Tom, Abby and I made a donation to Kiva as a large part of our holiday gifts last year. I wrote about it a bit here. I proudly shared on facebook that we’d picked 4 different people to give loans to and was sent an e-mail from my cousin with a link to this article from the New York Times that outlines how Kiva doesn’t actually send my exact money to the exact people I chose. My first reaction was to totally be annoyed that my cousin sent me the link. . . I mean, let me live in the dream okay?
Then I moved on to being annoyed with myself for not realizing this to begin with. I really pride myself on reading the fine print on things like this. I’m often the one that returns forwarded e-mails with links to articles that debunk the messages. When I first read that article about how my money did *not*, in fact, go directly to the 4 folks I’d carefully picked out. . . I was pissed. In fact, those folks had likely already been funded and my money ended up in the large pot of money that Kiva sends out to different micro-lenders, who, in turn, give the money to applicants. So, my money likely did not even get to the continents I’d spent a fair amount of time choosing.
I’m honestly not sure how I thought my dollars *actually* ended up in the hands of the exact 4 people I’d chosen, but the way Kiva’s website is/was (I see that they’re changing it a bit) set up really made it seem like this was going to be the case.
I think we would have chosen Kiva anyway had we known that we were just making a donation to the general cause they are working for because I really think it’s a great system and plan. I’m just disappointed that Savoeun Sun from Cambodia didn’t end up with our money. . . I’m sad that our money might have ended up in the hands of the many MANY folks asking for loans so they can sell soda. . . or open a pub. I’m not necessarily saying that there is anything wrong with either of those enterprises, I just purposely did *NOT* pick those things for our loans.
Now, I am a big fan of giving “unrestricted gifts” to non-profits. My husband runs a non-profit and I’ve worked for many over the years. I know how hard it can be sometimes to do the work the big grants and restricted donations mandate when you don’t have enough money to pay your staff or get a new computer. I remember working at one place that got 15 huge, really expensive tents donated to them. . . we totally couldn’t use them. We took kids backpacking and, as kind as the donation was, what we really needed was a washing machine so we could wash sleeping bags between trips. I think you see my point here. Sometimes the best thing we can give is something totally unexpected or seemingly trivial or just money for the organization to use as they see fit.
So, no updates on how my Kiva “recipients” are doing, as that all seems pretty false now. I will say that I’m still proud of our gift to Kiva. I think the mission behind their work is amazing and it seems that they are changing the way they portray themselves so people won’t get confused about exactly where their donation money is going.
This whole thing makes me wonder how the heck to best help the people of Haiti. My goodness, the hoaxes floating around on Twitter and FaceBook?! Really? Who makes that crap up? It makes me so sad.
Amanda Soule, of Soulemama, has some great suggestions for how to help the Haitians, as does Stephanie, the Yarn Harlot. I’ll add this link to an article in the New York Times that has 9 experts discussing what might be the most effective ways to help during this horrible, awful catastrophe.
I suppose this entire entry boils down to this: no matter what we do to help people in need, no matter how small it might seem, no matter what it is that we do. . . the action, the *doing* is important. The money and goods and medical help. . . all of that will be useful over time for the people of Haiti. I also believe that the energy and thoughts and prayers that are being sent out will help too. Despite my initial disillusionment, I’m still hopeful that we can all make a difference.
Beach below our Casita in Todos Santos. It was a great trip. Details forthcoming.
