an actual title to the land. This is a longer story of informal land divisions that I will get to in another post if I can.

María, a Kiva client and single mother, is one example of how families persistently and progressively build up their home over time. Her parents acquired the land through occupation about 13 yrs ago, a 7X20 meter (about 23X65 feet) plot in a neighborhood that was basically monte — desert brush — at the time of occupation. Their first step was to build a single room house out of wood. This is a typical of families with limited capital; they often build this first part of the house out of found materials or buy used wood and materials at one of the many pulgas (flea markets) in the city. The variety of materials that you see is impressive: old pallets, sheet metal, big cans pounded flat, old signs, the works. Why is this the first step? Two main reasons: some families can afford to pay rent for a more decent place, but paying rent means not being able to save to build a house. So people build a provisional house, live there, save on rent, and can put away some money to build a “casa de material” – a house of more permanent materials.

In the case of María, after four years of being on the land, the city began to install water lines, followed by electric. After about five years she and her family had saved enough to begin building a second room made of wood. Many families at this point do not yet have the resources to put down a floor, and the roof is often made of makeshift materials like second hand plywood and sheet metal. After this point María began saving up to build the first room of permanent materials..

Three years later María applied for and received her first housing loan from FVP, for $8,000 pesos (about $800 dollars). María combined this loan with her own savings to start building the first structure of new concrete block, a two room house behind the original wooden house. (By this point, she said, the original wooden house was already in bad shape.) María told me it would have probably taken her at least another 1-2 years to put together the money to build this first phase of the concrete block house if she had not received the loan.

At FVP, this is often the point at which housing microfinance enters the scene as a source of funds for these “microdevelopers” of housing i.e. when families are already addressing their housing needs, but need to access capital to move their projects forward more quickly. Not unlike the way that microfinance capital can unlock the potential of microentrepreneurs, housing microfinance helps to loosen the bottleneck of capital that can impede housing improvements.

Based what I have seen as a Kiva Fellow at FVP, here are some major reasons why I think housing microfinance is a valuable tool in a housing context like Nuevo Laredo:

1. Households are already accustomed to improving their homes in stages, so small loans complement this incremental approach. Having a small loan – in the case of FVP usually between $500 and $2,000 – allows families to move forward with improvements and then pay back the capital at a pace that they can handle. It is a like a miniature home improvement loan, tailored to a strategy of progressive construction.

2. The requirements for the loans are flexible – alternative proofs of land ownership are accepted, and the land itself does not serve as the collateral for the loan. (The guaranty on the loan comes from a friend or family member who serves as a kind of co-signer.) Loan officers understand have learned how to determine the income of self-employed or informal sector employees, recognizing that just because they don’t have paystubs does not mean that they don’t have incomes.

3. This capital allows households to make improvements at a much faster pace. This means that families get to live in healthier, safer, more comfortable conditions sooner than would have been possible without a loan. The potential positive ripple effects, in my view, are numerous.

4. Housing microloans enable households to make improvements that require a large infusion of capital and cannot be completed incrementally. For instance, a family can gradually build four walls for a new house, but you need to pour the concrete roof all at once. Many families use a loan for relatively big ticket items that are hard (or much more expensive) to achieve incrementally. Having more capital also means being able to buy more in bulk, get better prices, and get more brick for your buck, so to speak.

5. A housing loan contributes to the creation of an asset that helps to stabilize the family in the present and into the future: a home. Having a house of one’s own means not having to pay rent – and being able to save for other purposes. This asset is probably the greatest representation of wealth that the family has, and, theoretically, could be sold or serve as collateral for a loan in the future. Even if a weak housing market means that the house does not necessarily have a high exchange value, it has a high use value for families, both in the present and a patrimony for their children.

6. Improvements in housing conditions can have positive economic multiplier effects. Of the businesses I visited (about 50) 75% were located in the home of the entrepreneur, ranging from a tailor to a small grocery store to a tortillería. Many families have told me that they had always thought about starting up their own business, but they were waiting to have their own home to be able to do it. Home improvement loans can thus play a role, direct or indirect, in fostering the conditions to start or to expand home businesses.

To continue with the story of María: after finishing the first phase of the two room house, she continued to save, and just completed the two room house by combining Kiva loan capital (a second loan of $1,000) with these savings. It took thirteen years to go from blank land to a house of permanent materials. The newly-inhabited house looks great, stuccoed smoothly and painted a peach color. Right in front of it stands the bare frame of their original makeshift wooden house, a testament to how far they have come. She now uses the second room made of wood for her hair salon, which she started with her sister a few years ago. She makes enough income from the salon to support herself and her three sons, who play under the wooden structure that was their home when they were toddlers. She is thinking of applying for another loan to put up walls around the rear of her property and a new roof on this original structure, to provide a shady place for her children to play. All of this would have been harder to achieve and much slower, María and other families have told me, without having access to microfinance capital.

Stories like María’s are important because they describe the housing process for a large part of the population in Mexico and the developing world: progressive, incremental, largely informal. The way that houses, neighborhoods, and cities evolve has a lot to do with the way that low-income families build progressively in reaction to a housing market that has not offered them many other options. It is easy to look at the first steps some of these houses – scrabbled together plywood, half-built block walls – and think that they are constructed in a helter-skelter manner. To the contrary, there is, in fact, a system by which people improve their housing and a pattern to their resourcefulness. Housing microfinance can play an important contributing role in this system, serving as a powerful resource for these “micro-developers”. It loosens up the blockage of capital that can prevent improvements from moving forward, clearing the way for families who already know how to be resourceful in addressing their housing needs.

March Stats

2009-04-01T08:08:00.007-05:00

March was our second best month, only next to February, which as you may remember, was record setting and our best showing so far. Without the need of much more than the willing to help, the amount loaned grew $3,900.00; a very decent 31.97%

However this was not reflected on the Kiva rankings; there are a lot of good teams out there also doing their best effort, and as a result of that, our team practically remained stuck on the same position as it has been for the year.

Impact within the Kiva community (out of 5722 Kiva lending teams)
Number of Loans	518	Ranking: 67 (+1 from previous month)
Quantity Loaned	$16,100.00	Ranking: 70 (-2 from previous month)
Number of Members	106	Ranking: 61 (no change from previous month)

Twelve new members joined us during March, welcome to "Para Mexico":
MexicoMK (Colorado Springs, CO)
Zarai (Saltillo, COAH)
Patricia (Salem, OR)
Dave and Anonymous (San Jose, CA)
Boudin (Albuquerque, NM, our member #100)
Zac (Zacatecas, ZAC)
Marisela (Milwaukee, WI)
Alicia (Merida, YUC)
Lindsay y Rina (Mexico City, DF)
Sylvia Maria

Now the graphics:

Poor Haitians Resort to Eating Dirt

2009-03-23T08:20:00.002-05:00

Jonathan M. Katz in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Associated Press

January 30, 2008

It was lunchtime in one of Haiti's worst slums, and Charlene Dumas was eating mud.

With food prices rising, Haiti's poorest can't afford even a daily plate of rice, and some must take desperate measures to fill their bellies.

Charlene, 16 with a month-old son, has come to rely on a traditional Haitian remedy for hunger pangs: cookies made of dried yellow dirt from the country's central plateau.

The mud has long been prized by pregnant women and children here as an antacid and source of calcium. But in places such as Cité Soleil, the oceanside slum where Charlene shares a two-room house with her baby, five siblings, and two unemployed parents, cookies made of dirt, salt, and vegetable shortening have become a regular meal.

"When my mother does not cook anything, I have to eat them three times a day," Charlene said. Her baby, named Woodson, lay still across her lap, looking even thinner than the slim 6 pounds, 3 ounces (2.7 kilograms, 85 grams) he weighed at birth.

Though she likes their buttery, salty taste, Charlene said the cookies also give her stomach pains. "When I nurse, the baby sometimes seems colicky too," she said.

Food Prices Up

Food prices around the world have spiked because of higher oil prices, needed for fertilizer, irrigation, and transportation. Prices for basic ingredients such as corn and wheat are also up sharply, and the increasing global demand for biofuels is pressuring food markets as well.

The problem is particularly dire in the Caribbean, where island nations depend on imports and food prices are up 40 percent in places.

The global price hikes, together with floods and crop damage from the 2007 hurricane season, prompted the UN Food and Agriculture Agency to declare states of emergency in Haiti and several other Caribbean countries.

Caribbean leaders held an emergency summit in December to discuss cutting food taxes and creating large regional farms to reduce dependence on imports.

Beans, condensed milk, and fruit have gone up at a similar rate, and even the price of the edible clay has risen over the past year by almost U.S. $1.50. Dirt to make a hundred cookies now costs U.S. $5, the cookie makers say.

Still, at about 5 cents apiece, the cookies are a bargain compared to food staples. About 80 percent of people in Haiti live on less than $U.S. 2 a day and a tiny elite controls the economy.

Making the Cookies

Merchants truck the dirt from the central town of Hinche to the La Saline market, a maze of tables of vegetables and meat swarming with flies. Women buy the dirt, then process it into mud cookies in places such as Fort Dimanche, a nearby shantytown.

Carrying buckets of dirt and water up ladders to the roof of the former prison for which the slum is named, they strain out rocks and clumps on a sheet, and stir in shortening and salt. Then they pat the mixture into mud cookies and leave them to dry under the scorching sun.

The finished cookies are carried in buckets to markets or sold on the streets.

A reporter sampling a cookie found that it had a smooth consistency and sucked all the moisture out of the mouth as soon as it touched the tongue. For hours, an unpleasant taste of dirt lingered.

Health Effects

Assessments of the health effects are mixed. Dirt can contain deadly parasites or toxins, but can also strengthen the immunity of fetuses in the womb to certain diseases, said Gerald N. Callahan, an immunology professor at Colorado State University who has studied geophagy, the scientific name for dirt-eating.

Haitian doctors say depending on the cookies for sustenance risks malnutrition.

"Trust me, if I see someone eating those cookies, I will discourage it," said Gabriel Thimothee, the executive director of Haiti's health ministry.

Marie Noel, 40, sells the cookies in a market to provide for her seven children. Her family also eats them.

"I'm hoping one day I'll have enough food to eat, so I can stop eating these," she said. "I know it's not good for me."

Entrepreneurs Pictures

2009-03-16T11:48:00.004-05:00

I was browsing through the list of entrepreneurs our team has funded, and I noticed some of the pictures attached to the loan requests can be indeed very powerful. Maybe sometimes we don't pay a lot of attention to the picture itself, a quick glimpse maybe. But they can tell us a lot of things about the person in the picture, their home, their land, their work. Some pictures even look like a work of art, and sometimes the clothes the entrepreneur is wearing IS the work of art.

I have selected just ten pictures this time, but I encourage you to pick your own favorites and maybe that particular one will speak to you as they have done with me.

The Sixteen Decisions.

2009-03-09T09:00:00.007-05:00

The purpose of this post is to take us back a little bit to the foundations of the microlending movement and his creator, Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammed Yunus from Bangladesh. As I mentioned on the very first post of this blog, Muhammed Yunus took his inspiration to create Grammen Bank from lending a small amount of money to a group of families on his native country after a terrible natural disaster in 1974.

He noticed that it was impossible for poor families to get out of the poverty cycle, since they are totally excluded from the mainstream banking system in order to get funds to create a microbusiness, and the only funds available would be from shark lenders that charge an outrageous amount of interest. That situation is not exclusive to Bangladesh, take a look to another post earlier on this blog about shark loans on Mexico, where companies such as Banco Azteca and Elektra charge 60% or more of interest to low income families.

Grameen Bank developed the following Sixteen Desicions in order to make long term improvements to the conditions of the poor.

