Improve the Lot of Children: Become a Microfinancier

"For those readers who ask me what they can do to help fight poverty, one option is to sit down at your computer and become a microfinancier."

- New York Times columnist Nicholas D Kristof, on how from his laptop in New York, he lent USD 25 each to the owner of a TV repair shop in Afghanistan, a baker in Afghanistan, and a single mother running a clothing shop in the Dominican Republic.
"I did this through www.kiva.org, a Web site that provides information about entrepreneurs in poor countries - their photos, loan proposals and credit history - and allows people to make direct loans to them." Small loans to entrepreneurs are now widely recognized as an important tool against poverty, Kristof notes. Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize last year for his pioneering work with microfinance in Bangladesh. "Another terrific Web site in this area is www.globalgiving.com, which connects donors to would-be recipients."

Make Poverty History

http://www.makepovertyhistory.org/