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| NEW SITE: http://www.superkow.co.cc
Goodbye Xanga  . And this time, it's for reals. It's been a good 2175 days but I'm afraid, I must move on. The temptation of my own domain name was just too alluring to resist. Let us reminisce on some of the past times.
- Sophie made me a xanga bAk wEn i tYpEd aLl rEtArdEd An sTufFz
- posted really mundane boring things about my super boring high school life
- boring times
- hot asian chick phase, made banners and backgrounds with half naked asian chicks. got tons of comments and eprops.
- kaila yu comments on xanga. xanga reaches peak of awesomeness
- dad sees xanga, tells me to change it
- viewers leaves in doves
- tries to post about deep spiritual things
- tries harder to post about deep spiritual things
- gives up, posts crappy drawings.
- moves on to different website.
Goooood times. But all good things must come to an end. And new good things start up. So get off this old good thing and move to the new one!
NEW SITE GO HERE: http://www.superkow.co.cc
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| How you ask? Microfinancing! (most of this is stolen from the somethingawful thread that I saw about this)
What is microfinance?
http://www.kiva.org/about/microfinance/
What is an MFI?
Micro-Finance Institution. This is a non-profit organization that provides small loans, typically $25-$1000, to people in developing countries. Most specialize in a certain region or country.
What is Kiva?
Kiva is a non-profit organization in California with a website where you can loan money through an MFI to people in developing countries who need it (generally) for a business they are operating. After the MFI (microfinance institution, the field agent basically) delivers the loan to the person, they keep you updated on the person's progress with journal entries about how they're using the money. Some MFIs are better than others about updating the journal, more on that later. As the borrower pays back the MFI, the money comes back to you and you can withdraw it or lend it out again.
How much money can I make with this scheme?
If you do this, you'll be lending at 0% to the MFI. MFIs charge various different rates to the end-user of the loan based on how well-developed the country is and how credit-worthy they predict the person to be. Prosper.com was allowing lenders to earn an interest rate, but the SEC ordered them to stop operating.
Can I trust the MFI?
If you want to look at the stats of the MFI you're loaning through, just click the name of the MFI on the page of the person you want to loan to. It will show you how much has been lent through them, the average interest rate, how many of their customers have defaulted or made late payments and etc. More time on Kiva and more money loaned through them means they're more trustworthy, generally. Some MFIs have been banned from Kiva for shady behavior, but most are on the up-and-up. Kiva audits each MFI periodically, and sends someone in immediately to check the books if anything suspicious comes up. Each lender also has a star rating given to it by Kiva to rate the risk of loaning through the MFI.
Can I trust Kiva?
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2007/03/26/multimedia/1194817117819/diy-foreign-aid.html
Convinced me. Google away yourself.
Isn't the interest rate charged by the MFI too high?
The average is 21%. While this may seem high to you, its really not high compared to the other lending sources they have available to them. Loan shark types will lend at ridiculous rates like 80-300%, which is really the only other source of financing they have available to them, many times. Keep in mind that, unlike banks in developed countries, these lenders can't just pick up the phone or send a letter to get in touch with their client. They have to go out into the country through bumpy or sometimes impassable roads to speak with their client. Furthermore, they don't have the benefit of a credit bureau to analyze a person's credit-worthiness. People who default have to be covered by the good loans, so the interest rate is going to be higher than you're accustomed to. Servicing loans in developing countries is expensive, even if you're not trying to turn a profit.
Refer to question #6 http://www.kiva.org/about/microfinance/ for more information
Why don't I just donate to charity?
Because you're Chinese. No but seriously you should and I totally encourage it. But also this gives you a personal connection, and you actually get to see the person you're helping and hear some stories about what they're doing. Also, more than just feeding people this helps to develop their economy into something more sustainable. It helps them work toward long-term prosperity. You know the whole... intead of giving them a fish, teach them how to fish. But in this case it's kind of more like lending them money for a fishing rod instead of giving them a fish but whatever same idea.
Okay I'm down. How does this thing work?
Step 1: register and join http://www.kiva.org/team/ccic_gangsters
This is the group I created because I am awesome and I am compensating for something. It doesn't really matter if you're in a group or not, just cool because we get to see how we compare to other groups and we can see the people that each member loaned to (interestingly enough, the most popular/biggest/loaned the most money group is Atheists, Agnostics, Skeptics, Freethinkers, Secular Humanists and the Non-Religious while the 2nd most popular/biggest/loaned the most money group is Kiva Christians lol).
What if I'm not a gangster?
It's cool. I'm a gangster because I be packin' the heat and keepin' it real but I'm an open minded gangster and I accept people of all kinds.
What if I don't go to CCIC/not even a Christian?
That's cool too you can go join the Atheists, Agnostics, Skeptics, Freethinkers, Secular Humanists and the Non-Religious or you can just join my group because I'm the coolest and you'll be cool by association.
Step 2: loan money!
Sweet! Wait so how are you helping make ugly chicks more dateable?
Ahh good question! I loaned my money to Joyce Mganga!
Joyce Mganga, age 25, is married with two children, ages 7 and 4. Joyce has a food business, which she started in 2005. She works daily from 9am until 6.30pm and is able to earn a monthly profit of around $323.
This will be Joyce’s second loan from Tujijenge Tanzania. She used the previous loan to open a salon and buy a sack of powdered soap (which she sells door to door), and repaid the loan successfully. She wants a new loan to improve her salon.
Joyce will share this loan with her loan group, Mzaituni, which totals 18 members. The members of the group hold each other accountable in paying back their loans. In the picture, Joyce is first from the left in the front row.
Some MFIs are also really good at giving you updates on what's going down but since this I just started this yesterday (or like 3am today) I don't have any updates yet.
Also this book came highly recommended
http://www.amazon.com/Banker-Poor-Micro-Lending-Against-Poverty/dp/1586481983/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247324453&sr=8-2
It's written by a noble peace prize winning economist and he pretty much developed the concet of microfinance. My copy is being shipped to me AS YOU READ THIS.
Dude I don't want to read all this crap. Where the hell are your cartoons?
Sorry I'm really lazy I'll try to get one up sometime this coming week.
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I'm going to work out over the summer. I swear it.
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