This morning my family invested in a small beauty shop in Nicaragua. The best part about our investment in Sheyla is that we aren’t expected a return on our investment. All we hope to get is the principal with no interest.

Thanks to Kiva, our family can partner with Sheyla or thousands of small business owners in developing countries like hers. (Cambodia, Togo, Sudan, Lebanon, and many more.) Kiva offers “micro-loans” to unqualified entrepreneurs seeking to help them help themselves.

We’re not talking about billions of dollars either. In Shelya’s case she just needs $675 so she can add onto her house, so she can grow her beauty shop while taking care of her two young children.

Kiva is a loan. This means that you will get your money back in about a year. We’ve done it and can attest to it. We got our money back! Of course, we just loan it right back to someone else…. but that isn’t the point. The point is that you can invest your $100 or $500 into a small business and be reasonably certain that money will come back to you. It’s a help out and not a hand out. And I dig that.