Have you had your Kiva today?

If you see this cute little girl on Kiva.org it's me.

I'm happy to report that Kiva has made it to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

I've been a member of Kiva since April 2007 and this is the first time I noticed loans within the former Yugoslavia. Woohoo.. finally.

Kiva is a micro lending organization. It's not a hand out but a hand up. In the past year I've added small business owners to my portfolio from all over the world. From a Ana Rosa in Mexico that needed a small loan to start her at home cosmetic sales business to Sayaad Ahamad in Afghanistan who needed help with his grocery store in Kabul, Afghanistan. They both already repaid their loans. When they did it made my day! Not that I lent them a great deal of money but that it worked. I was able to help someone who really needed a boost.

Now we have people in Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Pakistan, and Alma in Bosnia and Herzegovina. So exciting.

If you've been to our house in the last year you may have noticed an 8 X 10 glossy of all my Kiva people on the frig. I keep it there as a reminder that yes I can make a difference.

Remember

"To the world you might be just one person. But to one person you might mean the world."

One of the many values I'd like to instill in our daughter is be charitable.

I've read that children who are adopted from an orphanage setting may suffer from survivors guilt. It can be hard to cope if they know other children were left behind.

That is one of the reasons for the orphanage fund raiser. I want Tamara to know that we will not forget her little friends. Nor will we forget that there are millions of children world wide that need help. Some are truly orphans and others like many of the Kiva families have parents that are trying but due to their circumstances struggle to feed, clothe and can not afford to send their children to school. Remember in most 3rd world countries schools are not free.

It is considered a luxury to attend school.

I want our daughter to be proactive not just reactive.

I want her to appreciate what we have and not take things for granted.

I want her to understand that the more you give ..the more comes back to you. Not really sure how that works but it does. I've been testing this theory for years. It's truly amazing.

While Tamara is young she will play a role in my fund raising. Whether she helps me bake cookies for homeless children, helps me tie a bow for a tricky tray basket or helps deliver Christmas gifts to a needy family my hope is that she will learn at a very early age what it feels like to help someone who truly needs it.

After all learning to share is important at any age.

~~~

Paper chase update... Documents were picked up by DHL today..

they're on their way to Georgia. ;o)