Subject: Join TeamFreecell at kiva.org
Date: Sun Jun 14 20:44:43 2009
User: Snowguy
Message:I see our little team of 11 members has so far lent 14 loans, totaling $525. (This does not count all the Helen loans before we set up shop and she joined TeamFreecell as a Team Captain and one of our two honorable leaders.)
We haven't even been in existence a month yet. Not bad.
Link: Team FreeCell at Kiva.org
Date: Sun Jun 14 20:59:35 2009
User: lightfield
Message:I love Kiva. So amazed at all the Freecellers doing all this! Excellent!
Date: Wed Jun 17 02:14:30 2009
User: malr
Message:Join us, lightfield, join us... We have openings for people who don't have money to lend right now, but will look at a complete stranger's 'here's how I'm doing at paying it all back' journal, and, when they come to one that doesn't have feedback, just feedback 'Yay, you!'.
You've shown a clear talent for doing that.
The pay for this post is
1. unlimited games of freecell, and
2. one uplifting youtube video a month.
By the way - what do we think about this as our team theme song? I'll lick the pie off your elbow, if you'll lick the pie off mine...
Link: you give a little love and it all comes back to you
Date: Fri Jun 19 06:26:04 2009
User: malr
Message:Welcome to Rachel, who has joined up and made her first loan - not in that order, but it's morally ours...
helen
Link: http://www.kiva.org/lender/rachel1520
Date: Tue Jun 23 18:01:19 2009
User: Snowguy
Message:I see our little group is now up to twelve, with Rachel having recently been added! Most of our members have made a loan, but remember. Plenty of time to make your first loan!
I see that two of my own loans have begun repayment, too. Both are repaying slightly ahead of schedule, having made their July payments in June. Below is linked one of them (The other is an entrepreneur group; the one below is a woman baker.)
Plenty of room on TeamFreecell! Join us, hang around, and take your time before you lend...
Link: Aku Nyagbloto,in Togo
Date: Tue Jun 23 21:03:52 2009
User: mabb
Message:Welcome to the newest members! A nice, even dozen, now!
I just made my loan for June, to a taxi driver in Tajikistan. He only needs about $150 left to complete his loan. See the link below, if you're interested.
Maybe for July, we can get together and target a particlar loan as a team. Trouble is, I get very indecisive when perusing all the good possibilities! I might need some help....
Link: Mubin Juraev in Tajikistan
Date: Tue Jun 23 22:16:30 2009
User: hotnurse
Message:Mabb, I just helped him out a bit too. Thanks for the link. KMc
Date: Tue Jun 23 22:27:05 2009
User: mabb
Message:Awesome, hn! What I liked about Mubin was his stated goal of sending his son to the university someday, to become a professional. It's touching to hear their bold dreams of a "better tomorrow", and to become a small part of making those dreams come true.
Date: Tue Jun 23 22:46:07 2009
User: Snowguy
Message:I had some credit from repaid loans, so I helped out, too. I bet if we check, we will see TeamFreecell as his top lending group!
.highfive mabb and hottie
.hug hottie and mabb
Date: Wed Jun 24 08:22:46 2009
User: Snowguy
Message:I see that Mubin's $500 loan has been fully funded, and that TeamFreecell is one of his major lenders. IMON International, Kiva's local lending partner, which has been associated with Kiva for 18 months now, and has managed nearly two million dollars American in loans to 2320 entrepreneurs. It has a delinquency rate of 0.0% and a default rate of 0.0%.
These have to be some hard-working and reliable borrowers! And (like the other Kiva microfinance partners I've seen) they apparently vet the potential borrowers really well. There's something really nice about no defaults and no loan repayment delinquencies!
IMON International has numerous loans being fulfilled just now. I placed a link below. (This is not my point of major interest, Sub-Saharan Africa, but still there are lots of worthy loans being managed by IMON! Tajikistan is really poverty-stricken, being so mountainous and with only 7% arable land but the people are hard-working and industrious. Building a country, one successful entrepreneur at a time!
Link: IMON's needs in Tajikistan (See it on the map)
Date: Wed Jun 24 10:14:35 2009
User: chrissie8madrid
Message:First part of the update I have received regarding Fundación Paraguaya and Mujeres Paraguayas Group that I have recently made a loan to.
Link: First part Paraguay
Date: Wed Jun 24 10:15:36 2009
User: chrissie8madrid
Message:Second part of the update I have received regarding Fundación Paraguaya and Mujeres Paraguayas Group that I have recently made a loan to.
Link: Second part Paraguay
Date: Wed Jun 24 12:36:03 2009
User: Snowguy
Message:Chrissie, I love your new Paraguayan group. (21 ladies, each their own entrepreneur, mainly involved in sales of this thing or that.) Talk about $25 affecting lots of lives for the better! They expect to be fully repaid
in three months, from July to September, 2009.