The four principles of Grameen Bank --Discipline, Unity, Courage, and Hard Work-- we shall follow and advance in all walks of our lives.
We shall bring prosperity to our families.
We shall not live in dilapidated houses. We shall repair our houses and work towards constructing of new houses as soon as possible.
We shall grow vegetables all the year round. We shall eat plenty of them and sell the surplus.
During the plantation season, we shall plant as many seedlings as possible.
We shall plan to keep our families small. We shall minimize our expenditures. We shall look after our health.
We shall educate our children and ensure that they can earn to pay for their education.
We shall always keep our children and the environment clean.
We shall build and use pit latrines.
We shall boil water before drinking or use alum to purify it. We shall use pitcher filters to remove arsenic.
We shall not take any dowry at our sons' weddings; neither shall we give any dowry in our daughters' weddings. We shall keep the center free from the curse of dowry. We shall not practice child marriage.
We shall not inflict any injustice on anyone; neither shall we allow anyone to do so.
For higher income we shall collectively undertake bigger investments.
We shall always be ready to help each other. If anyone is in difficulty, we shall all help.
If we come to know of any breach of discipline in any center, we shall all go there and help restore discipline.
We shall take part in all social activities collectively.

The Sixteen Desicions may look like something we take for granted and don't even come to our consideration on a daily basis. But in a poor community, where sometimes raw sewage water may run down the middle of the streets, high levels of crime may be found or no social safety nets exists at all, the fostering of community cooperation and a healthy environment are the first steps for obtaining a better quality of life.

Yunus has inspired many other organizations around the world, such as his own Grammen Bank, and of course, Kiva.

Best. Month. Ever.

2009-03-02T09:13:00.006-06:00

This is the most successful month for our team hands down. The amount lended over February was $4,250.00; and the total amount loaned overall grew up 53.46%. Thank you everybody for your efforts during the month and particularly the Valentine's Day Loan-A-Thon.

The Valentine's Day Loan-A-Thon was a total success in terms of growth of total amount loaned, we easily surpassed the initial goal of reaching $10,000.00 invested. Another goal of the Loan-A-Thon was encourage members that have low activity on the team to participate more, however, this goal was met with mixed success, since out of about 90 members at the time of the Loan-A-Thon, only 25 members funded loans, and most of them are involved regularly on investing on Kiva. I hope all the winners have already receive their goodies. Wear your hat and lanyards proudly!!!

On team membership, welcome to our newest members: Anonymous from Washington, NC; Bernardo I and Bernardo II from Mexico city, Bret (Phoenix AZ), Vlad (Canada), Alejandro (Naucalpan, Mexico), Veronica, Martin (Montgomery AL), Sabrina (El Paso TX), Tomás / Toño (Guadalajara, Mexico), marin (Fairfield CA), and Cecilia.

Impact within the Kiva community (out of 5218 Kiva lending teams):
Number of Loans: 397------------Ranking: 68 (+5 from previous month)
Quantity Loaned: $12,200.00-----Ranking: 68 (+2 from previous month)
Number of Member: 94------------Ranking: 61 (-3 from previous month)

Wow! Despite the explosive growth we had, we didn’t climb high on Kiva's rankings, the competition with other teams is brutal!

Now the graphics:

Questions for Dambisa Moyo - The Anti-Bono

2009-02-23T09:02:00.002-06:00

Interview by DEBORAH SOLOMON, The New York Times
Published: February 19, 2009

Q: As a native of Zambia with advanced degrees in public policy and economics from Harvard and Oxford, you are about to publish an attack on Western aid to Africa and its recent glamorization by celebrities. ‘‘Dead Aid,’’ as your book is called, is particularly hard on rock stars. Have you met Bono?
I have, yes, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last year. It was at a party to raise money for Africans, and there were no Africans in the room, except for me.

What do you think of him?
I’ll make a general comment about this whole dependence on “celebrities.” I object to this situation as it is right now where they have inadvertently or manipulatively become the spokespeople for the African continent.

You argue in your book that Western aid to Africa has not only perpetuated poverty but also worsened it, and you are perhaps the first African to request in book form that all development aid be halted within five years.
Think about it this way — China has 1.3 billion people, only 300 million of whom live like us, if you will, with Western living standards. There are a billion Chinese who are living in substandard conditions. Do you know anybody who feels sorry for China? Nobody.

Maybe that’s because they have so much money that we here in the U.S. are begging the Chinese for loans.
Forty years ago, China was poorer than many African countries. Yes, they have money today, but where did that money come from? They built that, they worked very hard to create a situation where they are not dependent on aid.

What do you think has held back Africans?
I believe it’s largely aid. You get the corruption — historically, leaders have stolen the money without penalty — and you get the dependency, which kills entrepreneurship. You also disenfranchise African citizens, because the government is beholden to foreign donors and not accountable to its people.

If people want to help out, what do you think they should do with their money if not make donations?
Microfinance. Give people jobs.

But what if you just want to donate, say, $25?
Go to the Internet and type in Kiva.org, where you can make a loan to an African entrepreneur.

Do you have a financial interest in Kiva?
No, except that I’ve made loans through the system. I don’t own a share of Kiva.

You just left your longtime job as a banker for Goldman Sachs in London, where you live. What did you do there, exactly?
I worked in the capital markets, helping mostly emerging countries to issue bonds. That’s why I know that that works.

Which countries sought your help?
Israel, Turkey and South Africa, primarily.

Why didn’t you get a bond issue going in your native Zambia or other African countries?
Many politicians seem to have a lazy muscle. Issuing a bond would require that the president and the cabinet ministers go out and market their country. Why would they do that when they can just call up the World Bank and say, “Can I please have some money?”

I keep reading about a new crop of African presidents who are supposedly free-market guys, including Rupiah Banda, the president of Zambia.
There are lots who are nominally free market, but they haven’t been aggressive about implementing those policies.

What do your parents do?
My mother is chairman of a bank called the Indo-Zambia Bank. It’s a joint venture between Zambia and India. My father runs Integrity Foundation, an anticorruption organization.

For all your belief in the potential of capitalism, the free market is now in free fall and everyone is questioning the supposed wonders of the unregulated market.
I wish we questioned the aid model as much as we are questioning the capitalism model. Sometimes the most generous thing you can do is just say no.

Valentine's Day Loan-a-Thon / Winners!

2009-02-16T18:39:00.001-06:00

And the winners are......
drum roll please...
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Kiva hat----> M + M !!!!!!
Now the real winner of the Kiva hat-----> Ximena (El Paso, TX)
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Kiva lanyards:
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Juan (Cd Juarez, Mexico)
Sergio (Somerton, AZ)
Carlos (New Orleans, LA)
Cozumel (Port Jeff Station, NY)
Veronica (Cd. Juarez, Mexico)

Big M has spoken!!!!

Please let me know to what address you want your items shipped.

That's it for the Valentine's Day Loan-A-Thon, congratulations and thank you everyone on the success of this effort.

Valentine's Day Loan-a-Thon / Final Summary, Sunday, February 15:

2009-02-15T23:55:00.000-06:00

Valentine's Day Loan-a-Thon / Final Summary, Sunday, February 15:

Here is a list of members that obtained “tickets” today:
Amalio-----7
adela y elias-----3 (just in time)
Carlos-----2
el Chapulín Colorado-----2
Isabel-----3
Jim&Conchita Burmeister-----2
Juan-----4
Murillo-Fuller-----1

The final tally of “tickets” per member in the Loan-A-Thon is:
Amalio-----11
adela y elias-----3
CHRISTINE-----1
Carlos-----2
Cody-----1
Cozumel-----1
el Chapulín Colorado-----3
familia lugo-----1
Hector-----1
Henry W. Moore School-----2
Isaac-----1
Isabel-----3
Jana-----1
Jim&Conchita Burmeister-----2
Juan-----4
Luis-----2
Maribel-----2
Michael and Louisito-----8
Murillo-Fuller-----4
Ron & Linda-----1
Sabrina-----8
Sergio-----4
Tomás / Toño-----1
Veronica-----2
Ximena-----8

Take a look to the list carefully. If I missed someone or the number of "tickets" is wrong, let me know immediately. If no changes are needed on the list, it will become the official “ticket” list.

Now about the lottery:
1) I will perform the lottery on Monday, February 16, sometime after dinner, so team members have enough time to review the “ticket” list.
2) I will print as many physical tickets with your name as the number of loans you funded during the Loan-A-Thon.
3) All 77 physical tickets will go to a brown bag.
4) My older daughter Big M (the first M of M + M), will withdraw the tickets. Little M is still too young and may try to chew them.
5) The first item to be given away will be the Kiva hat.
6) The next five tickets taken out of the bag will define the winners of the Kiva lanyards.
7) The moment one of the team member wins one of the items of the lottery, she/he will not be able to win one more time, all the rest of his/her tickets will be disqualified. (If you think a team member should have a shot to winning more than one item, let me know).
8) I will publish the results on Monday February 16 or Tuesday February 17. I will need the address the winners want their items shipped, and that’s it!

Congratulations again on the success of the Loan-A-Thon, the initial goal of reaching $10,000.00 in loans was easily surpassed. It was a lot of fun tracking down the loans on the message board and watching how the total loaned grew up all the way to $11,525.00

See you later and I hope you had a great Valentine’s Day!

The first Valentine's Day Loan-A-Thon ends NOW!!!

2009-02-15T12:00:00.000-06:00

Fellow team mates, the first Valentine's Day Loan-A-Thon ends NOW!!!

I will publish a final tally of "tickets" later in the day, as well as more info about how the lottery will be performed.

Congratulations on the success of the Loan-A-Thon, more than $2,000 were added to the total amount loaned. The total amount loaned is now $11,375.00.

Valentine's Day Loan-a-Thon / Summary for Saturday, February 14:

2009-02-14T23:58:00.002-06:00

At the end of Valentine’s Day, the total amount loaned is $10,675. Now let’s beat the AASFSHNR and Obama Teams!!!! (Yeah right).

Seriously, congratulations everyone on this important goal our team has reached. Remember that at the end, we are helping hard working people get the cheap funds they need to establish workshops, grocery stores, restaurants, butcher shops or home improvements that will allow them and their families have a better life.

Now back to the Loan-A-Thon. This is the list of members that obtained “tickets” today:

Member	Tickets
Amalio	5
Hector (Congratulations. It’s bittersweet, I know)	1
Isaac	1
Michael and Louisito	4
Sergio	2
Tomás / Toño	1
Veronica	2

I know there are members that funded loans, but didn’t write down a message about it on the team’s board. Please do so, I have no way of knowing the exact number of loans you did, and therefore I cannot issue a correct number of “tickets” for you. If you don’t know what I’m talking about when I mention “tickets”, please take a look at the old board messages from yesterday. These are some of the team members that I know funded at least one loan but didn’t report it:
Jorge
Bret
ALVARO
Jim&Conchita Burmeister
Carlos (New Orleans)
Juan (Cd. Juarez)

The total number of "tickets" for the Loan-A-Thon is:

Member	Tickets
Amalio	5
CHRISTINE	1
Cody	1
Cozumel	1
el Chapulín Colorado	1
familia lugo	1
Hector	1
Henry W. Moore School	2
Isaac	1
Jana	1
Luis	2
Maribel	2
Michael and Louisito	8
Murillo-Fuller	3
Ron & Linda	1
Sabrina	8
Sergio	4
Tomás / Toño	1
Veronica	2
Ximena	8

Again, kindly review this list carefully. If I missed someone or the number of "tickets" is wrong, let me know immediately.

The Loan-A-Thon continues and ends tomorrow at noon USA CST. Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Valentine's Day Loan-a-Thon / Summary for Friday, February 13

2009-02-13T21:39:00.003-06:00

Excellent! No other word can describe the success of the Loan-A-Thon on its first day. Fifteen team members participated today, obtaining overall a total of 38 "tickets", and we came just $25 shy of reaching the goal of $10,000!!

Here is the list of team members that invested on loans today, and the number of "tickets" obtained:

Member	Tickets
CHRISTINE	1
Cody	1
Cozumel	1
el Chapulín Colorado	1
familia lugo	1
Henry W. Moore School	2
Jana	1
Luis	2
Maribel	2
Michael and Louisito	4
Murillo-Fuller	3
Ron & Linda	1
Sabrina	8
Sergio	2
Ximena	8

Please review this list carefully. If I missed someone or the number of "tickets" is wrong, let me know immediately.

