How A Simple Text Can Change Lives

Approximately 1.29 billion people worldwide live on less than $1.25 per day and according to DoSomething.org, 70% of those individuals are women and face the most extreme working conditions on the planet.

It’s a huge number, but Kiva and DoSomething teamed up to allow you to help create change simply by sending a text message.

When you send a text, it engages you in an interactive “this or that” to give you insight into the rough working conditions women and difficult decisions women face in countries like Kenya, Mongolia, the Philippines, El Salvador and Pakistan.

Simply text WOMEN to 38383 or visit dosomething.org/women  and you’ll begin the “text message experience.” There’s a bit of back and forth as the texts will prompt you about which country you’d like to learn about. At the end of the text conversation, you get to donate $25 to a “real woman entrepreneur.” But here’s the best part — it won’t cost you anything except your time, and a few texts. The $25 loan comes from Kiva. In total, Kiva and DoSomething have $600,000 dollars dedicated to this initiative.

Here’s a sample of what the text exprience involves: 

DoSomething: You’re thirsty from working in the fields. Would you rather a) drink the murky water your employer provides? or b) go thirsty and risk dehydration?

User: A

DoSomething: Whoa, only 59% of drinking water is actually safe-you could get a waterborne disease that puts you out of work for days (yikes!). Text 2 for question 2

At the end of the experience, you have to share it with six people in order to open up the option to fund a women entrepreneur. Rosa Idalia who is 21 years old and a mother of three sells snacks, fruits and vegetables at a school. The loan will help her to buy supplies and allow her to create different food items and improve the infrastructure of her stand, according to DoSomething.

The campaign runs until September 13th.