Christmas isn’t too far away and I, like many others haven’t the foggiest what to get for anyone.
I figured I’d start a thread where everyone can post cool things that they’ve seen and someone might think of someone who’d love it.
This doesnt have to be bike related at all!
I’ll start… Red Letter Days - Does great days out and experiencesI Want One Of Those (IWOOT) - Cool gifts for anyone and everyone, sorted into catagories Firebox - Similar to IWOOT but with a little more gadgetry
If my money is being taken without any ROI why should a lender somewhere in the world make money off my ‘donation’. Dream on Kiva. Sounds about as moral as a pay day loan! Look at the stats of some of those loans as well. You can get cheaper loans in the UK.
I tend to agree with Daniel on this. Unless I’ve understood this wrong, I donate money to someone in a developing country but that money goes to a loan company instead, who then charge interest to loan my money to the person who needs it. How is that fair?! Loan companies charge interest to cover themselves for the risk of loaning money in the first place. In this instance there is no risk to them as it’s not their money that they’re lending. Or am I missing something?
Access to funds in the developing world - for people without assets - is limited to the loan sharks. When I was in Liberia, the going rate was 25% per month…do the maths.
So ordinary people who want to set up a business - can’t access lending at what we think of as fair rates. What KIVA do (*Am not a spokesman) - is lend your money - though a local micro-finance office - at rates of 1 - 2% per month. The local micro-finance office will need to cover their wages / offices costs etc. but should not be making a profit. (In theory)
It isn’t a perfect model - but it is far better than the local loan sharks and gives people a chance to set up their own businesses .
Kiva does all the leg work as it is all they need to do is Gift Aid the donations and thats wages paid. The loan can be paid back at 0% over a quicker period of time as there is no interest being paid meaning that you get your money back to redistribute or cash in as you see fit. More importantly its not costing the people who need it a penny.
My point is simply if an organisation (who’s aim is to make profit) is going to make money using my money I want a slice as there isn’t any risk for them. The risk is all on me as its my money. Its a big contradiction to what they are trying to do.
Daniel, am not sure you fully understand…Kiva is a charity. It is not a profit making organisation as you seem to think/imply.
Their model is to use your money, via a local microfinance bank, to get much cheaper loans to people than would otherwise be the case. They are not making a profit.
Could they do it cheaper/ better? Probably - but are they worth supporting - absolutely imho. Real people getting real help.
You also seem to think most lenders expect or want a return on their money. They don’t, most just like the idea of helping people out.
Still, if you want to donate direct to a needy cause, am happy to recommend some other organisations.
Yeah I got that… I still think its immoral. I know Kiva isn’t making any money but the bank is which is what really gets to me. Just a personal opinion.
