There is finally a way for us wealthy Americans to help out our Third World brothers and sisters in a meaningful, mutually satisfying way. Kiva.org is a website started just over a year ago by a group of compassionate investors in San Francisco, which began by extending microcredit — very small loans — to small businesses in Uganda.

The concept has been so successful, it has already spread to eleven other countries. Kiva has loaned out nearly a half million dollars, and it has all been put to good use and paid back. How many soul-less banks or lending companies in America could ever make that claim?

The process is simple: Say you have just $25 (or more) you want to use to help people much worse off than you in a developing country. Go to kiva.org and read about your options, but basically, you pick a business you'd like to help from their list of pre-vetted applicants.

You give Kiva the $25 with your charge card, or through your PayPal account. Kiva sends the money to an appointed trustee in the local village, who gets it to the person/family you want to help.

You're loaning them vital capital for their business; they use it to grow and trickle their prosperity through the local community. A loan officer monitors their progress, so you read intelligent reports, even get to communicate with or meet your business partners if you desire. Loan recipients make payments back to you, on an agreed schedule, until the loan is paid off.

The whole notion of peer-to-peer loans is a vital part of the revolutionary new strategy of microfinance. Fatcat middlemen are eliminated, and one human is allowed to help another directly, with due diligence and dignity.

A recent edition of the PBS documentary show Frontline reported the story of Nathan Folkert, a San Francisco software engineer who made a micro-loan to Grace Ayaa, who needed it for her peanut butter business in Kampala.

Ayaa was able to expand her business and pay back the loan. "Thanks so much, Nathan," she wrote him. "I purchased the fridge and bought the packing materials, and this has really enabled me to produce more." Frontline met with Ayaa and verified her success, along with that of many others. http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/uganda601/video_index.html

Now we can all reach out and help others just like Bill Gates. Plug "microlending" into your search engine, and read all about it. Then don't pass up the chance to see your money actually lifting people out of poverty, instead of paying for slick commercials that appeal to you to help "save the children."

Copyright 2007 Metropolitan Community College