While many microfinance organizations are established to provide financial products and services to the underserved, and then add non-financial support services to improve their clients' ability to effectively use them, one Kiva Field Partner in Peru did it the other way around.Manuela Ramos was founded exclusively to advance the rights of women in Peru. The fact that discrimination against women ...

In the six years since Kiva started, 760,663 lenders have loaned a total of $310,382,400 to 776,907 entrepreneurs in 59 different countries. Wow. Now, for the first time ever, we're releasing an Annual Report online, going deep into what Kiva accomplished over the course of the last year. 2011 was full of milestones, meaningful firsts and inspiring achievements as we connected more people through ...

"But mommy why?"This was Kiva borrower and Smucci Founder Efia Crandon's favorite question to ask her mother as a child."I always wanted to know why things were the way they were, if they could change and how," she says. "I used to drive her a bit crazy with all my questions." But no matter how many she asked, her mother always answered.As Efia grew up, she realized that sometimes there isn't a si ...

Join us in welcoming our new Field Partner Barefoot Power -- a company dedicated to bringing solar light and electricity to the regions in Tanzinia that need it most.Worldwide, 1.6 billion people live without electricity. Instead, they depend on kerosene lamps or candles, which cause millions of respiratory illnesses and fire-related deaths and injuries every year. But, as a social for-profit ...

Imagine waking up at 5 a.m., working for six hours in a rice field, then having to go sell goods at a crowded market for another six? As I sit here writing this in an air-conditioned office, I can't help but feel like my workload is trivial by comparison.Rice -- commonly referred to as the "gift from God" -- is a staple of the Vietnamese diet and national economy. In the country's most bountiful r ...

Energy drives every aspect of our lives. Lighting, refrigeration, hot water, and stoves are so pervasive that they almost fade from our daily consciousness. Yet, in many developing countries, an enormous fraction of the population has no access to sustainable energy.This lack of access keeps people poor. Thus the term energy poverty.Almost every daily task -- from preparing food to doing laundry t ...

By Adria Orr | KF17 | Samoa Of course, home doesn’t look like this… A huge part of choosing to move to another country, even temporarily, is leaving behind the comforts of home. There are several levels to this–the ease of familiar environs, the social security of friends and family, relatively cushy lifestyle (hot water, I’m thinking of you), and of course, sometimes, your ...