This is really fascinating, I reccommend checking it out, basically it allows people to invest in small business of folks from around the world. But the best part is, you can micro-lend like $20, and if 100 people do it, the guy's got enough to start a veggie cart, or an auto shop. I just found out about it today, and it looks really promising. Since it's my Birthday today, I invested $25 in Rose Wamaitha Shoe Shop. http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=3896 Please consider taking a look at this and making an investment, Micro-Credit always has high return rates, and Kiva so far boasts 100% return rates. I'm not going all-in yet, but if this goes well, I'd like to make a bigger investment.