To all the rest of the team that didn't participate today, you are missing all the fun!

The Loan-A-Thon continues tomorrow. Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

The first Valentine's Day Loan-A-Thon starts NOW!!!

2009-02-13T11:58:00.001-06:00

Fellow lenders, the first Valentine's Day Loan-A-Thon starts NOW!!!

Every loan that you invest in on the following 48 hours will entitle you to one "ticket" that will go into a lottery. With that lottery we will find six winners of five Kiva lanyards and one Kiva hat that I’ll be happy to ship wherever the lucky team members are.

Please, publish one message on the team’s message board for each loan you fund, so I can properly issue a “ticket” for you. Otherwise it will be very difficult for me to track down who did a loan during the Loan-A-Thon.

All right, happy lending, and good luck you’ all. By the way, happy Valentine’s Day!

Let’s hit the $10,000 mark!

==========================

Estimados amigos, el “Loan-A-Thon” del Dia del Amor y la Amistad empieza en ESTE MOMENTO!

Cada prestamo en el cual inviertan en las siguientes 48 horas, les dara oportunidad de tener una “ficha” que ira a una rifa. Asi es como se va a encontrar a seis ganadores de cinco llaveros y un gorro de Kiva, que enviare a cualquier ciudad donde este cada premiado.

Por favor, por cada prestamo que hagan, publiquen un mensaje en el tablero de mensajes del equipo, de esa forma se aseguraran que les otorge una “ficha”. Si no me va a ser muy dificil saber quien otorgo un prestamo durante este “Loan-A-Thon”.

Bueno, Buena suerte y que se diviertan. Por cierto , feliz Dia del Amor y la Amistad!

Hay que llegar a los 10,000 dolares prestados!

Valentine’s Day Loan-A-Thon is tomorrow!

2009-02-12T12:37:00.015-06:00

We are only one day away from the Valentine's Day Loan-A-Thon, and I was thinking that it may be a better idea if we all start lending at the same time as opposite of starting at noon your local time. Most of the team members are on USA central standard time, so I'd like to set the starting time to February 13 at noon CST, ending on February 15, at noon CST. Since we have members spread over several time zones, I'm publishing the equivalent start/end time for you convenience:

Country, City or Region	Loan-A-Thon Start Time	Loan-A-Thon End Time
USA Pacific Time, Mexicali (Mexico)	Friday, February 13, 2009 at 10:00:00 AM	Sunday, February 15, 2009 at 10:00:00 AM
USA Mountain Time	Friday, February 13, 2009 at 11:00:00 AM	Sunday, February 15, 2009 at 11:00:00 AM
USA Central Time, Mexico, Honduras	Friday, February 13, 2009 at 12:00:00 NOON	Sunday, February 15, 2009 at 12:00:00 NOON
USA Eastern Time, Toronto (Canada)	Friday, February 13, 2009 at 1:00:00 PM	Sunday, February 15, 2009 at 1:00:00 PM
Herford (Germany), Amsterdam (Netherlands)	Friday, February 13, 2009 at 7:00:00 PM	Sunday, February 15, 2009 at 7:00:00 PM
Collingwood (Australia)	Saturday, February 14, 2009 at 5:00:00 AM	Monday, February 16, 2009 at 5:00:00 AM

I hope I'm not making things more complicated !!

Remember, during the Loan-A-Thon, write a notification on the team's Kiva page when you have completed a loan so I can issue you a "ticket" for the lottery, otherwise it'll be difficult for me to track down who did a loan.

Our goal is to reach the $10,000 loaned mark, have some fun and to show some love to those who are less fortunate than us.

Thanks.

Valentine’s Day Loan-A-Thon is two days away!

2009-02-11T12:45:00.003-06:00

Good day fellow lenders, we are only two days away from the team’s first Valentine’s Day Loan-A-Thon. What better way to show some love than by giving? As you can see, the total amount loaned is inching closer to $9,000; great effort from the team! But if the Loan-A-Thon is successful; we could easily break the $10,000 mark, which would be a great accomplishment for our team to fulfill.

The Loan-A-Thon is over a two days period spanning February 13 to February 15. It will start on February 13 at noon, on your standard time zone.

The idea is that all of us (at this moment, we are 86 members) contribute with at least one loan. If all 86 of all invest on at least one loan, the total amount loaned would be boosted by $2,150.

And don’t forget the goodies! Each $25 you loan will entitle you to one “ticket”. At the end of the Loan-A-thon, each ticket would go into a lottery to determine six lucky winners of five Kiva lanyards and one Kiva hat that I will be happy to ship wherever the winners are:
http://kiva-para-mexico.blogspot.com/2009/01/valentines-day-loan-thon.html

Now, I have to ask you to write a comment on the Team’s page letting me know that you funded a loan during the Loan-A-Thon, so I can issue a “ticket” for you. This is VERY important, since Kiva doesn’t provide a good mechanism to track who did a loan on a team’s behalf. I cannot emphasize this enough, for each loan you fund, write a comment on the Team’s page, or I may not be able to track it!

Well, that’s it for now. Get ready! And by the way, since this is a Valentine’s Day Loan-A-Thon, why don’t you bring over that special one to join our team and participate as well? I bet that is better that giving one of those cheesy Valentine’s Day cards!

Do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions!

Think MTV is giving away a $25 Kiva gift certificate.

2009-02-03T11:04:00.004-06:00

Seems like MTV is giving away one $25 Kiva gift certificate to whoever signs up to their social activism web site http://think.mtv.com

I'm always cautious when it comes to this kind of "free money" situations. But apparently other Kiva members have been getting the gift certificates, and well, MTV has a pretty solid reputation. I'm going to give it a shot, if you want to try too, by all means do:

Get a Free $25 Kiva Certificate

UPDATE: The promotion ended today. It started on June 30, 2008. How come I found out about it until a few days before it was gone ?!?!?! Shame on me!

January Stats

2009-02-02T08:49:00.014-06:00

January was record setting. During the month, we loaned the total amount of $2,550.00. That's twenty five dollars more than the previous record setting month, October 2008. Great job!

Due to the high activity we had over the last month, our team jumped a good number of positions within the Kiva Community. I just wish to remind you that, in order to increase the team's impact, it is better for instance to split $100 on four entrepreneurs than to invest $100 on a single one, so the total amount of loans for the team would increase by four, not just one. Kiva teams are ranked based on number of loans, not amount loaned.

Impact within the Kiva community (out of 4611 Kiva lending teams):
Number of Loans: 248-----Ranking: 72 (+13 from previous month)
Quantity Loaned: $7,950.00-----Ranking: 70 (+12 from previous month)
Number of Member: 82-----Ranking: 58 (-1 from previous month)

Our loaned amount grew up 47.22%. Membership grew up 13.89%.

We came down one position on the Number of Members ranking. I know it is difficult to sustain the same member growth rate as when the team first started, so bring over a friend or two to join us. I'm pretty sure your invitee will have great fun investing on entrepreneurs around the world, and it will be fulfilling too!

Now the graphics:

Welcome to our newest team members: John, Tapatingo, M. Jose, Miguel A. Osuna, darwin, Hector, Mario, familia lugo (first member from Honduras), Marco, Vlad (First member from The Netherlands) and Juan (Chicago IL).

And last but not least. We are now 12 days away from our first Valentine's Day Loan-A-Thon. If this effort is succesfull, we can easily reach the $10,000 dollars loaned mark, which would be a nice achievement for our team to fulfill. Remember there are some goodies that I'm giving away for the Loan-A-Thon, five Kiva lanyards, and one Kiva hat. So get ready, it starts at noon Feb 13, it ends at noon Feb 15, your standard time zone.

Valentine's Day Loan-A-Thon

2009-01-27T08:40:00.005-06:00

Good day friends, what better way to show some Love than by giving? Get ready for the team's first Loan-A-Thon, on Valentine's Day.

The idea is that during 48 hours around Valentine's Day, each member invest on at least one loan. If all 76 of us invest on at least one entrepreneur during the Loan-A-Thon, then we would add $1,900.00 to the team's loaned amount.

And this time, I'm throwing in a few goodies to motivate you. I just got five cool Kiva lanyards to give away to five members who make loans during the Loan-A-Thon.

Not enough you say? I hear you. I also got a superb Kiva Hat to be given away as well.

Each loan you invest in will entitle you to one 'ticket'. All tickets would go into a lottery to find the six lucky winners.

So, we have a Kiva hat as first prize and five Kiva Lanyards as second prize. Remember, the Loan-A-Thon is 17 days away, get ready!

Slate Magazine rates Kiva as the best microcredit charity

2009-01-23T13:00:00.003-06:00

By the way, I got to know Kiva by reading this article...

A Good Run for Your Money
What's the best way to loan a poor entrepreneur $20?
By Jude Stewart
Posted Thursday, March 15, 2007, at 7:03 AM ET

Pardon me, turkey fans, but the real time for thanksgiving is bonus season. It's tough to muster gratitude in November, when you're entering the most hassle-heavy months of the year. Come March, though, the holiday horrors have faded, you've nearly broken the back of winter, and that Big Check is finally in the mail. Hallelujah! Pass the mustard! You'll be flush all through daffodil season—until tax time, at least.

We had a banner year in my household, so I resolved to share the take with some worthy charitable causes. Contrary to popular belief, this does not mean spreading my largesse further or wider. Numerous experts agree: It's most effective to give consistently to a few organizations than to spread your dough too thin—that way, you make more of a dent in the cause. Even worse, some charities sell the names of their small-potatoes donors to other charities. That's your thanks for tossing $10 a year to Save the Abused Monkeys: a flood of orangutan-related junk mail.

Since my charity bucks are limited and divvying them up isn't ideal, I'm aiming for a tight sweet spot: a small donation with real bang for the buck. When I read about microcredit—the practice of making tiny loans to poor people in the developing world so that they can start businesses and break out of poverty—it piqued my interest. And when the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh and its founder, Muhammad Yunus, won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for pioneering microcredit work, I was hooked. As an entrepreneur, I dig the idea of helping another jump-start her kitchen-supply business in Ghana. It also eliminates that pointless drop-in-a-bucket feeling to know this specific woman couldn't open her tamale stand without my $20—let alone the fact that when the loan is repaid, that $20 can get reinvested into another success story. (Truly the gift that keeps on giving.) Question is: Which microlenders cater to individual donors? And which is the most satisfying place to sink my dime?

Methodology

Microcredit firms come in three flavors. First, there are thousands of grass-roots lenders, which administer loan programs locally in villages throughout the world. Second, there are what I'll call "aggregator foundations," which gather donor money and redistribute it to local programs they deem worthy. Those local programs make the actual loans to individual entrepreneurs, recycling the repaid funds into new projects later. The last type is your microcredit yenta: They match individual lenders with individual borrowers, Feed the Children-style. I focused only on players from the latter two categories, since they cater most to individual donors. I excluded faith-based lenders and the thousands of local lenders from my test as well.
I judged all players by three criteria:

User Experience (10 points).
Was it convenient and easy to make my payment? Could I split up my payment or reinvest my lent funds automatically? (Keep in mind that making a loan is not tax-deductible, because it's eventually paid back. An irrevocable donation to a foundation, however, is usually tax-deductible.) How well could I navigate the Web site to find an intriguing, worthy business to fund? Upon completion, how badly did I want to tell the world what I'd done so they could try it, too?

Trust (10 points).
Since microcredit is just going mainstream, these organizations were mostly new to me. I measured trust by years in business and third-party endorsements like four-star Charity Navigator ratings, plugs in major press outlets, or awards (one point for each, four points maximum). I also took note of efficiencies in fund-raising and administrative costs (how many cents of every donated dollar the charity devotes to the cause itself vs. operating expenses), as
well as any mention of the percentage of borrowers who are able to pay back their loans.

