My first Kiva Loan

My lovely sister, Erica has been loaning through Kiva for a while now. Kiva is a program that allows you to help fund loans to entrepreneurs in third world countries who are trying to lift themsleves out of poverty. I always thought it sounded like a wonderful way to help people help themselves. She gave me a gift certificate to Kiva a while ago and I've finally used it to make my first loan! I made my loan to a lady named Djide Cisse in Senegal. She sells peanuts!

I know most of us don't have tons of extra cash right now, but all of us could cut out just 1 meal eaten at a fast food restaurant a month, for example, and use that $20 to help someone to support themselves and their families. We always see the unbelievable poverty in the world and think, "it's so far away, what can I do?". This is what you can do. It couldn't get any easier.

I feel better already. :-)