Kiva: A World Of Change

Kiva was started with the purpose of overhauling the way aid is distributed in developing countries – specifically struggling communities around the globe – in order to benefit the growth of small businesses where growth is needed the most. You might be wondering how this has anything to do with Web 2.0. But the fact is, this has everything to do with the new methods with which people connect to one another over the Internet.

What ultimately makes Kiva such a successful venture is their downplaying the methodology of making donations to curb and hopefully ameliorate poverty, and promoting realistic miracles known as micro loans. Instead of relying on the world’s largest banks to act as intermediaries or lending and borrowing, Kiva has positioned itself as a “meeting place” of sorts, where individuals (yes, like you and I) from developed countries can impact change, literally in days.

Forgoing Tuesday’s mainstream primetime programming for PBS’s Frontline, it was quite fascinating to discover the real-world benefit of loans made for as little as $20 up to several thousand. What these disbursements from Kiva enable is a cascade effect of community development in the best possible meaning of the term ‘viral.’

Unfortunately, as of this moment, Kiva’s servers are down after receiving a massive surge in visitorship immediately following the broadcast of Frontline: The World. But do visit, and consider contributing to the effort to help drop the global poverty statistic and keep it down. The greatest moment had about providing a loan in this way is when its paid back, at which point you’ve essentially received confirmation that you truly did help better that individual live and those around him/her. Also, you get to redistribute the funds once again if you’d like. This is social networking where it matters most.

Visit Kiva.