The program for our next meeting this Thursday, June 21 will be presented by Susan Black and John Dennan, who will be telling Rotary about the Safe Water Project in Kigutu, Burundi. Prospective members, visiting Rotarians and guests are always welcome to join the Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club at our weekly meetings, held Thursday nights 6-8 p.m. at the Rotary Clubhouse, 66 Montgomery Road in Boothbay Harbor.

Micro lending through Kiva

Last week's program about the Kiva micro lending program was led by Steve and Anne Demeranville and Ingrid Merrill. Ingrid is the Rotary sponsor of the local Interact Club – Rotary International's high school level service club for young people ages 12 to 18. Ingrid kicked off the presentation by describing many of last year's fundraising and service projects that were carried out by the busy teens who joined the Interact Club at Boothbay Region High School. She and the kids involved both felt that their international project wasn't as engaging and satisfying as the students would like. Ingrid suggested that the students consider adding a micro-lending project next year, and told them about her experience with Kiva. The Interact students researched the Kiva nonprofit micro-lending platform, and agreed that they would select one or more international projects to fund next year. A Kiva micro-loan can be as little as $25. And the loans have a repayment rate of 96.9 percent. When a loan is repaid, you can choose to re-lend the funds to another lender.

Ann and Steve Demeranville then made a pitch for the Rotary Club/Foundation and individual Rotarians to invest in Kiva micro loans next year along with the Interact students, as a joint international service project. Vic Taylor reminded us that during our Strategic Planning exercise in 2017/2018, the club members identified as a priority working jointly with Interact teens on service projects. This Kiva micro-lending initiative appears to fit the bill nicely.

The Demeranville family has had a long association with micro-lending through Kiva. In 2009, Steve and Ann's daughter gave them a gift certificate for a Kiva Micro Loan as a Christmas present. Since 2009, their family has invested in Kiva loans, and each time a loan is repaid, they select another loan to fund. Since 2009, the total amount lent and re-lent by the Demeranville family has reached $28,500 in international loans. They have given loans to people in 71 different countries. They explained that there are Kiva field partners in every region who visit with potential lenders and actually verify their projects and their ability to repay. Many of these loans are managed by groups of (mostly) women who use peer pressure to ensure that each loan is repaid before they ask for a new one. Loans are typically used to help people in third-world countries add livestock, raise new crops, or invest in a small businesses.

In other club business, Auction co-chairs Deb Graves and Lauri Zimmerli, thanked Rotarians for their efforts in making furniture pick ups and in re-organizing the contents of the Rotary barn to make room for more Auction inventory. They reminded us that the auction is only six weeks away!