Though I've not used it myself, Kiva has always struck me as the sort of thing that people who were passionate about the web in the early days were always enthusiastically envisaging.

The web was seen as a powerful tool for taking advantage of the benefits of scale. Scale applied to charity & aid results in things like Kiva.

They just wouldn't be thinkable without the web.

There's no grand point to this comment, it's just a musing.

I guess I'm just saying that I think it's things like Kiva that make me proud to be part of the web.

Oh, and I suppose mixed up in my sentiment is a bit of lament that Kiva is a little-known exception to the rule rather than one among a great many examples of using the web to make the world a better place. (yes, wikipedia is another great example; I'm not saying Kiva's the sole bastion of human compassion on the web).

If we talk about Kiva it's always worth to revisit this article http://www.nextbillion.net/blogpost.aspx?blogid=3726 which asks some good questions about their model.

Note: this Kiva is not the San Francisco brand of medical cannabis chocolate confections.