Recently I have made a loan to the Madar Mahila Mandal group of India. This group consists of 5 women that run a variety store, which sell things like necklaces and earrings. Sabanabibi is the leader of the group and a mother of two. With the loan Sabanabibi hopes to expand her business and make a higher income so she can provide a better life for her kids.

Sabanabibi currently makes around $660 a year! That’s only $1.80 a day! In the United States the average income is around $50,00 a year. Compare that to what Sabanabibi makes in a year.

This why we Kiva, to help the people like Sabanabibi that are living on less than $2.00 a day make a better life for themselves.

Recently the bodies of 18 West African migrants who were trying to escape Africa and make it into Europe have been uncovered in the Sahara dessert. This event brings to light one of the worlds most important issues. Migration, it happens all over the world manly because people in poorer country’s want to move to a richer country like in Europe so they can make more money to support their family. Many people die trying to get to a better place. It is estimated that 100,000 people will make the trip cross the Sahara this year and already 1,865 people have died so far this year alone.

The trip these people are making is not at all an easy trip as the Sahara has next to no water and no shade, not mention the sand storms which can blind a person and disorient a person causing them to head in the wrong direction. People die every day in the Sahara often from dehydration. In 2013, 87 bodies were uncovered in the Sahara. The people died after there trucks broke down, stranding them in what was to become a graveyard, eventually their water ran out only 13 of the hundred migrants survived.

This is why we Kiva. To make these peoples country’s a better place so the people that live in them don’t have to risk their lives getting out of them.

By: Nicolas Haub

This infographic shows how much an average person living on each continent makes. We learned that the poorest countries in the world are found in Africa. The cool thing about Kiva is that the majority of our loans have gone to people in Africa.

By: Nicolas and Liam

On April 25th, a massive 7.9 earthquake shook the Himalayas causing a series of avalanches and mudslides. There are an estimated 5,000 deaths but the government of Nepal says the total could raise possibly to 10,000 deaths if action is not taken. They say they’re on “War Footing” as they try to help survivors recover from the devastating earthquake that struck. Many climbers and tourists that were climbing Mount Everest were severely injured and some even faced the loss of their life because of the multiple avalanches.

Nepal is one of Asia’s poorest countries with an unemployment rate of over 40%. The average person makes $1,000 dollars per year and they will have to pay a estimated amount of $10 billion USD or half of the national GDP. That will be hard since 59 of 75 districts are severely damaged. To add on top of that housing construction standards in Nepal are extremely low do to poverty.

Since the earthquake hit Nepal we are going to keep our eyes open on Kiva for people in Nepal that need help rebuilding their lives because of all the damage that has happened in the past week. We hope for the best for Nepal.

By: Liam M and Brendan C