Effectiveness (15 points).
Measuring whether my money makes a difference is crucial but difficult. Do I get the project detail I need to evaluate the project/borrower? Do they offer results data later? Are there any stats for repeat loans for borrowers, indicating business growth? Can I connect directly with my borrower or a program manager?

The results, from worst to first:

Prosper

Prosper is basically eBay for small loans. Say your Aunt Tabitha launches a business knitting leg warmers. Prosper offers her a chance to quickly borrow the capital she needs from other individuals, in a way designed to get her a competitively low interest rate on her loan. Here's how: Tabitha enters a loan request online at Prosper, including the amount she wants to borrow and the interest rate she wants to pay. Before her loan request goes public, Prosper checks her credit score so that prospective lenders can make sure she's legit. Lenders, in turn, register at Prosper, transfer money into their Prosper accounts, and then search the site for loans they'd like to fund. When the Flashdance fans find Tabitha's business, they can lend any amount they want, from $50 to the total loan amount. Just like a hot item on eBay, competing lenders can lend money at a lower interest rate than she asked for. As they compete, Tabitha's loan costs drop. At the same time, lenders benefit by earning interest on loans they make.

It's a good idea. And Prosper connects only Americans, so you naturally get better credit-worthiness data than you get for any Third World borrower. But Prosper's problem is garbage-in, garbage-out: too many people paying off credit-card bills and funding blowout weddings. (Wonder what type of business she's starting.)

Sifting through this garbage, and the fact that they don't accept credit cards or PayPal, made lending on Prosper less than pleasurable. While I did decide to provide inventory financing for a nice guy manufacturing infant mattresses, for all the hassle, I crave more of a change-the-world feeling.

User Experience: 6 (out of 10)
Trust: 5 (out of 10)
Effectiveness: 5 (out of 15)
Total: 16 (out of 35)

Acción

The current hot-potato debate in the microcredit world is whether microlenders should seek a profit to self-sustain or stay committed to their nonprofit roots. That issue isn't irrelevant to small donors, but it's most pressing to big-time philanthropists and global banks eager to promote their favored approach. (My short list will probably reveal my left-of-center bias: I like my charities fiscally responsible but also clearly charitable.)

If you prefer the for-profit approach to microlending, check out South America-focused Acción. Acción extended the world's first microloan in Brazil in 1973. In the mid-1990s, it shifted to a commercial model, in ideological opposition to its sister-competitor in the region, Pro Mujer, which remains not-for-profit.

You can donate any amount you want via credit card online, but you don't get any say as to where your donation goes. I dropped my $20, collected my friendly thank-you e-mail and tax-deduction receipt letter, and that was that. For those excited by finance-speak, the site offers ample stats and reports, but I was seeking some feedback on the human level.

Acción International does boast a consistent four-star Charity Navigator rating, and the organization's longevity makes it worthy of a good effectiveness score—they must be making a difference after all these years. But I found Acción's hypercorporate feel, plus the lack of say-so on my money's use, troubling. Is my $20 funding MonstroBank's foray into usury in Guatemala? I wanted reassurance to the contrary, or at least the chance to steer my contribution away from that.

User Experience: 6
Trust: 7
Effectiveness: 12
Total: 25

Trickle Up

A midsized aggregator since 1979, Trickle Up sells the concept of microcredit arguably better than its peers. It leads with specific entrepreneurs' stories, a remarkably simple but effective way to motivate lenders. It's illuminating to hear what kinds of businesses one can start for a few hundred bucks—raising pigs, making bricks—and what bumps entrepreneurs may suffer along the way. Trickle Up provides what it calls "risk-free conditional seed capital in the form of a grant," so technically speaking, it's a donation you don't get back, but it monitors the return on those funds as closely as if it were a loan.

Donating is straightforward, if basic. (Trickle Up also accepts donations as low as $5, even by credit card, which is a nice little-guy gesture.) While you don't have much say in where your money goes, I didn't feel as much need to micromanage: Its commitment to the businesses' effectiveness rings true, as does its practice of releasing grant money in increments while a business proves itself. Eighty-one percent of Trickle Up entrepreneurs depend on their new business as their primary source of income, and most report substantial gains in their family's nutrition, education, and sense of financial security. Effectiveness stats like that, plus the organization's respectable history and highly efficient budget—86 cents of every dollar goes toward making loans—add to Trickle Up's credibility.

User Experience: 8
Trust: 8
Effectiveness: 12
Total: 28

Global Giving

Started by ex-World Bankers, this matcher categorizes its offerings so that you can find the cause that's right for you. Those interested in, say, "economic development" can contribute to projects ranging from safety training and English lessons for Nepalese sherpas, to carpet-weaving equipment and supplies in Afghanistan. Global Giving takes 10 percent of your payment for its operating expenses, but some of that 10 percent also returns to you in the way of meaty project information: a project overview, including e-mailable project contacts; detail on the local lender; regular progress reports; an estimate of what your payment amount will buy for the project. You can't beat that kind of accountability.

Global Giving scored high on all three criteria, although all those numbers-heavy reports misled me into thinking I was making a loan, not a donation. I funded a program that trains battered women in Brazil to make and sell traditional Brazilian dolls; only when I'd paid up (credit cards, PayPal, or check) did I realize this was a tax-deductible gift. Global Giving's very solid offering would work just as effectively to make person-to-person microloans; I'd love to see them focus on that more.

User Experience: 8
Trust: 8
Effectiveness: 13
Total: 29

Grameen Foundation

The Mack Daddy of microcredit, Grameen pioneered the solidarity-circle model used by many microlenders: A group of borrowers guarantee each other's loans—if one woman can't pay back her loan, the others have pledged to cover her—and meet regularly to brainstorm and participate in job training and self-esteem courses. The social pressure keeps default rates low and builds interconnected networks of entrepreneurs in each locality.

Trust-wise, Grameen has a four-star Charity Navigator rating three years running and universal press acclaim—and that Nobel Prize its founder won doesn't hurt, either. On the effectiveness front, however, I craved an opportunity to direct my donation and wanted more feedback once I had parted with my money. Then again, maybe I should just trust the World Bank: It claims microcredit, thanks to Grameen, accounts for a full 40 percent of the reduction in moderate poverty in rural Bangladesh. While I thrill more to the idea of lending to an individual than giving to a big foundation, if you're going with a big gun, Grameen is microcredit's clear leader.

User Experience: 6
Trust: 10
Effectiveness: 13
Total: 29

Kiva

Finally: microlending as I'd imagined it. Kiva (agreement or unity in Swahili) lets lenders choose from individual borrowers, who are vetted internationally by local microlenders. Started as a side project in 2004 by a married couple, neither the lender nor Kiva takes a cut of the interest, saving it all for the local lender to administer to the borrowers day-to-day.

The organization gets strong marks for both usability and payment options (all credit cards, plus PayPal); you can fund loans partially, although the minimum payment is $25. I funded Madam Elizabeth Lomotey in her kitchen-supply business in Ghana and was surprised to see pictures of my fellow lenders next to mine.

Kiva's weakness is the cursory business-plan descriptions: You're really trusting the judgment of the local lender more than the plan itself. I can overlook this, though, given the high number of descriptions local lenders seem to have to write on behalf of the borrowers. Other perks? You're alerted via e-mail every time another loan payment comes in, and it's fun to check back on your lender and review his or her journal entries. (Sadly, Madam Lomotey is a taciturn one; other borrowers and their local loan managers get more chatty.) All that's missing is information on the borrowers' previous loans, which could indicate an expanding business.

Kiva combines online community with microlending in a way that's truly exciting. It's remarkably compelling to see your borrower face to face—you can even contact them via their local lender rep. Given Kiva's shoestring budget, it's a strong start.

User Experience: 10
Trust: 8
Effectiveness: 12
Total: 30

What You Don't Know About Mexico

2009-01-15T12:18:00.003-06:00

By Maggie Van Ostrand

It's been a while since the U.S. media has said anything about Mexico except giving the low-down on drug cartels, illegal immigration, and kidnappings. Negativity sells newspapers and sends traffic to media websites because nobody reads a publication that headlines "Plane Lands Safely." Common sense tells the intelligent reader that there must be another side to the story of what Mexicans are like. You're right. Here are a few true stories to help balance media negativity.

CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES

A storm of California wildfires, over 2,000 of them, have been especially ferocious this year. On and on our brave firefighters fought against nearly impossible odds, with new infernos continually blazing, unusually high temperatures in the bone-dry State, and the most savage enemy of the firefighter: wind.

Firefighters continued, exhausted, without sleep or rest, to protect our citizens and our resources. More than 870,000 acres, or 1,350 square miles, have been consumed making the crisis the largest in the State's history. One hundred structures were destroyed, one person perished.

What hasn't received much publicity is Mexico's help in combating the blazes. Mexican firefighters arrived in California to relieve ours even before those from Australia, Greece, and New Zealand.

KATRINA

There was a time in history when Mexico was accused by a U.S. NAFTA-opposed politician of making "giant sucking sounds." Well, folks, the giant noises that came from Mexico during the Katrina tragedy were not giant sucking sounds, they were giant rumbling sounds, and they came from a Mexican Army convoy driving north to help the U.S. in its time of crisis.

As water rose over the rooftops of New Orleans, the Mexican Army prepared to do battle on our behalf. For the first time since 1846, Mexican military units operated on U.S. soil, as Mexican Army trucks and tractor trailers convoyed north, with Mexican flags taped to the roof tops of the 45 vehicles.

These vehicles, manned by 200 soldiers, officers and specialists, carried water treatment plants, mobile kitchens and supplies to feed the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The convoy included military engineers, doctors, nurses, two mobile kitchens that could feed 7,000 people each per day, three flatbed trucks carrying mobile water treatment plants, and 15 trailers of bottled water, blankets and applesauce. Burritos on the side.

Last time Mexican troops were on U.S. soil (1846), they advanced north of the Rio Grande in Texas (which had recently joined the United States). Mexico, however, did not then recognize the Rio Grande as the U.S. border. There are those who say it still doesn't.

In 1916, Pancho Villa led a group of fighters in a brief raid into Columbus, New Mexico, in what is considered the last battle against foreign forces on U.S. soil. Apparently, nobody is counting Taliban terrorist cells in the U.S.

Mexico planned a second 12-vehicle aid convoy together with a Mexican navy ship steaming toward the Mississippi coast with rescue vehicles and helicopters.

The Mexicans set up consular offices in trailers around the disaster zone to help their estimated 140,000 countrymen living in the region, 10,000 of them in New Orleans. In addition, help was offered by a search-and-rescue group called "topos" -- (moles) -- organized by youths who dug through collapsed buildings after Mexico City's 1985 earthquake.

"This is the first time that the United States has accepted a military mission from Mexico" for such work, said Javier Ibarrola, a newspaper columnist who covers military affairs in Mexico. "This is something that's never happened before."

Then-President Fox of Mexico had not waited for Senate approval to help us. In an act of solidarity between our two nations, he was strong enough to give an order without wading through red tape.

In the words of the New Orleans flood survivor who was helping reunite lost children with their parents, "When you help someone else out, you help the world."

THE FIGHTING 201st

An ace flier is defined as a fighter pilot who has destroyed five or more enemy aircraft. Charlie Foster was a World War II ace with the 201st Fighter Squadron. What's more, Charlie's heroism beyond the call of duty netted him a Mexican Congressional Medal of Honor.

Yet no one made a movie about Charlie Foster, the way they did about Audie Murphy, a famed Medal of Honor-winning World War II hero, in To Hell and Back. No HBO miniseries about Charlie was made by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg the way they made Band of Brothers, the one about WW II's 101st Airborne Division's Easy Company. No Hollywood studio made an Oscar winning film about the 201st, as they did about the Civil War's first all-black volunteer company in 1989's Glory. But in its way, Charlie's tale is as special as those famous stories of heroic actions.

What makes Charlie's story unique is that his real name isn't Charlie Foster, it's Carlos Faustinos, a Mexican citizen. Carlos fought beside American airmen in the Pacific Theater and was a member of the elite Esquadron Aereo de Caza 201, also known as the Fighting 201st.

