Need a Last Minute Mother's Day Gift?

Here's one that's a little more thoughtful than some hastily bought flowers or chocolates from the corner store. In fact, it could turn a life around.

We first heard of this organization on NPR and we thought it was such a cool idea, and then filed it away in our brains. Then, somehow, Paul thought of it for a Mother's Day gift this year. We both are giving to Kiva in our moms' names.

Here's the concept: there are many people in third world countries who could make a living for themselves, if they only had a way of starting up a business. They just need a little push, a little help. Kiva is a micro-lender, loaning out small amounts of money to people who have a specific idea of how to utilize it to start their businesses. You choose the person you want to loan to, and then give money to Kiva. They loan it to the person of your choice, and then the small-business owner starts a business. As it grows, they pay back the loan on a monthly basis. Then you have that money in your Kiva account to lend out again and you can choose someone else to loan to.

Here's the woman Paul chose for his mom:

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=10154

And here's the woman that I donated in my mom's name:

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=10214