tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10326675.post2603969210472993080..comments2024-02-15T03:32:25.686-05:00Comments on Preludium, Anglican and Episcopal futures: Anglican MicroCredit and coming togetherMark Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06871096746243771489noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10326675.post-7552900089342244112008-02-19T18:30:00.000-05:002008-02-19T18:30:00.000-05:00ho ho ho....lots of good comments. Thanks. Nom, Ki...ho ho ho....lots of good comments. Thanks. Nom, Kiva looks great. It in a sense is a direct provider. I was rather thinking of a cooperative bank / savings and loan/ that is the direct provider. That way we could put savings to use to provide capital for microcredit loans.<BR/><BR/>Pisco sours...Modest Needs looks good as well.<BR/><BR/>Teabag... Laura: hope it all goes well as a Kiva Fellow. Kampala is a wonderfully complex city and I hope your six month experience is only the beginning. Let's keep in touch.<BR/><BR/>Babyblue...Mary. Actually, something MORE we agree on. First off I agree that you are a suburb writer, even if I disagree with the content at times. I love your imaginative stuff even as it drives me crazy. So, agreeing on this is even better. We are getting Craig Cole here in Lewes sometime later this spring to talk up Five Talents and its microcredit work.<BR/><BR/>What I'm looking for, friends, is an entry point at the level of the microcredit institutions themselves, where I could open a savings account that on the one hand would garner interest and on the other hand help the community, sort of like the savings and loan in Its a Wonderful Life. In the microcredit world these are micro savings and loans and serve the same purpose, to make the community a better place to live, etc.<BR/><BR/>Keep hunting!Mark Harrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06871096746243771489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10326675.post-28350454638979911272008-02-19T12:25:00.000-05:002008-02-19T12:25:00.000-05:00Yeah! Something we agree on!! ;-)Five Talents has...Yeah! Something we agree on!! ;-)<BR/><BR/>Five Talents has some fantastic stories as it reaches out to the poor with microcredit enterprise plans - and a little goes a very long way. I'm very glad to see your post on this - I don't know about Oikocredit, but FiveTalents is doing a terrific work. One of the things that I have learned recently is how important it is to partner with the local diocese (which is why the Anglican Communion is such a gift). I hear stories of very well-meaning Americans going to places even like the Sudan where they are taken for a song and don't even know it. But the local bishop and diocese (as long as they are checked out too by the archbishop) will know who can be trusted and who should be avoided. Partnering together as Anglicans in reaching the poor in developing countries is important in building Christian community as well as accountability in these microcredit enterprise plans. From there it gets very exciting.<BR/><BR/>Blessings,<BR/>MaryAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17490745238430648958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10326675.post-65783188490318027332008-02-19T11:10:00.000-05:002008-02-19T11:10:00.000-05:00I was about to recommend Kiva, but I see someone b...I was about to recommend Kiva, but I see someone beat me to the punch.<BR/><BR/>Based on your description of what you are looking for, I would say that matches your desires pretty closely.<BR/><BR/>I am, however, very biased as I am preparing to go to Uganda as a Kiva Fellow to work for six months with a Microfinance Institution (MFI) in Kampala. <BR/><BR/>Please let me know if you'd like more information about Kiva or its field partners (local MFIs).<BR/><BR/>Laura ToepferLKThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05791517233920008067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10326675.post-41730799286636023722008-02-19T09:35:00.000-05:002008-02-19T09:35:00.000-05:00I agree with you about being more directly involve...I agree with you about being more directly involved with the people we help. In addition to Kiva (thanks, nom de plume), I'm also a big fan of Modest Needs (http://www.modestneeds.org), which gives small grants to people who are on the edge of slipping into poverty, and just need to make that one payment or buy that one thing to keep them afloat.Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01744626513934324151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10326675.post-74934295055430011722008-02-19T07:43:00.000-05:002008-02-19T07:43:00.000-05:00But wouldn't it be fine to actually be able to con...<I>But wouldn't it be fine to actually be able to contribute directly to a specific bank – either through another agency or through Pay Pal or some other payment intermediary – and become, even at a distance, an incarnational presence in an actual community?</I><BR/><BR/>Kiva (www.kiva.org) may come close. It allows you to choose a specific person with a specific project to lend to. You lend as little as $25 (USD) at a time, and are repaid ultimately via PayPal. Then, as they point out, you can cash out or recycle your money and lend again.<BR/><BR/>Is this what you have in mind, Mark?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10326675.post-25231184549601177122008-02-19T02:52:00.000-05:002008-02-19T02:52:00.000-05:00good post, we are thinking of something similar he...good post, we are thinking of something similar here in scotland.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com