Kiva.org

[sqbr]

So, I joined debunkingwhite a while ago and there's been some interesting discussion about the problems involved with adopting overseas babies, and it's gotten me thinking about less probletic ways we in the developed world can help those in less developed countries(*). And then today I found(**) Kiva.org, an organisation which organises microloans for entrepreneurs in developing countries. You get all your money back in the end (most of the time), and unlike most charities all of your money gets to the actual needy person rather than half of it going to admin stuff.

That just strikes me as awesomely cool. EDIT: trs80 (how do I link to him?) makes some good points about it's flaws below.

Also, an amusing error at the top of my screen: "Oops! Looks like Frank's nibbling on the wires. Please try again in a few minutes. If you continue to get this error, let our Support team know. (Frank tells us the servers are delicious)". Mmm. Wires.

(*)I'm not a big fan of this terminology, but "first world" etc is such a relic of the cold war. Anyone know a better way of putting it?
(**) Indirectly, via many interesting sidetracks, via littlebutfierce's suggestion to check out wiscon on this post

Comments

[stephbg.livejournal.com]

How do you feel about "industrialised nations"?

[alias_sqbr]

Hmm....yeah, that kinda works.