Provident Mom

Imagine to yourself that it’s time to go to the mailbox. What do you feel? If you’re like me, you hope there are no bills in the mailbox. You open it and pull out all the envelopes and junk mail. There’s an ad for vinyl siding, a statement from your health insurance, a menu for a Chinese restaurant that delivers in your area, a credit card offer, and WHAT’S THIS? There’s something in a card-sized envelope that’s hand addressed to you. You can’t help smiling, and you look at the return address. Who do you know on Hudson Ave.? Who is it? Who? You tuck the rest of the mail under your arm and open it right there on the sidewalk because this just doesn’t happen every day.

It’s a note from a friend. She says she was just thinking of you and feeling grateful for your friendship and all the kind things you’ve done for her over the years. This is special. This is not going to be filed in the trash with the Chinese menu and the vinyl siding ad. You may even glue this in your journal.

This may or may not have happened to you. Regardless, consider making it happen for someone else. You can go to a craft store like Michael’s and pick up a dozen stylish notecards with envelopes for $1. You probably already have stamps handy for paying bills. It will take you five minutes right now to write a note to someone who could use a little love in the mailbox. An email is just not the same. Getting something in the mail is tangible. It’s love you can hold in your hand.

Who could use a note? Everyone. Here’s a little brainstorming to get you started: your children’s teachers, the mail carrier, your neighbors, the mayor, your doctor, the manager of the grocery store, people you work with, people you go to church with, high school friends, your daughter’s room mother, college roommates, your grandmother, your cousins and aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, the kid who delivers the newspaper, the Girl Scouts who delivered your cookies with a shiny smile, you get the idea. I guarantee that it will make their day.

You can also use this technique to reinforce good behavior. I sent a thank you note to a Cub Scout in my den who put up the chairs without being asked. Do you think he ever put up the chairs again? Willingly and cheerfully, every time.

I was a foreign exchange student in Eastern Europe in the early 1990s, and I remember being surprised (and pleased) at how far my US dollars went. At one neighborhood store, I could actually get 30 scoops or ice cream for one US dollar, which caused me many hours of aerobics once I returned to the states.

With the advent of the Euro, Eastern Europe is not as inexpensive for Americans as it used to be, but there are still many places in the world where a dollar can do a lot. I’m not painting this picture for you to get you excited about traveling. I’m trying to make a case for microlending, which is something that little you can do to make a big difference in someone’s life.

Microloans are business loans for people who need just a little bit of capital to start their businesses. They may not have anything to put up for collateral. In fact, their only collateral may be their skills and ambition, and therefore, no traditional bank is going to offer a loan.

This is where you and I come in. Regular old people like us can loan money to people around the globe to get their businesses up and running. Microloans are not donations; they are loans that will be repaid, generally within 18 months.

Non-profit organizations such as Kiva, ACCION International, Five Talents, and PlanetFinance organize and disburse the loans, but they need funds from people like us. I lend through Kiva, and with Kiva you can loan as little as $25 at a time. Your $25, along with similar amounts from other lenders, goes toward a small business of your choosing. You get email updates as to how the business is going and how much of the loan is repaid. When the loan is completely paid off, you get your money back. You’re free to take your money and use it yourself, or you can lend it out again.

There’s the old saying, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” Microloans allow you to buy the man some fishing nets so he can employ other people, and the whole village can have fish for dinner. It’s a marvelous idea, and it’s so easy to get involved with it.

I’m a stay-home mom in a suburban town. My circle of influence seems pretty small, but microlending allows me to make a difference in places I’ll never get to see. My measly dollars may actually help someone to change her own life and the lives of her children.