 "Photo: Courtesy of Kiva.org")
It began as a news story and ended up as an ongoing project at the Campus Echo.
And now, through micro lender Kiva, Campus Echo staffers have loaned money to individuals in Peru, Cambodia and Kenya.
Kiva is an organization that connects people through small loans to alleviate poverty.
The microcredit organization uses local development groups to administer $100 to $3,000 loans to entrepreneurs in the Third World.
In 2007, Echo staffers decided that the best way to cover a story about Kiva was to actually become a micro lender through the organization.
And the project continues. Each year donations are collected to add to the lending pot.
"It makes you feel good when you can brighten someone's future who is a world away," said Carlton Koonce, Echo editor-in-chief.
A goal of Kiva is to connect people to create relationships beyond financial transactions and build a global community expressing support for one another.
The arrangement begins with an interest-free micro loan to a specific entrepreneur selected by the lender off the Kiva Internet site.
When the loan is repaid the lender can reclaim the funds or lend it out again.
Since the first micro loan in 2007, Campus Echo staffers have added funds to the Kiva account and reloaned the two loans that have been repaid.
In all, four entrepreneurs have been helped because of Echo donations. The first recipient was Jeremiah Miruka of Kenya.
Miruka is a small business owner of a potato chip shop in Nairobi who wanted to add hardware to his shop.
Mikura received $1,175 from the Campus Echo and 39 other micro lenders to support his efforts.
He repaid the loan in eight months.
Another entrepreneur who has paid back her micro loan was Sreypheap Linh of Cambodia, who needed cash for a flat tire business she and her husband run in their front yard.
A $300 loan was given to Linh by the Campus Echo and 10 other lenders was repaid within the year.
In January the Campus Echo reissued two loans.
One loan, along with 39 other lenders, loaned $1,000 to Martina of Huancayo, Peru to help her buy fertilizer for crops and medicine for cattle that she breeds and sells.
And another loan, along with 40 other lenders, provided $4,700 to the Maravilla Group of Peru, a communal group of 17 retailers who sell everything from ice cream to shoes to books.
Next year's Campus Echo editor-in-chief, Ashley Griffin said she is excited to keep the project going and she plans to add more funds to the lending pot.
"At this year's staff picnic we will be collecting more donations to add to the funds we can lend out through Kiva.
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