This week was so crazy and out of control busy. I think it's a good thing that I've been so busy, because it doesn't really give me a lot of time to think about things that are hard for me right now. I had classes, modeled on Monday and Wednesday (by the way, my Weds pose was so hard to hold... I was laying on the ground all twisted up and my leg kept going completely numb because of the angle it was at...ouch.) Had two exams on Thursday, then met with my group for a project, and then went to this amazing lecture.
Jessica Jackley is the cofounder of an amazing organization called Kiva. Kiva.org is a microlending website. I found out about it about a year ago - basically, how it works is, you go to www.kiva.org and look at all of the profiles of people in 3rd world countries who need to be lent some money to start up their business. You can lend as little as $25 or you can lend up to thousands. It's really neat to see who exactly your money is going to, and you can keep up on their progress. Then, eventually, they pay you back. They have a return rate of like 98% which is ridiculously awesome. Turns out - poor people pay back money better than people who actually HAVE money! These people in their countries can't get loans from banks to start up, because they are poor (living off of dollars a day) and the banks don't think they can pay it back. Plus, even if they can get a loan, the interest rate is so incredibly high that at the end of the day, they make no profit because it all goes to the interest on the loan. So, Jessica had the idea to start an organization that connects people in industrialized countries (mainly the US) to someone in a developing country who needs the money desperately, and who can pay back within a year or so (98% of the time!), with little or no interest. It's amazing to actually be connected to a real person, and not just some non-profit where you don't really see exactly where your money is going. Plus, Kiva makes absolutely no money off of it. It's a fantastic, inspiring organization that everyone should check out!
Yesterday I didn't have class, so I took a "me day" ... I did fun things all day, including a great cookout last night - chicken/veggie kabobs and salad with lots of friends, then went to a movie! Today we're celebrating Suzi's birthday and then later tonight there's an "Anything But Clothes" party at the rugby house. Pictures to come of my "anything but clothes" outfit. :-)
But tomorrow becomes busy again, I have to meet with my group for 3 hours and put together our powerpoint, plus write a small paper that's due by midnight, and next week I have two more exams and a presentation. Sigh... April is always insane in the life of a college student.
3 comments:
Sounds like things are going well, just crazy! I remember how mad April used to be in college!
Kiva sounds really interesting! I really like the organizations that help people help themselves such as this or the heifer project.
Have fun at anything goes but clothes, I loved making fun costumes for that theme!
April is always crazy in the life of students. Good luck on making it through it all.
VB
Aren't self-care days awesome! I hope you get to have more of those soon.
The book is in the mail and you should get it soon. Happy Sunday!
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