Kiva - Empowering Real Individuals

Photo taken by Michelle Sypkes.

Every year for Christmas, my grandma gives each of her grandchildren some Christmas money. Every year she tells us to spend it on something special. I always had a hard time thinking of something special. For most of high school, I was not a spender at all. I bought food and that was most of it. It wasn’t because I was broke or even that I was saving for anything in particular, but I didn’t see a need to buy much. In grade 11 or 12, I was introduced to Kiva and I finally found my “something special”.

Kiva is a way to give microloans to people around the world who are in need. It can be for medical expenses, household expenses, education expenses, business expansion expenses, or other expenses. You can also choose what category of people you give to (eg. women, single parents) or which country you give to. The best part? It is not a donation; it is a loan. They have a 96.8% repayment rate. Each individual is working to repay you and once they have, you are able to reloan those same funds to someone new. And it is so easy! The minimum loan you can give is $25, which is around the same price as a gift exchange gift.

Why is this needed? As illustrated in the documentary “Living on one dollar”, banking systems can be very difficult institutes for the average person to benefit from in most third world countries. They usually require documentation that individuals don't have. They also often have extremely high interest rates and individuals can become stuck in debt and not able to get themselves out. This can also result in individuals losing everything in order to try and pay those ever climbing debts.

I should also note that this plays on the empowerment piece that I have mentioned before. By providing someone with a loan instead of a donation, you are empowering them to invest in their quality of life. When someone’s quality of life goes up, it benefits everyone (them, their family, and their community). They are also then able to take more pride in their work as they are better able to pay back the loan.

If you know me at all, you know that I love people. That is what I am most passionate about, so for me, giving loans to those who need it is my something special. What I think is really great about Kiva is your ability to invest in someone who is passionate about the same things that you are. For example, if you are passionate about the arts, you can invest in someone in that category, or if you are passionate about supporting women, then you can invest in women.

Kiva has been really great because of my rhythm. Every year between Christmas and the new year,  I log into Kiva and add my Christmas money to my kiva credit. By that time, many of my loans from the previous year have begun to be repaid. I get to explore the Kiva pages and find people who I want to invest in. It is a great way to either end my year, or start a new year. Are you interested in investing in real people? Check out Kiva here: https://www.kiva.org/

Sole Hope - The Power of Empowerment

Photo taken by Michelle Sypkes

Sole Hope is among my favourite examples of empowerment in the nonprofit sector. In the western culture we seem to have a hero mentality. We are told from a young age things like “you can change the world” and “because we are fortunate we give to the less fortunate”. Neither of these statements are inherently bad, in fact they often inspire action. I just think that it also tends to create a mindset that puts you above those people rather than alongside them.

The hero mentality is very evident when you look at foreign aid. I sometimes like to think about how weird it must be to have people from a different country come into your community and start handing out free things. On a trip to Haiti and the Dominican, I was shown many different organizations that operated there. The most powerful thing that I saw, was organizations that were started by westerners, but operated by the people from those communities.

Sole Hope is a prime example of empowerment in so many ways. It should also be noted that they are not only empowering the people they serve in Uganda, but they also empower Westerners. They do this by their program of “Shoe Cutting Parties”. Let me break it down for you:

1. You start by getting old pairs of jeans that you don’t need anymore. (recycling)

2. Take out your party kit that you have ordered off of their website, and find everything that you need to host a party. (introductory videos, templates for tracing, ect.)

3. You then host the party. The videos provided explains their mission (this in itself educates about a different way to “give to others”).

4. You are given the opportunity to sponsor a pair of shoes. (Those who are still willing and able to give financially, are empowered to give thoughtfully.)

5. The traced out jeans are packaged up and sent to Sole Hope who sends them to Uganda. Those jeans are then created into shoes in Uganda for their own communities. (This creates fair paying jobs and also teaches them a the payable skill of sewing etc.)

6. It should also be mentioned that this all started because of the problem of “jiggers”. These are small bugs that burrow into the skin, often the feet, and cause pain and difficulty to live a normal life. The shoes being made are only one step of their mission.

7. As they go into communities where the shoes will be distributed, they teach the community about how to treat jiggers, how to prevent jiggers, and overall importance of cleanliness and sanitation. (This kind of education, can be key in stopping the problem because they are now empowered to take care of themselves, their families, and communities.)

I personally love the Shoe Cutting Parties because anyone can do it. I have now hosted 4 shoe cutting parties with totally different groups each time. My favourite part is teaching about how there are more creative and empowering ways to give. No matter the age group, the concepts are pretty straight forward.

Every single one of my Shoe Cutting Parties has happened near Christmas. At first, it just worked out that way, but now it’s my favourite time. Rather than a typical Christmas party where everyone brings a gift that you don’t really want or need, you can have a party where you are putting that money to put towards benefiting others.
If you are interested in learning more, visit their website: http://solehope.org/