Blog posts tagged with microfinance

Mar 3, 2017 KV Kiva HQ
When life gives you lemons... make sustainable lemonade! These stories highlight some key players who are using new technology to solve some of nature’s challenges. 
 
The power of solar power: How this island can keep their lights on during a hurricane
 
Food waste: The reason why NASA is investing in the kitchen sink
 
Good vibrations: Why water pumps in Africa are texting to prevent drought effects
 
...
Continue Reading >>
Mar 3, 2017 KV Kiva HQ
In honor of World Water Day, we’re celebrating a fantastic Field Partner who provides access to clean water, Nazava Water Filters! 
 
In Indonesia, communities are unable to have a reliable and affordable source for their drinking water. This makes it difficult for families to stay healthy. Nazava Water Filters is one excellent social enterprise that aims to provide clean drinking water for all!
 
Nazava water filters are providing safe, clean drinking water to...
Continue Reading >>
Mar 3, 2017 KV Kiva HQ
Thank you!

For a second year in a row, Kiva had a record-breaking International Women’s Day! This was the biggest day of lending in Kiva's history, beating our second largest day by 23%! In just one week, more than seven thousand lenders and supporters doubled our goal in loans to women, with $3.5 million in loans on March 8th alone. As a result, the Kiva community fully funded 7,486 female loans!



You helped women like Haydee, in...
Continue Reading >>
Mar 3, 2017 KV Kiva HQ

Holi, also known as the festival of colors, is a Hindu holiday signaling the start of spring. Following tradition, Holi is the time to celebrate the good in life and bridge the social gap in our communities.
 
Holi celebrations occur all over the world, in places like Bali, where there is a predominant Hindu community. For Balinese families that can afford it, it’s a tremendous honor to build a formal place of worship. One such Kiva borrower, named Buana, was able to use the success of his Kiva loan to support his family and build a...
Continue Reading >>
Mar 3, 2017 KV Kiva HQ
Around the world, upstanding citizens are working to help combat their region-specific problems. From saving endangered species to finding a more efficient way to deal with old furniture, these innovators will bring a smile to your face. 
Camions of Care: This teen-started initiative provides period products to those in need

Saving the turtles: How one man helped protect a 3,000 acre nature reserve
 


Drip drip: New irrigation systems enable a farming community to...
Continue Reading >>
Mar 3, 2017 US United States

This story is part of Kiva’s International Women’s Day Campaign. Through March 8th, we’ll be sharing inspiring stories of women borrowers. You can back a woman entrepreneur today by visiting kiva.org/lend/international-womens-day.

A new concept in agriculture is coming to life on rooftops in cities across America.  With city land at ground-level often over-priced or simply... Continue Reading >>
Mar 3, 2017 KV Kiva HQ
Photo: Talia M. at ages 6 and 22 with a woman who inspires her, her mother


This is a guest blog by Talia M., a lender and founding member of Kiva's Junior Leadership Council, in honor of International Women’s Day. 

My life has been relatively free of roadblocks. I grew up in a wealthy and highly educated suburb in the United States, in a family of five—with two happily married parents who were able to support us in most everything we wanted to do. I had after-school activities,... Continue Reading >>
Mar 3, 2017 KV Kiva HQ
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With all the news headlines, it’s hard to know how any one of us can make a difference, but across the globe, women are taking a stand and making a change, and right now there is a way that individuals can take action and improve the lives of thousands of women.

...
Continue Reading >>
Feb 2, 2017 KV Kiva HQ

Vava, founder of the Kenyan social enterprise Vava Coffee, is truly a woman on fire. She exudes passion and entrepreneurial spirit, coupled with a calm, steady resolve and a thick skin that allows her to succeed, defying society’s traditional expectations for a woman in the male-dominated coffee industry.

“This is not a get rich scheme, this is my life, my everything…”

Her business links smallholder coffee farmers, who produce specialty grade micro-lot coffee that’s Fair Trade-certified, to markets...

Continue Reading >>
Feb 2, 2017 KV Kiva HQ
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What would you do on a rooftop in New York City? Get a tan? Watch fireworks on the 4th of July? Have a beer with friends? Keely, a young female farmer from South Dakota, discovered that New York City’s rooftops are great places to grow the best hops for beer making, along with other organic greens, and also to create community around urban organic farming...

