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There is an organization that focuses on this which has been quite successful as far as I know. https://www.kiva.org/ https://www.kiva.org/ The idea is micro

There is an organization that focuses on this which has been quite successful as far as I know. https://www.kiva.org/ https://www.kiva.org/ The idea is micro loans directly to people who want to do something like buy a cow. "Kiva loans have a historical repayment rate of about 97% (this number fluctuates slightly so check Kiva's homepage for the current rate)" When you receive the money back you can then make another micro loan to help someone else out.

Tepix 8y ago
Kiva has also seen some controversy. Read http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/world/14microfinance.html http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/world/14microfinance.html and Kiva's response at https://pages.kiva.org/blog/new-york-times-article-on-microfinance-interest-rates-and-profits https://pages.kiva.org/blog/new-york-times-article-on-microf...
- precisioncoder 8y ago
  Thanks for pointing this out to me! It's disappointing to hear that, but after reading through the Kiva's response I understand some of the difficulty. They're certainly not ideal but seem like a solid choice compared to most of the other organizations out there that are completely opaque as to what is actually done with the money.
onetimemanytime 8y ago
easier said than done, but imagine the satisfaction of a US middle class person spending $480 to cover the yearly tuition to a poor but bright student in X country? Nothing goes to support a gazillion "charity" managers. I understand that fraud, nepotism etc etc all get in the way.
- smileysteve 8y ago
  > US middle class person spending $480 to cover the yearly tuition to a poor but bright student in X country? So, the U.S. has its own student loan bubble, that many economists believe is related to the increased availability of student loans AND/OR charitable donations to scholarship funds; Is there evidence that covering 3rd world tuition doesn't create further class divide, and/or increase the cost of tuition in general? And that perceivably "bright" students are already often the best off. Also realize that in many places in the world with $480/year tuition are receiving education from sources that get at least some of their funding or staff from NGOs; and that in many cases, "education" is in many cases separating children from their families -- and potentially (though the result dithers morally) decreasing the entire family's ability to be self sufficient by removing productive workers (in a culture where minimum, age of laborers in lower than the U.S. 16)
- perl4ever 8y ago
  The concept of adopting someone in a poor country and sending them money was a thing at least 40-50 years ago, and if people (such as in this thread) no longer remember that it was a thing, I'm guessing it's because it became known as a large scale scam and people got disillusioned.

Tepix 8y ago

Kiva has also seen some controversy. Read http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/world/14microfinance.html http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/world/14microfinance.html and Kiva's response at https://pages.kiva.org/blog/new-york-times-article-on-microfinance-interest-rates-and-profits https://pages.kiva.org/blog/new-york-times-article-on-microf...

precisioncoder 8y ago
Thanks for pointing this out to me! It's disappointing to hear that, but after reading through the Kiva's response I understand some of the difficulty. They're certainly not ideal but seem like a solid choice compared to most of the other organizations out there that are completely opaque as to what is actually done with the money.

onetimemanytime 8y ago

easier said than done, but imagine the satisfaction of a US middle class person spending $480 to cover the yearly tuition to a poor but bright student in X country? Nothing goes to support a gazillion "charity" managers. I understand that fraud, nepotism etc etc all get in the way.

smileysteve 8y ago
> US middle class person spending $480 to cover the yearly tuition to a poor but bright student in X country? So, the U.S. has its own student loan bubble, that many economists believe is related to the increased availability of student loans AND/OR charitable donations to scholarship funds; Is there evidence that covering 3rd world tuition doesn't create further class divide, and/or increase the cost of tuition in general? And that perceivably "bright" students are already often the best off. Also realize that in many places in the world with $480/year tuition are receiving education from sources that get at least some of their funding or staff from NGOs; and that in many cases, "education" is in many cases separating children from their families -- and potentially (though the result dithers morally) decreasing the entire family's ability to be self sufficient by removing productive workers (in a culture where minimum, age of laborers in lower than the U.S. 16)
perl4ever 8y ago
The concept of adopting someone in a poor country and sending them money was a thing at least 40-50 years ago, and if people (such as in this thread) no longer remember that it was a thing, I'm guessing it's because it became known as a large scale scam and people got disillusioned.