Kiva: Every Iraqi entrepreneur is fully funded.

Off topic but something of interest: The competiton to lend to Iraqi entrepreneurs is downright fierce. You'll have to get in line. 

 
Kiva, the microloan endevor, was on the CBS news the other night. I've blogged about Kiva before and my daughter has a Kiva fund. What caught my ear is that Kiva was now making loans in Iraq and the Middle East. So what do I do? I jump on and run a screen for Iraq and don't find a single business.  It wasn't until I included all businesses that I found four pages of Iraqi entrepreneurs, every one of which is fully funded. Oddly, they're all for the almost the same amount. I guess you need a grand to get into business in Iraq.

There's even this disclaimer: This entrepreneur is from a volatile region where the security situation remains unsettled. Lenders to this business should be aware that this loan may represent a higher risk and accept this additional risk in making their loan.

I guess I wasn't the only American who thought I'd do my part to win some hearts and minds.

I'll have wait for the Gaza Strip Fund.

Off Topic: Christmas VC lending at my house.

Kiva's third world entrepreneures will be receiving some VC funding this Christmas from the new Micro VC Maddy Fund.

 
Kiva.org is a microloan sight that lends money to third world entrepreneures in help their businesses and grow markets and economies.  So...

I've decided to facilitate this process and hopefully my daughter and I will learn from and teach each other something along the way.

My daughter will be receiving a gift certificate for $100 that she can invest in entrepreneurs who need access to capital. My expectation is that these tiny loans will be repaid and that I'll provide Maddy with $100 next year to ad to her Micro VC Maddy Fund so that she'll be lending $200 next year. Then we'll sit down and have a talk about expectations and responsibilities. I think of this as a kind of 'Pass It On' project. (Maddy will be posting about on her blog at Pony Tail Club.)

During the week between Christmas and New Years  Madison will be responsible for using the Kiva site to find 4 receipients to loan $25 each to. (Kiva uses a technique that allows / encourages this.) She will have to report to me why she chose this individual over all the others.

One of the most important in my mind is that she understands the finality of this act. Loaning money to one person means that you're not loaning money to someone else. Maddys decisions will carry repercussions for individuals that she needs to consider and not take lightly.

My goals and thoughts in doing this are:

• I believe in Kiva mission and want to support them.
• I believe in my daughter and her sense of justice.
• I want my daughter to realize exacltly how privledged she is and respect those who are less fortunate.
• I want my daughter to feel the joy of successfully helping someone.
• I want my daughter to learn something of decision making and repercussions.

I'd encourage anyone who thinks this is a good idea to comment, do it themselves, or blog / link to Kiva.org.

Off Topic: Pony Tail Club: A girl & her pony.

Pony Tail Club

A girl and her horse blog.

 
This is entirely off topic.

I built a blog for my daughter. I thought this was a good idea for a number of reasons. First, she loves horses and if I'm going to have to continue to pay for shoeing, vet bills, feed and training. (Of course, Dad doesn't get it.) My wife certainly does.

Blogs are a way of harnessing technology to create a community and disseminate information. This site is an example. While there may be trouble lurking around the net for 13 year old girls, there is also opportunity.

Our goals with this new pony site are:

• Give Madison (our daughter) a place to express herself and gain positive feedback. Gramsie & Gramps, Yaya & Papu, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and fellow academy riders can all be counted on to provide this.
• Provide a method that by itself teaches consistency and self motivation.
  
• Provides and outlet where she can express her love for riding.
• Offers some experience in building something of value that people want.
  
• Lets her generate income that's a direct result of her own efforts (with parental help and moderation).

Pony Tail Club will be completely kid safe, friendly and positive. If you have anyone interested in reading the ongoing reality show saga of girls who love horses, please send them a link.

 

Interestingly, I just put the site up yesterday and there are already 30 rss subscribers. That is extremely unusual. Perhaps we've hit an untapped market.