Above, Lubov Galkina, an entrepreneur from Ukraine, requests a loan of $1000 to expand her business.

If you are anything like me, you would like nothing more than to avoid throwing yourself into hordes of crazed shoppers, Christmas music, and mindless consumerism this holiday season. You probably also want to get everyone “the perfect gift” and always wait til the last minute to do so, meaning you have missed out on internet shopping due to shipping concerns. Heck! You’re probably even reading this right now to procrastinate! Never fear, we have just the solution for you.

By now, you may have heard about Kiva, the microfinancing organization that has allowed users to give over $15 million in small loans to entrepreneurs in developing worlds. You may not know, however, that they have gift certificates, which, with a Kiva account and a credit card, you can purchase for as little as $25 and print out at home. No shopping. No hordes. This is especially appealing when you consider how you were probably going to throw at least $30 at some stupid bobble head toy that your friend would have laughed at once and then thrown away. Instead, your recipient now gets to pick out which deserving, underprivileged individual the loan goes to and after the loan is repaid, can reinvest or make off with the cash, all the while being reminded again of how awesome you are. Give a gift that keeps on giving and return the meaning of Christmas back to the season all at the same time. Amazing.

Happy Holidays Everyone!
Link, to Kiva Gift Certificates

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See Also: Google Earth Santa Radar,Design for the Rebel Jew,Happy Holidays!,

This entry was posted by Jessica Pfund on Sunday, December 23rd, 2007 at 4:26 pm and is filed under Social Change. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.