You have seen the plight of Arab families on the news. Most of them are just like us – they want to take care of their families and get their lives back.
A few people and a few organizations are helping to do that by giving them the old American hand up, not a hand out. The United Nations and governments don’t do that, but people can. Any one of us can, and some small non-profits are showing the way.
The Global Attitude is a non-profit organization that was started specifically to do charitable work. “We have not kicked off too many efforts. One very simple effort that we get involved in is raising funds through KIVA to help Syrians and other Arabs facing poverty get a lift,” said Kimberly Jones, President.
“People don’t realize how many Syrians are living in surrounding countries, trying to make it on their own because they are proud people and don’t want charity. I am astonished at the number of people that think Syrians are happy living in refugee camps, receiving ‘free food and other stuff.’ Syrians just want their homes, work, schools, mosques or churches back. They want their children to be safe,” Mrs. Jones said. She went on to say, “KIVA is a great opportunity to help Syrians and other disenfranchised people facing poverty reach for their goals and get ahead through micro-financing.”
If you don’t know about KIVA, they are a great non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. The mission of KIVA is to partner with a network of worldwide microfinance institutions and leverage the internet to make microloans in their communities.
Micro-loans are funded through the individuals that lend through KIVA for as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world. Although it is not directly a crowd funding source, many lenders are joined to backfill one loan requirement. Most loans are less than $3,500, and the payback is calculated over a period that the person’s payments that are manageable.
Money raised through KIVA is immediately applied to the loan designated and the micro-lending program uses the money to back-fill the loan that they approved. These micro-lenders are highly successful, mainly because they work carefully to ensure that their loans are well thought-out and that the terms are affordable. If a person decides anytime they do not want to continue investing in the program, they can withdraw their cash investment, however, they cannot take any bonuses as those are tied to the recipients.
Global Attitude KIVA Lending Team
According to Mrs. Jones, “We have created a Global Attitude KIVA Lending Team primarily for the purpose of supporting Syrians living in surrounding countries, applying to KIVA as a means to meet their business, educational or personal needs. The team will support Palestinian, Lebanese, Jordanian, and Iraqi loans, and have in the past supported loans from other countries.”
Mrs. Jones said The Global Attitude is starting to look for new partners to join their team to:
- Help raise awareness of severe poverty in the Middle East countries and the impact of the Syrian movement on those other countries
- Work together to make a huge difference in people’s lives with minimal effort and resources, as KIVA does most of the work
- Help more people experiencing poverty become aware of KIVA as a potential opportunity to help them get a lift up
- When Syria stabilizes into a Free Syrian nation without Assad, help The Global Attitude advocate to bring KIVA to FREE Syria. We will have made enough investments with Syrian refugees that KIVA and lending partners will be willing to take the risk with us.
A Global Attitude KIVA Lending Team Success Story
Participated in this loan on March 3, 2014
According to KIVA:
Samer is a 35-year-old married father of two children. He is a Syrian citizen who is putting much effort into developing his beloved family’s living conditions. Samer has two jobs to meet his family’s increasing needs.
Samer requested his loan through KIVA’s Al Majmoua lending partner to pay for his children’s increasing school fees. KIVA said that he is very anxious about this loan, as he has a health problem which could cause him problems at any unknown time. They said, “Samer is dedicated to meeting his family’s needs and providing them with necessary living needs.”
According to KIVA, Samer took out a loan with the following terms:
Borrowed: $1500
Repayment Terms: 14 months always on time
Lebanon does not offer free education to anyone, even their citizens. This KIVA loan has allowed Samer to enroll his two children in Lebanon’s school system while making payments on tuition. Otherwise, his children would not have been able to attend school.
Samer has worked two jobs to make ends meet for his family in Lebanon. With health problems, this has been difficult, and the concern he might have problems sending his children to school weighed upon him. Additionally, KIVA reported he was also concerned that he might have trouble making payments on the micro-loan consistently. The fantastic thing about the KIVA micro-lending program is that flexibility is built into these poverty loans, as it’s understood that the people who access these loans may run into problems. However, as you can see from the information above, Samer has upheld his commitment.
