Mom Sorn
Takeo Province, Cambodia
“Mom Sorn is a hairdresser. Her husband is a farmer. They do not have any children yet. Their income is $5 per day. Every month, she has to spend $25 on food, $5 on electricity, $5 on house rent fees, $8 on transportation, and $13 on other expenses. She would like to request a loan of $625 to buy hairdressing equipment to support her career, because she has gained more customers recently. Her plan in the future is to enlarge her hairdressing shop when she has more customers. With the profit she gets, she wants to repair her house.”
I have not met Mom before, but I read a little of her story and my first thought is ‘she spends how much for rent?’
Globalization is often scrutinized for its creation of cheap and shifting labor, yet there is a beauty in creating a community which stretches to every corner of the world. The beauty is an ability for you and I to type in a web address, read a profile and then loan our weeks coffee budget to a woman like Mom. A woman who would have technically not existed in our world without this beauty  –internet connectivity.
“Kiva is a non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Leveraging the internet and a worldwide network of microfinance institutions, Kiva lets individuals lend as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world.”
Happy Thursday,
APPLE GLASS and MIRROR TEAM