A Kiva Story: How People Choose Their Microloans

A Kiva Story: How People Choose Their Microloans
by Wes Smits

When we find hundreds or thousands of loans on Kiva.org to pick from, it’s difficult to pick one out. Some people go to the country of their ancestors for loan candidates; some go to a country they’ve visited once or worked in with the Peace Corps; some choose a certain occupation, such as artisan or tailor or farmer or food sales. Some people do careful due diligence and consider credit worthiness. Others look at the faces or the group name. Some choose by gender. Some carefully read the story of the applicant.

Recently, I chose a loan because of the person’s name. Usually, I start with the country of Cambodia. In the early 1980s, my wife Donna and I got involved with sponsoring Cambodian refugees. Our first refugee family consisted of a husband and wife, four small children, a widowed sister and her daughter, and the wife’s half brother. We found them a place to live, took them to medical appointments, helped them learn English, navigate the government bureaucracy, find jobs, and all sorts of miscellaneous stuff.

The one experience I remember vividly is taking their eldest daughter to kindergarten for the first day. She was frightened because she didn’t speak English, didn’t know anyone there, and had no idea what school was. Her name was Sopheak (pronounced So-peh). On a rainy September morning, I brought Sopheak to Mrs. Wilson’s classroom, stayed for about half an hour and then left. That night, I received a call from Mrs. Wilson, telling me that Sopheak had kicked her in the shin. I explained to Mrs. Wilson that Sopheak was a frightened little girl and urged her to be patient.

We soon lost track of Sopheak and her family because they moved to South Dakota to buy an Asian restaurant. About twenty years later, my wife and I were invited to a Cambodian wedding, which is a huge event in their culture. During the course of the reception, a lovely young lady came up to me and said, “Hi, Wes. Do you remember me?” Embarrassed, I said I didn’t recognize her. She said with a big smile, “I’m Sopheak.” She went on to tell me that she was married with two children, had gotten her nursing degree, and had gone on to become manager of nursing for a large pediatric clinic. Donna and I were so pleased and so proud of her.

Which brings me back to choosing loans on Kiva: As I was scrolling through the Cambodian loans, I ran across a rice farmer whose name was Sopheak. I didn’t go any further. I clicked on “Lend.” Later on, I read that this lady was from Battambang Province, the same place where our Sopheak was born. It doesn’t matter if the loan is ever paid back. I made the loan in honor of Cheng Sopheak, the young Cambodian girl who had come so far and made us so grateful and happy for all she had become.

Totals for June, New Meeting Day in July, and New Loan Opportunities

Totals for June

Since May 20, 2013, when we reached 500 loans, our team has made an additional 25 loans. Our totals now stand at 525 loans worth $13,500. Considering graduations, weddings and vacations, June was still a very good month for WMF. A big part of our success in June was that team members checked their account balances under "My Portfolio" and reinvested their loan paybacks. One person in particular made the majority of our loans for June using his loan paybacks. In June, Kiva made several distributions of payback money. Our team currently has $232 in our account, which we will invest at our July meeting.

If you haven't checked lately, please go to "My Portfolio" and check your account balance. Just click on the orange bubble "Relend Credit" and Kiva will deduct your credit from the cost of your new loan. Using the loan credit I had, the new loan I made this morning cost me $10.03 If we all make an effort to reinvest the credits in our accounts, we could generate several new loans.

New Meeting Day in July

Some people have difficulty attending our meetings on Thursdays at noon. To give these people an opportunity to attend a meeting, we will hold our July meeting on Friday, July 19, at Noon. We will decide based on attendance whether to continue with Friday meetings or go back to Thursdays.

New Loan Opportunities

This morning there were abundant loans available in Haiti (3), Zimbabwe (14) and Mali (94). The loans in Zimbabwe were to buy winter clothes for resale. We don't usually think of winter in Zimbabwe, but it happens there, too.

Microfinance Report for May, 2013

500 Loans in 600 Days

Since we began Wellshire Microfinance on September 28, 2011 with $500 seed money, we have grown steadily. Some months have been blockbusters and some have been "lean," but we have always grown. On May 20, 2013, WMF made its 500th loan in 600 days. This has truly been a team effort. For that we give thanks. The recipient of our 500th loan is the KUMBOEDZA CHINEMBIRI GROUP in Zimbabwe. They will use the money to restock their grocery store.

