Kiva is an microcredit program that allows individuals to connect with needy people in developing countries and lend them small amounts of money to start small businesses. I recently saw a FRONTLINE special which showed families that had been transformed by loans in amounts that would seem minor that to many working Americans. The beauty of the program is that it allows regular people who don’t have deep pockets to contribute in a very tangible way to the development of a community. The Kiva website describes the program:

Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world. By choosing a business on Kiva.org, you can “sponsor a business” and help the world’s working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates from the business you’ve sponsored. As loans are repaid, you get your loan money back.

The LEND link takes you to a list of potential borrowers, including photographs and descriptions of how they plan to use the money. Current projects range from a request of $400 for a beauty salon in Nigeria to $2000 for a grocery store in Bulgaria. You can provide full or partial funding for a business and can loan as little as $25 at a time. Kiva is also accepting donations of digital cameras for the partners to provide pictures of their stories–so if you don’t have cash but have an old 2 mega pixel digi you don’t use anymore, send it on!

Here, you can view the stories of a few of the loans that have been repaid in full, such as the story of Simon Okiror, who borrowed $500 for a pharmacy in rural Uganda. You make the loan through PayPal, and 100% of your money goes to the entrepreneur. Read about the details of the lending process and how the entrepreneurs receive the funds here.

You can see a full list of the organizations KIVA works with here.

Read about the power of microlending in this article about microlending pioneer Muhammed Yunus, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.