Psst...have you heard of this....?

Kiva. Well, you probably have heard of it, you may have seen the link on my sidebar  (scroll down) or on some other blogs and wondered about it. So what is Kiva? Well, I am so very glad you asked. Basically it's microlending, which means you are lending someone  money in a developing country to start up a business to support their family, and then they pay you back! But do they really pay you back? Yep, they really do. Kiva acts as a middle man and they have field workers who offer support and collect the money and then they give it back to you.  But who will get the money? You can choose who you give it too.
Look here is a diagram:

The best bit is choosing who you give it too... you can go thru all the profiles and see a picture of the person and read what kind of business they want to set up. Then when they pay back the money you can give some to kiva or withdraw the whole lot, so really it doesn't actually cost you anything!!!!
The reason I am telling you about this now is chunkychooky is now celebrating the funding of their 10th microloan. I used some chunkychooky money to pay for the first loan and then I give Kiva $10 when the loan is repaid. I have had every single loan repaid to me- it takes a few months- and it is such a great feeling when you get those emails telling you the person has made a payment  and then one that says they have repaid the loan- Hooray for US! I think it would be a great thing to do with your children if they are old enough to understand they concept and  you can loan as little as $25, and remember when the loan is repaid you can withdraw the money you loaned in full.... but I doubt you will... you will want to lend it to someone else- its quite addictive....So what are you waiting for?