Updated February 2010: Latest Recipients | Loan Status
CSTN has always been about helping individuals fulfill their solo travel dreams. After twenty years of connecting internationally with the global tourism industry and with other solo travelers, CSTNers began thinking of their singular journeys in a more encompassing, less self-centered way.
We, who take for granted the privilege of travel, have seen and cannot deny the unequal standards of living that prevail throughout the world. I doubt there are many among us who have not been dismayed to see sights of extreme poverty and need in many places we visit. Thankful for our blessings, we've wished to do something to help ease such pitiful circumstances. But what? There are, of course, dozens if not hundreds of charitable organizations whose aim is to do good in developing countries. Some, CSTN has investigated and, in the past, has raised funds for a few.
Then, in 2008, I found an organization that stands out as a perfect fit for CSTN – Kiva.
Kiva is about inspiring and empowering individual dreamers one by one. Through a system of small, person-to-person loans, people who otherwise have no hope of getting credit, now have an opportunity to lift themselves out of poverty and fulfill their personal dreams. Individuals helping individuals help themselves. Perfect!
Since April 2008 CSTN has been lending 50 per cent of every subscription fee to individual entrepreneurs via Kiva. A report on funding is regularly updated as follows:
Kabera Group and Liberita Yuda are from the Kabera community in Dar es
Salaam. Liberita sells batiks, bras, and bed sheets. She wants to add ladies'
sandals and head scarves to her product line. The other women in the group
run a variety of businesses including clothes shops, charcoal and food
sales.
CSTN portion: $75
Yuryi Terletskyi lives in Beregovo Ukraine where he sells electric
appliances. A loan will help him expand and generate more income.
CSTN
portion: $125
Sixta Alejandrina bakes pastries and also prepares jellies, flans, and
sandwiches for sale. Her firewood oven is harming her health, so she wants
to purchase a gas oven.
CSTN portion: $100
Hila lives in Bekaa, Lebanon. She is married with seven children. She owns
a small dairy farm that supplements her husband's income, and she needs
a loan to increase her livestock.
CSTN portion: $100