Season of Giving

Ryan and I both feel so lucky this holiday season to have our very own house in a great town that we love so much, but I must admit the kitchen renovation has been a bit of a slog as of late and it’s been a bummer not being able to have a tree up this first year in our house. After seeing a post on Facebook about Kiva and taking a look at the website, I was reminded what it really is all about, and how truly lucky Ryan and I are.

I’ve heard about Kiva for awhile and always meant to check it out, but never got around to it. I encourage all you readers out there to take a look! Kiva’s mission is to connect people, through lending, for the sake of alleviating poverty. Kiva partners with microfinance institutions around the world, who administer loans to entrepreneurs and individuals. The borrower ultimately repays the loan, which then the lender has the option to re-lend, donate, or be reimbursed for. Here’s a graphic from the Kiva website. Since I’m singing their praises, hopefully their web folk won’t mind me “borrowing” it.

Meet Humberto from El Salvador.

Ryan and I made a very modest donation to Kiva towards the cost of raw materials necessary to renovate Humberto’s home. (We are also familiar with the cash-flow challenges of home renovation.) He jumped out because his goal is to improve his family’s living conditions and to create a home that is “more spacious, orderly, and beautiful,” something we’re trying to do, too.

Anyway, reading Humberto’s profile and other profiles on Kiva put things into perspective for me quite a lot. Here I am, sad about not having a Christmas tree and worrying about if we will be able to afford new kitchen countertops (current answer is no), while there are so many people out there struggling daily, doing their very best to improve their family’s lives, and do good work.

PS - If you want to support Humberto, you can find his Kiva profile here.