Main Page/Education/Box

Borrowers

Many of the people who borrow through Kiva do so for educational purposes. Some are entrepreneurs in the field, some are students furthering their own educations, and many are parents and other caregivers who want to pay the expenses for their children's schooling. A quick way to find some of these listings is to search the Kiva LEND pages for Education Sector loans. However, because the specific sector for education is relatively new to the Kiva LEND page and all education-related listings are not included there, searching all listings by key terms works as well. Search terms like "Education Expenses" and "School Fees" will find many more education-related listings.

In addition, many education-related entrepreneur photos can be found at the Kiva Friends discussion forums.

Kiva Team Volunteers

Volunteering to be a Kiva team member is an educational experience in and of itself.

Kiva Fellows Program

The Kiva Fellows Program offers individuals a rare opportunity to travel abroad and work directly with a Microfinance Institution—witnessing first-hand the impact of microfinance. Kiva's answers to many frequently asked questions, such as, "Who can be a Kiva fellow?" and "What do Kiva Fellows do?" give prospective fellows a richer understanding of what the experience can be like. The Kiva Fellows Blog allows Kiva Fellows the opportunity to share their experiences living and working abroad. Profiles of former and current Kiva Fellows strengthen our connections with them.

Kiva Fellows Program Mission Statement

The Kiva Fellows Program ignites passion in our Fellows to engage in microfinance and empowers them be a voice for Kiva.org and our field partners. Fellows gain in-field microfinance experience, and an appreciation of the innovative and purposeful grassroots efforts that our network of MFI's implement through their work on Kiva.org. Kiva motivates our Fellows to seek ways that they can add value to our partnerships and to Kiva.org. We challenge them to view microfinance both in its successes and struggles from the ground up.

Translators

While not restricted to educators and their students, Kiva translator opportunities are well-suited for them as well. For example, the San Roque High School lender group also volunteers as translators for Kiva loan listings. Kiva looks for volunteers who can write translations on an as-needed basis plus have a high-level proficiency in a foreign language and English. Some translation experience is preferred, but it is not required.

Lenders

Kiva lenders come in all shapes and sizes. Lenders can be individuals, families, groups, young, old and in between. If you can think of a few possible lender characteristics, the chances are good you can find someone with them who lends at Kiva. Lenders with education connections certainly are well-represented among them.

Searching for Education-Related Lenders

Because Kiva does not provide any convenient method to search for and browse lender pages beyond displaying their images and links to them on entrepreneurs' pages, finding education-related lenders can be difficult. One way around this challenge is to search for lender pages using Google and similar search engines using the site: criterion, such as site:kiva.org/lender. For example, site:kiva.org/lender "elementary students" will find lender pages that say something about elementary students. Examples of other education-related search terms include: student, teacher, student teacher, trainer, instructor, professor, school, college, university, and so on.

Group Lenders

Lenders with strong connections to education also can participate as members of these groups. Many of these groups that are affiliated with colleges, universities and other schools are listed below.

Colleges & Universities

Schools

Lesson Plans and Resources

Many educators have developed lesson plans that can be free-standing or as parts of comprehensive unit plans. Here is a partial listing.

How can kids change the world?

UNIT TITLE: How can kids change the world?
Designer: Evelyn Yvonne Theriault
Ages: 11 to 16 years old (can be adapted for younger students)
Grades: Quebec elementary Cycle III & secondary, U.S. middle school
Subjects: English Language Arts, ICT, Media Awareness, Personal Development

• Values: Giving
• Website Analysis & Logo Design

Is the End of Poverty a Mouse-click Away?

UNIT TITLE: Is the End of Poverty a Mouse-click Away?
Designer: Foundation for Teaching Economics: Adapted from an assignment submitted in Contemporary Economic Issues Online for Teachers, fall semester, 2010. The FTE thanks Kimberly Thielen-Metcalf, teacher of Economics, Psychology, and U.S. History at Mason City High School, Mason City, Iowa, for the original draft and for permission to edit and distribute this well-researched lesson.
Download Lesson: (Includes student reading, discussion question handout, and teacher answer guide as .doc file.)

• Student Reading
  • Mohammad Yunus – Financial Innovator (includes www.kiva.org reference)
  • On the Other Hand . . .
  • Does Microfinance Reduce Regional Poverty?
  • Do Microloans Help the Poor?
  • Conclusion
• Discussion Questions
  • Optional Extension: Read the profile/loan request for Motih Mariana Awah Awah posted on Kiva.org on December 10, 2010, and fill in the opportunity cost grid that follows.
  • Supplementary video resources – Microfinance in the news:
    • Interview with David Rodman, Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development, Washington D.C.: “Is Microfinance Adequate for Eliminating or Reducing Poverty?” – 2 minutes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnruLLGSbtM
    • John Stossel interview with Prof. Karol Boudreaux, George Mason University and Andrew Mwenda, Ugandan journalist and speaker: “Alleviating World Poverty” 9 minutes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTAuEn7HhlI

Kiva School to School Draft Curriculum

TITLE: Kiva School to School
Designer: Jim Ratcliffe
Ages: 10 to 18 years old (can be adapted for younger students)
Grades: U.S. Middle and High School
Subjects: English/Language Arts, Mathematics, History, Geography

• Draft curriculum here

I would appreciate your comments and feedback as this project grows.

Thank you,

Jim Ratcliffe
jimr1 at stanford dot edu

Youth-Friendly YouTube Videos

Go to the Kiva Friends topic, Popular Topics at Kiva Friends - Education Connections for links to the collection of Youth-Friendly YouTube Videos. The collection is located at Kiva Friends to allow the videos to be viewed directly from that discussion board. Videos cannot be viewed at Kivapedia.

The Youth-Friendly YouTube Videos is a series of Kiva Friends topics to collect YouTube videos that can be used anywhere by public school aged students (and their teachers). YouTube has a lot of rich, educational material available but it is presently impossible for classroom teachers (especially at the elementary level) to set their students loose on the site! Teachers need a safe place to send their students, as well as a set of readily available resources for different subject areas. We hope that everyone (not only teachers) will feel free to contribute links. If you have an idea (e.g. art, dance, occupations, recipes, famous places), please don’t be shy.

Start a new topic or drop Evelyn Yvonne Theriault at Kiva Friends a line to discuss it!

Learning Loans

World History Unit Grades 9-11

This unit was designed to meet California content standards for 10th grade world history, but could easily be modified.

Go to [www.learningloan.org] to download the pdf. Please let us know if you use the lesson plan. Your feedback will be very helpful.

Karen Rosenquist krosenquist@learningloan.org

Kiva Friends Discussions

Many Kiva Friends discussions cover education-related topics, either directly or in passing. Of course, just about every Kiva Friends topic can be part of a learning experience. Go to Popular Topics at Kiva Friends - Education Connections for an extensive list of these topics.