Work is hell!

But there is nothing like it.

Come with me for another trip down the rosy path of my childhood.

Growing up we had plenty. At the same time, as kids if we wanted anything "extra" we were encouraged to get jobs during the school year and/or the summer, earn money, and pay for things ourselves. To this day, ask either of my accomplished brothers what part of their childhood most influenced who they are today and I think they will, like me, say it was those crappy jobs we had. There was a method to the madness, my parents wanted us to be self-reliant, understand the value of money, and learn personal responsibility and accountability. Like it or not, working for the man does that. Plus it is freeing to have your own money, and to do what you want with it, to a certain extent--we were also expected to save for college.

So what kind of jobs? Thing 2 laid asphalt. And was briefly a hotel dishwasher--the dishes NEVER STOPPED. Thing 1 was the neighborhood lawn mower/newspaper boy/handyman(boy). I was the world's worst cashier, very briefly. I scooped ice cream, and still have the wrist pain to show for it. Worked at the clothing store The Limited and spent my check utilizing my 30% discount. But my all time worst summer job was the one I had at a tuxedo rental store. I did "break-down". On Monday mornings there would be a gigantic pile of those plastic garment bags from rentals over the weekend. People rent a tux, the shirt, the shoes and when they are done they throw the whole pile into the bag and zip it up. Now, it was summer and I have no idea where these bags came from but they were HOT. And they had been stewing. Pull down the zipper and confront the reality of man. Man stinks. And often drinks too much and vomits. Sometimes man leaves a few bucks in the pockets though (thanks for the $200, Mr. 52 long!). After taking everything out and sorting it all my next job was scrubbing the necks of the shirts and laundering them. My brother Thing 1, I got him a job there too, got to polish the vinyl shoes, with Pledge. Yup, my brother started out as a shoeshine boy. Eventually I got "promoted" to being able to take measurements. I got to take inseam measurements of hot men. I mean hot. Literally. Like, as in, sweaty.

But I learned two things, the value of an education, and what everyone of those sweaty dollars meant to me. I liked money, the freedom, the rewards. But I also learned that I had to work hard to get it.

So here is the reason for my post. Recently, there was an economist who won the Nobel Prize--the Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank: "for pioneering a new category of banking known as micro-credit, which grants small loans to poor people who have no collateral and who do not qualify for conventional bank loans."

I found the whole idea of micro-lending to be fascinating. It really is "seed" money that you pay to an enterprising individual to get them going. To elevate them. To give them a means to work, earn, provide. And repayment rates are very high. It has been found to really create lasting solutions to poverty.

There is an organization, Kiva, that helps people like you and me make these loans. It creates "syndicates" of investors, with each often lending as little as $25 to a person and their business venture. You scroll through by country, person, or business type and find people you want to invest in. Click a button, pay on Paypal, and voila! Once the total needed has been raised by aggregating several people like you and me (usually less that $1,000), someone in Costa Rica, El Salvador, or Nigeria has the $ they need to create a corn grinding mill, make sarongs to sell, start a grocery store, cattle ranch or a construction business. Repayment starts within a very short time, a month after the person gets the money, is paid back in less than a year, and is paid monthly. As soon as your account has $25 repaid in it you can cash out or re-invest in someone else. 100% of your investment goes to the entrepreneur. You can choose separately to support Kiva itself. They don't ask for much, a few bucks.

Let me tell you, it feels terrific. It is wonderful to know that, rather than give money to salve the result of a problem, you are providing a foundation to actually solve a problem. Hard work for these people will hopefully pay them dividends. I have $100 in play right now with four investees. I have been paid back in a regular and timely way.

Andrés Madrigal Fallas is 19 years old, single and lives with his mother and 5 siblings. His family has a farm and then grow coffee and maintain a pasture. The whole family works on the farm and his mother has a grocery story. Now they are not using the pasture, so he wants a loan to grow and improve the land. The cows are for meat and he wants to continue to buy and sell cows to support his siblings and his 9 nieces and nephews. This is his first loan with FUDECOSUR, but his mother has had another loan from the same institution for her grocery store. Andrés' sister is the secretary of the commission and appears in the photo.



Amanda Yanira Monteroso Rojas lives in Tacuba in the district of Ahuachapán. She is 24 years old and lives with her husband Carlos, who is 20 years old and works as a farmer. This young couples' dream is to strengthen the income of their business. Currently, she provides milling services for her customers. She works in an area where many people have tortillerías and/or pupuserías, so they need someone to mill their grains. Amanda works every day and has three years of experience. Now, Amanda is asking for this loan so she can invest in her business so that she will be able to establish it better and obtain the higher profits that will be of great use both for them and their baby who is on its way.

Take a look at the site and consider letting $25 bucks ride on creating a bright future for a person or family. Put people that want to work to better themselves, to work. Or give the gift of investing for Christmas!

http://www.kiva.org/

Lauren