Continue Reading >>
Feb 2, 2017 MX Mexico

Photo by: Catherine Cocke

For the first time ever, a few lucky and devoted Kiva lenders were extended the opportunity to see Kiva at work on the ground. This past week, these 7 lenders visited 2 Kiva Field Partners and their borrowers in Mexico City, as part of our first lender trip to the field. It was a unique and thrilling opportunity to see Kiva dollars at work, transforming lives and communities up close.

This post is the second of a 4 part series, which came to us during the... Continue Reading >>
Feb 2, 2017 US United States


As we approach Valentine’s Day, it’s important to take a moment to think about all the industrious small business owners who make these love-filled holidays happen for everyone. Everything from a box of chocolates to a bottle of wine to candles softly lit on the table may have come from a small local business owner, working hard to get you all you need to show the love this February.

Vanessa of San Francisco’s Polk Street Florist is a shining example of this. A beloved staple of her community, she takes incredible joy in sharing her passion for flowers with her... Continue Reading >>
Feb 2, 2017 MX Mexico
(photo credit: Catherine Cocke)


For the first time ever, a few lucky and devoted Kiva lenders are getting the opportunity to see Kiva at work on the ground. This week, these 7 lenders will be visiting 2 Kiva Field Partners and their borrowers in Mexico City, as part of our first lender trip to the field. It’s a unique and thrilling opportunity to see Kiva dollars at work, transforming lives and communities up close.

This post is the first of a 4 part series, which comes in anticipation of... Continue Reading >>
Feb 2, 2017 KV Kiva HQ

The Kiva community lost a beloved and influential leader last month. Nicknamed Captain Tony, he was a Review and Translation volunteer, The Mindful Bunch lending team co-captain and lender since 2009. Even with the sadness of his passing in New York in January, his friends and teammates at Kiva are hopeful and confident that his spirit and impact will live on for many years to come. 

Although many of us never got the chance to meet Tony in person, his thoughtfulness and passion for helping others...

Continue Reading >>
Jan 1, 2017 RW Rwanda

On the surface, Jean Bosco seems like any motivated 23-year-old, working late into the evenings, making business calls at all hours, and eating dinner with his laptop open on the table. In reality, however, he is far from the typical millennial. Born in one of the poorest districts in Rwanda in 1993, Bosco has been running his own biofuel business in his home country since 2013.

Bosco is the founder and CEO of biofuel production company HABONA, Ltd., and runs the waste management plant in his home district of over 300,000 people. Over...

Continue Reading >>
Jan 1, 2017 KV Kiva HQ

Our 32nd fellows class was in the house this past week at Kiva’s San Francisco headquarters, further strengthening our vibrant community! They bonded as a team as they learned about Kiva's overall strategy, our amazing Field Partners, our core operations, and many other interesting topics that prepared them to carry our mission to the field. Hailing from Mali to Moldova, from Canada to China, from Brazil to Zimbabwe and Swaziland - this incredibly diverse and...

Continue Reading >>
Jan 1, 2017 KV Kiva HQ
Tons of inspiring stories circulate around the internet every day, and we’ve come across some that are no doubt worth sharing. From meatless burgers that even carnivores can enjoy to drones delivering vaccines to endangered ferrets, here are five links we love that we hope you do too:


... Continue Reading >>
Jan 1, 2017 KV Kiva HQ

This month, we’re happy to celebrate our partnership with an organization working to save the planet and all of its inhabitants: Wildlife Conservation Society...

Continue Reading >>
Dec 12, 2016 KV Kiva HQ

... Continue Reading >>
Dec 12, 2016 KV Kiva HQ
This year, Kiva supported hundreds of thousands of borrowers all around the world who have inspiring stories to tell. Here, we’ve highlighted some of the most memorable loans shared with us by our lenders and staff members, who felt especially inspired by these entrepreneurs and the work that they are doing:

... Continue Reading >>
Dec 12, 2016 KV Kiva HQ
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At Kiva, we’re lucky to be surrounded by sources of inspiration and hope every day.

