LANGLANDS PUPILS PROMOTE KIVA IN EDINBURGH
YOUNGTERS of Langlands Primary School enjoyed a very special trip to Edinburgh last week when they presented a Kiva workshop at one of the top city centre hotels.
The 'Kiva team', comprising Eilidh Wilson, Mhairi Ferrier, Robbie Gooderham, Jodie Duff, Patrick Allardice and Fraser Cornford, were joined on their visit to the Radisson Blu Hotel by Forfar businessman Ally Leuchars.
Ally has become the Kiva team's business partner after he initially inspired the children during a visit to the school to talk about Kiva, the self help scheme for third world entrepreneurs.
Kiva (www.kiva.org) has been set up to "connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty". The website provides the means for individuals to connect with, and lend money to budding entreprenuers in developing countries.
Lenders can choose someone to lend to, make the loan, and know that they are helping a real person make great strides towards economic independence to improve life for themselves, their family, and their community.
For example, entreprenuers such as Mrs Sorn from Cambodia have greatly benefited from the help received through Kiva. She has been a silk weaver for more than nine years and, in March 2009, applied for a loan of $600 to purchase silk materials and to build a restroom for the use of the family. The Sorn family now has a restroom for their own use and has so far paid back more than half the value of the loan.
Another family able to improve their lives are the Bunnas who purchased a motorbike with the $700 Kiva loan to use as a motor taxi and also to transport and sell the family's home grown vegetables.
Mr Bunna uses his motorbike to help carry the vegetables for his wife to sell in the Phnom Penh market, just as planned. The new motor taxi business also allows him to earn additional income to improve their standard of living.
Kiva is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website that empowers individuals to lend to unique entrepreneurs around the globe.
When the money is repaid, lenders can then continue the self help cycle by lending the money to someone else, or donate their funds to Kiva (to go towards operational expenses), or withdraw their funds to their Pay Pal accounts.
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Weather for Forfar
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 13 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 20 C
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