Made a new Kiva micro-loan for a Tailor in Nepal

I finally managed to find an available micro-loan on Kiva.org using the money that has already been repaid on some of my loans from last month. I loaned $25 of the total micro-loan of $275 for a tailor in Nepal to buy materials for her work. It is a 12-month loan that was actually disbursed by the local loan partner on January 5, 2009. The first payment is due on April 15, the final payment is due March 15, 2010. That is more than 12 months from now, but the idea is that the micro-entrepreneur will get a few months to ramp up before the first payment is due, so the full "repayment term" is from the day that the first payment is due.

Here is the description of her loan request:

Mrs. Sanumaiya Kapaley is a tailor in the town of Balkhu. She opened her tailoring shop 10 years ago. Her specialty is making custom-fitted ladies dresses like the Kurta Sulwar, which is very popular with Nepali women. Before starting her own business, Mrs. Kapaley took a 6 month training course in tailoring from a tailor shop near her locality. She is requesting a loan to buy materials for her tailoring work. She wants to add to her family's income and support her children's education. She has one son and three daughters, who are all studying. Her husband, Mr. Rati Ram Kapaley, works in an office.

I now have 13 micro-loans outstanding, to micro-entrepreneurs located in Ghana, Uganda, Cambodia, Dominican Republic, Lebanon, Tajikistan, Peru, and Nicaragua. How is that for "globalization."

My hope is that each month I will get enough repayments to fund another new micro-loan.

My strategy for selecting loans is simply to find loans that are almost completely funded so that my loan amount will complete the funding so that the full loan will then be on its way.

-- Jack Krupansky