Borrowers like Betty, a mother and entrepreneur in the Philippines, demonstrate the resilience of the human spirit and inspire us to keep going even when things get tough. When a storm hit Betty’s village and destroyed her fishing boats, strangers from around the world rallied to help her family...

Continue Reading >>
Dec 12, 2016 KV Kiva HQ


This month, we’re celebrating our partnership with an organization working to make the world a cleaner and more sustainable place to live: Emerging Cooking Solutions... Continue Reading >>
Dec 12, 2016 KV Kiva HQ
Lending teams are a vital part of Kiva's thriving community. Last month, one of our most active lending teams hit a milestone no other had: one million loans made. We invited one of their co-captains, Chris Allen, to tell us about what this achievement means to his team.
 
What are the odds that a group of Atheists and other non-believers in God would ever make one million no-interest loans to small business owners around the world? It’s just a guess: one in a million. 
 
Yet, the A+ Team on Kiva has done...
Continue Reading >>
Nov 11, 2016 KV Kiva HQ
Every day, Kiva’s work is made possible by nearly 400 Review and Translation Program volunteers who graciously donate their time and skills to to translate loans from Kiva’s five key languages: English, Spanish, French, Russian, and Portuguese. Thanks to our volunteers, lenders and borrowers around the world are able to connect through Kiva and help each other build better lives together. 
This past quarter we were fortunate to get to know Katie, Laurie, and Marcia, three very interesting women, and learn more about what motivates them to help people through...
Continue Reading >>
Nov 11, 2016 KV Kiva HQ
Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and working for an organization like Kiva provides a unique opportunity to reflect on gratitude. We asked our current fellows class, KF31, who have been in the field for about 3 months now, what they are more appreciative of now that they’ve been experiencing life in a new country. Here are their responses:


... Continue Reading >>

Pages

Blog posts tagged with microfinance

Mar 3, 2017 KV Kiva HQ
When life gives you lemons... make sustainable lemonade! These stories highlight some key players who are using new technology to solve some of nature’s challenges. 
 
The power of solar power: How this island can keep their lights on during a hurricane
 
Food waste: The reason why NASA is investing in the kitchen sink
 
Good vibrations: Why water pumps in Africa are texting to prevent drought effects
 
...
Continue Reading >>
Mar 3, 2017 KV Kiva HQ
By Kayla Grueneich
Happy World Water Day!
In honor of World Water Day, we’re celebrating a fantastic Field Partner who provides access to clean water, Nazava Water Filters! 
 
In Indonesia, communities are unable to have a reliable and affordable source for their drinking water. This makes it difficult for families to stay healthy. Nazava Water Filters is one excellent social enterprise that aims to provide clean drinking water for all!
 
Nazava water filters are providing safe, clean drinking water to...
Continue Reading >>
Mar 3, 2017 KV Kiva HQ
By Kayla Grueneich
We did it!
Thank you!

For a second year in a row, Kiva had a record-breaking International Women’s Day! This was the biggest day of lending in Kiva's history, beating our second largest day by 23%! In just one week, more than seven thousand lenders and supporters doubled our goal in loans to women, with $3.5 million in loans on March 8th alone. As a result, the Kiva community fully funded 7,486 female loans!



You helped women like Haydee, in...
Continue Reading >>
Mar 3, 2017 KV Kiva HQ

Holi, also known as the festival of colors, is a Hindu holiday signaling the start of spring. Following tradition, Holi is the time to celebrate the good in life and bridge the social gap in our communities.
 
Holi celebrations occur all over the world, in places like Bali, where there is a predominant Hindu community. For Balinese families that can afford it, it’s a tremendous honor to build a formal place of worship. One such Kiva borrower, named Buana, was able to use the success of his Kiva loan to support his family and build a...
Continue Reading >>
Mar 3, 2017 KV Kiva HQ
Around the world, upstanding citizens are working to help combat their region-specific problems. From saving endangered species to finding a more efficient way to deal with old furniture, these innovators will bring a smile to your face. 
Camions of Care: This teen-started initiative provides period products to those in need

Saving the turtles: How one man helped protect a 3,000 acre nature reserve
 


Drip drip: New irrigation systems enable a farming community to...
Continue Reading >>
Mar 3, 2017 US United States

This story is part of Kiva’s International Women’s Day Campaign. Through March 8th, we’ll be sharing inspiring stories of women borrowers. You can back a woman entrepreneur today by visiting kiva.org/lend/international-womens-day.

