Frommy colleague Andrew Markel, editor of Brake & Front End magazine,comes this post. I urge you to investigate this opportunity and becomeinvolved:

Help a Fellow Shop Owner or Mechanic on the Other Side of the World

Wantto help a tire shop owner in Afganistan? A motorcycle mechanic Africa?An automotive electrical shop in Mexico? You can with Kiva. The Website Kiva.org’s mission is to connect people through lending for thesake of alleviating poverty.

Kiva is the world’s firstperson-to-person micro-lending Web site, empowering individuals to lenddirectly to unique entrepreneurs around the globe. The program has a97% loan payback rate. The loans do not collect interest, but the donot lose money like a lot of investments.

The people you see onKiva’s site are real individuals in need of funding – not marketingmaterial. When you browse entrepreneurs’ profiles on the site, choosesomeone to lend to, and then make a loan, you are helping a real personmake great strides towards economic independence and improve life forthemselves, their family, and their community. There are many mechanicsand shop owns looking for loans to buy tools, supplies and inventory.

Throughoutthe course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive emailjournal updates and track repayments. Then, when you get your loanmoney back, you can re-lend to someone else in need.

Here are some real people from the Kiva Web site:

Femi Moyosola, tire repair business owner in Nigeria

Mahbob Goma, a Body Shop Owner in Afganistan

Djavid Abishov, owner of a repair shop in Azerbaijan

If you have comments to share, send to me at [email protected].

– Jim Smith