Kareem has written a couple of posts on Kiva, a company that offers micro-financing to entrepreneurs in third world countries. It’s the same idea that earned Grameen bank founder Mohammed Yunus the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize.

If you want to learn more, Kareem linked to this Frontline episode which you can view online. This is a great idea, and it offers a way to connect the top heavy World Bank/IMF aid/loan model (which focuses on heavy infrastructure) to the people that can use that infrastructure to lift themselves out of poverty. I hope this idea succeeds. Several Kiva loans will be part of my end-of-year charity donations.