Not only did this information surprise me, but so did the fact that Mexico declared war on the Axis powers on June 11, 1942. Imagine that. Can't you just see kind, agricultural Mexico declaring war on the Big Bad Wolves Hirohito, Mussolini and Hitler? But Mexico did indeed declare war, and they put their men where their collective mouth was.

It was at that time Mexico organized the 201st Fighter Squadron, a select group of Mexican pilots, including Carlos Faustinos. Thirty-five officers and 300 enlisted men were trained in Mexico, then given additional flight training as P-47 fighter squadron at Pocatello Army Air Base in Idaho, and were then attached to the 58th Fighter Group in the Philippines where they began combat operations. They wiped out machine gun nests, dropped 181 tons of bombs and fired 153,000 rounds of ammunition, acquitting themselves well and bravely. Seven of their pilots were killed in action.

The Fighting 201st wasn't the only heroic group of Mexicans. In a town called Silvis, just west of Chicago, runs a street once named Second Street. It's not much of a street, not even two blocks long, muddy in spring, icy in winter, dusty in summer. On this single street, 105 men participated in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. It's the street where Joe Gómez, Peter Macías, Johnny Muños, Tony Pompa, Claro Solíz, and Frank, Joseph, and William Sandoval grew up together. They worked for the railroad, like their fathers who had emigrated from Mexico. These young men, raised to revere freedom, went to war without hesitation.

The two Sandoval families alone sent thirteen; six from one family; seven from the other. According to the U.S. Defense Department, this little street contributed more men to military service than any other place of comparable size in the United States, standing alone in American military history.

In a letter to Frank Sandoval, Claro Solíz described Second Street as ". . . Really not much, just mud and ruts, but right now to me it is the greatest street in the world." He never saw it again. Not one of these boys came home alive.

In honor of their supreme sacrifice, a monument listing the name of each man now stands in Silvis, Illinois. Second Street has been officially renamed Hero Street USA. Next time you're in the mid West, you might want to visit this street of heroes just to say thank you.

Maybe these stories weren't sensational enough to be covered by the media, but they happened just the same.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maggie-van-ostrand/what-you-dont-know-about_b_115862.html

Small Things Challenge

2009-01-11T18:45:00.001-06:00

Make sure you participate on the Small Things challenge. This is a combined effort by Kiva, Intel and Save the Children. All you have to do is visit this page and click! Just like that:

www.smallthingschallenge.com/

December Stats

2009-01-08T10:45:00.013-06:00

Well, 2008 is gone and we are a few days into 2009. There is no question that our team "Para Mexico" is a success and the growth in terms of amount loaned, entrepreneours helped and number of members has been beyond everyone's expectations. Let's keep this great pace for the new year and keep helping out one microloan at at time.

Our membership grew up by 22% in December. Welcome to our newest members: carmen, Michael and Louisito, Jorge, Mauricio, Leonor, Veronica, monica, karen, Xamarante, Fabian, Ronny, Celia, Karencita, Aimee and Marcia.

Most of our members are in the USA, followed by Mexico and Canada. And we have our first member from Australia, Aimee.

I really thought the loaned amount would be stagnant during December, due to the current economical climate and the Holidays, however many of you decided it was a good idea to invest on kiva during this Christmas season. Kudos to you'all!! There is certainly no better way to raise spirits than to give. Our total loaned grew a whopping 53.19% during December!!! Congratulations, what a great effort!

Most of the loans are going to Mexico, followed by other latinamerican countries such as Peru, Nicaragua, Bolivia and Dominican Republic. We have many loans going to countries in the African Continent as well, some others to Central Asia and Cambodia, and just one going to Eastern Europe and another to Oceania.

Impact within the Kiva community (out of 4120 kiva lending teams):
Loans: 165-----Ranking: 86 (+1 from previous month)
Total Loaned: $5,400.00-----Ranking: 82
Members: 72-----Ranking: 57

Feliz Navidad

2008-12-16T09:06:00.001-06:00

To my english speaking friends: Sorry about the one language only text, but I'm really in a hurry and spanish comes out naturally and faster in this kind of situations (the kind of situation where you need to leave on 20 minutes or your flight will abandon you!!!).

Buen dia amigos de Para Mexico. Estoy a punto de apagar mi computadora para viajar Guadalajara y Puerto Vallarta como hago cada Diciembre para compartir estas fechas de Navidad y Año Nuevo con familiares y amigos.Pero antes de irme, quiero desearles a todos ustedes unas felices Fiestas Decembrinas y un gran comienzo de año.

Nuestro equipo es joven todavia, pero no ha dejado de crecer constantemente dia con dia desde su fundacion. El total en prestamos en este momento es de $3,925.00. Con esa cantidad, 123 personas alrededor del mundo han sido beneficiadas con su generosidad. El numero de miembros, que las primeras semanas fuimos unos cuantos, ha crecido hasta 63, convirtiendo a Para Mexico en el grupo 60 en cuanto a numero de integrantes.

Este año ha sido dificil por los problemas economicos de nuestros paises, y 2009 no parece que vaya a ser mejor. Sin embargo, el grupo no ha dejado de invertir en Kiva y en sus emprendedores. Sin duda estamos convencidos de que la mejor forma de aliviar un poco la pobreza es dando una oportunidad a cada emprendedor para que por medio de su propio esfuerzo pueda conseguir una vida mejor para si mismo y sus familia.

Que nos espera el proximo año para el equipo? Al comenzar la primavera de 2009, espero organizar el primer "loan-a-thon" del equipo, como lo han hecho exitosamente otros grupos, y para motivar una alta participacion, regalar algunos articulos de la tienda de Kiva, tal vez un par de gorras y alguna camisa que seran rifados entre los que hayan participado en el citado "loan-a-thon". Tambien en Octubre, me gustaria organizar el segundo "M + M Challenge", pero ahora que nuestro grupo es mas grande, con una cantidad mayor. Cualquier otra idea para incrementar el impacto del equipo es bienvenida, este grupo es de todos nosotros.

Finalmente, cuando estemos compartiendo con nuestra familia estas fiestas decembrinas, tomemos un momento para reflexionar en aquellos que han sido menos afortunados que nosotros, y que estamos tratando de ayudar un poco.

M + M

Kiva's New Repayment System

2008-12-10T11:41:00.003-06:00

I know there is concern among not only team members, but the whole Kiva community about the total absense of payments for a good three months or so. We kind of knew that big changes were going on regarding the installation of a new billing system, and here are some answers on Kiva's official blog. The good news is that starting December 15, payments should be flowing to our accounts again. I'm reproducing the text for your convenience:

Kiva recently made the transition to a new partner administration system. The new system allows our partners greater flexibility in reporting and is aimed at increasing transparency, giving more accurate data, revising our billing process to better reflect realities on the ground, and adding some financial protection to Kiva by only giving our lenders repayments that Kiva has actually received.

What does this mean for your Kiva account?

Since we closed out one billing system and are opening up another, you shouldn't expect to see any repayments into your Kiva account until the new billing system kicks in on November 15th. Some loans that were posted in the new system will need an extra month to catch up and won't see any repayments until the next billing cycle begins on December 15th.

How does Kiva's new repayment system work?

Kiva's repayment system is designed to accurately reflect the way that our Field Partners collect funds from the entrepreneurs that you've supported with loans.

When one of Kiva's Field Partners uploads an entrepreneur's loan request to Kiva, they set the anticipated repayment dates for the loan and the date that the loan is set to be disbursed to the entrepreneur. This repayment schedule can be monthly, quarterly, once at the end of the loan term, or whatever most accurately reflects the way that the entrepreneur will be making repayments.

Our Field Partners have until the end of the month that each anticipated repayment is collected to let Kiva know whether or not they actually collected the repayment. Once we have all of this information, we use it to generate a bill to charge our Field Partners for all of the repayments they collected that month.

To speed things up and to minimize the number of wire transfers being sent overseas, Kiva works on a net billing system. This means that, for any given month, we subtract the amount of repayments that a Field Partner owes to Kiva lenders from the amount that a Field Partner fundraises for entrepreneurs on Kiva.

If the balance is positive, that means that the Field Partner has raised more than they need to repay, and we use those funds to credit your lender account with the repayments due to you.

If the balance is negative, then the Field Partner has 30 days to send us a payment for the balance. As soon as we receive that payment, we use those funds to credit your lender account with the repayments due to you.

Once the repayment is made into your Kiva account, you can re-lend the funds, donate them to Kiva's operating expenses, purchase a gift certificate or withdraw them into a PayPal account.

Why are all repayment due dates on the 15th of the month?

When one of Kiva's Field Partners uploads a loan request to Kiva, they provide Kiva with a schedule of repayments that they anticipate the entrepreneur will make. At the end of every month, Kiva requires that our Field Partners indicate whether or not they've collected these repayments from the entrepreneur. They have a 15 day grace period after the end of the month to do so.

After this 15 day grace period, we bill our partners for all of the repayments that they indicate they've collected. Our Field Partners then have an additional 30 days to make a payment to Kiva so that we can deposit the repayments into your Kiva account. The repayment due date reflects the last day the Field Partner can pay before the repayment becomes delinquent.

For example, if a Field Partner posts a loan with the first repayment on January 10th, we ask them to indicate whether or not they've received this repayment by January 31st.

On Feburary 15th, at the end of the grace period, we generate a bill to the Field Partner for all of these repayments.

The Field Partner then has until March 15th to pay this bill before we mark the payment on Kiva as delinquent.

RSS and Kiva

2008-12-07T21:57:00.006-06:00

A brief description of RSS and how to used it is posted next. Make sure to use this tool in order to receive up to date information about Mexican entrepreneurs seeking loans on Kiva. I'm currently using Thunderbird 2.0 to receive Kiva's RSS feeds into my mailbox, just like regular emails, and this blog is using RSS too: on the right side of this blog, immediately after Kiva Links, new information about Mexican entrepreneurs is posted as they are published in Kiva.

What is RSS Feed?

Given the vast number of Web pages and content providers on the Internet, RSS technology allows you to identify the content that interests you most and have it delivered directly to your desktop. Thousands of sites have developed feeds and you can view them all, regardless of source, using any feed reader. The most popular and descriptive definition of RSS is "Really Simple Syndication." You can think of a Web site's feed as a text broadcast of the site's content. Once you subscribe to a feed, you'll always have the latest headlines because your RSS reader periodically retrieves the most recent feed additions.

Where can I get an RSS reader?

There are many kinds of readers, from stand-alone applications to Web-based services, to those built into a Web browser. You will either need to download and install an application or install an RSS-ready browser on your computer. Follow the instructions provided on the Web sites listed below to install or configure your reader. Most of the applications are free and easy to use. Some of the more popular RSS readers:

Browser-Based
The following Web browsers have built-in feed readers

Mozilla Firefox (Windows, Mac, Linux)
Opera (Windows, Mac, Linux)
Internet Explorer 7.0 (Windows)
Safari (Mac)

E-mail Programs
The following e-mail programs have built-in feed readers

Mozilla Thunderbird (Windows, Mac, Linux)
Outlook 2007 (Windows)
IntraVnews (Windows, plug-in for Microsoft Outlook)
R|Mail (Web-based service that sends feeds to any email account)

Web-Based Services
All of these services are free, and will work with any recent Web browser. All require registration and show ads as you read your feeds.

My Yahoo
Google Reader
Bloglines
Newsgator
My MSN
My AOL

Desktop Applications
These programs run on your computer, and will check feeds automatically whenever they're running. Those marked with a "$" are commercial software; the others are available for free.

Omea Reader (Windows)
SharpReader (Windows)
FeedDemon (Windows, $)
NewzCrawler (Windows, $)
NetNewsWire Lite (Mac)
NetNewsWire (Mac, $)

There is no need to install new software on your computer, you are most likely using a browser than can read RSS feeds right now.

How does Kiva uses RSS?

Kiva does provide RSS feeds. These feeds can easily be used to instantly deliver information about entrepreneurs into a RSS reader.