The Global Attitude Lending Team originally funded 3 KIVA loans with $75. Kimberly Jones said, “We have now funded ten KIVA Loans equaling $250 without adding any additional capital. Of the ten loans, eight have been paid back, and two are paying back. As loans repay, the money is reinvested. Once $25 accrues, we can recycle the money and reinvest it. Sometimes KIVA’s patrons will match loan dollars two dollars for every one dollar invested. They may do this only for certain loans based on certain criteria such as a lender or loan type so we watch for these loans as they add value to the recipient of the loan.”
None of the loans we have been involved in have defaulted, which is consistent with expectations as KIVA’s partners have a 98.72% payback success rate that is phenomenal.
Be Part Of Something Great – The Global Attitude KIVA Lending Team
We have tested how Kiva works. Our initial test investment has helped to fund people we believed needed our help. Through our friends on Twitter, we were able to make others aware of their situations and were able to pull the loan into our team, and then through advocacy have it fully funded within 24-48 hours. Now we know we can manage the process. With the power of KIVA as the “funding – lending partners,” we want to build a small empire of lenders on our team who will make a difference in the Levant. Help us initiate this exciting venture and give whichever way best suits your giving style. Join the team … Give a Card … Invest direct. Just do it!!!
You can JOIN MY KIVA Lending Team, The Global Attitude so that we can work together to expand opportunity for borrowers by initiating one or more KIVA loans of $25 or more. For each NEW KIVA lender who joins, patrons will donate $25 additional dollars to the team or lender. Then you are ready to start making loans. Here are your options:
- As a new lender The Global Attitude KIVA Lending Team, you could make a huge difference in lives of Syrians living in surrounding countries. Simply by entering the word “Syrian” into the keyword search when searching to make a loan. Select any individual or group returned whose story contains the word “Syrian.”
- Currently “Boushra Group” in Lebanon is seeking a loan of $2250 to start a new business selling cosmetics. Majeda, a 27-year-old Syrian married mother of two children, is one of the partners requesting the loan. She is requesting the loan from Kiva’s field partner Al Majmoua to start a new business in order to help her husband cover the needs and expenses of their children.
- If there aren’t any Syrians applying, think about supporting anyone in the region “Middle East” or specific to countries “Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Kurdistan, Palestine.” You can also select a preference of “women” which would help widowed women of wars in Syria, Iraq and Gaza.
- If you don’t want to get involved in selecting loan applicants and watching their success, you can gift $ to The Global Attitude KIVA Lending Team. You can gift any amount you like as long as it is at least $25. Making a KIVA donation is an opportunity to make a difference.
- Select user id: Kimberly8753.
- We can use this money to pay off loans for Syrians who are struggling to give them a free and clear opportunity.
- Kiva donations are non-refundable and cannot be withdrawn from KIVA by anyone for use outside of KIVA.
- Kimberly Jones, The Global Attitude KIVA Lending Team Captain, will manage KIVA Card donations
- If you make a specific designation on your donation, it will be honored. Suggested designations are:
- Syrian, Palestinian, Lebanese, Jordanian, Iraqi;
- Woman, Male;
- Agriculture, Business, Education;
- Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Any Country(For instance: Syrian, Female, Business, Any Country)
Alternatively, you can choose not to join the team at all and just work through KIVA, which is also admirable. Either way Kimberly says, “Just do it.”
If you have any questions regarding how to participate in The Global Attitude KIVA Lending Team or other projects that are in the works, you can check out the website at www.theglobalattitude.com or contact Kimberly Jones directly at [email protected].
Learn more about KIVA how it works.
Kimberly is also the President of Global Atlantis LLC, which is an International Development and Trade Company. You can find more information at www.globalatlantisllc.com. You may also connect with Kimberly on Twitter @kimberlyjoneswa or @theglobalattitu.