I really like Kiva.org and how they handle charitable giving.
I don’t really like the whole “oh, look at you, you are so poor, here, have some charity” style of helping people. For one thing, it strikes me as paternalistic and condescending, and for another I don’t think it really helps much. The sort of dumb stuff that people do to get themselves into trouble will just keep coming, unless they change what they are doing. Hand outs only seem to delay how long it takes for bad behavior to catch up with people. Please keep in mind this is from someone who managed to feed herself at 12 with food stamps earned from babysitting and food banks- I have been on both sides of this coin.
When you end up with a lot of charitable giving going on in areas of the 3rd world where things are really bad, you end up with a very ugly situation. This isn’t just my thoughts- there’s a lot of research on how charity effects the 3rd world and very little of it is positive, most of it is mixed or negative. If there is a lot of charity money floating around, people spend their time chasing charitable dollars instead of working (chasing other dollars). It changes all kinds of things at the margins in negative ways. Think about it- if you make just as much money to feed your family by looking pathetic and clamoring for handouts as you would working 12 hour days for 6 months, which would you pick? Food aid sounds great, but it also means that no one will buy anything from local farmers, which drives them out of business, so that next year the famine will hit even worse. The results of charitable hand outs in the 3rd world are very mixed, and frankly I don’t want my good intentions to actually make life harder for the people I am trying to help.
On the other hand, as an American I DO have it easy compared to most of the world, and I DO want to do something concrete that will help. I want to know where my money is going and I want to know that it’s actually doing good in the world. Enter the joys of small scale microfinance.
With Kiva, you can find someone who needs a hand. They don’t need charity, they need a CHANCE. They’re working hard, they’re moving forward, they’re trying to make their farm more productive or sell more goods from their living room that they’ve converted to a corner store. These are the small entrepreneurs that are creating economic growth in the areas that need it most. They’re also serving as a great example, showing the people in their community that it is possible to take control of your destiny, to get out of poverty, and to set your life on a different track.
You can pick who you want to give to, and when they are done using your money, they pay you back. The loan terms are very good, and most of the places where the loans are going don’t have the banking infrastructure to handle small business loans. Once your money has helped one person, you get it back and can roll it over to someone else. Not only is it a way of charitable giving that is more respectful, a hand up rather than a hand out, but unless the person defaults the money keeps working.
Kiva is investing in people, and the return you get can be applied to helping other people. You aren’t giving to a faceless organization, but to individuals.
Kiva is doing a lot of good in the world and I’m really glad that they are around. If you are looking for a place to put a little extra money, for something that really will leave a positive change in the world, check them out.
