Kiva is a not-for-profit outfit that facilitates internet micro-financing to unique enterpreneurs.

The way it works is you, as a lender, picks an entrepreneur on the kiva website to lend some money. You can either use a credit card or paypal for the transaction.

Kiva does not send the loan directly to the entrepreneur you chose but instead to a local micro financing institution(local to your chosen entrepreneur). Kiva refers to these local micro financing institutions as partners.

The partners distribute the loan to the approriate entrepreneur. The partners report back to kiva on the progress of the entrepreneur as well as collect repayments.

The repayments come back to you, as a lender, and you either withdraw your funds or begin the cycle again by lending to another promising entrepreneur.

Needless to say am totally hooked! It is such a brilliant idea! I love it because it is so empowering a gesture. The lender is empowered by seeing the progress of his/her dollars at work and the entrepreneur is equally empowered as this is a loan and not a handout!

I also love that the entrepreneur who would have otherwise not gotten the full amount of the loan from say a bank can now acquire the much needed funds from a various assortment of folks.

So i say to ye of good heart and desire to change the world - Kiva.org is calling your name. You can loan as little as $25 - trust me, you will not miss that coffee if you skip it this week!