Oswaldo

Dear Lender,

Thank you for supporting a micro-entrepreneur in United States! I’m excited to be writing you as the first Kiva Fellow in the U.S. For the last few months, I have been working in New York City with ACCION USA (www.accionusa.org), one of Kiva’s field partners.

All entrepreneur profiles on Kiva’s Web site are posted by local field partners (microfinance institutions), which are organizations like ACCION USA that provide access to credit for entrepreneurs, often women and minorities facing poverty. The field partners screen each entrepreneur, upload his/her loan request to the Kiva Web site, disburse the loan, and collect repayments.

I’ve enjoyed diversifying my Kiva portfolio since I became a Kiva lender in 2007. Today it includes loans to entrepreneurs in Peru, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Bolivia, El Salvador, the Philippines, and the United States. Like many Kiva lenders, I happily welcome Kiva’s expansion into the U.S. As a proponent of supporting local business, I’ve seen Kiva expansion to the U.S. as a means of strengthening communities closer to home by “lending locally.” I believe that the spillover effect of a strong local business community has the potential to affect global sustainability.

Despite having lived in Latin America and travelled extensively throughout developing countries, the poverty that I have seen in my own backyard strikes at the same chord and elicits in me the same compassionate response. While poverty in the U.S. does not have the same face as poverty abroad, it is a crushing issue in communities throughout the U.S.

It’s difficult to measure poverty in the United States, because it’s often disguised by a full belly and new shoes. However, the malaise I see on the faces of the homeless lined up for food in East Brooklyn was not the picture of opportunity that I had grown up with and to which I was given access. In New York City, one of the cities where ACCION USA works, it is apparent that 21 percent of city residents live below the poverty line. The man I walked by this morning who is homeless and has been rocking himself to sleep on the subway the last few weeks - he probably just needed a couple more dollars to get his breakfast,

Lack of access to small business loans, financial education and dependable employment opportunities in low income communities are some of the reasons that people cannot break out of poverty. ACCION USA works every day to increase the availability of resources in communities throughout the United States.. Since 1991, ACCION USA has been providing access to affordable capital to individuals for whom entrepreneurship is a dignified way of earning a living that also fosters growth within their communities.

As a Kiva Fellow, I have witnessed the dedication of the loan consultants who spend hours learning the needs of an entrepreneur and doing everything they can to provide a loan. I have seen the enthusiasm around the ACCION USA office when clients stop by.

When you support an ACCION USA entrepreneur you are supporting an individual like Anibal (http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=114278&_tpos=4&_tpg=1), who, starting with only the tools in his belt, came to this country 20 years ago and overcame cultural and language barriers to start his own business. In the beginning, he suffered without access to the capital that he needed to run his business successfully. He was stuck using basic tools in a market where he needed high-priced electric machinery.

At ACCION USA, he was able to get the money he desperately needed to fortify his business and was able to hire others to help with the extra painting and tile installation projects. Slowly, building his business relationships over time, he has supported his family while also creating a legacy that he can be proud of. By lending to entrepreneurs on Kiva like Anibal, you are helping people that are trying to help themselves and create jobs within their communities.

Please continue to look for ACCION USA entrepreneurs who are being funded on Kiva: http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&queryString=accion+usa&status=fundRaising&gender=All§ors[]=All®ions[]=All&sortBy=Popularity. When you lend your support, you increase the visibility of U.S. microfinance and help them to serve the needs lower income communities, reaching the people who need it most. From the entrepreneurs, staff and your resident Kiva fellow, thank you for your support!

Check out this video: http://vimeo.com/5221144 which captures a rare opportunity as Kiva’s president, Premal Shah, meets Luis, a U.S. Kiva borrower.

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to Oswaldo by ACCION USA in United States. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the 23 months of this loan, ACCION USA will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.