I have been giving interest free loans through Kiva since Oct 2010 when my really close friend Jay​ introduced me to what has been one of my life changing experiences … I try to give on Kiva regularly to redistribute my good fortune and over these 4 plus yrs I have tried to bring my family and friends into the giving fold … In my efforts to get folks around me to share their good fortune with those less fortunate, I often receive cynical/exasperated questions around how one can trust a platform like Kiva to give ones own money out to people who we have no way of knowing and no way of recovering our money from should they decide not to return it ….

I just checked my Kiva stats and thought I will share it with the broader world because, even with my belief in social giving and with my trust in those who are receiving these loans, the stats are quite amazing … so here comes …. and a screenshot, with blurred info except what I need to make a case for “giving”, is attached 🙂

Having given 256 loans, and $6400 till date, I have only lost $21.57 in the last four plus years … and all of that loss was in “currency exchange”. So essentially, my four years of giving on Kiva has a default rate of a 0% …. meaning none of those who requested help ran away with my money …. I have a current delinquency rate (i.e. late repayments on loans) of 5.62% and historically all delinquent loans over the last 4 years have all been ultimately paid …

And to make a case for the diversity of recipients, to bring out the fact that my loans were not given out to a narrow segment of borrowers with uniform realities that dictated the positive stats, I have given my loans across 13 (out of 15 sectors), spread them across 50 (out of 85 countries), funded 75 (out of possible 149 activities), and supported 101 (out of 273) field partners … so the spread is as random as it can be …

If only I could somehow show the whole world the smile I have on my face right now … it feels so great to have my belief in mankind, and to have my faith in the integrity of those in less fortunate situations than me, so credibly validated. A sincere thanks is due to all the Kiva borrowers for helping me stay true to my core beliefs and for encouraging me to keep walking in the direction that I have chosen for myself ….

At 2:19 a.m. on the morning of April 23rd, with my eyelids getting heavier every passing minute, I felt that this was a story I should share … Let’s all continue to remember that it takes a lot for someone to request help, and that those who do have the strength to ask for help rarely steal from those helping them … what brings us, and keeps us together, is an awareness that we are all in this together 🙂