Giving Money Away

So, apparently, giving money away is addictive. It's also kind of embarrassing, 'cause you end up feeling so good about yourself, you start to wonder if you've managed to make it all about you again. Which of course, in a way, you have.

In an effort to stay off my feet and not get bored, I have been spending a fair amount of time checking out websites I've been saving to read and randomly following links that look interesting. Yesterday, this aimless endeavor took me to this site:

http://www.globalrichlist.com/

Turns out, as a family, we are obscenely rich. I started to feel sick. Then I remembered that we have a bank account full of money that was given to us by our wedding guests to do something good with. Just sitting there. Did I mention feeling sick? So, before I threw up in disgust, I decided to start spending it. As planned, we are using the money to support micro-credit loans through www.Kiva.org, a non-profit that supports entrepreneurs across the developing world.

Everyone has different ways of giving, and I don't want to push mine, but I do have to say that sitting in my house, learning about someone who needs a $450 loan to buy ingredients to expand their bakery business in Togo, and being able to contribute to that, is pretty crazy satisfying. I think my favourite thing is how the balance of power isn't all about handing out and standing back. They get to read about me, I get to read about them. They have a specific financial need and I have a specific financial surplus. When the "transaction" is complete and the loan repaid, they get to move on to new ventures with greater financial security and as part of a community that is made stronger by the investment, and I get to move on to new ventures as part of a community of lenders and with new ties to a part of the world I may never get to know otherwise. It's just really great.

Anyway, if you're sitting on a little bit of extra money, or even if you aren't right now, but might be sometime, think about micro-credit lending as a possibility. You, too, could feel embarasingly good about yourself.