Kiva: page 12 of 14
November 2010
17th November: I still had enough money in my account to make my second loan of the month so, for my 37th loan, I chose Rosita Bancud who lives in the Philippines. Rosita is 60 years old and is married with five adult children. She raises pigs to earn a living and has been engaged in this business for over three years. This is Rosita’s second loan and she will use it to buy additional piglets to raise and sell.
18th November: I received a short email update today from Isabel Albon's Group (Loan 28). The group say thank you for the loan which Isabel used for her house repairs. With December’s repayment, this loan will be fully repaid.
19th November: Oprah announced that Kiva is “one of her favourite things” for 2010. She introduced a deal in which lenders can obtain $25 in Kiva funds for a deposit of $15. That means there should be heavy activity on the Kiva website next week. Loans are now totalling up to two million dollars a week!
29th November: Ramil Abdullayev (Loan 20) today made a lump-sum repayment, paying off his loan early. Eliot Akatunanura (Loan 21) has not yet made his November repayment but he has been behind before.
The US$245 I have invested in Kiva has now provided 39 loans of $25 for a total of $975 in loans!
25 loans have been repaid and 14 are still repaying.
December 2010
15th December: Today’s repayments included the final payment for two loans: Loan 28 to Isabel Albon's Group and Loan 31 to Hassin. Eliot Akatunanura (Loan 21) also made a payment although he is still one month behind.
I made my 39th loan to Dedicación Acrotaipe Huayllas who lives in Cusco, Peru. She is 36 years old, lives with her partner, and they have three children. She sells spare parts such as headlights, brakes and spark plugs which she buys from Lima. She has been in the business for ten years and has a small store where she makes her sales. She will use the loan to purchase new merchandise for the start of the New Year.
The gift was a suede log-carrier that sits in a metal frame by the fireplace. The carrier lifts off the frame so it can be used to carry logs from the log storage area to the fireplace. Sitting on it’s frame, it provides an attractive place for the logs.
In a “get to know you” section of the Volunteer Forum, I had shown a photo of my wood pile and talked about my exploits cutting, splitting and stacking the wood that I burn in the winter. The suede log carrier is therefore a gift specially selected for me and so I appreciate it a lot.