[wourme]

Kiva is a site that allows you to make a small loan to someone in a developing country. You choose the recipient of your loan (which can be as small as $25), and you get updates (and your money back) as the lender repays the loan. I've made several loans over the past few years, and I think it's something that's good to do and even kind of fun.

The number of available loans fluctuates. Lenders get their deposits around the 15th of the month, and you can either withdraw it or put it into another loan. Many people choose the latter, so there aren't always quite as many loans available around this time of the month.

Kiva has been in all kinds of news stories and things, so it's possible that anyone who might be interested has already heard about it, but I figure it's worth mentioning anyway. If you're already a member and haven't joined a "group," here's a video game-related one that I'm a part of (independent games, specifically).

One type of loan that comes up somewhat regularly is someone who makes a business out of buying consoles and charging kids to use them. There's also an occasional arcade (usually with just two or three dusty old cabinets) that wants to expand.