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Support Diana's Kiva Fellowship!

Creating opportunities for small-scale entrepreneurs / promoting microfinance for the alleviation of poverty in Burkina Faso

Community – San Francisco, California, United States
Indiegogo Partner Since 2011
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Note that contributions to the Kiva Fellow(s) on Indiegogo are not donations to Kiva and consequently, Kiva is not able to issue a tax receipt for these donations.

My story

This month, I left my job to pursue my passions and am thrilled to have been selected as a Kiva Fellow. At the end of June, I'll be heading out to Burkina Faso, where I'll be helping Kiva to establish a partnership with Entrepreneurs du Monde (Entrepreneurs of the World), a nonprofit microfinance organisation, to help their lenders, small-scale entrepreneurs, access financing via Kiva lenders worldwide.

What is Kiva?

Kiva is a non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Through the Kiva.org website, individuals from around the world can log on to lend as little as $25 to entrepreneurs across 59 countries who otherwise would not have access to traditional banking systems. Kiva sends 100% of the loans to local microfinance institutions, like the one I will be working with, who administer the loans in the field.
 
For those not familiar with the Kiva Fellows program, the Fellows serve as a link between Kiva's headquarters and the local microfinance institutions. The position is designed to increase Kiva's impact and to offer participants a unique insider experience into the impact and realities of microfinance. I will spend at least 10 weeks in the field working with one of Kiva Field Partners - interviewing lenders, helping with operations, writing borrower updates, and blogging about my experience behind the scenes with Kiva and microfinance.
 
You can read more about the Kiva Fellows program here:
http://www.kiva.org/about/fellows-program/

Where you come in

As the Kiva Fellows Program is an unpaid, volunteer position - no stipend or housing is provided - Kiva expects its fellows to fundraise for the entire journey. I'm still waiting to hear the final details of my Fellowship in Burkina Faso in order to research exact costs in that area, but before are my estimates.

I'm really hoping to find some availability using airmiles for my airfare to my posting (no airmiles seats where available for the SF flight), but for the rest of my expenses, your generosity would be much appreciated! Here's my draft budget for the trip:

$1000 airfare to San Francisco for training week
$2500 airfare to host country, plus taxes and fees
$150 Visa estimate
$350-550/month accommodations
$150 malaria pills
$1,845 food (123 days x $15/day)
$500 local transportation (buses, taxis, etc)
$450 mobile phone and internet
$250 misc supplies (mosquito nets, sleeping bag lining, etc.)

These are my minimum cost estimates but I'm hoping to be able to cover anything else that comes up. For the flights, I'm going to try to get airmiles donations if possible via milepoint.

If you are in a position to contribute to my work as a Kiva Fellow, I would be grateful for your consideration and support.

Other Ways You Can Help

Donate offline

If you are uncomfortable donating online through PayPal, you can also send a check to me - if you'd like to go this route, send me an email at diana.biggs@gmail.com.
 
Buy me a Kiva gift certificate
With the Kiva gift certificate, I can lend to a Kiva borrower and as the loan is paid back, I can withdraw the money to put towards my Fellowship expenses. This support Kiva borrowers as well as my Fellowship. Find my lender page here: http://www.kiva.org/lender/diana1770
 
I realise not everyone is in a position to contribute financially, but that doesn’t mean you can’t help!

Share my campaign

I would be so grateful if you shared my campaign with your friends, family, colleagues, community groups, rich uncles, or anyone else who enjoys supporting a great cause! My fundraising efforts can reach an infinately broader audience with a click of your button - made even simpler by the Indiegogo share tools for Twitter, Google+, Facebook and email links.

Introduce me to locals

If you know anyone in the area where I'm posted, I'd love to be put in touch!

Join Kiva for free!

This doesn't directly support my Fellowship but it supports the Kiva cause and micro-entrepreneurs globally - which is good enough for me! A generous donor has placed money with Kiva in order to individuals new to Kiva to try it out for free, using $25 of his donated funds. To sign up and give Kiva a try at no cost to you, click here: http://www.kiva.org/invitedby/diana1770

 

Thank you all so much for your support, I can't tell you how much it means to me! x

 

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