A new concept in agriculture is coming to life on rooftops in cities across America.  With city land at ground-level often over-priced or simply... Continue Reading >>
Mar 3, 2017 KV Kiva HQ
Photo: Talia M. at ages 6 and 22 with a woman who inspires her, her mother


This is a guest blog by Talia M., a lender and founding member of Kiva's Junior Leadership Council, in honor of International Women’s Day. 

My life has been relatively free of roadblocks. I grew up in a wealthy and highly educated suburb in the United States, in a family of five—with two happily married parents who were able to support us in most everything we wanted to do. I had after-school activities,... Continue Reading >>
Mar 3, 2017 KV Kiva HQ
.videoWrapper { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; /* 16:9 */ padding-top: 25px; height: 0; } .videoWrapper iframe { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }

With all the news headlines, it’s hard to know how any one of us can make a difference, but across the globe, women are taking a stand and making a change, and right now there is a way that individuals can take action and improve the lives of thousands of women.

...
Continue Reading >>
Feb 2, 2017 KV Kiva HQ

Vava, founder of the Kenyan social enterprise Vava Coffee, is truly a woman on fire. She exudes passion and entrepreneurial spirit, coupled with a calm, steady resolve and a thick skin that allows her to succeed, defying society’s traditional expectations for a woman in the male-dominated coffee industry.

“This is not a get rich scheme, this is my life, my everything…”

Her business links smallholder coffee farmers, who produce specialty grade micro-lot coffee that’s Fair Trade-certified, to markets...

Continue Reading >>
Feb 2, 2017 KV Kiva HQ
.videoWrapper { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; /* 16:9 */ padding-top: 25px; height: 0; } .videoWrapper iframe { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }

What would you do on a rooftop in New York City? Get a tan? Watch fireworks on the 4th of July? Have a beer with friends? Keely, a young female farmer from South Dakota, discovered that New York City’s rooftops are great places to grow the best hops for beer making, along with other organic greens, and also to create community around urban organic farming...

Continue Reading >>
Feb 2, 2017 MX Mexico

Photo by: Catherine Cocke

For the first time ever, a few lucky and devoted Kiva lenders were extended the opportunity to see Kiva at work on the ground. This past week, these 7 lenders visited 2 Kiva Field Partners and their borrowers in Mexico City, as part of our first lender trip to the field. It was a unique and thrilling opportunity to see Kiva dollars at work, transforming lives and communities up close.

This post is the second of a 4 part series, which came to us during the... Continue Reading >>
Feb 2, 2017 US United States


As we approach Valentine’s Day, it’s important to take a moment to think about all the industrious small business owners who make these love-filled holidays happen for everyone. Everything from a box of chocolates to a bottle of wine to candles softly lit on the table may have come from a small local business owner, working hard to get you all you need to show the love this February.

Vanessa of San Francisco’s Polk Street Florist is a shining example of this. A beloved staple of her community, she takes incredible joy in sharing her passion for flowers with her... Continue Reading >>
Feb 2, 2017 MX Mexico
(photo credit: Catherine Cocke)


For the first time ever, a few lucky and devoted Kiva lenders are getting the opportunity to see Kiva at work on the ground. This week, these 7 lenders will be visiting 2 Kiva Field Partners and their borrowers in Mexico City, as part of our first lender trip to the field. It’s a unique and thrilling opportunity to see Kiva dollars at work, transforming lives and communities up close.

This post is the first of a 4 part series, which comes in anticipation of... Continue Reading >>
Feb 2, 2017 KV Kiva HQ
By Taylor Whitfield
Farewell, Captain Tony

The Kiva community lost a beloved and influential leader last month. Nicknamed Captain Tony, he was a Review and Translation volunteer, The Mindful Bunch lending team co-captain and lender since 2009. Even with the sadness of his passing in New York in January, his friends and teammates at Kiva are hopeful and confident that his spirit and impact will live on for many years to come. 

Although many of us never got the chance to meet Tony in person, his thoughtfulness and passion for helping others...

