KIVA.ORG

I made my first loan on KIVA!!!! It's actually a group loan, so the other members are responsible to pay it back if an individual defaults, so i should be able to make another loan in 6 months when i get the money back. I love Kiva.

Irene is a petite 26-year-old married woman with 2 children, ages 7 and 4, and she helps to look after her sick mother. She is a medical officer, having worked in a hospital in Mityana, but now she has a clinic and has been self-employed for 3 years now. She needs a loan to enable her to buy more drugs for the clinic, like Panadol, Fansidar, Coartem, and syrups, so that she can increase her savings. Her dream is to see her clinic grow into a maternity home to save the village mothers the burden of trekking long distances from Semuti, her village, to Mityana.

I used the money I got back from my credit card rebate check ($25.00). I also sent $2.50 to KIVA to help keep them running since 100% of my loan goes straight to the medical group in Uganda.

I'll keep you updated on Irene and her medical group. She lives in Mityana Uganda [Africa]. I picked Uganda because if you have ever seen the documentary Invisible Children (http://www.invisiblechildren.com/) , and read about the LRA and how they kidnapp children and force them to be fighters... you'd want to help that country too.