Table Runners and Micro Loans

A work colleague of my husband's gave him this to pass on to me.  It's a really beautiful table runner, woven in Bangladesh where he's from.  The colors are so vibrant, and happen to be the colors we used at our wedding (I've always loved purple and red together). I love the combination of the concentric circles, checks and stripes, a great design with a lot of punch no matter what colors it's woven in.
He was telling my husband about all the new co-ops and things being organized so the craftspeople get paid better wages and how the micro-lending idea is exploding there and making things a whole lot better for people.  That's really good to hear isn't it? I just made my first loan via the website Kiva, to a Guatemalan women's weaving co-op and am looking forward to seeing how it works.