The only way for people (and families, villages, and countries) to survive and increase their standard of living is to have access to and build upon capital. The NY Times bestselling book The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs is must reading for everyone who is interested in Kiva, microlending, or helping others in the "third world."

Kiva members: please be aware that only supporting microfinance as the sole solution for ending extreme poverty is wrong. Without extended directed humanitarian relief (such as health care, food, etc) and foreign support for public investment (in health care, education, family planning, infrastructure, administration, etc) microlending can only have limited effectiveness and the poverty trap CANNOT BE BROKEN. Urge your elected officials to actually fund the commitments that the US and many other countries have made to the Millenium Development Goals (MDG)!
See: http://devdata.worldbank.org/atlas-mdg/ for MDG data.

Hans Rosling on development (AV presentations):

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/92

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/140

Jeffrey Sachs (audio lectures): http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/reith2007/


There are opportunities and dilemmas in providing access to capital. In many situations, providing capital (tools and opportunities) can be wonderful; in other situations counterproductive. For example, providing loans for someone to sell an imported good that is unhealthy for the local population and environmentally unsound is ethically troublesome (cigarettes are the perfect example). I hope Kiva and its partners will acknowledge, learn about, and discuss these issues and not try to ignore them. Microlending is in its early stages and still needs research and development to further its helpfulness and sophistication. Funding individuals and organizations through Kiva helps establish the cycle that allows everyone (lenders, lending intermediaries, and borrowers) to learn, build, and learn again to find the right methods and opportunities to create healthful and sustainable change.

"Capital as such is not evil; it is its wrong use that is evil. Capital in some form or other will always be needed." Mahatma Gandhi