18 April 2008
I can't help it, whenever I think about doing stuff for "Charrrriteee" I think about Smashie and Nicey. They ruined it for the rest of us :-)But stuff it. The way I see it it, we are doing a little bit for charity, and the very best thing we can do is talk about it... at least a little.
It's been a real pleasure to donate some money to good causes over the last couple of Christmases. With the agreement of the team, and on their behalf, Semantic has made donations to the Starlight Foundation, Cancer Research, Shelter and other charities. Hey, it helps us feel good while we play on our Playstations!
But that's Christmas, and the high wears off pretty quickly once you realise how lucky we are in comparison to so many. So for a while now we've been thinking about how we could extend Semantic's "do gooder" programme through the year. Enter Kiva, a not for profit organisation that makes it easy for you to feel good about yourself.
If you haven't heard of Kiva I'd recommend you check them out. They are in the business of micro-finance, allowing rich people (that's us... if you are reading this) to lend money to people in the world who can do something with it.As the term "micro-finance" suggests we aren't talking big bucks here. In fact most of the loans requested are tiny, a few hundred pounds at most. At Semantic we've decided to put a modest pot of money into Kiva... and I mean modest, and have invested in four businesses.
These include a food seller (and father of two) in Tajikistan, a beauty parlour & cyber-cafe in the Dominican Republic, and a transport business in Cambodia. In each case we've contributed part of the money requested, along with other donors from around the world.
And when, as we expect, the loans are repaid, we will re-invest to make a difference to other peoples lives. It's true that the returns will be measured in "feeling good about ourselves" rather than money, but that's fine. If things go well we will increase our "investment" over time - we are capitalists, after all... even when it comes to feeling happy.
Try it for yourself. You'll like it.
Posted by Nick Warren at 2:28 PM