Currently, two field partners operate in Mexico, each one of them have a web page on Kiva that provides a RSS feed. All that you need to do is either click on the RSS orange button under the section "Kiva Fundraising Status"on the right side of the page; or provide the RSS address of each field partner to your chosen RSS reader. The web pages of these field partners and their corresponding RSS addresses are:

Fundacion Realidad.
RSS feed:
http://www.kiva.org/rss/partner/Fundacion+Realidad+A.C+%28FRAC%29%2C+a+partner+of+World+Vision+International

Fundacion para la Vivienda Progresiva
RSS feed:
http://www.kiva.org/rss/partner/Fundaci%C3%B3n+para+la+Vivienda+Progresiva+%28FVP%29%2C+a+partner+of+CHF+International

November Stats

2008-12-01T07:48:00.018-06:00

In November, the amount loaned and team's membership kept growing at a steady pace. The growth was not as explosive as October though, but considering the current economic situation, it was outstanding.

We have 14 new members who joined during November: George, Adalberto, Anonymous from Richland Center, WI; Sandra, Maya, Tinne, Hollito, Henry W. Moore School, Cozumel, Cesar, Priscilla, the Ysaguirre Family, Edie and Tamara. Welcome to "Para Mexico".

The first member from outside the North American continent joined the team during November, Hollito from Germany.

The total amount loaned by team members grew by 28% this month. Our team is ranked 87 on Kiva's community, with a total of 118 loans funded, at a average of exactly two loans per member.

Most of our loans are still going to Mexican entrepreneurs, with a good amount going to Latin American, a few more to Africa and Asia, and just one going to Eastern Europe and Oceania.

I cannot insist enough on using RSS to receive information about loans to Mexican entrepreneurs instantly. Those loans are becoming more scarce everytime and this is a good tool to receive a notification as soon as one is available. If you have any question about setting it up, please let me know!

I'm thinking about volunteering for the Kiva Translation Program, but with two little energy-packed girls at home it may be difficult to find more time to sit down and translate a few loan profiles. I'm sure it may be interesting, I'll post about that later.

M + M

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-25T08:58:00.002-06:00

Five more ways to increase the Team's impact.

2008-11-21T09:50:00.005-06:00

Five more ways to increase the Team's impact.

6) Use RSS to pump information about Kiva loans into your email software, browser or news reader. The feed addresses for Field Partners operating in Mexico are:

· Fundacion para la Vivienda Progressiva
http://www.kiva.org/rss/partner/Fundaci%C3%B3n+para+la+Vivienda+Progresiva+%28FVP%29%2C+a+partner+of+CHF+International

· Fundacion Realidad
http://www.kiva.org/rss/partner/Fundacion+Realidad+A.C+%28FRAC%29%2C+a+partner+of+World+Vision+International

7) Take advantage of social networks such as Facebook or MySpace to promote Kiva and the team “Para Mexico”. Particular actions you can take are:

· Install Facebook’s Causes application on your profile and then set Kiva as one of your favorites Causes
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/559

· OR install Facebook’s Kiva application (this is a different tool from the Cause application explained before). This application will show on your Facebook profile what entrepreneurs you have invested in.
http://apps.facebook.com/kiva_org/index.php

. OR become a fan of Kiva's Facebook page.
http://www.facebook.com/kiva

· Every time you complete a loan on Kiva, you will see a small Facebook icon on the final “Thanks” screen when the transaction is confirmed. Press this icon and a news feed will be published so all your friends on Facebook can be notified that you just invested on a Kiva entrepreneur.

· Kiva on MySpace:
http://www.myspace.com/kivaloans

8) Add a link on your personal blog to the team’s pages:
http://www.kiva.org/team/para_mexico
http://kiva-para-mexico.blogspot.com/

9) Purchase a Kiva gift certificate for birthdays and incoming Holidays. That would make a great gift.
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=gift&action=giftPromotion

10) This coming Holiday season, while you partake with family and friends, take a moment to reflect on those less fortunate than us, and remember we are trying to help one microloan at a time.

The Ugly Side of Microlending (Part 5 of 5)

2008-11-16T20:46:00.000-06:00

Reproduced from an article in Business Week, December 13, 2007.

Full article http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_52/b4064038915009.htm

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Last year, in a brash move characteristic of Grupo Salinas, lawyers for Azteca went to court rather than comply with a new law requiring banks to inform clients of the total financing costs they are charged. Azteca sought a type of protective order with which individuals or companies can shield themselves from application of a particular law or other government action. A federal judge granted the exception.

Freed of disclosure requirements, Azteca continues stressing weekly payments rather than long-term interest rates. When pressed for its average annual rate, Azteca asserts that it is about 55%. But Chuck Waterfield, a consultant based in Lancaster, Pa., who specializes in financial modeling for micro-lenders, points out that if Azteca's average rate is translated to make it comparable with APRs in the U.S., it comes to 110%. That's because Azteca charges interest on the full amount borrowed throughout the life of the loan, even as the principal declines—not on the declining balance, as is common in the U.S. An adjunct professor at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, Waterfield has no relationship with Azteca.

When Azteca loans go bad, the results can be bruising for borrowers. Porfirio Soriano Pérez and his son Zalatiel bought a $1,435 Chinese-made motorcycle last year on an 18-month plan that required $29 weekly payments. They intended to use the bike to scout out customers for the parsley they grow on several acres just outside San Martín Texmelucan. The Sorianos knew the 68% financing would boost the motorcycle's total cost to $2,289, but they lacked cash to pay up front.

In February, disaster hit. A hailstorm wiped out their crop and with it their $350 monthly income. "Suddenly," says Porfirio, "we had nothing to sell, and no money." They fell behind on payments. Soon a collection agent began showing up at the extended Soriano family's unpainted home. In October, Azteca delivered written warning of legal action. "The problem is that people go into the store and buy out of pure emotion," says Morales, chief of Azteca's local legal department.

The Sorianos already had paid $1,560 on the motorcycle—more than the original sticker price—and owed about $700 more, but ended up returning the purchase. That erased the debt in Porfirio's name. The company will resell the bike and recover the money it's owed. The Sorianos, meanwhile, have nothing left to plant a new crop.

Five ways to increase the Team's impact.

2008-11-10T10:08:00.000-06:00

In no particular order:

1) Invite family and friends to join Kiva and Para Mexico.

2) Reloan funds entrepreneurs pay back to you to other entrepreneurs.

3) The way teams are ranked on Kiva is by number of loans, not total loaned. Therefore it is better to loan $100 dollars to four entrepreneurs than making one single loan of $100, so the team’s total of loans increases by four, not by one.

4) Encourage your fellow team members to keep loaning by formulating challenges or posting messages on the team’s blog or Kiva’s Para Mexico page.

5) Be generous!! Remember you are helping out people around the world rise from poverty by helping themselves.

Can you think of something else ?

2008-11-05T08:47:00.000-06:00

Yes, we did !!

October Stats

2008-11-03T08:28:00.000-06:00

What a month October was. A month of explosive growth in members and amount loaned. Honestly, when this group started, I wasn't expecting this success. I thought a new member would join every once in a while, and new loans would be sporadic. How wrong I was. Take a look at this graphs:

Most of the team members reside in the USA, followed by Mexico, Canada, and three members that didn't disclose their location. And by the way, we have two mysterious Anonymous lenders.

The team is fulfilling its goal, which is funding entrepreneurs in Mexico, although there are plenty of loans to entreprenours around the world.

From $225.00 loaned in September to $2750.00 this month, that's a 1222.22% Increase (More than one THOUSAND percent)

Thank you everibody for your efforts.

The Ugly Side of Microlending (Part 4 of 5)

2008-10-27T07:50:00.000-05:00

Reproduced from an article in Business Week, December 13, 2007.
Full article http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_52/b4064038915009.htm
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The money isn't spewed out carelessly. With efficiency unusual in the Mexican marketplace, the bank deploys a cavalry of credit and collection agents on motorbikes. These jefes de crédito y cobranza visit borrowers within 24 hours of a purchase or loan application.

Juan Carlos Pérez Lopanzi, a 25-year-old college graduate who studied international commerce, serves as one of 13 credit agents in San Martín Texmelucan. One October morning, he rumbles up to the home of Maria Teresa Hernández as neighbors peer from their windows. Hernández, a 50-year-old street vendor, wants to borrow $460 for a new hot dog wagon. She isn't home, so Lopanzi questions her adult daughter about the family's finances. Do they rent or own? Have they lived there at least two years? What do they spend on food?

With each answer, Lopanzi taps the screen of a handheld computer. Data will be routed to Azteca's operations center in Mexico City. The state-of-the-art system keeps the cost of processing 7 million transactions a day to a mere 3 cents per transaction, according to Azteca. "It's amazing—all this is for poor people," says Juan Arévalo Carranza, the bank's technology chief.

Back in dusty San Martín Texmelucan, Azteca's proprietary software alerts the agent, Lopanzi, that Hernández, who earns $276 a month, doesn't qualify for a $460 loan. He offers $370 instead. That will require $10.60 weekly payments for 12 months for an APR of 85%. Hernández will end up paying $551. "If she had more income, she could have a shorter payback period, and the interest rate would be lower," the agent explains to the daughter. She shrugs, then nods in acceptance.

"Tell her she can go by the store this afternoon for her check," Lopanzi says, as he registers the serial numbers of the daughter's stereo, DVD player, TV, and refrigerator. The items' resale value, preprogrammed into Lopanzi's digital device, must add up to around double the value of the loan. If the woman fails to pay, Azteca will cart away the daughter's possessions and sell them in a Grupo Elektra used-goods store.

Azteca deducts the depreciated value of seized goods from outstanding loan balances, so if someone who doesn't pay has enough possessions to cover the debt, the bank considers it paid. Azteca bars such customers from borrowing again but doesn't count them as having defaulted, which helps explain its stated loan failure rate of just 1%. Banks serving more prosperous clients average a 5.3% default rate on consumer loans.

Mexican lenders benefit from attitudes cultivated in a society lacking a welfare safety net, personal bankruptcy system, or meaningful consumer protection laws. Credit bureaus have recently sprung up in Mexico, including one that Elektra helped start in 2005, and many among the working poor worry about sullying their new credit ratings. They assume that, one way or the other, they or their relatives will just have to pay back whatever they borrow, says Gustavo A. Del Angel, an economic historian who studies micro-finance at the Center of Research & Economic Teaching in Mexico City.

`BAD MANNERS'
Borrowers who fall behind realistically fear public embarrassment. Photocopies of debtors' national identification cards sometimes turn up on telephone poles and at central marketplaces with warnings that say "DON'T LEND TO THIS PERSON!" Six months ago, an Azteca agent in San Martín Texmelucan posted such flyers. The company fired him. "Our system is not intended to be publicly shaming," says Niño de Rivera, Azteca's vice-chairman, but he acknowledges it "is intended to exercise peer pressure."

Even as Mexico's economy modernizes, companies operate with minimal oversight from government. Luis Pazos, head of Condusef, Mexico's regulator of consumer financial transactions, says his agency logs complaints about Azteca's collection methods and the adequacy of its disclosure of credit terms. "We've talked with that bank about the bad manners they've had," he says. But Condusef hasn't taken any substantial action against Azteca, which says it scrupulously polices the behavior of its employees.

Adela y elias's Challenge

2008-10-20T20:52:00.000-05:00

Adela y elias have a new challenge for the team: Lifting "Para Mexico" to the top five pages of Kiva's teams.

It is going to take a good effort to fulfill this goal, so don't forget to invite friends and family to join "Para Mexico". Our team currently sits on the top ten pages, and I believe it can go a lot further than that.

Happy lending.

The Ugly Side of Microlending (Part 3 of 5)

2008-10-19T19:37:00.000-05:00

says Pedro Morales, head of the bank's local legal department. "They take on financial commitments they can't meet." But Niño de Rivera, the bank's vice-chairman, says: "There is no pressure to sign loans, and consumers are encouraged to shop around freely for what best suits their needs."