(Remember, all: In group loans, every individual is responsible for paying off the entire loan of all individuals.) If one fails, the other 20 pay off that person's share. But something tells me they have too much personal pride and sense of responsibility to default on an obligation!
Fundación Paraguaya (the local micro-finance agency) has been in business with Kiva for 25 months and maintains a five-star (highest possible) rating. It has managed over $2.5 million US to more than 10,000 entrepreneurs, with a 0.0% default and 0.0% delinquency rate!
Of course, chrissie's new Paraguayan group has been fully funded. But there are more lending opportunities for current and new TeamFreecell members!!
If you favor loans to Paraguay, here are some current ones that haven't yet been fulfilled:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&partner_id=58&status=All&sortBy=New+to+Old
Link: Mujeres Paraguayas Group
Date: Wed Jun 24 12:50:35 2009
User: Snowguy
Message:Ooops! Sorry. The link above is to fully-funded loans that are in the process of being paid back. (They run from new loans, 0% paid back, to older loans 100% repaid. (They show 132 pages of loans made.)
Here are Paraguayan loans seeking lenders:
(Something tells me chrissie is willing to share...)
(Remember, press the "COMMUNITY" button at the top, then "Search for" TeamFreecell -- no space between the words.)
You can then join us, or just check on how we are doing and who the "Team Members" are. Also, remember, you can join th Team without actually lending money. Take your time. Lend when you can, or when you see an opportunity you like.
Link: Paraguayan lending opportunities
Date: Wed Jun 24 16:51:55 2009
User: chrissie8madrid
Message:There are so many deserving people and causes, but I just felt that it would be logical, given my current location, to invest in Latin America.
Since I am also British, at some point, I will probably switch my allegiances to India or some other area or country that belonged to the Empire and was sacked at that time!! Although, even if we did nothing else, we did leave them a good railway network and civil service!!
Date: Wed Jul 8 08:46:32 2009
User: malr
Message:And let's not forget the language - just read an Alexander McCall Smith short story where one of the Indian characters praises the flexibility and range of the English language...
And, gotta love Kipling. Makes exceedingly good cakes...
;-)
Link: Denis Hopper recites Kipling, 'If'
Date: Wed Jul 8 08:48:30 2009
User: MidnightSky
Message:I always found it particularly poignant that he wrote 'If' primarily for his daughter - who was, for a long time, his favourite 'son'. A bit of a tomboy, until she died at age 12.
h.
Date: Wed Jul 8 08:54:08 2009
User: chrissie8madrid
Message:And, gotta love Kipling. Makes exceedingly good cakes...
Years since I heard that one!! Keep 'em coming, Helen!!
Date: Wed Jul 8 22:10:43 2009
User: mabb
Message:Would any of the kiva team members like to target a loan for July, as a group?
If so, any ideas or suggestions which sort of loan to go for.... a business type or a geographical area?
Open to ideas....
Date: Thu Jul 9 12:13:13 2009
User: malr
Message:I have a hankering for an agricultural loan. Get my hands dirty vicariously, since I have crimson thumbs in person. But I'd consider other options if someone had a stronger hankering.
Helen
Date: Thu Jul 9 12:31:25 2009
User: Snowguy
Message:I agree, helen. Sounds good to me.
By the way, I have to acknowledge that one of our team members (nudge, nudge) sent me a Kiva "welcome to the Team" gift certificate, that I used to help fund an entrepreneur. So in that spirit, I sent one along to another team member, who will use it to fund a loan. It won't cost me any more than if I had made the loan myself.
You can send a Virtual (or printed) Kiva certificate to anybody, inside or outside Kiva. It contains a code number, and must show the name and email of the certificate's recipient. That person has a year to redeem it by making a loan. (They will get periodic reminders to use that credit.)
Funny thing, helen. I always wanted to get my hands vicariously dirty in African, South American or Asian soil!
Date: Fri Jul 10 15:46:37 2009
User: mabb
Message:What about a farming family in Cambodia? The husband is a disabled soldier, and they need about $550 to finish off their loan. Repayment term is a little long....22 months.
Link below, let me know your thoughts.
Link: Cambodian farmer
Date: Fri Jul 10 17:15:41 2009
User: Snowguy
Message:I'm willing!
Snowy
Date: Sat Jul 11 02:10:37 2009
User: malr
Message:I really like 'disabled soldier'. My Dad, rest him, was in the army during the second world war, and he didn't talk about it often, but what he said sticks with me.
I've jumped - nothing more annoying than the loan that trickles away while you're watching it!
;-))
Snowy, are you sure you don't want to be co-captain with me and mabb...?
Or do you want to stick with the pompoms for now...
