Joshua Judd .net

Today, October 15, is Blog Action Day. It is a day where bloggers all across the web unite for one day and talk about an important issue we're facing as a world. The topic changes every year. Last year the topic was the environment, this year the topic is poverty. I am excited that the the theme this year is poverty because drastically decreasing the level of poverty both in the United States and worldwide is a lifegoal of mine. I'm not sure how I'll do it, but I'm working on it.

Kiva.org

One idea that I am extremely excited about is microfinance via Kiva.org. I have a badge in the righthand sidebar of this blog that says "I'm a loaner." This badge links to my lender profile on Kiva. Kiva is a micro-lending website that connects everyday people in the 1st world (aka "lenders"), with motivated and ambitious entrepreneurs in the 3rd world. The idea is to help these small business owners lift themselves out of poverty by providing them with a small loan to grow their businesses.

Lenders are asked to contribute a small amount of money (as little as $25.00) to an entrepreneur of their choice. Through the help of multiple lenders the money is pooled, and once enough money is contributed to that person, they are issued the loan they need to grow their business. Once the business owner begins paying the loan back, lenders can choose to either put their money back toward helping another person, or they can withdraw their money from Kiva. The beauty of the process is that because it is a loan--not a one-time donation--lenders can continue to assist person after person if they so choose.

The entrepreneur I chose to lend to is Nail Ganbarov, of Azerbaijan. He owns a general goods store, and requested a loan of $1,200.00 to buy additional inventory for his store. By simply lending $25.00 through Kiva, I helped contribute to the loan that will help Nail significantly improve his standard of living. And as soon as the loan is repaid I'll be able to put that money back into Kiva and help another person.

I am very excited about Kiva and other microfinance organizations. I think they are one of the easiest and most effective ways to help combat global poverty. Please look into starting your own lender profile on Kiva.org. You can find more information about Kiva here.

My New Commitment - The 2 Dollar Trade

Signing up as a lender on Kiva is not the only thing I'm committing to do to fight poverty though! The spirit of Blog Action Day goes beyond getting bloggers to talk about important issues for one day a year. The idea is not to see how many blog posts will be tagged "bad08," but instead to motivate people to take action as a result of the concentrated online chatter created by Blog Action Day.

So, in the spirit of Blog Action Day, and with my previously stated lifegoal in mind, I'm making a new commitment. Each month I am going to make a donation to a poverty-related non-profit organization. It may be a local charity, or it may be a worldwide organization. I may donate to the same source for several months, or I may change every month. The amount of the donation will be determined by the number of worthwhile comments I receive each month on this blog. I reserve the right decide what constitutes a "worthwhile comment," but I'm not planning on being too picky. I'll donate $2.00 for each comment, up to $30.00 a month. I would love to be able to commit to more than $30.00, but unfortunately I am but a poor college student.

I admit that there is an aspect of selfishness involved with this commitment. I am looking to stimulate conversation and participation within my weblog. Though this is my "personal" blog, I have transitioned from writing primarily about events in my life to trying to deliver what I hope is desirable content regarding issues I care about.

So in reality I'm proposing a trade: my worthwhile content, for your worthwhile comments.

For more details about the 2 Dollar Trade, go here.

--Joshua Judd

http://blogactionday.org/js/47978273779ed4dbc599944b09c86f63d5ac18a3