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Poverty
(Photo by eren | thisvintagechica)

Today, as part of Blog Action Day, I’m contributing to the discussion on poverty.

I’ve never though of myself as a rich person, but according to the web site Global Rich List I’m in the top 14% of the richest people in the world. This number really changes my perspective and makes me want to do more to fight poverty. But here are two things I’m doing right now that you may also want to consider:

Sponsoring a Child

Through World Vision, I sponsor a six-year-old boy in the Dominican Republic named Marcos. Because Marcos lives in a community affected by the HIV/AIDS crisis, World Vision classifies him as a HopeChild. What this means is that I donate $35 per month instead of $30 and my extra donation helps Marcos’ community fight HIV/AIDS. Truthfully, $35 a month does not seem like much to me, but it does mean a lot to Marcos and his family. He will have a better chance at a healthy life and have opportunities for education.

My donation to World Vision is easy. At the beginning of every month, $35 is automatically withdrawn from my checking account via my debit card. I have it set so that the withdrawal happens right after my paycheck is deposited, meaning the money is guaranteed to be in my account for the donation.

Participating in Microloans

Through Kiva, I’m helping a man named Dilovar Bozorov in Tajikistan purchase a greater variety of food for his food stand. This will enable him to more easily provide for his wife and two children.

This is how microloans through Kiva work:

1) Lenders browse profiles of entrepreneurs in need, and choose someone to lend to. When they lend, using PayPal or their credit cards, Kiva collects the funds and then passes them along to one of our microfinance partners worldwide.

2) Kiva’s microfinance partners distribute the loan funds to the selected entrepreneur. Often, our partners also provide training and other assistance to maximize the entrepreneur’s chances of success.

3) Over time, the entrepreneur repays their loan. Repayment and other updates are posted on Kiva and emailed to lenders who wish to receive them.

4) When lenders get their money back, they can re-lend to someone else in need, donate their funds to Kiva (to cover operational expenses), or withdraw their funds.

I signed up for a Kiva account and browsed the profiles of entrepreneurs. I found Dilovar and noticed that he was close to his goal of $800 in loans. I loaned $25 through my Paypal account. When Dilovar repays the money, I will get credit in my Kiva account which I will re-lend to someone else. Each month, I’ll look for another entrepreneur and loan another $25 through Kiva. Because I’ll eventually be getting my money back from most of these entrepreneurs (the default rate for Kiva loans is very low), I’ll eventually be able to loan way more than $25 a month through re-lending.

What a great opportunity to help people help themselves!

How about you? How can you help fight poverty?

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