Hello and a big welcome to Andrea from Queensland. Andrea has already given a micro-loan.

A number of women have asked about the programme, so I’ll briefly run through it as best I can.

What is Kiva? Kiva is a micro-lending website, a way for us to lend directly to people around the globe. See a diagram on how Kiva works. Basically we make a loan to someone else through Kiva – and Kiva connects up with the people who want a micro loan.

Have a look at our members page, Our Kiva Team.

You can click on the word Members to see who we are.
And there are buttons to click for ease in joining.

Your loan of $25 is processed through paypal.

We have each, individually, given a loan of $25 to particular women. You don’t have to be a billionaire. On my lender’s page, I explain why I’m part of the Kiva programme.

Why don’t you join us? You don’t have to be a Red Hatter, you don’t have to live on the Yarra or anywhere near it (Andrea is in Woolloongabba!) you just have to be a woman who cares enough to make a loan of $25 to another woman in less fortunate circumstances than yourself. A woman who is trying to make a go of things. A woman who buys scrap metal for resale, a woman who buys bolts of cloth wholesale, turning them into shawls to sell from her stall outside a railway station and a woman who raises pigs for the market. It’s not a blanket or a bowl of rice.

You choose yourself who will receive your loan, you can browse through the many pages of Kiva to select. You aren’t tied down to the loans which have already been made. You just get to be part of a community of women care.

I do hope you decide to join us, we all look forward to seeing you there.