KIVA Offers A Hand UP

I recently received an email from a dear friend in which she described a wonderful way to help others, help themselves.  In her email she said "It's based on the revolutionary idea of  micro-finance. You may have heard of Professor Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh, who won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for establishing the Grameen Bank, which lends tiny amounts of money to people who couldn't otherwise get a loan."Some of you may have heard of this organization but it was the first time for me.  It is called KIVA.  I went on line at http://www.kiva.com/ and looked at all of the indivduals listed there that have opened businesses for very little money by US standards and are now striving to not only be able to care for themselves and their loved ones but to enjoy a little piece of the "American Dream" if you will.They live in third world countries and are not asking for a hand out but simply a hand UP!  What you do is go to the site and pick out someone or several someones and LOAN them a small amount of money to help them start a business. I started by picking two different individuals, one from Mexico and the other from Bulgeria.  The woman I helped in Mexico has already paid me back the $50 that I loaned her and I just took that money and added it to my Bulgerian lady... Katerina Hristova who is starting a beauty shop.  I feel that these small steps in helping others will only help us.  The US gives so much but why not give a little to real people out there who with our help can make a real difference in their lives and the lives of those around them.  If you want more information on Kiva go to http://www.kiva.com/ and start making a difference for someone who will really appreciate it.  Katerina's picture is shown above.