The value of the loans we have made now stands at $12,850. Of course, that doesn't mean that we've contributed this much. The money that we invested back in 2011 and early 2012 has been reinvested in new loans as they are paid back. Some of our early money has now been invested two additional times. That's the beauty of microlending: the value of our investment can be multiplied many times over if we keep reinvesting our loan paybacks. The model we can use is the Parable of the Talents. When we invest in God's children, God says, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Wellshire Microfinance Report: April, 2013

The One Acre Fund
In Kenya, farmers have been given the opportunity to more than double their crop production. Through a partnership between KADET, the microlending arm of World Vision, and KIVA, farmers can receive help in buying seeds and fertilizer at lower prices and also receive consulting services at no charge for one acre of crop production. Not only does the increase in production create more income for the farmers, which helps their families, but it also enables them to buy dairy cows and chickens with the help of loans, which gives them another source of income and provides more protein in their families’ diets. If you look at the microloans available on Kiva’s website today, you will see numerous requests for loans to buy dairy cows and poultry. This is only possible because agricultural production has increased.

Are You Investing Your Loan Paybacks?
In the last two months, our Wellshire Microfinance account has accrued $212.63 in loan paybacks. We will invest this money at our May meeting (third Thursday, May 16 at 12:00 pm). If you haven’t checked your own account lately, you may find you have money to reinvest. It’s easy to do: Click on My Portfolio. Enter your email address and password. You should see a bubble that tells you how much has been repaid. Then go to Lend. When you select a recipient for your loan, Kiva will automatically deduct the amount in your account from the cost of your loan at checkout. If your loan is for $25 and you have $15 in your account, the cost of your loan will be $10. This is the fun part of Kiva microlending!

Results for April
In April our team made ten loans worth $250. Our cumulative totals are now 462 loans worth $11,900. If we make an effort to reinvest our account balances in May, we should hit 500 loans by the end of May. Let’s keep on truckin’!

Wellshire Microfinance Report: March 2013

1,000,000 Loans

If you saw the Kiva website this month, you noticed that Kiva surpassed 1,000,000 loans this month.  It’s difficult to imagine the enormity of their operations.  Keeping track of all this data is amazing.  If the average sized loan were $1,000 (it’s probably more), it would take 40,000,000 microloans to supply 1,000,000 loans.

Haiti and Zimbabwe

This week new loan opportunities appeared for people in Haiti and Zimbabwe.  Since Global Service Ministries is quite involved in these two countries, it might be a good thing to support loans in these countries, which are some of the poorest on earth.  The loan applicants in Haiti are two groups that WMF has made loans to before.  Both were repaid.

Another Outstanding Month

Our team made 58 loans this month.  Several individuals made multiple loans, and the team made eight loans at our regular meeting.  We also added one member this month.  Our grand totals are now 48 members, 452 microloans in 53 countries worth $11,650. 

Top Ten

If you’re curious about where most of our loans are made, here are the top ten countries that have received WMF loans:  1. Kenya (49) 2. Peru (38) 3. Uganda (27) 4. Ecuador (20) 5. Philippines (20) 6. Colombia (17) 7. Lebanon (16) 8. El Salvador (15) 

9. Bolivia (12) 10. Cambodia (11).   

Results for February

Our totals for February are 27 loans worth $775.  At least nine of these loans (and possibly more) were made with payback funds.  Wellshire Microfinance has now made a total of  394 loans worth $10,375.  Our totals rank Wellshire 81st out of 1,012 "Religious  Congregations" in Kiva's totals.  That is outstanding, given that many churches have been involved with Kiva for much longer than we have.

Matters for Thanksgiving and Prayer

Secretary of State John Kerry announced last week that nine African countries showed economic growth last year of more than 8%. That does not mean that these countries are now pleasant places to live, but it does mean that the economic trend in these countries is much better than had been projected.  This news is cause for thanksgiving!

Two countries that should be in our prayers are Mali and Kenya.  In Mali, the war between Islamist rebels and the government is not over.  The rebels have moved back to their homes and continue to foment revolution.  This makes it more difficult to ferret them out.  Some of the rebels have also fled to surrounding countries.

In Kenya, new elections are planned for this year.  The last election in 2007 was the cause of much violence, pitting neighbor against neighbor.  The same person who stirred up all the trouble in 2007 is back for the elections this year.  Please pray that the election may be peaceful and that the progress that Kenya has made in the last five years will not be destroyed.

Please pray for the safety of our mission co-workers who live and work in these countries.