The Unbreakable Leo

Not long ago I came in contact with a man named Kushal Chakrabarti who heads a microfinance venture called Vittana. Vittana passes micro-loans from lenders in the US to people all over the world in order for them to pay for their vocational classes, thus lifting them out of poverty. He came to the Islamic Center where I work and presented. Just a few months earlier the youth I work with raised over $1,300 to donate to a worthy cause, so we choose Vittana. I spoke with my youth about it and they seemed very into it, especially since after 18 months the students receiving our loans repay them to us to relend again interest free.

Shortly after that I contacted Vittana to become more involved, since I'm hoping to enter a Masters or MBA program concentrating on microfinance. And within a few weeks I was working to create lending groups and spreading the word about Vittana's mission. I am the first person in their Ambassador's program and I'm happy to set the bar for all those who come after me.

During the month of March, Vittana has put together their March Micro Madness project in order to get more lenders and spread the word about them. While trying to secure speaking engagements in high school and universities, I've create my own lending group to do my part. My challenge is to secure at least 50 new lenders to lend at least $25 each to someone through Vittana. I believe it to be a challenge in these rough economic times, but I'm up to the task.

So today begins the challenge. 50 new lenders by March 31. To be continued....