Halloween is a time where we trick or treat, give a scare, or even prank your friends. But Halloween isn’t always spent this way.

A lot of people put up decorations, and they eat a lot of candy! Most people think that’s the best part. Others have another thing that they do.

We are still helping through Kiva, Halloween, or not. We are always writing, posting, and helping with global poverty.

I wanted to write to say, poverty is scary. It’s a large ghost, haunting half of the worlds population. As members, we do the Ghost-Busting.

Lots of people have other ideas for candy, they plan on stopping world hunger with it! Is it a good idea though?

You can help us Ghost-Bust this halloween, and help end poverty. You can visit Kiva.org to help, and end poverty.

By: Mathew L.

Here at SMS Kiva, we pride our selves on helping the world by loaning to people in poverty, but don’t you think that you, our readers, should know why we do it? Here are some facts that should help you understand, if you don’t already.

1. Nearly 50% of the worlds population, more than 3 billion people, live on less  than $2.50
2. More than 1.3 million people live in extreme poverty-less than $1.25 a day
3. 1 billion children live in poverty worldwide
4. Roughly 22,000 children die each day worldwide due to poverty
5. 805 million people don’t have enough food to eat
6. More than 750 million people lack adequate access to good clean water
7. Approximately 2,300 people are killed each day due to unsanitary toilets and        hand hygiene. That is 842,000 people a year
8. In 2011, 165 million children under the age of 5 were stunted (reduced rate of growth) due to chronic malnutrition.

Here is a post from Mr. Ferriter on a trip-line about some past loans

Source: https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-global-poverty

By:

Austin B. and Mathew L.

If you do Kiva club, usually you make loans that give back our money fast, but this isn’t always true…..

Sometimes, we have to make loans that take up to 30 months to repay! We do this for a reason.

When do we make these loans? Well, it has to be a very good loan, such as building a house for kids, or giving money for a clean toilet.

The thing is, you can’t make these loans all the time. These have to be limited and restricted through-out time. Maybe once every 10-15 loans.

If you are wondering about Kiva? Go to SMSKiva.com to learn all about our club! You can help us loan and write on our blog!

By: Mathew. L

Welcome back to Kiva! Before the summer break, we hit 1,000 loans! Now that we are back in Kiva, we are ready to make the world a better place by making even more loans. We hope to have more blog posts for your enjoyment this year. If you are new you can Watch this video for an intro to what our Kiva club does.

https://animoto.com/play/aRiBBDU7s1m0iH4IB1lqpA

By: Austin, Noah, and Tyler

Sunday May 8th was the day to celebrate one of the greatest people you know: Your Mom.

Moms do a million things for their houses and families, and I wanted to take a minute to make loans to mothers in Pakistan.  Here’s why:

Moms do a lot of work, like cooking, cleaning, and working. These are just some of the many contributions that Moms make.

But there is a reason that I loaned to Pakistan. Today, there are many things troubling in Pakistan, like terrorism, education, and most importantly, poverty.  Worse yet, women aren’t treated the same way as men, so even if they wanted to start a business, it would be hard to get a loan to get started.

So how can Kiva Kids help?  Support Pakistan, and give them the hope they need, especially mothers.

I made three loans to mothers in Pakistan this week. The first went to a mom who was trying to start a food market.  Another loan went to a mother who was starting a clothing store. The last one went to a mom who was starting a salon.

It’s always important to loan to these mothers because it inspires girls to have businesses and it supports woman’s rights. Happy Mothers Day, and keep loaning.

By: Mathew L.