Last week I loaned a small amount of money through Kiva.org to Kossi Joseph KOTSI so he could purchase more equipment and supplies for his workshop, and help his wife start up a hairdressing salon. Kossi lives in Toga, Africa. This type of loan is called a microloan or microcredit.
Yesterday I received an email from Kiva that the loan had been disbursed to Kossi.
28 people donated a total of $1,500 to Kossi, and I wish him nothing but the best in achieving his goals and dreams. That’s only $54 on average per person – an easy amount for most of …read more

I mentioned microcredits yesterday. The idea is to extend very small loans (microloans) to people who would have no capacity whatsoever to get loans through traditional means. Microcredits are targeted to the unemployed and poor, primarily focused on developing or under-developed nations where so many entrepreneurs can’t get their businesses started.
In November I read an article in the Montreal Gazette – Thinking small: Rooted in South Asia, Microcredit movement’s branches have spread to Quebec. The article was about Mohammad Hassan who started Jobra Centre, Inc. in Montreal, an organization that helps with the microcredit process (which they call “community loans” …read more