Websites for changing the world (featuring Kiva.org), March 2011
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[ English subtitles are about to begin... ]
Hello everyone and welcome to Plein Ecran.
If you ask a manager of a start-up
or one of the giants of Silicon Valley
what is his dream in life,
he will often say that
he wants to "change the world".
It's true... smart phones, information technology,
and social networks have changed
our everyday lives in the West.
Yet, in addition, there are also the start-ups,
for which changing the world
is not just a rather abstract goal.
Those start-ups are what Plein Ecran
has concentrated on this week.
This is a story about a website which handles
hundreds of millions of dollars
but which makes no profits at all.
And it has no intention of doing so.
Welcome to Kiva.org.
All the signs of a start-up are present.
But we are really in the midst of
a charitable organization.
The mission of the Kiva site is to
bring together not only donations,
but loans from Internet users
to finance through micro-lending
the projects of small-scale entrepreneurs
around the world.
"You know the adage:
If you give a man a fish,
he will eat for a day.
Teach him to fish,
and he will eat for the rest of his life.
In the world of micro-lending, we often say that
the poor already know how to fish.
But what they need is a little money
to buy a net and a boat.
In fact, we want to show the world that
the poor don't need our pity.
They need to be treated as equals...
...and for us to work with them...
...and invest in their initiatives."
It's a simple principle:
You lend as much as you want,
starting with $25.
You choose the entrepreneur
and the project that you believe in.
And Kiva takes care of the rest.
With local partners,
over a hundred micro-lending organizations
in 55 countries,
the dollars are transformed into a multitude of currencies
to make loans of a year in length, rarely longer.
Once repaid,
your money can be returned to you
or be turned around to supply
the pathways of micro-lending.
In all,
since its creation five years ago,
Kiva has lent in this manner
over $180 million.
And behind each loan, there is a story.
"One of my favorite success stories
is of an entrepreneur
named Yenku.
In 1998, during the civil war in Sierra Leone,
his hands were cut off by rebels.
One of our local counterparts
discovered Yenku
and offered to help.
He borrowed the equivalent of $100.
This enabled him to start
a street vendor business.
He sold cookies, soap....
After a few years, by reinvesting his profits,
he was able to open a small grocery store.
He even sells clothing now."
On average, awarded loans amount to
$650
for buying basic supplies and equipment
to expand a store's inventory,
or to buy a cow for selling milk.
Today, Kiva is everywhere...
...or nearly so.
Some large countries,
such as India, China, or Brazil
have yet to enlist...
... a problem with local regulations affecting
loans from abroad.
More surprisingly,
micro-loans are now
in some big countries,
such as the U.S.
"Two years ago,
we launched micro-lending in the U.S.
And there, we saw people
in Nairobi, Kenya,
lending money to New Yorkers.
Now, the line between
rich countries and poor countries
is fuzzier.
A community of people working for a living
are helping others working for living
elsewhere in the world."
Kiva is financed
by donations from Internet users
and by the support of private foundations.
But its main driving force
is really the community of lenders
for whom the site has opened the door
to micro-lending.
The remaining weapon for massive mobilization:
Social networks, of course.
"In large part, my team has a Kiva presence
on FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter....
We employ our presence very strategically,
allowing us to be connected with
a wide community around the stories of entrepreneurs
What brings people together around Kiva
are these stories and the ability to be a part of it in a direct way."
Out of the social networks for mobilizing one's friends
around a good cause,
some people have become specialists.
We'll come back to this after the news.