Uprinting Kiva Blog-a-thon ~ Giving Back!

Uprinting is such an amazing company that they love to give back not only to our local community, but also to communities around the world. I have previously blogged about their participation in the Kiva.org program and now they are encouraging a blog-a-thon to help spread the word about this wonderful organization.

What is Kiva?

Kiva's mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty.

Kiva is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend to unique entrepreneurs around the globe.

The people you see on Kiva's site are real individuals. When you browse entrepreneurs' profiles on Kiva, choose someone to lend to, and then make a loan, you are helping a real person make great strides towards economic independence and improve life for themselves, their family, and their community. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates and track repayments. Then, when you get your loan money back, you can relend to someone else.


Kiva partners with existing microfinance institutions. In doing so, they gain access to entrepreneurs from communities world-wide. Their partners are experts in choosing qualified entrepreneurs. That said, they are usually short on funds. Through Kiva, their partners upload their entrepreneur profiles directly to the site so you can lend to them. When you do, not only do you get a unique experience connecting to a specific entrepreneur on the other side of the planet, but our microfinance partners can do more of what they do, more efficiently.

Kiva provides a data-rich, transparent lending platform. They are constantly working to make the system more transparent to show how money flows throughout the entire cycle, and what effect it has on the people and institutions lending it, borrowing it, and managing it along the way. To do this, they are using the power of the Internet to facilitate one-to-one connections that were previously prohibitively expensive. Kiva creates an interpersonal connection at low costs due to the instant, inexpensive nature of Internet delivery.

Uprinting is giving to one blogger who blogs about Kiva.org $100.00 to lend to an individual through the Kiva program! This $100.00 could help many people around the world and help make a difference.



If I were to be chosen to lend this $100.00 I would use the money to help an entrepreneur in Taiwan. Taiwan has a special place in my heart because over the summer we hosted an orphan in our home from Taiwan. The agency who does this program is the same agency who helped us to adopt Andrew & Ella. We hosted this child as a way to give back to the agency our gratitude for the help that they gave us. To protect his name I will call him "Kyle".

Kyle came to live with us over the summer from an orphanage in Taiwan. It is a wonderful program where they bring children from around the world to live with a family over the summer. For the children, they are told that they are coming to America for a summer vacation.

They get an opportunity to be a part of a family and to be loved by a Mother and Father. We welcomed Kyle into our home and loved him like one of our own. He spoke no English and our family had to learn the art of Mandarin/English sign language! It had lots of challenges and it was not an easy commitment that we made, but we were so happy to have him in our lives. He touched our hearts and helped to make us all better people.

We got an opportunity to see what a privilege life we live. We learned that we take so much of the luxuries we have for granted. The simple things like a warm house to live in, clean clothes every day and running water.

Kyle was an amazing young boy that we will always love. Although we really wanted to adopt Kyle, there were certain circumstances that made it not possible. We pray everyday for him that he will find a home with loving parents in Taiwan. When he returned to Taiwan it was heart breaking for Andrew because the two of them grew so close. They shared a bed, baths, clothes and toys. They became like brothers & will always have a that special connection that they shared.

His time with us also helped Andrew & Ella to understand a little more about their adoptions. We want them to grow-up being proud of the fact that they were adopted. That their birth mothers choose not only to give them life, but also to find them a loving and caring home.

We have been praying for God to give us the strength to one day take in a long term foster child or adopt from Taiwan when the kids are older. There are so many older children looking for homes. We hope to be one of their homes when the time is right for our family.

I would love to have the opportunity to lend money to someone in Taiwan, and know that it would be helping to make the place where Kyle lives a better place!

Kiva.org is a wonderful program and I encourage everyone to donate even a small amount to help other people in the world. Giving back a little can make a huge impact on someones life!