A Day Off and A Kiva Update

In honor of MLK Day, I enjoyed the day off with my family. We took the boys on a long walk this morning through the neighborhood, to the playing fields behind the middle school near our house.

Earlier this afternoon, I logged into my Kiva account to make another microloan.

Back in May 2008, I helped start a new mission at my church. I was able to gather 25 or so names of churchmembers who would be willing to loan out $25 each to micro-borrowers on the Kiva website.

One of the personal loans I made was to Kutbinisso Tolibova, a 57-year old widow in Tajikistan. In addition to raising five children, she raises calves in a cowshed on her property, selling them later for a profit when they are grown. In this way, she supports her family. I loaned her $25 back in May, joining 15 others who funded her 6-month request for $450 towards the purchase of a calf. On December 16, she paid the loan back in full.

So today I re-loaned the $25 to Frederico Pagulong, a 57-year old merchant in the Philippines, who owns a small feed store in his farming community. He made a 3-month request for $450 towards the purchase of inventory, so that he could grow his sales. His statement on the loan request said it all for me:

“I have to meet all my family's needs and I work hard to help my children achieve their dreams. It's my prayer to really uplift our lives. I will do whatever I need to do to have my children graduate from college and let them pursue fruitful lives.”