So now you've read (and hopefully understood?) what microfinancing and Kiva is. But you're asking, so? What does that have to do with Pow Wow? Well, I touched upon it lightly in the past post that modern microfinancing was created to empower women, and that giving a woman a microloan is changing her life and her community's life forever. But other than how important it is for us to empower our sisters, Kiva is also just a great cause and a great way to step up as a leader and raise awareness about poverty and the difference we can make!
What is Kiva U and how can I get involved?
Kiva U was created a little over a month ago and is an innovative education initiative movement run by students and educators to raise awareness about microfinancing, Kiva, and how to battle poverty. These people create and join teams on the Kiva U community so they can get connected with others and get access to different tools/resources, raise awareness, and raise money to lend under their team's name! Kiva U is built by our generation who have decided to step us as leaders because we care about whats going on in the world and how we can make our difference! As the rising generation to step up, we have a duty to the rest of the world to help others out and make whatever differences we can! I urge you to go to Kiva U and check out how you can make a team at your school and start making an impact today! If you don't know how to make a change in the world, this is a tangible way to get out there and start building a better future for the world one microfinance club at a time.
How to get started: 1. Join or create a Kiva U team here, 2. Use Kiva toolkits to start a microfinance club at your school!
Here is a video further explaining Kiva U.
What does PowWow Have to Do With It?
About a month ago, Alexis and I interviewed Jessica Hansen (read more about it here!), the educational manager at Kiva. She was such an amazingly friendly and passionate woman that we couldn't bear the idea of not working with Kiva more! Jessica invited us to the first ever Kiva U Summit (which took place this weekend from Oct. 11th-14th) and we grabbed the opportunity! This weekend has been absolutely amazing, Alexis and I were enveloped into the passion of every single person attending the Summit as we all worked towards our common goal of alleviating poverty. Joining forces with 140 other passionate souls, we listened to speaker after speaker and attended workshop after workshop. We learned about Kiva, microfinancing, poverty, and much more. We enjoyed the city of San Francisco and made loads of new friends from across the country (plus a cool new Canadian friend!). We created goals and ideas to raise awareness about Kiva and bounced off of one another's energy. A fun, inspiring weekend filled with amazing speakers and participants, workshops and talks, African dancing and singing (you can find a video here), a Borrower Bazaar (People who got loans from Kiva came to the Summit to sell their stuff and meet us!), and much more! We learned how much these microloans empower women and make a difference in their communities, as well as generally alleviate their poverty and help them break the cycle of poverty! In general, the experience was amazing and we learned so much. Getting men and women around the world out of poverty will help empower everyone, and once everyone feels empowered, new doors can open up for women! In the grand scale of things, poverty is a huge reason of gender inequality around the world and by helping alleviate it, PowWow is helping empower women worldwide for a better future! Alexis and I have left feeling so inspired and grateful to have such an opportunity and we can't wait to bring it to you! We hope you join us in this journey of fighting poverty so our brothers and sisters around the world can live better lives and so women worldwide live in better circumstances. Loaning $25 today is investing in a better future of equality for all!
And so, speaking of bringing Kiva U to you, Alexis and I have an announcement!
We've just created a Kiva U lending team for Powerful Women, so go join and start loaning!
--
Shanzay Kazmi
What is Kiva U and how can I get involved?
Kiva U was created a little over a month ago and is an innovative education initiative movement run by students and educators to raise awareness about microfinancing, Kiva, and how to battle poverty. These people create and join teams on the Kiva U community so they can get connected with others and get access to different tools/resources, raise awareness, and raise money to lend under their team's name! Kiva U is built by our generation who have decided to step us as leaders because we care about whats going on in the world and how we can make our difference! As the rising generation to step up, we have a duty to the rest of the world to help others out and make whatever differences we can! I urge you to go to Kiva U and check out how you can make a team at your school and start making an impact today! If you don't know how to make a change in the world, this is a tangible way to get out there and start building a better future for the world one microfinance club at a time.
How to get started: 1. Join or create a Kiva U team here, 2. Use Kiva toolkits to start a microfinance club at your school!
Here is a video further explaining Kiva U.
What does PowWow Have to Do With It?
About a month ago, Alexis and I interviewed Jessica Hansen (read more about it here!), the educational manager at Kiva. She was such an amazingly friendly and passionate woman that we couldn't bear the idea of not working with Kiva more! Jessica invited us to the first ever Kiva U Summit (which took place this weekend from Oct. 11th-14th) and we grabbed the opportunity! This weekend has been absolutely amazing, Alexis and I were enveloped into the passion of every single person attending the Summit as we all worked towards our common goal of alleviating poverty. Joining forces with 140 other passionate souls, we listened to speaker after speaker and attended workshop after workshop. We learned about Kiva, microfinancing, poverty, and much more. We enjoyed the city of San Francisco and made loads of new friends from across the country (plus a cool new Canadian friend!). We created goals and ideas to raise awareness about Kiva and bounced off of one another's energy. A fun, inspiring weekend filled with amazing speakers and participants, workshops and talks, African dancing and singing (you can find a video here), a Borrower Bazaar (People who got loans from Kiva came to the Summit to sell their stuff and meet us!), and much more! We learned how much these microloans empower women and make a difference in their communities, as well as generally alleviate their poverty and help them break the cycle of poverty! In general, the experience was amazing and we learned so much. Getting men and women around the world out of poverty will help empower everyone, and once everyone feels empowered, new doors can open up for women! In the grand scale of things, poverty is a huge reason of gender inequality around the world and by helping alleviate it, PowWow is helping empower women worldwide for a better future! Alexis and I have left feeling so inspired and grateful to have such an opportunity and we can't wait to bring it to you! We hope you join us in this journey of fighting poverty so our brothers and sisters around the world can live better lives and so women worldwide live in better circumstances. Loaning $25 today is investing in a better future of equality for all!
And so, speaking of bringing Kiva U to you, Alexis and I have an announcement!
We've just created a Kiva U lending team for Powerful Women, so go join and start loaning!
--
Shanzay Kazmi