Helen
Link: check out fact 4 - & 5!
Date: Sat Jul 11 12:48:47 2009
User: mabb
Message:Okay, team freecell is officially targeting the loan for the Cambodian Farmer.
Thanks for starting us off, helen! And you're right, we can't wait around and watch these loans trickle away.
$425 still needed! Join in!
Link: Cambodian Farmer loan
Date: Sat Jul 11 13:05:11 2009
User: Snowguy
Message:I'm in.
One advantage (for the team) is that this is not a fast-fulfilling loan. We might have a day or two to get another TeamFreecell person or two to chip in. (But remember, TeamFreecell members donate individually, and decide where, when, to whom, and even "if" to lend.)
By the way, we are still stuck on 12 members, and have been for a couple weeks. But we are up to 21 loans made by members of the team. Considering some other interest groups number in the scores, hundreds and even thousands, it would be great if we could count our first "score." (Twenty members.)
You can join without lending, and you never reveal any financial information to anybody from Kiva. If you decide to make a loan, KIva will direct you to your own account at PayPal, where you authorize the disbursement. (They will also ask that you donate an extra 15% - about $3 or so - to Kiva to help them operate, but you can decline.)
Join up! We are fun people!
Date: Sat Jul 11 23:16:25 2009
User: malr
Message:Also, given that we're all here (I think) because a tiny little bit of us is going 'win that sucker! win that sucker!', whether in a competitive sense, or whether you're one of those people that wants to improve on your own record, or crack every game in a category - we're on track towards being major.
There are oodles of teams on Kiva who joined up years ago, and are still, I would think, trying to figure out the optimum lending strategy, or who does what, or whatever.
We've cracked the first problem - the Nike issue, if you will. We like being in a team, but whatever the rest of the team does, as individuals, we all know what we want to do, and have jumped as we've become ready, whether or not we'd got membership of the team sorted out, whether or not we had someone jumping at the same time.
We're go-getters! Our get up and go has already gone up and got!
So whether or not you decide to join us - do watch us. It's gonna be good...
Like this guy. Check out those pages!
Helen
Link: who I want to be when I grow up
Date: Sun Jul 12 00:43:08 2009
User: Snowguy
Message:HOLY SMOKE! He made 171 loans so far, in two-plus years! (Obviously, many are with money recycled from previouslypaid-off loans, but that's still a heck of a commitment from one construction worker!)
I'd love to be him when I grow up.
Date: Mon Jul 13 02:04:23 2009
User: MidnightSky
Message:Now try going to 'map view' and check out the forest he's built over Ghana. I'd think some kind of personal or historical interest there - or maybe back in the day there wasn't as wide a geographic availability. Does look like a story, tho'
h.
Date: Mon Jul 13 07:32:15 2009
User: Snowguy
Message:I see that, like me, he tends to prefer sub-Saharan Africa. (As you indicated, mostly Ghana!)
Unlike me, he started a Quaker lending group.
Date: Mon Jul 13 11:44:29 2009
User: chrissie8madrid
Message:Since the Cambodian farmer loan seems to be fully funded, I have made a small donation to this lovely group of ladies in Peru, which still need a lot of funding. Hope some of you will be able to help out too.
Link: Desarollo rural group
Date: Tue Jul 14 23:52:31 2009
User: mabb
Message:Thanks to all who contributed and finished off the Cambodian Farmer loan. Team Freecell was one of their top lenders...woohoo!
Sorry the timing passed you by chrissie8...hopefully some of the team can help with funding your Peruvian ladies also. Thanks for the link.
Date: Wed Jul 15 12:54:38 2009
User: malr
Message:I had a phone call today from one of the other charities I support, and it just brought home to me how different Kiva is. Every other organisation I've given anything to has, at some point, called me and said, basically, thank you for your ongoing commitment - and now we want more.
The 'flog a willing horse' strategy.
With Kiva, I feel I can impulse give in the sure and certain knowledge that they won't ask for the same amount, and more, every month until I die. In fact, given the loans that I've chosen, I can have the bulk of the money back in six months if it seems necessary, and then dive back in as I feel ready.
Yep - every other donation I've given has, at some point, come back to make me feel bad about trying to do good. I've been on Kiva for a good chunk of a year now, and so far, I can't see a downside.
Helen
Date: Wed Jul 15 13:30:23 2009
User: ix
Message:I've been skimming this thread for a while but since I've been out of work for a year and a half I've always said to myself "I'll join when I find work". Well, yesterday I think I found a job, I joined today and lent 50 buck to Elizabeth in Ghana. This is cool shit. When I'm rolling in dough I'll lend lots more.
Scott Kladke (ix)
Date: Wed Jul 15 14:40:45 2009
User: Snowguy
Message:I see you already signed up, Scott, and made a loan. Great. And welcome aboard! (That makes a Bakers Dozen.)
