Women Helping Women

Becoming a mother was the most powerful and the most terrifying challenge I had ever encountered. Knowing that I was 100% responsible for the well being of this tiny, helpless person was incredibly profound. To connect and recharge, I started meeting other moms at the home of my midwife, once a week in the afternoons. It was such a relief to find other like minded new moms who understood what I was feeling and who were interested in sharing their experiences. Eventually we spun off our own mom's group and we've been together more than 3 years. The ongoing love and support of the families in my group has been so amazing. I did not know how important community would become in raising our child. These Mamas and Papas and kids are now our extended family. We take care of each other in very fundamental and meaningful ways. When I heard about Kiva on NPR, I brought this idea to our moms and everyone was very enthusiastic. We are women helping women. It is so easy for us to relate to women all over the world, working so hard to provide food and shelter and education for their children. Then, when the woman repaid her loan, the money could work again for another woman, and this could go on indefinitely. We could act as examples for our children and our community, modeling the importance of service and giving. When NBC contacted us to do an interview about our lending with Kiva, we wanted to use that momentum to get other people to begin lending. We are getting close to hitting our goal of 100 new lenders for Kiva. It has been so wonderful watching the lines of longitude and latitude that separate us around the globe, simply evaporate. Being active members of our global community is the connection we are all longing for. Serving others IS serving us.

By Brandi Bernazzani