Kiva.org

Kiva.org is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website. By enabling people to connect with and make personal loans to low-income entrepreneurs in the developing world, Kiva.org is revolutionizing the fight against global poverty. You can make a direct loan of as little as $25 to an entrepreneur to purchase business-related items such as sewing machines or livestock. This can dramatically improve the life of an entrepreneur and his/her family, empowering them to earn their way out of poverty.


from PBS.org:
Frontline/World, April 10, 2007.
"Uganda: A Little Goes A Long Way"
Show synopsis: "A San Francisco company has taken the idea of microfinance and upgraded it for the Web. Radio reporter Clark Boyd... travels to Uganda for FRONTLINE/World, where the first recipients of money collected through Kiva's Web site are building and expanding businesses."Watch the video here.