For those of you who have tried to access the Kiva site this week, it is back up, although in a limited manner. Apparently their servers were just not capable of handling the immense amount of traffic they received after the Frontline feature on PBS television Monday. That is also why my Kiva badge is not showing up in the sidebar.
Because of the server crash, they now seem to have a big backlog of applicants. As I write this Friday evening, there are 18 Honduran applicants, whereas the most I saw before were five at a time. While there are more people than ever who want to help (those who were so impressed by what they saw on Frontline) unfortunately they couldn't get into Kiva's website to contribute. Hopefully their enthusiasm will cause them to try again today or tomorrow.
Alba, the Honduran woman who was in the Kiva badge on my sidebar before the crash (and in the photo at top), has asked for a loan of $300 and since Kiva's servers have been mostly down this entire week, she's still waiting. Here is a direct link to the page where you can read about Alba. If you are interested in loaning her $25, just click on the lend tab near the top of that page. It's so easy you won't believe it!
For those of you who are wondering what in the heck I'm talking about, please take a minute to read my first article about Kiva titled Hunger and the follow up articles here and here. You will be glad that you did, I promise!
Incidentally, for those who missed the TV program or don't get PBS (USA Public Broadcasting), like me, the program will be available online next Tuesday, November 7. The PBS website has an article about it and you can read the hundred or so comments left after the program aired. There are also several related articles listed in the tabs just under the title.
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