Summary ------- A rather unusual OpenSolaris community project has just opened, and we'd like to invite you to come and participate. It's the "OpenSolaris Lending Project". It is the counterpart to a team[1] that's been formed at kiva.org where members of the OpenSolaris community are making very small, interest-free loans to people who are using their own skill and initiative to lift themselves out of poverty around the world.
The project and team were formed by the Advocacy community group at OpenSolaris. Please join the mailing list[2]. About Kiva ---------- Kiva allows microfinance institutions around the world, called "Field Partners", to post profiles of qualified local entrepreneurs on its website. Lenders browse and choose an entrepreneur they wish to fund. Kiva aggregates loan capital from individual lenders and transfers it to the appropriate Field Partners to disburse to the entrepreneur chosen by the lender. As the entrepreneurs repay their loans, the Field Partners remit funds back to Kiva. As the loan is repaid, the Kiva lenders can withdraw their principal or re-loan it to another entrepreneur. Why Join? --------- We're not writing any code, but we felt that Kiva's approach to helping people help themselves was in the same spirit as the open source movement of which OpenSolaris is a part. By having a Kiva Lending Team, OpenSolaris members can participate in Kiva and give recognition to OpenSolaris at the same time. By having a Lending project, we can discuss how best to have OpenSolaris work at Kiva. Some ideas ---------- * We've started an OpenSolaris bookstore on Amazon[3]. If you buy your OpenSolaris books there, the commission Amazon provides will be used to give Kiva gift certificates to project members to get them started. * Why not purchase a Kiva gift certificate[4] and use it as a door prize or raffle prize at your OpenSolaris User Group? * Join the mailing list[2] to ask questions and find out more. * Jump right in, join our Kiva Team[1] and make a loan to a deserving entrepreneur! Thanks for listening - come and join us! algnod & webmink Project Leaders [1] http://www.kiva.org/team/opensolaris [2] http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/lending [3] http://astore.amazon.com/opensolaris-20 [4] http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=gift&action=giftPromotion
