There was a TV programme on about a bin man from the UK living the life of a bin man in Jakarta, the contrast couldn’t have been greater. He gamely tried to change things and made some small improvements, including getting the locals a pay rise.

Kiva distributes the capital you provide via intermediaries, I pay extra each time I lend towards the running costs of Kiva. Unfortunately the intermediaries can’t fund themselves from the capital that’s lent, so they do charge interest, but they are legal and proper organisations, rather than loan sharks, corrupt officials or criminals. You can read about Kiva here: http://www.kiva.org/about

You can see the long list of loans I have outstanding here: http://www.kiva.org/lender/billhodgson

Since joining 3 years ago, and repeatedly recycling the capital I have provided, I’ve not had a single default, nor lost a single penny. If you feel like joining use this link http://kiva.org/invitedby/billhodgson and I get to show I recruited some new lenders.