I am supporting four women entreprenuers living in Asia to help lift them out of poverty and give them hope for a better future for their children.
I selected these women because Hawaii is blessed with so many of Asia’s families. I am also supporting a women displaced from Armenia due to war crimes because I know a family from that region.
These loans have high repayment rates (less than 1.5% default rate) and I admire these women for using their minds and creativity to lift themselves out of poverty.
Kiva.org does not give “handouts,” but rather “hand ups.” I believe sites like this will revolutionize the future of giving in the future. Best of all, it’s not charity or sacrifice — when people help people, both people grow and give back to each other mutually. It’s not a system built on entitlements, but one in which people who have the means to offer support give to those who don’t because it builds a better future for everyone.
Lifting people out of poverty contributes to World Peace because more people have access to education and hope. It is a philosophy presented in www.threecupsoftea.com, a #1 New York Times Bestseller.
Philanthropists like Bill and Melinda Gates give away their fortune not because they want to sacrifice their fortune for charitable causes, but because they want to see a world in which disease and poverty are eradicated at the global level. It may not seem mutually beneficial at the surface, but philanthropists are changing the world for everyone’s benefit … giving future generations the chance to live in a world where poverty and disease may be eradicated.
It starts with hope.