Do you plan to swing through my area in the near future? WE might be forced to hit Quaker Steak and Lube again!
Joeguy
Date: Wed Jul 15 14:46:30 2009
User: ix
Message:i waffled on the bike ride for weeks and months, when i was without job, i couldn't justify spending the money, now that i have job, i won't have time. but a spirited astral clink of the pint glass to you snow.
Date: Wed Jul 15 15:11:16 2009
User: Snowguy
Message:And to you, Scott. I might have to set up a session at QS&L with some lovely... I mean by myself, just to recall that very companionable late lunch.
And there will definitely be the clinking of an astral pint stein.
Date: Wed Jul 15 15:35:23 2009
User: mabb
Message:Terrific, ix! Welcome ...and kudos on the new job!
.high five
.clink (w/my dainty daiquiri glass)
Thanks for the link to Wayne's page, helen. What an inspiration he is!
And I firmly agree with you about other pestering charities. I also prefer to give when I'm NOT asked, (when it occurs to ME, in other words) but once you're on "the list", they don't often give you a chance to be spontaneous about it.
Date: Wed Jul 15 17:18:24 2009
User: Snowguy
Message:...And they are in fact, "Charities" that keep returning with peas for more. For them, you "give" or "donate."
This is no Charity. And you don't donate, you lend. They don't accept charity. They borrow. And, barring misfortunes, they repay your loan. Almosy all the microfinance agencies that I saw under Kiva have Zero Default rates and Zero Delinquency rates.
I wish all Developed World borrowers had that kind of pride.
Date: Fri Jul 17 00:42:02 2009
User: malr
Message:You're right, that is a huge part of the feelgood factor - I feel like I'm in the middle of 6 or 7 small films called 'the secret of my success' - rather than one big documentary called 'emptying the ocean of misery with a thimble'.
There's probably a better way of putting that, but that'll have to do for now.
Scott/ix - welcome aboard, cool picture - makes you look like you're about to save the world singlehanded, and that is, after all, what we're all about, here!
;-))
Helen
Date: Sat Jul 25 09:55:00 2009
User: malr
Message:In the interest of full & frank reporting, I have a teeny tiny downside to report.
I got impatient waiting for this month's repayments to show up, so I added some money to make some new loans, thinking I'd just take out the repayments when they showed up, and I'd be all square.
As I remember, the first time I tried to remove money - just because I was paranoid and wanted to be sure it wasn't a scam - it took a mere three days to show up, although it warned me it could be as much as three weeks to clear from Kiva to paypal.
I was kinda hoping for the three days - but it's looking more like it will be three weeks on this occasion. The site is not entirely immune to the further ramifications of Murphy's law.
Ooops! Good thing my overdraft is still in good nick.
Helen
Date: Sat Jul 25 11:23:12 2009
User: Snowguy
Message:My guess is it's a cash-management thing, where if the money coming in coupled with the repayments by borrowers lines up well, it could be three days for you get money back into your Paypal account. But if things don't line up just right it could be longer.
Hopefully it won't be three weeks.
Date: Sun Jul 26 04:34:49 2009
User: malr
Message:More on the downside!
To put this in proportion - why am I even saying this? Shit happens, people sadly commit fraud even in situations where they should be taking the opportunity to polish up their halo... after the event, you just have to find decent ways to pick up the pieces, and by and large, I think a reasonable person would be okay with the approach Kiva takes.
I personally think people in financial institutions who commit fraud with poor people's money should be handed over to me, Dede and mabb, and then....
Snowguy, I suspect that's one youtube video you wouldn't want to see!
The upside of the downside is... some nameless scum ripped off my borrower, but my borrower is still the good guy! Yay him!
Helen
Link: read it and weep...
Date: Sun Jul 26 04:36:49 2009
User: malr
Message:Link seems to have gone awol - try again... if you need to, go to Kiva and search on 'admic'.
Link: admic good guy, admic bad guy...
Date: Sun Jul 26 07:18:54 2009
User: Snowguy
Message:i can't find it, helen. I sure would like to know more. I searched on admic, too.
And, helen? No way I would like to see that video. (Other videos involving you, dede and mabb? Well....)
In any case, I would like to know more about how your borrower was ripped off. (But we know these things will happen from time to time.) I'm still highly impressed with the extremely low default rate and impressive fulfillment rate of Kiva borrowers!
I just checked my own loans. 6 of the 9 are now repaying, and the other 3 haven't yet entered their repayment schedules.
Date: Sun Jul 26 08:02:20 2009
User: Snowguy
Message:(In fact, I see all six have already made their August repayment.) The others begin repaying in September, and if what I have seen holds true, they may actually begin repaying in August.
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