The Doctor Weighs In

I regularly loan money to global entrepreneurs via Kiva.org (www.kiva.org). To date, I am happy to say, the entrepreneurs have all paid me back. That includes Nora and Yum. Kiva entrepreneurs.

It is so inspirational to get money back from these hard working small business people that once I get a notification of my payback I use the money to loan even more money to Kiva's list of global entrepreneurs. Please note, we are not talking big bucks. The loans I make are from $20.00 to $200.00. This modest amount is usually enough to get one of these small businesses going.

As a wanna be/wish to be/try to be to be entrepreneur, I want to shout out to Kiva participants:

"Go Global Entrepreneurs. Grow your business. Reap your profits. Have Fun. See your livestock, groceries, homemade goods, crafts, or whatever make their way into your marketplace and meet the needs of your customers. WAY TO GO! and glad to help"

Kiva makes it easy for me to loan money to entrepreneurs around the world. TDWI readers, I encourage you to check out Kiva.org. It is not just about helping an individual entrepreneur. It is about helping small business people around the world grow and develop their marketplace(s). GO KIVA, Go KIVA Entrepreneurs.'

www.kiva.org.

There are two interesting articles in the Sunday NY Times (Jan. 27, 2008).  One is about the failure of President Bush's Volunteerism Initiative, the other is about the rise of social entrepreneurs.  Volunteerism is usually about helping people.  Social entrepreneurism is about helping people help themselves.  I won't dwell on why the President's Volunterism Initiative is "sputtering," because the story about social entrepreneurs is so much more interesting and inspiring. 

Nicholas Kristof introduced us to social entrepreneurship in a NY Times op-ed when he wrote about Kiva, an online site where you can make microloans to entrepreneurs across the world.  In his most recent Times editorial, "The Age of Ambition," Kristof describes a number of other organizations you might want to include in your list of online favorites:

• Unite for Sight (www.uniteforsight.org) was started by Jennifer Staple, who founded the organization in her dorm room while in college.  Unite for Sight collects old reading glasses in the US and ships them to poor countries.  Last year the organization provided eye care to 200,000 people.
• Injaz (www.injaz.org.jo) trains Arab students in the fundamentals of starting a business.  It was started by Soroya Salti, a Jordanian woman.  It has spread to 12 Arab countries and has the goal of teaching one million students a year.  Per Mr. Kristof:  "My hunch is that Ms. Salti will contribute more to stability and peace in the Middle East than any numberof tanks in Iraq, UN resolutions or summit meetings."
• Orphans Against AIDS (www.orphansagainstaids.org) was founded by Andrew Klaber while he was "playing hooky" from Harvard Business School."  While traveling in Thailand, Mr. Klaber was shocked to learn that teenage girls, orphaned when their parents died of AIDS, were forced into prostitution.  Orphans Against AIDS pays school-related expenses for children  in poor countries orphaned by AIDS.
• Cinepop is one of the most interesting of the organizations described in the Kristof article.  It was founded by a 27 year old Mexican, Ariel Zylbersztejn after learning that 90% of Mexicans can't affort to go to the movies.  The company projects movies on inflatable screens and shows them for free in public parks!  The movies are paid for by advertising.  But Mr. Zylbersztejn didn't limit his focus to just movies.  He "works with micro-credit agencies and social welfare groups to engage the families that come to his moves" in order to help them start businesses or otherwise try to rise out of poverty.  Cinepop plans to take the model to other countries, such as Brazil, India, and China.

Bill Drayton, CEO of Ashoka, an organization (tagline "Everyone is a Changemaker) that supports social entrepreneurs says, "such people neither hand out fish not teach people to fish; their aim is to revolutionize the fishing industry."

It is terrific to read about a this new generation of social entrepreneurs.  Unlike some volunteer programs that falter after the volunteer goes home,this new approach raises the distinct possibility of sustainable improvements in the lives of people struggling with poverty. 

I think Nicholas Kristof sums it up nicely, particularly during this election period when almost every candidate is running on a platform of change, when he says, "Only one person can become president of the United States, but there's no limit to the number of social entrepreneurs who can make this planet a better place."

Today I made $14.17.  Today was the day I was notified by Kiva (www.kiva.org) that two of the people I made microloans to about a month or so ago to have started to repay me. 

