Fifty-eight year old Josefina from Trinidad, Bohol only had P15,000 in savings when she started her small sari-sari store in 1999. Wanting to support the growing needs of her nephews, being single herself, Josefina requested P20,000 which she used to expand her business and attract more customers. She received financial assistance from 15 individual microlenders via one of Kiva’s Field Partners, Community Economic Ventures, Inc., which provides not only loans but training and insurance coverage as well.
Cebu-based Shayne Mae, on the other hand, is a hardworking entrepreneur who also needed additional funds to use as a working capital for her clothing sales business. With the assistance of eight individual microlenders under another Kiva Field Partner, Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation (NWTF), Shayne Mae was able to borrow P11,999 to sustain her business. She dreams of saving enough money to send her children to college and renovate her family home.
Josefina and Shayne Mae are just two of hundreds of Filipinos which Globe Telecom and international non-profit organization Kiva are crowdfunding loans to create sustainable livelihood opportunities for the underserved population in the country.
San Francisco-based Kiva is an online crowdfunding platform that enables anyone in the world to make a microloan to micro enterprises in over 80 countries in the areas of agriculture, food, retail, and services in a bid to alleviate poverty.
“This high impact partnership between Globe and Kiva enables Filipinos to support Filipinos in a sustainable and empowering way. We’re thrilled to continue our partnership with Globe, Kiva’s first corporate partner in Southeast Asia, and we look forward to all that we will accomplish together moving forward,” says Karen Little, Kiva’s Director of Development for the US and Asia.
Through GCash mobile money service and Globe Rewards, millions of Globe customers can now make a difference in the lives of micro-entrepreneurs. “Globe strives to provide sustainable livelihood opportunities by offering marginalized micro-entrepreneurs new possibilities for prosperity through ICT. We want to assist those who are currently at the base of the pyramid by exploring means in which they can increase their income. At the same time, we want to pave the way for other people to do something meaningful through our mobile services,” said Fernando Esguerra, Director for Globe Citizenship.
With GCash as the secure platform to receive donations, lending can be done through #TeamGlobe. Interested citizens may donate any amount to local beneficiaries in the areas of agriculture, food, retail, and services by accessing *143#, select GCash, choose Donate to Kiva, enter amount, GCASH PIN and email address. Those funds are then put into a revolving loan fund to go towards Filipino borrowers.
At the same time, Globe is also giving customers a chance to give back and support micro entrepreneurs through Kiva Gift cards. Customers just need to text Kiva to 2158-Kiva (5482).
Leveraging on its online facility and a worldwide network of microfinance institutions, Kiva provides loans to people without access to traditional banking systems. The micro-finance institutions, which are called Field Partners, administer the loans in the field, giving people in need a safe and affordable access to fresh capital to further their lives and that of their families.
To-date, Kiva has over 1.5 million individual lenders from every country in the world. These lenders have funded loans amounting to over US$890 million to 2.1 million beneficiaries.
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