Since the government was nice enough to give me a grand for going to school - something I love and would be doing anyway - I decided to give some back. 10%, or $100. I know it's not a large chunk, but it'll mean a lot to someone.
You see, as an American, I get plenty of opportunity as it is. As much as I bitch about them, student loans are readily available to me. In fact, the government offers to let me borrow $8000 a year - interest free while I'm in school! I get more too - though I have to pay a little more for it - but the fact remains that I've asked for over 60,000 in the last calendar year and *BOOM* I got it. Compared to the alternatives, that's a pretty sweet deal. I don't have to ask my family to sacrifice their money for my education, I don't have to work until I'm exhausted every single day in the hopes of being able to afford tuition, I don't have to put myself in uncomfortable situations for a quick buck. Yes, I don't like my student loans, but I don't frequently remember the alternatives that I don't have to consider.
Therefore, for those Non-Americans who aren't fortunate to have all of the opportunities I do, I've decided to donate to Vittana . What is Vittana?
In most countries, student loans just don't exist. The Vittana community is enabling students around the world to get access to higher education for the first time. When you make a loan to a Vittana student, 100% of your funds go to the student. Using your loan, the student finishes college (or vocational school), gets a degree and then gets a job. When the student repays Vittana, Vittana repays you the full amount of your loan — if you lent $25, you are repaid $25.
So Vittana works with microfinance organizations around the world to disperse these funds. As the student pays back their loan, my portion gets paid back into my account. Once my full amount is returned (or $25 worth, that's the minimum amount to loan), I can choose to reinvest it, donate it to Vittana, or pull out my money - simple as that. Brian has dealt with a similar site for years: Kiva , a site that works to give business loans to those in need around the world (a textiles dealer in Belize, a shop owner in Ghana, a cleaning service in Algeria, etc).
Organizations like Kiva and Vittana work with partners that have extremely low default rates; Kiva boasts a >98% overall repayment rate, that number being 97% for Vittana. Each individual microfinance organization you lend to posts it's default rate, and I've seen some with less than half a percent in default. Currently, the US has 4, 5, 6% default rates on things like mortgages, small business loans, etc., and I even read somewhere that the default rate on subprime mortgages is close to 10%. I understand the economy is tough and all, but some of the default on Kiva's loans comes from the fact that you're occasionally choosing to donate to war-ravaged countries, and if your recipient is driven out of their home by terrorists with guns and forced to flee to wherever they can find safety, then, yes - they may not be able to pay you back.
Anyhow, that's my schpeal. I know times are tough; I know many of you are out of work, struggling students, newly started families strapped for cash; I know I hate it when someone rattles on about a worthy cause and then I feel lame when I don't donate a cent. Don't feel bad, I usually don't give either. But I got a little unexpected money, and I decided this was the best way to spend it.
So check it out.
Think about it.
All I ask is that you keep things like this in mind if you should have the same good fortune :)
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