2 down, 10 to go!

February’s Kiva loan goes to Susana, who operates a food stall in Peru. Susana requested $1,100 to buy more inventory for her business. Here’s to getting her shelves stocked and stocked well. I think it feels extra cool to loan to a country you’ve visited!

Since last month’s loan I’ve had two friends/loved ones enter the microfinance game themselves. One was even for my birthday!

Have you made a loan yet?

xo, jill

1 down, 11 to go!

photo from Maria’s Kiva listing

January’s Kiva loan goes to to Maria Sara Marroquin De Guardado, a 51 year old wife and mother living in El Salvador. Maria has requested $700 to buy fruit and vegetables in quantity to support her produce business. Shortly after I clicked my payment, her loan had been fulfilled. What an amazing Kiva community!

If you’re not quite sure how all this microbusiness works… watch this:

Cool, eh?

xo, jill

I’ve been inspired.

I’m reading a fantastic book. I can’t stop talking about it. And I can’t stop thinking about my impact on the world as a citizen, traveler, and teacher.

Half the Sky: How to Change the World by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn [UK title] speaks of the terrible oppression women face in the world. But just when you can’t take the sadness, an amazing story of empowerment offers hope and inspiration. How do you talk about these things without sounding cheesy?

Half the Sky has me feeling angry one moment and super excited the next. I’m overwhelmed with everything I want to share. Maybe it will trickle out in the next few days. Maybe not.

What I can tell you now is that Kristof and WuDunn offer microfinance as one of many solutions to help empower women throughout the world. Microfinance and microcredit were largely developed by one of my heroes, Muhammad Yunus. I’ve been meaning to get involved for awhile… thank you Half the Sky for the kick in the pants.

And so, I’m happy to announce a new blog feature!

Every month I will invest in a different microcredit loan via Kiva.org. I’ll feature the loan here with the intent of holding myself accountable and spreading the word on microcredit. Ideally, I’d like to loan to women in countries I’ve visited, but that’s not a requirement.

January’s loan will be up soon.

xo, jill