kiva, spread the net

In case you're looking for a productive way to spend some post-holiday money you have on hand, I just wanted to remind you about Kiva. Each month I give a loan from my soapmaking profits to an entrepreneur in the developing world through Kiva. You can read about December's loan here, and January's will be coming up in a few weeks. Find out more about how the program works at Kiva.org.

Also, I wanted to let you know about Spread the Net. I do love Rick Mercer, after all. In the latest issue of GOOD, there were some staggering statistics about malaria and the number of children who die from the disease. With a donation of $10, you can purchase a mesh bed net for a child to sleep under, which protects them from mosquitoes which transmit the disease. Each net lasts up to 5 years. We bought some this weekend in honour of a family member's birthday. The program is through UNICEF, and is worth checking out.

Edited to add: The malaria statistics are here, not in the Globe and Mail as initially posted. Oops!

kiva

Yay! I'm tickled pink to let you know that I will be making a monthly donation to kiva.org with profits from my soap! It will be a minimum donation of $25 each month, and when the loans are re-paid, they will be re-lent to other entrepreneurs. Click here for more information on Kiva, and here for more information about how the process works. Consider lending, too - it's a great way to make the world a little bit better.

Today also happens to be Blog Action Day against poverty, which I only realized after I made my first donation to this entrepreneur. She's a mother and a teacher and has a small business, so I thought she would be a great first person to lend to.