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Ridwan is the winner of our comment competition and got to choose my new name... Jubdah.

Probably the biggest problem in our society is poverty. Many would consider global warming as a bigger problem, but with poverty, its millions of minds that are deprived from being able to help us with problems like global warming. And another massive problem is how to go about tackling poverty. So then, what is it that I think is the solution? Microfinance.

Well not entirely solving it, but certainly playing a massive part in eradicating poverty. Governments all over the world give aid to one another but still the world is a shithole, with many preffering to be blinded to the reality and rather persue whatever gives them more enjoyment. Which is fine really, you’re not obliged to do anything. In fact, being obliged to do something most of them time ends up with you doing the opposite.

Anyhow, back to microfinance. First off, microfinance is providing finance to those on low incomes or who request it on a small scale. Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi econimist, recieved a noble prize for his continuous providing of small loans to many around the world, but on a large scale. The massive benefit of microfinance is that the interest is sustainable for the not so rich around the world, and that the loans are actually accessible. Most banks don’t even consider anything close to microfinance as its not worth their time to get such low returns.

Which takes me to the main direction of this post, to put the growing, but not yet exploding, microfinance site kiva.org in the spotlight. Kiva is a site that is just for microfinance, and they have a really cool system too. They work with reputable partners whom ordinary people in need of microfinance go to. The partners then get some information, and information is posted on the site. And finally, anyone, anyone can contribute an amount to loan, starting from just $25.

Now there are various great apsects to kiva.org. The first is that they do everything for free, no interest, and run off of donations. Secondly, once a person has repaid a loan, you can either withdraw it, or use it again to loan to someone else! Kiva works in most places in the earth, mainly the less fortunate nations, but recently they have expanded to the U.S. as well. And their partners are safe too, so they make sure there’s little risk of scam there. And here is Kiva impact for this week:

* 1 loan every 11 seconds.
* 26,032 lenders made a loan.
* 4,270 new lenders joined.
* $1,877,875.00 lent.
* 4,108 entrepreneurs funded.
* 1,987 gift certificates purchased.

Now being honest, that’s fantastic. That’s a lot of lives being helped. But like I mentioned earlier, its growing, but yet to explode. Kiva is becoming more and more closer to having people who don’t have their loan amount gained within the period of 30 days, as so many people are learning of microfinance and requesting it. Eventually, the demand will outweigh the suppliers. Many people enjoy giving and being able to help out, the key here is just to raise more awareness. You know the deserved recognition Micheal Jackson has and will continue to have? It’s because of the inspiration he brings, and the people he helped. Kiva is just like that, and with as much recognition as MJ, then really the potential is unlimited.

Like I mentioned earlier, anyone can use Kiva. I found out about it a few weeks back, and on that very same day I was so impressed I even made a couple of small loans to help reach the total amounts. And know what’s was even better? I just recently turned 15. Well, not really better, but the sheer fact that I can actually do something through a fantastic site like Kiva feels amazing. And I repeat once again, anyone can use it. Here’s a couple of screenshots of the profile page of one of the people I loaned too:
Details about person wanting Loan
Repayment + More Details

Usually, I see something great and don’t really do much about it. But this time, I actually felt like doing something about it. Micheal Jackson died just two days ago, and in his life he held a Guinness World Record for donating to the most amounts of charitites. And I’m inspired by him. This is my small part in making a difference, by spreading the word of kiva.org. Check it out, make a loan if you can, and spread the word. Of course me telling you about it rather than discovering it yourself randomly sort of takes the thrill away somewhat. But for once in our lives, lets put away all that crap and just do something for those that really need help. (Forgive the cheese surrounding this paragraph).

No one needs to do anything, but wouldn’t it be great for this small ambition of many, you and me included, to really explode and be looked up to for many years to come? I know the MJ references are a bit too many, but he made a difference, so why not remember him by carring on the difference he worked so hard to make. Twitter, facebook, blogs, websites, word of mouth, comments on articles, whatever, make that difference. Kiva.org.

I wanted to end with a video of Micheal Jackson’s Man In The Mirror song, which tells the story of changing yourself to make the world a better place. I’ve included the beginning part of the lyrics of the song for anyone interested.

Man In The Mirror – Micheal Jackson

I’m Gonna Make A Change,
For Once In My Life
It’s Gonna Feel Real Good,
Gonna Make A Difference
Gonna Make It Right . . .

