Microfinance - do it yourself

Since Mohammed Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize for giving the poor access to bank loans, microfinance has become a buzzword. The idea is simple: Microfinance institutions lend small amounts of money ($10-$500) to individuals or groups of people, usually women, in developing countries who in turn use the money to start their own little business and earn an income for their families. At a time where half the world lives on less then $2 a day, services like this one are sorely needed. Also, they are more than simple charity - they encourage people to take their lives into their own two hands and use their own ideas and resources to make a living.

Where there is one innovation, another one is soon to follow: KIVA.org started a website that enables everyone to be a mini-Yunus, so to speak. It lets individuals to pick from a range of different micro-enterprise initiatives in countries around the world and lend money directly to the entrepreneurs running these businesses. Ten dollars are enough to start, but you can go on to build an entire portfolio of businesses that you support.

Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times uses Kiva and went to Afghanistan to visit his business partner, who runs a bakery in the heart of Kabul. Here's a video of his adventure.