Kiva.org: Pedro Morales Díaz

It's a new month, so as per my self-imposed schedule, I've gone looking for another Mexican entrepreneur to loan money to through Kiva.org. A loan I made eleven months ago to a trio of women led by Maria Del Rosario Zavala Cruz was paid back this last Saturday. This put the unallocated funds in my Kiva account up to $50 since another loan also matured in the middle of July after I'd already made a selection that month.

I'm still only going to make one new loan per month, even in spite of the unallocated cash sitting in the account. With the newest loan I've made, this may turn out to be a good thing. Here's why:

I looked through the available loan applications from Mexican entrepreneurs and I wasn't finding much that I liked. Several people were applying for loans to fund their catalog sales businesses (reselling stuff ordered out of catalogs), and the rest were home repair loans. The one application that did catch my attention was from Pedro Morales Díaz who owns and operates an advertising agency of sorts - he has a minivan outfitted with a public address system. I went for this loan because Mr. Díaz is essentially producing his own product, his business is large enough already that he employs others, and he has already successfully paid back one other Kiva loan.

The only thing I failed to check before I submitted my payment to help fund his loan is the duration - he intends to pay this loan back over 12 months. I prefer six months or less for loan duration so that I can keep funding one new loan each month with proceeds from redeemed loans. A twelve month long span tying up this one capital unit could create a break in the cycle at some point in the future.

It's not a huge deal, just something I need to remind myself to watch out for. Like I said, the $25 unallocated in the account right now could be just the thing I'll need to fill any gaps this situation might cause, or I'll just place another $25 into my account if one does come along. I think it would be cooler not to, however, since the $200 I have in there has now funded $400 worth of loans. Adding to the deposited amount now would bring down the percentage "return" some.