The Noble Pagan - Kiva Loans Program

» Kiva Loans Program

Since the beginning of history there have been those that have access to amenities, and those that do not. The poor and impoverished have almost always been looked down upon as a class of people that are lazy, immature, dirty and in general a group of people that are a nuisance rather than human beings ... something less than the rest of us and something to be looked down upon.

There has also been a class of people that do not look upon the less fortunate in that light and have always looked to give some of their wealth to help the impoverished with their situation. The problem was that there never really was a way to assist in such that ensures that your gift was more than a meal for a day or clothes for a month or water for a few weeks. Additionally you never really did know where your money was going as that information has always been highly protected by the charities with which you chose to participate.

It has long been a vision of the founders of The Noble Pagan to provide an outreach program that not only allows for complete transparency in where your money is used, but one that doesn't just give someone a meal for a day but provides that person or people with the skills and income needed for them to help themselves grow and become successful in their chosen field. It is a proven fact that those without a lot of the amenities to which you and I are accustomed are just as entrepreneurial as the person just starting a small computer business in your city. While the profit margins may be very different, the spirit of entrepreneurship is as strong among the global poor as it is in Silicon Valley.

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Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime.

This statement is absolutely true, and The Noble Pagan adheres to the idea that to help someone that helps themselves will enable that person to succeed for the rest of their life.

The Noble Pagan finances entrepreneurs across the globe in less fortunate areas of the world that are looking to build their businesses and raise their standard of living, not through handouts and lazy days gifts, but through dedication and hard work. We realize that sometimes all it takes is a jump-start to break through that ceiling, and we aim to provide that jump start in funding to as many people as we possibly can. We are able to do this through a revolutionary new website (http://Kiva.org) that has dedicated themselves to providing these impoverished entrepreneurs with the funding they need to jump start their businesses and build a better life for themselves through what is called Micro-Lending.

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Originally Posted by Kiva.org

Kiva's mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty.

Kiva is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs around the globe.

The people you see on Kiva's site are real individuals in need of funding - not marketing material. When you browse entrepreneurs' profiles on the site, choose someone to lend to, and then make a loan, you are helping a real person make great strides towards economic independence and improve life for themselves, their family, and their community. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates and track repayments. Then, when you get your loan money back, you can relend to someone else in need.

Kiva partners with existing expert microfinance institutions. In doing so, we gain access to outstanding entrepreneurs from impoverished communities world-wide. Our partners are experts in choosing qualified entrepreneurs. That said, they are usually short on funds. Through Kiva, our partners upload their entrepreneur profiles directly to the site so you can lend to them. When you do, not only do you get a unique experience connecting to a specific entrepreneur on the other side of the planet, but our microfinance partners can do more of what they do, more efficiently.

Kiva provides a data-rich, transparent lending platform.We are constantly working to make the system more transparent to show how money flows throughout the entire cycle, and what effect it has on the people and institutions lending it, borrowing it, and managing it along the way. To do this, we are using the power of the internet to facilitate one-to-one connections that were previously prohibitively expensive. Child sponsorship has always been a high overhead business. Kiva creates a similar interpersonal connection at much lower costs due to the instant, inexpensive nature of internet delivery. The individuals featured on our website are real people who need a loan and are waiting for socially-minded individuals like you to lend them money.

The Noble Pagan supports this effort, and as such we have decided that we will dedicate 100% of any donations made to The Noble Pagan over the next 6 months until Imbolc 2010 to the Kiva cause. This will be done by multiple loans to individual entrepreneurs and through donations to Kiva itself. All donations will be fully disclosed on The Noble Pagan's site and you will be able to see to whom and for what purpose your donations when to work.

We also ask that you sign up for a lending account with Kiva.org and join our lending team: The Noble Pagans. Any and all loans that you make to entrepreneurs while you are affiliated with our team will go to credit towards the team's efforts. Every time our team loans out $10,000 Cloudrunner will donate $100 of his own personal money to Kiva directly to ensure that this service stays alive and well for many decades to come.

To Donate to the cause please visit our donations page. When you donate you will be moved to a separate usergroup as recognition for your donation(s) and with that comes some additional priveleges on the site.

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Originally Posted by Henry Dummond

You will find, as you look back on your life, that the moments that stand out are the moments when you have done things for others.

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Originally Posted by Elbert Hubbard

Down in their hearts, wise men know this truth: the only way to help yourself is to help others.

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Originally Posted by Charles Kingsley

Make it a rule…never to lie down at night without being able to say, "I have made one human being at least a little wiser, a little happier or a little better this day.

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Originally Posted by Ralph Waldo Emerson

It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life that no person can sincerely try to help another without helping themselves.

I leave you with one final quote that I was told by a native american friend when I was very young

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When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a manner that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.