HomeKiva News • Article

Kiva.org: Forming global partnerships offline and online

December 19, 2006

Guayaquil, Ecuqador




Kiva.org was built with a dream - to connect people who live worlds apart through online lending. To see that connection translate to a meeting of business partners - Kiva Entrepreneur and Kiva Lender - in the "real world" is such a beautiful thing!

Tom Hutchinson is a Kiva Lender who is traveling with his girlfriend in beautiful Ecuador for a couple of months. As a lender to several businesses in Ecuador through MIFEX, a Kiva Partner, Tom decided to visit his business partners and congratulate them on their success face-to-face.

Thanks to the MIFEX staff Robert Edgar, Luis Crespo and Esther Vasquez who were kind enough to show Tom and Susan around Guayaqil and introduce them to their business partners, Ervin Lino and Teodoro Burgos.








Ervin and his mother who work together on the family business.


Todoro and Tom (in the center - Tom in green and Teodoro in red).


Check out Tom's blog here to read more about his visit and see some great pictures.



Thanks for sharing your stories Tom!