Featured Volunteer - Editor Diane Bird

How did you find out about Kiva?

My son's boss gave his employees a gift certificate for a loan to Kiva and he made his first loan, one of many since then. He told me about it and I've loaned the same $25 many times now. I learned of the opportunity to edit through a Kiva newsletter.

When Obama was running for president, he encouraged the American people to volunteer, both at home and in the world community. I was inspired by that, and felt that editing for Kiva would be a satisfying way to get involved. I also make blankets for Project Linus, and was especially pleased when I learned the organization sent blankets to Chile and Haiti.

It is hard to say what a favorite might be. Perhaps FAULU-KENYA. Now that Kiva is bringing in more field partners, I'm always excited to be assigned loans from a new part of Kiva's world.

I am fascinated by Mongolia and how very cold it must be, yet they bundle up and go outside to take care of their animals. Also, the women around the world who do weaving and embroidery, which is painstaking work, are amazing to me and admirable.

When my husband was in the Navy, we lived in Japan for three years. I loved it there and would go back in a minute. We also visited Hong Kong, a wonderful city, and I would love to see more of China.

My husband and our four children were part of the "back-to-the-land" movement in the 70s. We "dropped out" of a way of life that was no longer meaningful to us and spent 25 years on 70 wooded acres with river frontage and an underground spring. We built a house and barns with a chainsaw and hammers, terraced a large garden and raised goats, pigs, cows, and chickens. We were never quite self-sufficient, but it was a time of our lives that we wouldn't change.