Kiva Loan Donation and the Cloud Shawl Donation

Before I made them  free patterns, my renamed Kachina Bag (formerly the Kiva Bag) helped me raise $125 for Kiva.org and the Cloud Shawl enabled me to raise $250 for Susan G. Komen. I made the first $25 donation to Kiva and the first $50 to the Komen foundation before Oscar lost his job.  When it came time to figure the yearly amount and make the donations the next time, our financial situation did not allow me to do so.
Because the first payment from SSD arrived this week, I was able to donate the remainder of those monies, and what a wonderful feeling that was! :-}
Because I was able to do so through the purchases made by knitters, I want to share with you how the initial loans for Kiva.org have been distributed.
My first $25 that I put into the system a few years back has been loaned FIVE different times. The power of individuals is so incredible :-}
Previous lendees include:
Doris Yolanda who used the money to purchase wool to grow her crafts business (two reasons I chose her; one, Doris is my mother's name and two, wool :-} )
After Doris paid back her loan, I sent it out to The Santa Rosa Group whose members used it to purchase traditionally embroidered Ao Po'i clothing for resale. I chose them because I liked the idea of those funds being paid eventually to the group making the embroidered clothing, helping perpetuate a market for them.
When that person paid back the loan, the next lendee was Gladys. After suffering an illness, she used the money to restart her neglected clothing and cosmetics business. I felt quite a bit of sympathy for her perseverance after being so ill. Also, I had a dear person in my life named Gladys who always had some extra Avon samples for me to play with when I was a kid. :-}
After Gladys repaid the loan, I sent the money out to Vladimir. Although he was invited to move, he decided to stay in his homeland and make shoes for sale. I admired that.
He repaid the loan, and the money went out for a FIFTH time to Pamela who makes and sells clothing. She used the money to buy materials. She has repaid 31% of her loan thus far.

Today I was able to initiate four more separate $25 loans. If each of them gets repaid at a similar rate to the first one, that means an additional 16 people will be helped in the next few years, beyond the four I chose today.
The four loans are going to:
Hilda who will use the money to increase the quality of breeding for her guinea pigs and to buy wool to knit hats for sale.
Next is the Dúo Vida Y Amor Group, who will be using the money to purchase raw materials to weave traditional fabrics.
Then I found Adodo, who will use the loan to bring in more sewing notions as well as to purchase traditional West African printed cloth called pagne to sell in her sewing shop.
The final loan will be going to Peter, who will use the loan to help fund his children's education.

Thank you to all those who helped me be able to make a difference. It means the world to me.
I encourage you to go to Kiva.org and make a loan yourself. It is one of the best uses for $25 I can imagine. Sure, going out to dinner with your loved one is nice, as is being able to buy a few skeins of yarn but once in a while using that same money to give back is a wonderful choice.
(image from greenwala.com)