The Aranas used the $1,315 to buy picture frames, toys, and inexpensive cosmetics, which they displayed in their front room, beneath a dangling lightbulb illuminating a portrait of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Once again, their business faltered. Two textile factories in the area had closed recently, throwing thousands out of work. Mexico offers no government benefits to cushion such adversity. The Aranas saw few customers.

For six months they made their payments, but then, in July, Adrián lost his soft-drink delivery job. By September, past-due notices and interest charges were piling up, and an Azteca collection agent was visiting regularly. "We either eat or we pay off the loan," says Adrián. The despairing family resorted to borrowing $200 from a loan shark at 10% a month. Informal lending of this sort, despite its attendant threat of violence, is not prohibited in Mexico. Azteca's local collections chief, Alejandro Tejeda, says it's a shame that borrowers can land in such trouble. "But these people made a commitment, and they need to live up to it," he says.

With no money to pay the loan shark or Azteca, and fearing that the bank will seize their few belongings, the Aranas are trying to sell their house. So far they haven't found a buyer, and if they do, it's not clear where they would live. They're keeping food on the table, barely, with Adrián's door-to-door sales of tomatoes and herbs, which he transports in the basket of a large tricycle. "We never thought this would happen," he says. "We're sinking fast."

Banco Azteca and Grupo Elektra are key parts of Grupo Salinas, an amalgam of media, telecommunications, and retail businesses controlled by billionaire Ricardo B. Salinas Pliego. A maverick among Mexico's business elite, he has sparked controversy. In 2006 he settled civil fraud allegations by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission concerning the finances of his TV network, then traded on the New York Stock Exchange. He denied wrongdoing but paid $7.5 million and was barred for five years from serving as an executive or director of companies listed in the U.S.

The Salinas family began selling furniture on credit more than a century ago in the northern city of Monterrey. Ricardo, 51, says he learned early in life that those who work in Mexico's informal economy, without pay stubs or much collateral, and who can't afford sofas or blenders outright, will snap up merchandise if offered seemingly manageable terms. "If you want to become rich, sell to the poor," he recalls his grandfather instructing him.

He learned to get even richer by lending to the poor, and to those who are better off. Azteca targets 14.5 million Mexican families earning $5,100 to $33,600 a year. Mexico has a total population of 109 million, with a median annual household income of $7,297. Mainstream Mexican banks cater to the wealthier elite, while less than one-third of working-poor families have access to any banking services at all.

Azteca has absorbed Elektra's ethos of high-pressure employee quotas and incentives. Elektra clerks, clothed in the store's signature bright yellow, earn commissions on top of their standard weekly salary of $120 for tacking on extras such as warranties, life insurance, and even long-distance bus tickets. The biggest score comes from persuading a customer to spread payments over the longest possible period, 104 weeks. "Sell on credit and earn much more money!" an online company training manual states.

MOTORBIKE CAVALRY

The strategy has far exceeded the expectations of Grupo Elektra executives. The bank already contributes one-fifth of its parent's $5 billion in annual revenue. It boasts a consumer loan portfolio of $2 billion and a healthy 22.3% return on shareholder equity.

The main Elektra/Azteca branch in San Martín Texmelucan aims to meet a daily target of $9,000 in fresh loans.

The Ugly Side of Mircolending (part 2 of 5)

2008-10-12T20:20:00.000-05:00

But it creates tempting hazards as well, which in Mexico are drawing many unsophisticated families into a maze of debts. Pawnshops and loan sharks, whose interest rates of up to 300% have plagued generations of Mexicans, now face rivals offering terms that are less harsh. But along the road to previously unavailable financing, some Mexicans are stumbling badly.

The Arana family is but a blip on one of the wide screens at Azteca's operations center. Beneath the digital glimmer lies a story of striving. Adrián Arana Sánchez, his wife, Francisca, and their extended family take whatever work they can find, adding a few pesos here and there. Last July, Adrián lost an $80-a-week job delivering soft drinks to stores in gritty, exhaust-choked San Martín Texmelucan, a city of 143,000 two hours southeast of Mexico City. He now brings home half that amount peddling vegetables door to door and making plaster-cast statuettes of Jesus. Francisca sells crunchy slices of jicama root outside an elementary school. With four children, two grandchildren, and a son-in-law, they live in a four-room cinderblock house in the shadow of snow-capped volcanoes once revered by the Aztecs.

Although indigent by U.S. or Western European standards, the Aranas see themselves as aspiring consumers and even as entrepreneurs in a society that makes all manner of goods and services available for what seem like manageable weekly payments. Banco Azteca plays a central role in that emerging credit economy. Started five years ago, it operates from the nearly 800 locations of its parent, Grupo Elektra, Latin America's largest electronics and home appliance chain. Elektra/Azteca has the sort of ubiquitous presence that Wal-Mart enjoys in the U.S.

SEEKING A MIDDLE-CLASS LIFE

The dazzling yellow facades of Elektra/Azteca outlets shout for attention in rundown neighborhoods. Inside the store across from the Catholic cathedral in San Martín Texmelucan, a tag on a six-speaker sound system throbbing with ranchero music carries a price of $691, but larger bold print stresses weekly payments of only $16. An installment plan can be arranged by Azteca staffers who work from metal desks at the back. Over 18 months, the weekly payments nearly double the price, to $1,248. That's an APR of 88%. APR is commonly used in the U.S. to compare total loan costs. In Mexico, Azteca isn't legally obliged to disclose it—and doesn't. (Mexican loans include a 15% tax on financial services.)

Adrián Arana, 50 years old and with a sixth-grade education, has become a regular customer at this branch of Elektra/Azteca. He and Francisca, who completed only the second grade, have obtained a series of small loans over the past four years to purchase a CD player, bicycle, TV, video camera, and bedroom furniture. In 2006 they took the next step, borrowing $920 to pursue a long-cherished ambition: opening a dry-goods store in the front room of their house. They saw the store as a means to achieve stability, and maybe a middle-class life. But like many tiny businesses started by inexperienced proprietors, this one soon failed. A neighbor had just opened a similar but better-stocked home shop. The Aranas toiled diligently at their other jobs to pay back the loan, missing some weekly payments and incurring late fees. With an APR of 105%, the loan ended up costing about $1,485 over a year. But they paid it off.

Determined to try again, they were back at Azteca in February with a new plan, this time to start a gift shop. Azteca granted them a bigger loan, for $1,380 over 18 months, but deducted $65 up front, leaving the Aranas with $1,315 and an APR of 90%. They say they didn't understand these terms. They focused instead on the weekly payment of only $32. "They never tell you what the interest rate is," says Adrián. "They say, Sign here,' but they don't give you time to read everything."

Some Azteca executives concede that borrowers sometimes walk away confused. "Terms are explained to them, maybe not as clearly as they should be, but many clients don't understand,"

M + M CHALLENGE, COMPLETED !!!!

2008-10-10T23:43:00.001-05:00

We made it, the challenge is completed. Thanks to you entrepreneurs around the world can aspire to a better life for themselves and their families. I know this are scary economic times, for team members back in Mexico, the peso is sliding everyday against the dollar, and for member here in the United States, the stock market is terrible and we don't know where this crisis is going to end up. Nevertheless we should be proud of ourselves that regardless of tough economic times, we are still willing to give a helping hand to those less fortunate than us.

Thank you everybody for your efforts, here is the final tally of the challenge for team members:

Nuri $50
Amalio $150
Ron & Linda $50
adelas y elias $50
Ximena $50
Jim&Conchita Burmeister $25
Cody $25
Ricardo $50
Jana $50
Pier $25

The total is $525, a little bit more than the challenge.

M + M match for today:
www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=69088
www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=67823
www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=67828

Day summary:
Challenge $500.00
Team Loans $500.00
M + M Match $500.00
Left to match $0.00

Left to fulfill $0.00

Again, congratulations to everyone, it has been a great experience, and I hope to repeat the challenge on October next year.

M + M (Maya & Miriam, my two beloved girls say thanks also)

M + M Challenge, summary for Thursday, October 9

2008-10-09T22:31:00.000-05:00

A very slow day today, so slow, that there was only one loan today, from myself, just enough to make my match current with the team's total.

Team Total for today $0

M + M Match
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=67723

Total match for today $25

Day 4 Summary
Challenge $500.00
Team Loans $425.00
M + M Match $425.00
Left to match $0.00

LEFT TO FULLFILL $75.00

It's only $75 to complete the challenge. Let's do it team, we can make this happen !

M + M Challenge, summary for Wednesday, October 8

2008-10-08T21:49:00.000-05:00

Getting closer to fulfilling the challenge, the following teammates contributed today:

* adelas y elias $25
* Ximena $50

Total for today $75

M + M Match
www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=67592
www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=67323
www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=67294

Total match for today $75

Summary:
Challenge $500.00
Team Loans $425.00
M + M Match $400.00
Left to match $25.00

Only $75 for the team to complete the challenge, we are almost there. Three more loans tomorrow... and success !!!!

Thanks a lot, and the challenge continues tomorrow.

American Express Members Project

2008-10-08T10:36:00.001-05:00

If you happen to have an American Express card, all you have to do is vote.

M + M Challenge, summary for Tuesday, October 7

2008-10-07T22:13:00.000-05:00

Phew !!! Another frenzy of loans from the team this evening. It is really hard to keep up, Kiva doesn't provide a lot of tools to track what loans have been funded on a particular day, so I ended up checking every single loan to see which one had been done today. This is the list I came up with, let me know if I missed something:

* Amalio $100
* Jim&Conchita Burmeister $25
* Cody $25

Total for today $150

M + M Match:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=67829
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=67906
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=67486
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=67493
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=67573
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=67733
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=67343
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=67765

Total match for today $200

Summary:
Challenge $500.00
Team Loans $350.00
M + M Match $325.00
Left to match $25.00

Only $150 and the challenge is complete. Thanks a lot everyone !
The challenge continues, and maybe ends, tomorrow.

M + M Challenge, summary for Monday, October 6

2008-10-06T20:26:00.000-05:00

Day summary:

What a day this was. I believe the M + M Challenge will be a success, and it may even be fulfilled before Sunday. I was kind of hoping that nobody will participate in the challenge, so I could have an excuse to get a long coveted Sony PlayStation II. But seems like you have decided that this money is better being invested alleviating poverty than on an exciting cool new piece of gaming hardware (so long FIFA 09!!!). Oh well, maybe Santa Claus will get me a surprise on December...

Here is a summary

Team members that loaned today:
* Ron & Linda $25
* Nuri $25
* adelas y elias $25
* Ricardo $50
* Jana $50
* Pier $25

Total for today: $200

M + M match:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=64422
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=66753
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=67574
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=67816
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=68005

Total: $125
Left to match: $75

Hopefully tomorrow there will be enough loans to Mexican entrepreneurs to match the total amount loaned by the team.

Thank you everybody. The challenge continues tomorrow.

M + M Challenge

2008-10-06T09:20:00.000-05:00

M + M Challenge !!!

Good day friends of “Para Mexico”. I haven’t made a formal welcome to you’ all to this fine Kiva lending team. The team has grown with new members almost every day, and the lending total has grown too. We have members from all over the North American continent; form Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, to New Orleans, Louisiana, United States to Melaque and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Some of you are Kiva veterans, others just joined. I hope your social lending goals are fulfilled in Kiva and you find the support you need by having joined “Para Mexico”.

And what is the M + M challenge you may ask?

I’m outraged; OUTRAGED after having read the article I posted in the blog about the state of micro lending in Mexico. Those lending companies are stealing and abusing people with loans that must be repaid with interest rates from over 60%, all the way to 100%. That’s not a typo, that’s ONE HUNDRED PERCENT!!!!

Lots of people with hopes to establish micro business and have a better life for themselves and their families will apply for loans at this shark corporations (Banco Azteca, Elektra, Banco Compartamos, among others), only to find that when they are unable to make a payment, they can lose nearly everything they own.

