Kiva: Where You Can REALLY Make a Difference

Most of us wonder what charity we can contribute to and which charity can contribute the most to those who need it. I asked myself this question for years and made up my mind after I spoke with my economic development professor. Organizations like the Red Cross, March of Dimes, ACS, Salvation Army, and other charitable organizations do a great job in helping out towards the causes they stand for. The problem with these types of organizations though, is we often do not see our donation make a particular difference and while we know the donations given to these charities make a major difference in the causes they work for, the lack of visible results can sometimes discourage a prospective donor from contributing. With Kiva, donors can see their contributions at work and even have their contributions returned to them after they've served their purpose and paid back.

We know families throughout the world are struggling to find adequate work and many are struggling to even feed their families. Through Kiva, we can contribute a small loan to families in need throughout the world (including the United States) and as opposed to other aid programs, these contributions often allow the borrower to become self-dependent and not rely on future donations to get by. Secondly, the contributions are paid back to us, the lenders.

Whether your passion is economic development, universal education, health care, human rights, medical causes or other social awareness causes, I truly believe organizations like Kiva provide opportunities to contribute to all these areas. Think about what you would look for in a charity and take Kiva into consideration.

Trying to make the world a better place then I found it,
- David.

On Education

In the midst of war, government reforms and other vast programs being undertaken by the federal government; we've yet to focus on the one most important asset of our nation: the Youth. Repeatedly it's been asked; why does our government always have money for war but when it comes time for more funds for education, it becomes a matter of debate and bureaucracy? It doesn't take long for money to reach the weapons industry but for some reason, schools have to go through an unnecessary hassle of begging and pleading with the state for more funds. We can't just point a finger at our legislators and ask them what they're doing about education in Washington D.C. without asking ourselves the question of how they got there in the first place. Us. We refuse to take responsibility as united citizens to work together in order to further educate our youth. These very young children and young adults of today are tomorrow's leaders and while schools hold bake sales to acquire funds to maintain their schools, other industries are eating out of taxpayers hands. We need to re-evaluate our priorities as a nation, a society and as a people. While I do not suggest that the government overhaul the education system and nationalize all universities, why not make college education more accessible to those who strive for it but can't quite afford it? Federal and state loans aren't enough; we know not all of our country's citizens are willing to attend 4 year universities but we must make other vocations and job training programs possible for our country's youth. By no means am I an expert on education so if I give anyone the impression that I think I know even enough about the education system, I apologize for making such a distorted impression. This much I know though; our education system has failed us. Our ancestors, forefathers and parents all demonstrated throughout history the importance of an education; Let us come together and acknowledge the importance of education reform so that one day, the Youth can say without fear, reluctance or hesitation, "I can make it".

- David Solis