Doing Something With My Money.

 

http://www.kiva.org/invitedby/ariel5183

Today I finally decided to do something that I've wanted to do for a while, but only became possible recently because I've had disposable income.  

I made a loan through Kiva!

Kiva is a non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Leveraging the internet and a worldwide network of microfinance institutions, Kiva lets individuals lend as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world.

I've been hearing about this for the last year or so from John Green, author, vlogbrother, and nerdifghter, who had this to say:

 

I think this is a pretty cool concept: loan as much or as little as you want to people you choose--people whose businesses and situations you know about. This isn't giving to an organization that will use it all up in administration, either; 100% of all loans made go directly to the borrower, while the Kiva administration raises funds for itself through separate donations. It's also not throwing money at a problem in the hopes that it will solve itself. By loaning money for individuals to start their business, grow their profits, or educate themselves, they are empowered to sustain themselves after the loan, independent of outside aid. 

So today, I made two loans of a combined $100 total. Of that, only half came from my money. The other half were "credits" given to me by donors: $25 free for new users and $25 when someone responds to my invitation on Facebook.

This is Vineta from Samoa. She's owns a general store and needs money to buy supplies. I chose her because her cause was underfunded and needed the most help. Now 37% of her $675 loan has been fulfilled!

 

This is Ana Sabina from El Salvador. She makes tortillas for the market, and she needs money to buy a refrigerator and some books that her daughter needs for school. I chose her because of her dedication to her children's education, and I wanted to help get those precious books into her twelve-year-old daughters hands. 

So, yeah. If you have five spare minutes with the Internet, click the link below to loan $50 free--$25 for you and $25 for me! You don't have to spend anything. 

http://www.kiva.org/invitedby/ariel5183

Goodbye, World.

This is my farewell to you all. You probably won't see me for the next few months. In the last five days, my life has gone from depressingly empty (school + nothing = boredom) to oh-my-god-what-am-I-going-to-do full (school + new job + Phi Sigma Pi + Sigma Tau Delta + College of Arts and Sciences Ambassador = AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH).

So yes. Let me explain.

Other than the receptionist position I mentioned in my previous post, I have made a few decisions that will henceforth make me a more involved human. The first is that I decided to join UNT's chapter of the co-ed honors fraternity Phi Sigma Pi. After visiting a few information meetings, a couple of friends and I decided that the people are awesome and the "fraternity" part is really more of a formality than a lifestyle, so I applied. And now for the next six weeks I'm going to be going to Rush class every Sunday and doing service projects/events with all these lovely new smart people.

Secondly, I am applying to Sigma Tau Delta, the fancy-schmancy English major honor society (another fake-Greek organization), which does cool things like have visiting authors speak and go to English conferences. Luckily, this is a relatively minor commitment with monthly or bi-monthly meetings, so this might not be the death of me.

Thirdly, my English major adviser (Dr. Penner's-mother Lyke lolololol) asked me to be an English major College of Arts and Sciences Ambassador, which sounds awesome to me -- talking to incoming freshmen interested in English and basically convincing them that the English program rocks. Right now it doesn't seem like too big of a commitment, just a few evenings here and there, but we will see if I actually have time for it. I really hope I do.

All of these things excite and interest me. I just hope I'm not taking on too much. But either way--wow. A week and a half ago I was spending three-quarters of my day staring at the Internet and halfheartedly flipping through my agenda to see when things were happening (or more likely, not happening). Now I'm employed and a prospective member of multiple organizations and potentially friends with ALL THE PEOPLE! :D

So farewell. I will see you in the summer. If I make it that far.