Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Be the change - Kiva

Thanks to a friend, Margaret Davaz, for introducing me to Kiva.  Kiva is a nonprofit organization that matches up borrowers with lenders.   You can choose who you want to loan as little as $25 to help them toward their goal. The website has information about the person and the reason for their request.  Your $25 loan is added to others to complete a request from the borrower.   And as they pay back the money you loaned, you can relend that money to someone else.  The website shows you the loans you have made and the repayment for each one.

I have loaned to people with small businesses in Haiti, Cambodia, Kenya, Paraquay and the United States.   You can choose from 78 different countries.   Of the 8 loans I have made, 2 have been completely repaid and I have re-lent that money to others.

Check it out and 'be the change you want to see' by helping out someone else.

Friday, October 14, 2016

Be the Change

One of my favorite inspirational quotes comes from Gandhi - "Be the change you want to see in the world."   Instead of expecting politicians and government to fix things, why not do what we can to make things better for others?     I like the idea of random acts of kindness, but I think we need to go a little bit further and be intentional about being kind and generous.  Look for ways to help others.  Seek out ways to give not only financially but also to give of our time and energy.
Between now and Christmas I plan to share some of my ideas of how to  'be the change'.

Recently Haiti has suffered massive destruction from Hurricane Michael.  There are many organizations that have popped up seeking donations to help the Haitians.   Who do you choose?  Who can you trust?   Many have such high overhead that most of your donations would never reach the Haitians. And others are corrupt and not doing the work they have promised.

I have a young friend who is a midwife in Haiti and she has shared a reputable organization that has been in Haiti for years.  She works through the organization, Heartline Ministries. (heartlineministries.org)

For donations -

Send check payable to Heartline Ministries and designate "Haiti Housing Fund." 
Mail to:
Heartline Ministries
P.O. Box 898
Sunnyside, WA 98944