Can Steemit continue to grow and provide content creators with usable income? Is this a viable platform for things like social-activism or connecting people who need help with people who CAN help? I don't know, but I am trying to find out. The more I learn, the more I realize that the answers may lay with minnows like me. As I attempt to combine Steemit's potential with micro-financing for the poor, I'm learning much more than I bargained for.

What is Microfinance?

Microfinancing is the concept of providing the poor with access to financial services such as insurance, savings accounts and loans. For a large percentage of the global population, financial services are not a feasible option. Thus, the impoverished are forced to live day to day because there is little to no opportunity for financial growth.

For example:

Imagine if, instead of borrowing money for your home, you had to buy it outright. Without a home, you'd be forced to rent. If 90% of your monthly income was set aside for rent, and the rest for living costs, how could you ever save enough to buy your own home? You'd be eternally stuck in a cycle of paying rent.

Now imagine if instead of needing a loan for your home, you needed a loan for a week's worth of groceries. With 90% of your time and energy dedicated to finding food, you couldn't possibly be expected to contribute much to society.

How does micro-financing work?

By providing financial services to the poor, microfinancing empowers the poor to reach outside of themselves and catalyse economic growth by providing the means to expand their potential. A loan of a few hundred dollars can be used to buy tools, water pumps, or other essential components of a healthy community. Like larger conventional business loans, the initial injection of cash starts a chain of events by allowing an entrepreneur to gather the essential tools and infrastructure needed to start the project. As time moves forward, the venture grows and the micro loan can be re-payed. A few hundred bucks can turn into a few thousand, and the economic impact on the community can spur all sorts of off-shoot business opportunities. Once the accumulation of wealth is great enough, it can be stored and insured with the micro-financing institution, ready to be loaned to future entrepreneurs.

Makes sense right?

About 10 days ago I wrote a post about how I believed Steem had the potential to change the world. I was inspired by @dan's post about an evil plan to take over the world. I pledged to donate the SBD I generated from that post to, kiva.org, a non-profit organisation. Kiva amalgamates multiple small micro-lending institutions under their banner. They then use public donations to give loans to the poor via their field partners.

My target was the minimum donation of $25 USD. Thanks to the upvotes from the Steemit community, I will be able to donate 10 times that to Kiva.

So why am I going on about micro-financing and my attempts to help the cause?

In the process of testing Steemit's potential to help me help others, I did a follow up post to express the surprise and faith I now have in the Steemit community. THAT POST WAS ON THE FAST TRACK TO NOWHERE. Magically, the post jumped in value from approx $2 to $200 in it's waning hours thanks to one vote. A whale upvoted the post, and suddenly I had 80 bucks of unexpected SBD.

The influx of Steem has inspired me to spend more time making contributions to the Steemit community, whether through curation or content creation. In the process of teaching myself that Steem dollars can be turned into cash, I made a guide. My "how-to cash out with a cell phone guide" has pulled in two genuine comments and about .07 cents. Not a stark raving success, but a contribution none the less.

This has got me thinking...

What if Steemit was a billion members strong? What if there was no need for cashing out? What if the Steem in my wallet could buy goods and services without conversion?

Imagine if, instead of me having to pitch for a donation, the needy could pitch for their loan directly.

Instead of applying for a loan through Kiva, they could post here on Steemit and gain traction. As support and interest in their cause grows, so does their wallet, not mine! Instead of excess Steem being used to teach backpackers how to cash out magic-cryptogeek-money, it's being used to pipe clean water into their community's primary school.

If that were the case, would we even need the micro-financing institutions I am lobbying for? In our current monetary system, micro-lending is one of the best options for empowering the poor, but, if Steem became a new global currency with its very own billion member market place, even the smallest minnow of today could plausibly hand out whale sized rewards in the future.

In this bold new world, a man with an idea and a data connection could exact more positive change than he ever could in our current system.The poor are an untapped resource of unimaginable entrepreneurial potential. Fresh ideas are just waiting to be discovered. Is Steem capable of giving financial freedom and empowerment directly to those who need it most? Not yet, but if we believe, it will be.

Stay tuned to see what I can do with my donation to kiva.org and my plans for the extra cash from subsequent posts. #steemforchange