• I got $4.17 from Pepe Figota in Faleapuna, Somoa.   I loaned her $50, a portion of the $875 that she applied for from Kiva.   She wanted to improve her business so that she could pay for her kids school fees and buy food.  I made the loan on March 31.  I got my first payment today. 

• Erin Yolubov has also started paying back my $50 loan.  I got $10 from him today.  He lives in Tarjun-Zade, Tajikistan.  He needed a $500 loan so that he could buy livestock for his livestock family run business. 

Many Americans give to charitable organizations in order to help people who live in this country as well as in countries across the globe.  I have done that too.  But I always wonder how much of the money I give  actually gets to the individuals I hoped to help.  I also wonder if donations through large organizations are the best way to help men, women, and families become self-sufficient in a sustainable way. 

Microloans are now recognized as a way to jump-start positive change in peoples' lives.  Kiva makes it simple to become a microlender.  I must confess that I made the loans not really thinking that I would ever get the money back -- I don't really need the $14.17.  But actually getting it back motivates me to loan even more -- If $50 can help someone start or grow a business, and potentially create a sustainable income, I say "WOWEE." 

This is "Angel Investing" in the true sense of the word.

Pat Salber, MD

This may seem off-topic, but let me remind you that financial independence is good for your health.  There is ample evidence that being poor anywhere in the world is associated with poorer health outcomes.  So, it isn't such a leap to say that helping people acquire the capital they need to start or grow a business is good public health. 

So I refer you to Nicholas Kristof's op-ed on micro-loans in the March 27, 2007 NY Times.  He writes about how easy it is to make small loans to individuals in need of capital to grow their businesses.  We are not talking thousands of dollars, we are talking loans of $25, $30, $40. 

We have known about the benefits of small loans made directly to individuals, particularly impoverished women to help them get a sustainable business up and running.  In fact, Muhammad Yunus won last year's Nobel Peace Price for his work on microfinancing in Bangladesh. 

But did you know you (that's right you, and me) can become microlenders with just a click of your mouse.  www.kiva.org is a website that helps link entrepreneurs in poor countries with willing microlenders around the world.  Kiva was founded by a young American couple, Matthew and Jessica Flannery "after they worked in Africa and realized that people remained in poverty because of the unavailability of credit at any reasonable cost.

Kiva partners with local lenders.  In Afghanistan, the financial partner is Ariana Financial Services, run by Storai Sadat.  Ms. Sadat was in her second year of medical school when the Taliban came into power and put an end to her dreams of becoming a doctor.  It is one of those stories where something bad (having to quit medical school) became something extraordinary (leader of a company facilitating microloans).  Ms. Sadat says that "being a finance person is better than being a doctor.  You can cure the whole family, not just one person.  And it's good medicine -- you can see them get better day by day."  Isn't that what public health at its best aims to do?

Imagine being able to do what Nicholas Kristof did.  He has loaned $25 to a baker in Kabul, Afghanistan.  The baker received other microloans to the total of $425 (the cost of a nice dinner for four in San Francisc0).  The baker, Abdul Satar, used the money to open a second bakery.  He has hired four employees.  He now has an economy of scale when he buys flour and firewood for his oven that allows him to improve his profitability.  And he has hope.  When Mr. Kristoff looked him up on a recent trip to Kabul, Satar said:  If you come back in 10 years, maybe I will have six more bakeries." 

Thanks, Nicholas Kristoff for telling all of us about www.kiva.org.  Thanks to you I am now a lender to three entrepreneurs in different parts of the world:

• Erkin Yakubov is a father of three in Tursun-Sade, Tajikistan.  He is raising money to purchase some hogs to build out his livestock family-run business
• Lamo Sow is the lead for a group of 8 women in Ker Gu Mag, Senegal.  These women need capital to buy farm products when prices are low and sell them in biweekly produce markets when prices are high (buy low, sell high -- isn't that what we all want to do?). 
• Pepe Figota lives in Faleapuna, Samoa.  She sells food products at a local open air market.  She need money to buy mats and fine board for printing.

I can log into kiva.org and periodically read about the progress these entrepreneurs are making toward their goals.  I can also learn the status of my payback.   I love to travel, so of course, like Nicholas Kristoff, I hope I get the chance to visit these borrowers in person one day in order to see first hand their businesses, made possible in part by my microloan and in large part by the creativity of two young Americans who made kiva.org possible.

Check it out.  www.kiva.org

Pat Salber, MD