As I, Turn Up The Collar On My
Favourite Winter Coat
This Wind Is Blowin’ My Mind
I See The Kids In The Street,
With Not Enough To Eat
Who Am I, To Be Blind?
Pretending Not To See
Their Needs
A Summer’s Disregard,
A Broken Bottle Top
And A One Man’s Soul
They Follow Each Other On
The Wind Ya’ Know
‘Cause They Got Nowhere
To Go
That’s Why I Want You To
Know

I’m Starting With The Man In
The Mirror
I’m Asking Him To Change
His Ways
And No Message Could Have
Been Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The World
A Better Place
Take A Look At Yourself, And
Then Make A Change

RIP Micheal
(And apologies for the poor quality of the article, but at the end of the day, its more about the meaning then writing skill isn’t it?) Oh and make a difference.

The world was rocked by the news yesterday that Micheal Jackson had died. Many would have been undoubtly thrilled at the prospect of seeing MJ perform again at his 50 dates in the O2 over the course of this summer, whether live or videos on YouTube. But the devastating news came out of the blue; that the man who inspired so many is no more.

There really is no celebrity like Micheal Jackson, his songs have such great meaning and combined with his unique singing style he really was the ‘King of Pop’. All today there has been overwhelming amounts of tributes, and the shock for many brought them to tears. I was absolutely shocked when I learnt of his death, I didn’t want to believe, I was holding onto the very small amount of hope that was left before his death was confirmed.

One of the beauties of Micheal Jackson is how influential he is, at every corner of the world he is known. One example is that every around me this morning people where like, “Did you hear, Micheal Jackson is dead?!” And trust me its not without good reason. The news of his death strained the Internet, with various highly reputed websites like the BBC going down for periods. I only really started listening to MJ a few weeks but just the meaning of some of his songs blew me away. I was converted instantly.

The life of MJ is really fascinating but often a sad one. His fame came about as a member of The Jackson 5, where he was one of the main vocal singers at the age of 5. Various hit songs after winning a major local talent show brought the group fame. Micheal and his brothers then went solo, and he gained even more success. Hits such as Thriller broke all records, as did his various tours in terms of the numbers that came to see them. His life was blighted by various controveries, such as rumours of his changing skin colour early on, dangling a baby from a balcony and accusations of child molestation a few years ago. But I don’t want to go into that, hardly anything was proven. He suffered from his hair being burnt, heavy breathing problems in his nose and still all the bullshit?

It is said that MJ died heavily in debt, but really we owe a debt to him. He gave so much to so many with fantastic meaning in his songs, such as “You are not alone” and “Beat it”. He will always be remembered. It is sad to think that the man was given so much stress by the media with terms like “Wacko Jacko” after everything he gave to music. Surely now people will regret it. And I’ll quickly add in another aspect of his life – his charity work. He was listed in the Guinness World Records for his support of 39 charities.

I was thinking of going to see MJ once in my lifetime earlier the day he died, little did I know his life would be taken within a few hours. But not all is bad, yes, MJ is gone, but he left a fantastic legacy and music to inspire many generations to come. And as some text of some website once said; cry not because its gone, be happy that it was there.

I’ll end with my 5 of my personal favourite Micheal Jackson songs, in no particular order.

I’ll Be there

EDIT: Just read this on wikipedia, exciting!
Less than four months before Jackson’s death, one of his biographers, Ian Halperin, revealed that Jackson had a secret library of over 100 unreleased songs which he planned to release after his death to support his children.

Sometimes sitting on the fence is quite good, you see two different interpretations, different opinions and different feelings about a certain topic. It really helps you gain that understanding.

But when do you draw the line? When do you say I’ve seen enough, I’m gonna get off my sore arse and do something. A thing about politicians is that they’re always sitting on the fence, and if not, debating something completely b*ll**ks just for a few votes. No wonder we’ve had some of the sh*ttest turnouts for the European elections in Britain ever recently.

How the hell are we meant to hav trust in the system when the leader who we didn’t even elect is running around doing completely nothing worthwhile. I mean, recently he has announced that every ‘rich’ country should give $100bn (£60bn) each to a fund that will save developing countries from the effects of climate change, such as the flooding in Bangaldesh. This is all well and good, but he is ignoring the fact that the NHS are considering rationing due to a £20bn shortfall in funds that could be recouped from say £20bn excess in National Insurance.

We need, as a nation to get off our sore, bleedin’ arses and do something about this shoddy, Brown, grimfaced leadership at the top…