You know that saying, if you give a man a fish he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he never goes hungry (or something to that effect)? Setting aside for the moment any misgivings I have about the use of "man", generally I think this saying has quite a bit of truth in it.
Last December a friend of mine turned me on to Kiva.org, a web organization that gives micro-loans to small business entrepreneurs in developing cultures. Kiva really embodies the spirit of teaching one to fish. You read through the bios of people and their ventures and you can give them a loan, which is then paid back to you at the end of an agreed upon period of time.
So far i've made a few loans to different ventures (mostly in S.E. Asia). Somehow its gratifying to think that my 25 dollars enables someone to support themselves. I've always been suspicious of "charities", but I think Kiva is different for sure. One thing to note, however, is that if you are in Canada, you can't claim Kiva loans as charitable donations on your taxes.
Is it wrong that Kiva makes me feel all warm and fuzzy? As I sit here in my comfortable climate-controlled middle class home? meh...
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