Books and Charity
Today is a little different at BBAW. This afternoon we'll be presenting the award for Most Altruistic Blog. Along with that, we'll spend the afternoon highlighting areas some of us book bloggers care about in the world.
So to go along with that, today's raffle is a $25 gift certificate to Kiva donated by Fashionista Piranha. She will be sharing more about Kiva this afternoon. Along with that, I'll be giving away a book called Too Small to Ignore: Why the Least of These Matter Most by Dr. Wess Stafford, CEO of Compassion International the organization I'll be sharing about this afternoon. Please note this book is written from a Christian worldview.
It is my hope that this raffle will be the most popular yet. To gain an extra entry today, you'll need to wait until this afternoon, read Suzi's post and then come back and leave a comment about something you learned.
21 comments:
Think I must have missed this one. Will have look around.
Nevermind, I thought this post was for Wednesday, but it's for today (Thursday). :P
I love Kiva! A great day of BBAW.
hannah DOT free AT gmail DOT com
Oh, I'm looking forward to this one! I've been a Compassion sponsor for over a year now, and it's been such a rewarding experience.
*Thanks* for the giveaway!
I'm so glad that Suzi wrote about Kiva. It's one of the groups that I support and I never get tired of spreading the word to others. One of the things that make it so great is that with one donation you can help people over and over. This is because the recipients are getting loans, not hand outs. When they repay their loans (and the repayment rate is 98-99%!), your account is credited with the amount you originally loaned, which you can then reloan to someone else. With $50, I've been able to help 7 people so far.
What a fabulous organization KIVA is - I'd never heard of it before, though I am completely convinced of the concept of microloans in developing nations, especially for women entrepreneurs who would face insurmountable obstacles through traditional banking.
Kudos, Amy and Fashionista Piranha!
That was really interesting because it's a group of people with smaller donations that are combined to create the loan for someone. I like that! Also, the fact that it seems so much more personal because of the journaling updates makes one feel so good about the donation!
doot65{at}comcast[dot]net
Elizabeth
I read about how microloans were making a huge difference in third world countries a couple years ago, but it slipped my mind till I learned about Kiva through 101cookbooks.com. I joined Suzi's team there, though I haven't made a loan yet. (I've been having issues with my American credit cards since I've moved to Canada. Argh.)
I've heard about Kiva before, but haven't looked at it too closely because I already have some favourite charities. From Suzi's post I learned that updates are available on the website (which makes me more likely to participate in the future) and also that the repayment rate is very high.
ikkinlala AT yahoo DOT ca
wow, that is so great about Mohamed, the baker. what a blessing he is being to so many!
I learned that different problems require different solutions.
By sponsoring a child thru Compassion International, the child receives food and other necessities he/she are unable to provide for themselves due to their young age, inability to work, etc.
Kiva Intl. uses the "teach a man to fish" philosophy by empowering adults to provide for themselves using the pledged start-up capital.
Different approaches to different problems. Thanks for sharing info about these worthwhile causes.
Once again you have enlightened me to other blogs and worthwhile charities, etc. that are out there. Thank you for sharing Mohamed's story with us. KIVA is such a great organization, providing loans for others.
I've been hearing a lot about KIVA lately - it sounds like a fantastic organization!
I went to a 3 day camp once at a place that gives a male and female animal to poor people in third world countries so they can start their own breeding programs for milk, eggs, meat, etc.
What an awesome program! How interesting! I had not heard of it before. I love it!
Wow! I had no idea this blog existed. I knew the Nobel prize winner started something along the lines of this concept. Very cool.
Kiva sounds great, somewhat similar to Heifer in its mission. I had a look at Suzy's post, too. I enjoyed reading about the different charity organizations that other readers support. Great giveaway. And wow, a gift that keeps on giving. : )
oh I LOVE Kiva, I have known about it for awhile now and I think it is an amazing way to pool resources to help. Fantastic.
I don't know much about KIVA, but I'm off to do some goggling and research - thanks!
brightmyer249(at)hotmail(dot)com
I think it's very interesting that lenders can choose the specific entrepreneur that they'd like to support. That's very unusual!
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