Why I Give Loans to Kiva

March 23, 2015

57

March 23, 2015 – Today I got an update on one of my recent loans to the Asociacion De Agua Oriental – Eden Group, who raised just under $20,000 U.S. through Kiva.org to drill a well in their town of Puntiti, Bolivia. My contribution to the total loan was $25. Many hundreds of others who are members of Kiva contributed similar or greater amounts. The news I received which I share with you below is one of the reasons I remain involved with this organization.

“This ambitious loan to the community association of El Grupo Eden outside of Cochabamba, Bolivia has successfully funded the construction of a well and plumbing system that now provides clean drinking water for over 250 families. Despite government initiatives in Bolivia to expand access to clean drinking water, implementation is slow and plagued by bureaucratic red tape and corruption. Fed up with this situation and concerned for the welfare of their community, the small all-woman leadership group comprised of Martha, Ada, and Rosaria decided to take matters into their own hands. This precocious team worked tirelessly to gain community support, conduct the necessary land assessments, and oversee the complicated installation process. In defiance to the naysayers who were concerned other members of the community would take advantage and not pay their water bills to the collective community fund, El Grupo Eden has seen zero delinquency and has had no problem making their loan payments to CIDRE.

Now that the well is fully functional, the group is able to provide clean drinking water to 250 families that previously had to pay a middleman to bring in clean drinking water at over 10x the price. This saves the members of the community a significant amount of money and allows them to live more comfortably. Not only that, but the group has also been able to earn a modest profit above their loan payments, allowing them to hire three employees including a plumber to mantain the pipes, a book keeper to manage the payments and a handyman to make small repairs. Once their loan is entirely paid off, they plan use the small collective fund they have compiled from the modest fees to construct more tubes to reach even more families and fund community projects like better street lights for increased community safety.”