HomeKiva News • Article

Volunteer Spotlight: "Connecting with other cultures... can help you see the world more clearly"

February 11, 2019

Some Kiva loans are not originally in English or are posted in countries where English is not the primary language, so we have a team of volunteers around the world who edit, translate and review our loans. More than 400 volunteers from Munich to Nova Scotia dedicate some of their time to contribute to Kiva's work. In the past 6 months, our translation volunteers have reviewed more than 94,000 loans, averaging more than 18,000 per month. They love being involved in the process, from reviewing the original loan to seeing it become fully-funded.


This quarter we are celebrating 6 of our incredible volunteers: Oksana, Gillian, Linda, Christine, Juliet and Beatriz. All of these volunteers are motivated by the opportunity to alleviate global poverty and a desire to keep their editing and translating skills sharp. We are incredibly thankful for their contribution and dedication to Kiva!

Oksana Buranbaeva

Kiva Volunteer of the Month, July 2018

“I love having an opportunity to volunteer regardless of location or time of day.”

Location: London & Berlin
Language: Russian
Team: Russiva
Time with Kiva: 9 years
Outstanding Contributions to Kiva: Oksana has translated 118,877 words!

Gillian Kleiman

Kiva Volunteer of the Month, August 2018

“It is interesting to see how different global issues intersect at Kiva.”

Location: Brooklyn, New York
Language: English
Team: Only the Loanly
Time with Kiva: 5 years
Outstanding Contributions to Kiva: Gillian has edited 302,917 lifetime words!

Linda Biebrich

Kiva Volunteer of the Month, September 2018

“I don’t have a favorite partner because I believe they all do interesting and good things!”

Location: Munich
Language: Spanish & Portuguese
Team: Latino Linguists
Time with Kiva: 2 years 10 months
Outstanding Contributions to Kiva: Linda has translated 97,474 lifetime words!

Christine Cooper

Kiva Volunteer of the Month, October 2018

“In my work as a lawyer, I see the impacts of poverty every day...I see organizations like Kiva as part of the solution.”

Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia
Language: Spanish & French
Team: Las Pirañas Kivanas
Time with Kiva: 8 years
Outstanding Contributions to Kiva: Christine has translated over 500,000 lifetime words!

Juliet Nagle

Kiva Volunteer of the Month, November 2018

“Kiva is a wonderful way to be in the world while also being at home.”

Location: Haverhill, Massachusetts
Language: English
Team: The Loan Rangers
Time with Kiva: 8 years
Outstanding Contributions to Kiva: Juliet has edited over 1,095,000 lifetime words!

Beatriz Yuste

Kiva Volunteer of the Month, December 2018

“Directly connecting with other cultures is extraordinary in that it can help you see the world more clearly.”

Location: Toronto
Language: Spanish
Team: Cambiamos
Time with Kiva: 10 years
Outstanding Contributions to Kiva: Beatriz has translated over 192,990 lifetime words!

Want to be part of this amazing community of editors and translators? Join our community here.