Have you been looking for a great family-centered service project? With the holidays coming up, many families will be thinking of sharing their (relative) abundance with others. Locating a meaningful service opportunity that is appropriate for even early elementary aged children can be challenging, however. We don’t want to overwhelm our children with the tragedies that go on in this world, but at the same time we don’t want to insulate our youngsters to the point that they think everyone in the world has the same opportunities that we do. It is too easy for our children to take our security and comforts for granted.

Here’s one solution for you: Kiva.org. Through this website, you can view profiles of people and organizations in the developing world, and you can see the projects that they want to undertake in order to make a better life. If you find a project you would like to help fund, you can contribute as little as $25, for a loan to get the project under way. Here’s a blurb from Kiva’s website:

We let you loan to the working poor

Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world. By choosing a business on Kiva.org, you can “sponsor a business” and help the world’s working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates from the business you’ve sponsored. As loans are repaid, you get your loan money back.

Some of the loans that I’ve seen are being requested for projects like: helping purchase plots of land, fertilizer, refrigeration equipment for a fishmonger, money for renovations of tourist lodgings, merchandise for a grocer, cows for a dairy, and so forth. These microloans have an amazingly good record of repayment, to date. And frankly, even if the money isn’t repaid, the cause seems good enough to justify the small risk. Think about it: If your loan is repaid, you can turn right around and loan it to someone else, spreading the giving even further.

With such a small investment required, even young children can contribute a few dollars of savings. When the family pools their money, selects a project, and then tracks the progress of their adopted project, it provides a point of departure for kids to learn about other countries, other cultures, business, the idea of using money to make more money, and lots more, in addition, of course, to simply lending a helping hand.

This is something that I want to do with my family this year. I’d love to hear others’ suggestions for good service projects, as well!

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