Enter the M + M challenge. I just got a $500 bonus from my company. I’m willing to socially invest that amount in Kiva. But here is the catch; I’m investing that money by matching the amount that you, my fellow team members, lend on Kiva. That is, if any of you invest $25, I will invest another $25, not necessarily to the same loan. Invest $100 as a team; I put another $100 on the table. All the way until my $500 runs out. It doesn’t sound as much, but at least we can take some business out of those shark corporation.

You can lend to whoever entrepreneur you choose to, but I’ll try to lend my match to a Mexican entrepreneur. And by the way, the challenge begins today, but ends on Sunday October 12. One week.

Send me an email to cc "at" cesarcastro "dot" com as soon as you complete a loan, so I can login to Kiva and match the amount.

OK, the challenge is on, happy lending !

The Ugly Side of Mircolending (part 1 of 5)

2008-10-05T20:24:00.001-05:00

Reproduced from an article in Business Week, December 13, 2007.
Full article http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_52/b4064038915009.htm
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In a gleaming office tower in Mexico City secured with retinal scanners, bulletproof glass, and armed guards, dozens of workers in white lab coats dart around a large operations center monitoring long rows of computers. Along one wall, 54 enormous screens flicker dizzyingly with numbers, graphs, and fever charts: a relentless stream of data. You'd think the urgent mission involved tracking the trajectory of a spacecraft or the workings of a national power grid, not tiny amounts of cash and credit for Mexico's working poor.

The transactions are so minuscule they hardly seem worth the bother. The average loan amounts to $257. But for Banco Azteca, a swiftly growing bank affiliated with Latin America's largest household retailer, the small sums represent a torrent of revenue that has caught even its founders by surprise. For three decades, micro-lending was seen as a tool of nonprofit economic development. Now poor people are turning into one of the world's least likely sources of untapped profit, primarily because they will pay interest rates most Americans would consider outrageous, if not usurious.

With no legal limits on interest levels and little government oversight, for-profit banks in Mexico impose annual interest rates on poor borrowers that typically range from 50% to 120%. That compares with a worldwide average of 31% among nonprofit micro-lending institutions, and the 22% to 29% that Americans with bad credit histories incur on credit-card debt. Azteca's business model succeeds not only because it can charge credit-starved clients almost whatever it wants. Equally important is that low-income Mexicans anxious about maintaining their reputation tend to pay back what they owe, regardless of the hardship. Those who slip behind receive frequent visits from motorcycle-riding collection agents. Default rates are infinitesimal. "We lend to them as much as they can borrow," says Azteca Vice-Chairman Luis Niño de Rivera, "and they can borrow as much as they can pay."

WHIFF OF PROFITS

In a Mexico that is modernizing economically even as most people still struggle to make ends meet, Azteca has discovered an improbable market for financial services. Much larger companies based in the U.S. and Europe also have picked up the whiff of profits. Wal-Mart Stores, which obtained a Mexican banking license a year ago, began offering loans for purchases at 16 of its 997 Mexican outlets in November. In the U.S., the retailer markets itself as a friend to the budget-conscious. In Mexico, it charges interest rates that might set off popular and political revolts back home, although Wal-Mart describes its terms as appropriate to the Mexican market. At one store west of Mexico City, a 32-inch LG plasma TV with a price tag of $957 can ultimately cost as much as $1,474, thanks to a 52-week payment plan that carries an annual percentage rate (APR) of 86%.

Banamex, Mexico's second-largest bank and a wholly owned unit of Citigroup, is stepping up its pitches of personal loans to the working poor in 127 cities where it operates shops called Crédito Familiar, or Family Credit. HSBC Holdings last year bought a 20% stake in Financiera Independencia, a high-interest consumer lender that went public on Nov. 1. The Swiss insurer Zurich Financial Services is underwriting term life insurance policies that are sold along with small loans in Mexico. And homegrown nonprofit Compartamos morphed into a full-fledged commercial bank last year; it went public in April, reaping hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. All are examples of how financial players worldwide are pursuing profits by putting loans within reach of deprived borrowers.

Team Stats / Estadisticas del Equipo

2008-10-01T07:54:00.000-05:00

I'm going to try posting this info at the end of each month. Just a couple of graphics showing who in the group is making loans and where those loans are going. The graphics are a little silly now, but I guess that at time goes by they will be more informative.

----------

Voy a tratar de publicar esta información al final de cada mes. Son unas gráficas mostrando quién esta haciendo microcreditos y a que paises. Las graficas se ven muy simples, pero conforme pase el tiempo creo que se verán mas interesantes.

Azucena is the Champion for the month of September. She participated in four loans in one single weekend.

Azucena es la campeona del mes de Septiembre. Cuatro prestamos en un solo fin de semana.

México es el país al que mas prestamos se han otorgado, seguido de Perú, Honduras y Tajikistan.

México is the country with the most loans, followed by Peru, Honduras and Tajikistan

Lorena Ochoa en Prattville, Alabama

2008-09-30T12:39:00.000-05:00

Prattville no está lejos de donde vivo, y cuando un amigo consiguió un par de boletos para ir al Navistar LPGA Classic de Alabama, no me la pensé dos veces, pues la campeona del mundo, Lorena Ochoa, iba a pelear por ganar un torneo importante desde Mayo pasado.

Ahora, no soy un experto en golf, ni lo practico frecuentemente, pero las mejores jugadoras del mundo iban a estar presentes. El torneo habia empezado desde el jueves pasado, y hoy seria el dia final, con Lorena Ochoa en primer lugar con 13 golpes bajo par, empatada con Louise Friberg.

La salida de Lorena fue aproximadamente a las 12:30 y despues de casi 5 horas de competencia, finalmente se llevó el titulo. Al finalizar el hoyo 18, habia triple empate en primer lugar, con Lorena Ochoa, Candie Kung y Cristie Kerr empatadas con 15 golpes bajo par.

Para desempatar la competencia, las tres jugadoras repitieron el hoyo 18, que contaba 411 yardas, par-4. Kerr hizo boogie y quedo eliminada, y Ochoa y Kung, al hacer el par, repitieron una vez mas el 18.

Kung tuvo que hacer put tres veces al segundo desempate, mientras Lorena solo dos, para llevarse el titulo por un solo golpe.

Ahora, Lorena estuvo solo a centimetros de perder la competencia, pues en el primer desempate Kung estuvo a un par de centimetros de que entrara la pelota en el primer put. Al final saco la experiencia y se gano un buen premio de $210,000.

Fueron casi seis horas de seguir a Lorena por los 18 hoyos, y que tenía que ser con gran rapidez por cierto, pues si perdiamos el paso nos arriesgabamos en perdernos la acción mas adelante. Traté de sacar una buena cantidad de fotos, pero el campo estaba lleno de nazis que inmediatamente te señalaban con el dedo y gritaban "no pictures". Clandestinamente pude sacar las fotos que pude.

Al final del torneo nos teniamos que llevar el autografo de Lorena, y despues de esperar pacientemente por casi dos horas, finalmente pudimos lograr el preciado souvenir. Cansados, con hambre, asoleados y deshidratados, pero fue una gran satisfaccion escuchar las frases "México" y "first place and world champion" en la misma frase. Gran campeona Lorena !!!

Vienen las pocas y mal tomadas fotos que pude sacar.

Lorena, porque siempre me das la espalda?

Lorena y su contrincante, Louise Friberg, de Suecia, empatadas al inicio en primer lugar. Louise caeria hasta el sexto lugar al final.

Lorena esperando su turno.

El momento del primer desempate. Cristie Kerr se puede observar a las derecha de Lorena lamentandose por ser eliminada.

El momento de la gloria, despues de un durisimo segundo desempate, sacando la bola triunfadora del hoyo. Kung a la izquierda con camisa rosa.

La premiación, donde Lorena agradeció a su familia, a los organizadores, a su caddie, y a unos cuantos mexicanos gritones que por ahi estabamos.

Después de finalizada la competencia, siguieron las entrevistas, y el momento critico en que ibamos a tener unos cuantos minutos para obtener nuestro preciado premio despues de un largo dia, el autógrafo de Lorena. Por cierto, esa reportera no esta de mal ver.

Como moscas a la miel, una avalancha de gente se le acercó a Lorena en cuanto acabó la entrevista. Es sorprendente que después del un dia agotador, Lorena todavia tuvo tiempo para atender a los aficionados con gran amabilidad y buena disposición. Aunque claro, despues de ganar doscientos mil dolares, creo que estaba contenta de firmar donde le pidieran.

Souvenir sin precio #1, tuve que pisotear dos niños y empujar a una anciana para conseguirlo, pero misión cumplida.

Souvenir sin precio #2, proximamente en Ebay!

First Team Loan / Primer prestamo del equipo

2008-09-22T09:02:00.000-05:00

"Ivone is married and has two children: 10-year-old Jason and 4-year-old Jacqeline. Her husband is an employee. She began her business because Ivone wanted to help her husband in supporting the family. Three years ago she began selling American second-hand clothing, which has generated a good income. She requests a loan for $250 to be paid back in four months. The loan will be used to buy merchandise to make her business grow. With your help, Ivone will make it."

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"Ivone es casada y tiene 2 hijos: Jasón de 10 años y Jacqueline de 4 años, su esposo es empleado. Ella inició el negocio por querer sacar adelante a su familia apoyando a su marido con la economía familiar. Empezó hace 3 años vendiendo ropa americana y le ha dejado buenos ingresos.
Ella necesita un préstamo por US $250 que pagara en 4 meses para comprar mercancía ya que quiere hacer crecer su negocio y con tu apoyo lo va a conseguir"

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=64415.

Para Mexico - Porque es importante ayudar.

2008-09-15T08:51:00.000-05:00

En nuestro pais Mexico, existe una clase media que conforma cerca de dos quintas partes de la poblacion del pais, la cual puede proveer a sus familias de necesidades basicas como educacion, vivienda, entretenimiento; y por su puesto una minoria acomodada que controla las grandes corporaciones y la riqueza del pais. Perdida debajo de esa estructura social, existe la mayoria de la poblacion, cerca de la mitad del total del pais, la que vive en diferentes niveles de pobreza, y el 15% de la poblacion que se ubica en el umbral de la extrema pobreza, sobreviviendo con un dolar o menos al dia.

La erradicacion de la pobreza no es una tarea sencilla, hay varios factores que contribuyen a que una familia este sumida en la miseria sin posibilidades de salir adelante: Desempleo o subempleo, educacion defectuosa o no existente, falta de servicios medicos, e imposibilidad de tener acceso a servicios financieros.

Porque falta de acceso a servicios financieros? Sin poder obtener capital inicial de alguna institucion financiera, debido a falta de garantias, una persona pobre carece de la posibilidad de iniciar algun negocio, taller o comercio, o si consigue credito, es por medio de prestamos predatorios que ofrecen dinero con terminos de usura.

En 1983 se fundo el Grameen Bank en la ciudad de Dhaka, Bangladesh. El fundador del banco, Muhammad Yunus, se inspiro para fundar la institucion durante la hambruna en ese pais de 1974, en la que el personalmente dio 27 dolares a un grupo de 42 familias para que pudieran producir articulos sin tener que acudir a prestamos predatorios, con la condicion de que el dinero fuera devuelto. En 2007, Grammen Bank tenia 7 millones de miembros en Bangladesh, y ha otorgado 6.55 billones de dolares en creditos, con un 95% de taza cumplimiento de pagos. Los microcreditos han ayudado a millones de personas en Bangladesh, sobre todo mujeres, a salir de la pobreza extrema y poder aspirar a un futuro mejor. En 2006, Muhammad Yunus recibio el Premio Novel de la Paz por sus esfuerzos con Grammen Bank.

La experiencia de Grammen Bank ha demostrado que los microcreditos funcionan, y la idea se ha extendido alrededor del mundo. Finalmente es posible obtener el capital necesario para que una persona pobre pueda salir adelante. Pero no se trata de una caridad, el beneficiario del prestamo tiene que cumplir su obligacion financiera, conviertiendolo no solo en un empresario, si no en un ciudadadano responsable en su comunidad.