The Grameen Bank was the simple but brilliant innovation in poverty fighting by Muhammad Yunus, who won the Nobel Peace Prize along with the Bank he founded. The Grameen Bank provides very small loans to women in developing countries who then start businesses and almost alway pay back the microloans with interest.
Microloans have proven to be one of the most effective poverty fighting instruments ever, and continue to lift families out of the conditions faced in much of the developing world. I’ll be giving to this cause and I hope you’ll consider doing so as well!
Joe Duck 
This is a great idea and I supported it in the very beginning and I will again…thanks for the reminder.
Thanks Glenn, excellent!
The repayment rate for these loans is astounding: http://www.kiva.org/about/help/stats … 97.87% to date at Kiva
Yeah that’s because it is a private foundation…not the government!
Excellent notion. I note that they have an office in Seattle. I hope it lends to the poor in Washington State. I hope they will open offices in poverty stricken areas of the USA. Not interested in being a do-gooder elsewhere.
Microloans have not faired as well in the USA as they have in higher poverty areas. I don’t think there’s enough research to know why yet, but I’d guess our welfare programs are so much more generous than those in 3rd world that micros here don’t have the same “uplift” power.
For me the ROI on charity in 3rd world is so high it’s the best place to put your money.
Maybe we just need to get people off the Government’s back (and our money) so they have viable choices like this and they will seek a path of personal responsibility and pride of paying it back and owning what they have built.