Monday, September 22, 2008

KIVA - A Force for Good




I would like to introduce you to Kiva (http://www.kiva.com/), an organization that is helping to change the world by doing good.

First of all, a disclaimer : - I personally do not have any financial interest or business share in Kiva. I merely donate some money there to support the good work that they do.

What exactly does Kiva do?

Kiva allows you to provide interest-free loans to poor people around the world to set up small businesses so that they can provide for and support their family and/or community from the revenue that they generate.

It provides a platform for you to lend to a specific entrepreneur in the developing world and thereby empowering them to get out of poverty and be economically productive.

What you do is this - you look at the profiles of each of these entrepreneurs, who will state how much money they want to borrow and for what purpose. They will also indicate when they will repay the loan, the likely time-frame.
You decide how much you want to contribute - US$25, US$50 etc and this will be credited to the entrepreneur's account.

For example, an entrepreneur may ask for US$1,000 to launch a business to preserve the indigenous weaving traditions and provide jobs to the women in her community. You may want to loan her US$100 and this means that she will see 10% of her loan has been fulfilled. Other people will donate various amounts and when it reached 100%, you can no longer donate to this entrepreneur.

You just used your credit card or PayPal in the secured site to donate the amount that you want.

When the entrepreneur repays the loan in various amounts, the money will be automatically credited back into your account. And then, you can re-use this loan amount that is credited to your account to give another loan to another deserving entrepreneur.

Please go to Kiva's page for a detailed description of how they loan money to these entrepreneurs : - http://www.kiva.org/about/how

There is a real-time display of how much loan he had already repaid and how much the balance of the loan is.

So far, their success rate has been great as almost all of these entrepreneurs have returned the loans that they had taken out.

This is essentially micro-financing or micro-credit, like Muhammad Yunnus' Grameen Bank, who won the Noble Peace Prize in 2006 for his work to help eliminate poverty in the poorer countries.

So, do some good and be a force for positive changes in the world. These poor people in the developing countries are not looking for a hand-out - they are just looking for a hand-up, the opportunity to help themselves.

Rather than leaving your money in the bank earning a small interest, please do some good by donating whatever amount that you can. So, go to Kiva and donate generously!! http://www.kiva.com/

And the merits that you accumulated will be great indeed...

Friday, September 12, 2008

Olympic Dreams And Hopes


Well, now that the Beijing Olympics is over, everybody is going back to their mundane lives.

After 3 weeks of living vicariously through the feats and achievements of the world's best athletes in the sporting world, marveling at their perfections and performances, life goes on. We are back to our routines of living our daily lives, waking up, going to work and all the mundane stuff.

However, please do give this thoughts some contemplation : - Did you feel inspired by all that you have seen and felt watching the Olympics? Did you not feel the commitments, the dedications and sacrifices of the participants chasing a medal in their respective sports? Did you not root for your heroes and felt the highs when they achieved the gold medal and the lows when they failed?

Think back those 3 weeks when you were really Present, caught up in the Olympics fever and the sporting spirit and fair-play that the Olympics represents. Did you not feel very alive?

Wouldn't it be good if you can bottle these feelings so that you can get access to it when you are stressed in your daily lives, challenged by problems and the burdens of living, when you felt like you really need a break?

Yes, you can. You can file away these experiences and feelings that you had felt when you were watching your Olympics heroes achieved their greatest dreams. And access them when you need it most - the feelings of exhalations, the highs and the good-will. Just close your eyes, breath deeply and access your memories...

And do not forget the Olympics spirits, the dreams and hopes that were shared with the world during that short period of time.

And finally, see if, by your action and contributions, you can share these dreams and hopes with the next generation of children, so that they will have a goal, a dream to aspire towards. Inspire them to strive for a higher goal, a meaning in their lives and to live vibrantly...

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Be Well, Happy and Peaceful




May All Sentient Beings In The Ten Directions

Be Well, Happy and Peaceful




The above dedication of merits benefits all sentient beings everywhere.

Making such a dedication helps all sentient beings to live a happy and peaceful life. It is done out of compassion and love.

Sending out such good intentions to the universe will also ensure that your environment will be happy and peaceful.

And you will also find that your relationships with people and animals will be good as they can feel your vibrations of good intention emanating from you. Therefore, you will find that they will also return the same feelings and intentions towards you.

You can do the above dedication from anywhere. You can do it after saying your prayers, in church, in front of your altar or even when you are walking.

When you feel unsafe and insecure in a strange place, you can also make such dedications to ensure that evil does not touch you.

So, be well, be happy and be peaceful