Kiva.org is the world’s first peer-to-peer, distributed microloan website. A great idea where PayPal meets Gates Foundation. The site allows you to lend a small amount of money, say $25, to needy microenterprises in developing countries. You receive repayment at the end of the loan period (normally 6-12 months) without interest. If they default on the loan, your loan becomes a donation – though none of the businesses have defaulted yet. A great low-risk, high-reward idea.

While on safari with her family last summer, 17- year- old Christina Morin spent four days in Kenya with people of the Samburu tribe. Two years of drought had killed their cattle and left the tribe with nothing to eat. Christina helped the owners of a tourist lodge pass out flour and sugar rations, but she wanted to do more....

For fun, she taught the children how to paint. "They came up with amazing drawings of animals", she said, "and they'd never seen a paintbrush before".

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