They link this with the growing body of thought which sees aid to women as the most effective way to foster development, but also to reduce fanaticism and conflict. I hope their argument (which Sec'y of State Clinton, interviewed in a separate piece in this issue, shares) gains a wide readership.But one needn't wait for governments and international aid agencies to get the point. Kristof and WuDunn include a list of ways to help, called "Do-It-Yourself Foreign Aid." One of the things they mention is something I'd heard about before, and I decided to give it a try. Kiva.org describes itself as "the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs around the globe." For as little as $25, you can lend money to specific people and projects in countries around the world. All your money goes to those who've requested the loans (though Kiva suggests you contribute an additional 15% to cover their own costs of operation) - different donors chip in to provide the full sums requested - and most of these loans are paid back in full within a year. (The loans are administered through field partners.) Kiva lenders then generally lend the money out anew, though they don't have to.
It's very user friendly, and I quickly became a kiva lender. I looked over the available projects, and chose some in Latin America, Central Asia and Africa from the end of the "Sort by popularity" list (underdogs!) - and
mostly women: a general store, a food market, a cereal dealer, a service cooperative, a shoe store...It felt really good to make my money, which usually just sits around doing nothing (or worse), available in this way. But it also felt weird, for a few reasons. For one, I was choosing - what do I know about how to choose, how people get on this list? Is there any reason to think my preferences will line up with true need or desert? Was I wrong not to fund women who are setting up cosmetics businesses, or auto parts shops, for instance? What right have I to say yes to one and no to another?
Another reason it's odd is that I get to feel like I've given a lot to many, when I've really only given a little - the total of all my microloans is less than the full sum requested by any of the entrepreneurs. I feel like Daddy Warbucks, philanthropist extraordinaire, but I'm really more like someone giving 1 rupee to each of a line of beggars. Except they're not even beggars, and I can get the Rupees back! It's weird to feel that I'm doing something good when I'm basically risking next to nothing. It seems like cheating!
Why this moral queasiness over what is really just, well, capitalism? Well, because it's capitalism! Me funding entrepreneurs? I'm an anti-entrepreneur! This isn't my first experience being a capitalist, of course, though it may be the first time I'm fully aware of it. A mutual fund is pretty much the same sort of thing as kiva (though it's designed to make profit), and I'm a big fan of Heifer (though the mechanisms of the market are disguised there in animal reproduction, and I'm actually giving something away). But this is the first time in which it's personal this way - or at least seems, thanks to a website, so.
Maybe this is a very good thing! I won't let it take the place of actual giving. And in the meantime, I'll get journal updates from "my" projects. And a new social networking opportunity (not that I was looking for one!), as each lender gets a page (if s/he wants it) and can find and befriend other lenders who've contributed to the same causes, etc. It seems too ... easy, but I'm happy to see at least this cycle through. I'll keep you posted!
