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SOUTH AMERICA

South America, is the planet's 4th largest continent, it includes (12) countries and (3) major territories. It contains the massive Amazon River and surrounding basin - the largest tropical rain forest in the world; the toothy-edged Andes Mountains, that stretch the entire length of the continent, and some of the most diverse and spectacular landforms on the planet.

Continent Size:
17,819,000 sq km
6,879,000 sq miles

Population: 379,500,000

Highest Point: Cerro Aconcagua
Andes Mountains, Argentina - 22,833 ft (6,959m).

Lowest Point: Peninsula Valdes
Argentina coastline -151 ft (-40m) below sea level.

Now that you know more about the continent, some of the specific details about Peru might shock you. Did you know that over 36% of Peru's total population is poor, and almost 14% is considered extremely poor. To be considered extremely poor Peruvians must live on less than $35 a month. Many children die every day due to malnutrition in Peru. Malnutrition is defined as insufficient, excessive or imbalanced consumption of nutrients. Donating money to people like Viviana can help families be able to purchase cheaper, healthier food for more filling meals to help prevent malnutrition throughout the country. To learn more about malnutrition, follow this link. Peru is a country that is on the rise out of poverty and every little bit can help them.

Did you know that Peru's life expectancy is almost 10 years less than those of people who live in the USA?

Viviana and her family really need you!

Viviana is 55 years old and lives in her own home with her husband (Filomeno) of 60 years of age and their 4 children: Ricardo 28, Rubén 25, Katherine 18 and Antony 15.
She is a very nice and charismatic woman who since 6 years ago has taken care of her store. She has the support of her husband and when they began their business they had a little kiosk with a very limited quantity of products. Little by little they were able to better and set up their home and to start a small grocery store.
To this day the business remains the main source of income for the family especially to the younger children since the older ones work. Viviana is very happy because thanks to her business she can be with her husband who helps her with the responsibilities at home and work and they are able to be close to their children.
For the future she wants to improve her business and have greater earnings.
This is her first loan with MFP (Kiva’s field partner) and hopes that all of her group will be as responsible as her in their payments. With the money loaned, she will buy more drinks and groceries to attract a greater number of clients.

Viviana only needs $300 and so far she has $200 Lend a helping hand.

Discovering Kiva

Kiva is a micro-lending website where anyone can donate to make a difference in peoples lives. Kiva accepts any loan starting at $25 to help an entrepreneur better their families life. There are two easy steps to follow if you want to loan money on Kiva.

1.) Sign up here or

2.) If you already have an account find someone on the Loan Page

After you have loaned on Kiva, the money goes to the entrepreneur of your choice and they have a set amount of time to pay the loan back. The money they pay back is then put towards another entrepreneurs loan, so the money is recycled and not just donated.

To find out a little more about Kiva you can watch this short video