Continue Reading >>
Jan 1, 2017 RW Rwanda

On the surface, Jean Bosco seems like any motivated 23-year-old, working late into the evenings, making business calls at all hours, and eating dinner with his laptop open on the table. In reality, however, he is far from the typical millennial. Born in one of the poorest districts in Rwanda in 1993, Bosco has been running his own biofuel business in his home country since 2013.

Bosco is the founder and CEO of biofuel production company HABONA, Ltd., and runs the waste management plant in his home district of over 300,000 people. Over...

Continue Reading >>
Jan 1, 2017 KV Kiva HQ
By Maria Oliveira-Tamellini
Welcoming our 32nd class of Kiva Fellows

Our 32nd fellows class was in the house this past week at Kiva’s San Francisco headquarters, further strengthening our vibrant community! They bonded as a team as they learned about Kiva's overall strategy, our amazing Field Partners, our core operations, and many other interesting topics that prepared them to carry our mission to the field. Hailing from Mali to Moldova, from Canada to China, from Brazil to Zimbabwe and Swaziland - this incredibly diverse and...

Continue Reading >>
Jan 1, 2017 KV Kiva HQ
Tons of inspiring stories circulate around the internet every day, and we’ve come across some that are no doubt worth sharing. From meatless burgers that even carnivores can enjoy to drones delivering vaccines to endangered ferrets, here are five links we love that we hope you do too:


... Continue Reading >>
Jan 1, 2017 KV Kiva HQ

This month, we’re happy to celebrate our partnership with an organization working to save the planet and all of its inhabitants: Wildlife Conservation Society...

Continue Reading >>
Dec 12, 2016 KV Kiva HQ
By Talea Miller
Moments of hope in 2016

... Continue Reading >>
Dec 12, 2016 KV Kiva HQ
By Natalie Brown
Loans that Inspired
This year, Kiva supported hundreds of thousands of borrowers all around the world who have inspiring stories to tell. Here, we’ve highlighted some of the most memorable loans shared with us by our lenders and staff members, who felt especially inspired by these entrepreneurs and the work that they are doing:

... Continue Reading >>
Dec 12, 2016 KV Kiva HQ
.videoWrapper { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; /* 16:9 */ padding-top: 25px; height: 0; } .videoWrapper iframe { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }

At Kiva, we’re lucky to be surrounded by sources of inspiration and hope every day.

Borrowers like Betty, a mother and entrepreneur in the Philippines, demonstrate the resilience of the human spirit and inspire us to keep going even when things get tough. When a storm hit Betty’s village and destroyed her fishing boats, strangers from around the world rallied to help her family...

Continue Reading >>
Dec 12, 2016 KV Kiva HQ


This month, we’re celebrating our partnership with an organization working to make the world a cleaner and more sustainable place to live: Emerging Cooking Solutions... Continue Reading >>
Dec 12, 2016 KV Kiva HQ
Lending teams are a vital part of Kiva's thriving community. Last month, one of our most active lending teams hit a milestone no other had: one million loans made. We invited one of their co-captains, Chris Allen, to tell us about what this achievement means to his team.
 
What are the odds that a group of Atheists and other non-believers in God would ever make one million no-interest loans to small business owners around the world? It’s just a guess: one in a million. 
 
Yet, the A+ Team on Kiva has done...
Continue Reading >>
Nov 11, 2016 KV Kiva HQ
Every day, Kiva’s work is made possible by nearly 400 Review and Translation Program volunteers who graciously donate their time and skills to to translate loans from Kiva’s five key languages: English, Spanish, French, Russian, and Portuguese. Thanks to our volunteers, lenders and borrowers around the world are able to connect through Kiva and help each other build better lives together. 
This past quarter we were fortunate to get to know Katie, Laurie, and Marcia, three very interesting women, and learn more about what motivates them to help people through...
Continue Reading >>
Nov 11, 2016 KV Kiva HQ
Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and working for an organization like Kiva provides a unique opportunity to reflect on gratitude. We asked our current fellows class, KF31, who have been in the field for about 3 months now, what they are more appreciative of now that they’ve been experiencing life in a new country. Here are their responses:


... Continue Reading >>

Pages