Building the Internet bank for the poor.
The Internet is the foundational infrastructure that will transform the 21rst century. It has revamped commerce and entertainment, altered society, and will eventually break all geo-political barriers, changing the ways million of human beings communicate and live around the world. Of course, these words would only remain corny cliches if, from time to time, we did not stumble upon a new Internet service that makes them sound so vibrantly true.
That happened to me last weekend, when a friend of mine introduced me to a non-profit service called Kiva.org. We have all heard of micro finance. This concept became mainstream when Muhammad Yunus, recipient of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, formulated the practice of micro-loans in Bangladesh. Kiva builds on this powerful idea by combining it with the global and cost-effective nature of the Internet, essentially creating a global micro-loan financial network. Similar to Yunus's vision, Kiva has allowed men and women all around the developing world to connect with millions of people willing to upstart their businesses, ranging from carpentry to wine making.
Kiva leverages the power of micro-loan and P2P networks to create the first global bank for the poor. Saying that Kiva is a generous endeavor, a big idea and a brilliant use of the Internet would be an understatement. It is a life changing service for the under-privileged men and women who now have instant access to millions of socially minded individuals all around the world. Of course, don't take my words for it. Go meet Pascuala from Mexico, and Ngheam Nghor from Cambodia as well as hundreds of their peers. Their stories are equally compelling and moving. So join Kiva.org, tell all your friends, and fall in love with the Internet all over again.