Loan #1: Bancocomunal Nacer

I don't remember exactly how I picked my first loan.  It was, like, three months ago, and a lot's happened since then.  How can I be expected to recall what I did with my twenty five bucks all the way back before the Superbowl?  And the Puppy Bowl.

So, long story that I don't remember short, I picked this one - the Bancocomunal Nacer. It was a big loan. 106 people, and 105 of them weren't even me! It got all funded up real quick, no doubt because of their inspirational slogan, "We Are More Than Something Something." (my translation)

 

My faith in the Bancocomunal was rewarded.  I, along with the other 105 members of my cabal, received the first of four repayment installments on February 15 - a full two weeks before scheduled!  So if the Bancocomunal Nacer ever asks you for a loan, you know they're good for it.

Will they get me another $6.25 before the April 1 due date?  Stay tuned!

Fun

Why Kiva?  Here's why I picked it, and please note that the emphasis on my personal convenience and amusement means I'm being honest:

• Microloans work better than charity.  That's what they tell me, anyway.  I seem to recall doing some research back when I signed up, but I don't remember specifics.  Maybe I should redo that research.  And then blog about it!
• Kiva is really easy to use. Like I said, I'm not charitably inclined, either by habit or genetics, so I'm not going to stick around when things get tough.  Or even, you know, slightly annoying.  Other than the hassles of PayPal, which I already have to deal with in order to buy myself things, it's the easiest thing in the world.  Checking my email is tougher.
• You get your money back!  Most of the time - something like 97%.  Once you can that money back, you can reinvest it, you can donate it to Kiva, or you can just stick it back in your PayPal and resume buying yourself trinkets on eBay.
• You know what's fun?  Fun, that's what.  And Kiva is fun.  Rather than handing your loot off to some organization and letting them decided what to do with it, you get to decide where it goes. And then you get to follow along!

I need to expand on that last point, because that's the main reason I'm doing this.  Every part of the process is fun, which is, as we already discussed, fun.  Picking your recipient, seeing who else has thrown in for the same cause, seeing the little loan bar fill up - it's like playing a very slow-paced video game!  And it's cheaper, as long as you only do it twice.

From there, it only gets better!  And by that, I basically mean that you get your money back.  Imagine that - you send your money out on a special mission to, say, buy cows for someone in Tajikistan.  It goes all the way to Central Asia, pays for part of a cow, and then returns to you, safe and sound.  Everyone wins!  Except the cow, I guess.

If it sounds like I'm joking, let me assure you that when I got my first installment of $6.25 from my initial loan, it felt like Christmas, my birthday, and another Christmas all rolled into one.  It wasn't the actual remuneration, it was the reassurance that the whole thing works.  My little contribution apparently helped out the good people at the Bancocomunal Nacer to the point that they could start sending out money to the complete strangers who'd sent money to the them a few months before.  And when I get the rest of my 25 bucks back, I can just plow that into some other worth endeavor.  Everyone wins!  Once again, except the cows.

An Explanation

After years of never doing nothin' for nobody - in fact, actually doing everything I could to make life worse for other people - I decided to change it up like Scrooge on Christmas morning and start buying geese for everyone.  Metaphorically.

In making a choice for my metaphorical goose-chute, I settled on Kiva, an organization that facilitates microloans to entrepreneurs in other countries.  I thought about describing the Spirit and Purpose of Kiva, but all I'd be doing is copy and pasting from their About section.  That's right here if you want to check it out for yourself.  Go ahead and skip the first part, which is 100% pablum, and go right to the nuts and bolts that start right afterward.  I settled on this method of goose disbursement for a few different reasons, which I'll outline later, unless I decide it's boring.

 

Above: Buckle up, entrepreneurs!  Here they come!  Metaphorically!

I'm going to use this space to talk about Kiva and microfinance in general and to describe my personal experiences as a Baron of Microfinance. Because if you don't talk about it on the internet, it's like it never happened.

I'm two loans at the moment now, and I'm planning to add to that regularly.  I'm extremely excited about this right now, both by the concept and the practice, but I'm going to try to remain objective.  I won't proselytize; at least not until I know more about the whole thing.  I don't want to wind up like some poor sucker who sent a bunch of money to Wyclef only to find out that about a nickel of it went to Haiti, and I extra don't want to wind up telling someone else to do it.

Next time: I explain what drew me to this particular method of goose-lending and why it's fun.