I started microlending to Mexican entrepreneurs through Kiva almost a year ago. As the loans mature, I lend them out again to other Mexicans looking to build up their fortunes in their home country. It's my personal way of helping to reduce the illegal immigration into the U.S. from there - by building opportunity on their side of the border. It will become easier to police that border as this happens, meaning less and less of the other stuff that comes across it, like drugs, will.
This time around, a loan I made eleven months ago to a trio of women has matured. Two of them are food vendors and the third runs a grocery store. They all had different uses for the loan they sought together, and hopefully everything has worked out for them (they made every payment on time, so it would seem that this is the case).
At the time of this writing, I can't find another Mexican entrepreneur that I'm interested in lending to. There is one appearing on the system right now, but she is seeking a 12 month repayment term and I am looking for people repaying in six months of less (this is so I can continue funding one loan per month without making new deposits into Kiva, which I have not had to do for a long time now). When I do find an entrepreneur to back, that will make $375 worth of loans I've made using just the $200 I put into the system.
If you haven't heard of Kiva or microlending before, please check it out. You might find that it's something you would like to do, too.
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