Microloans=Major Return (for the soul)

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The people you see above are members of an enterprising group in the Democratic Republic of Congo that produces and sells everything from peanuts, smoked fish, and larval worms, to charcoal and lamp kerosene. Led by a man named Kalobwe Ngoy, who began his business in 1989 with $150. Today the dream of Ngoy and his fellow business partners is to open a small factory to produce purified water. They needed $2,750 to begin this enterprise. The signed up with a microloan organization called Kiva I caught up with the Mobeteli Plus Group when they needed only $25 to complete the loan. I can't tell you how it felt to be able to give that small amount of money--it meant that the full amount could be released to these entrepreneurs.

These are loans, not gifts. And sure enough, not long after I made my loan, I received some repayment. I could have put it in my bank account, but there was the option of making another loan, and I did. To date, I've made three loans, some with new loan money, some with repaid money.

Gary Gack in Understanding Buddhism says it better than I can:

"When I can I volunteer at nonprofits whose cause I relate to. Small organizations that live low on the food chain can use all the help they can get, and miracle workers in adversity's doorway deserve our support. From a certain light, volunteering could be seen as selfish, because it can be a great boost for the person giving. In true service, there's a mutual relationship. There is no "helper," no "helped." Something deeper is taking place. Buddhism grants us intimacy with life: with our life with the lives of those with whom we're in relation, and within the larger tapestry of life. Engaging the whole world. This tapestry's not a big fabric rectangle, though: It's a big living circle . . . with many threads."

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