Enough money was repaid to me in Kiva loans that I was able to make another $25 loan. This will be to a woman in my 7th country, Lebanon.

Fatmeh is a 41-year-old widow who lives in an undeveloped area with her only child. After the death of her husband, she became the sole income provider in the family. She took on all of her husband's responsibilities, and works hard to pay the life expenses. She started her business in selling clothes. She can’t rent a small shop in her town, so she visits her clients in their homes to sell her merchandise. Today, she is requesting a loan from Kiva's field partner Vitas s.a.l. to register her daughter in school and pay the first installment. She said that by contributing to this loan you will surely help this hardworking woman to enhance her way of living.

Other countries I've loaned to include Armenia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Moldova, Palestine, and Uganda. I usually focus on women, either widowed or single parents, those looking to further their education, build a "green" business or improve basic hygiene like putting in a latrine/toilet. I figure these are the people who most need my help.

I went out to lunch with dad yesterday, and the waitress who works there and at another restaurant waited on us. We've seen her many times before. Somehow we got on the subject of my new job and after I mentioned it was "pharma," she mentioned a friend of hers was looking for a job in that field. I gave the waitress my email and said if her friend wanted, she could send me her resume and I could see if they could use anyone like her at my office.

I've traded a few emails with the woman already. She did send me her resume and I will follow through tomorrow and also give it to my friend the recruiter. The woman is single, in her 50s, and confided she can't make her mortgage, has no savings or IRAs and her dog just got diagnosed with cancer. She lives in my town. I was surprised she was having trouble finding work as she has a very solid resume as a project manager.

I felt I was getting drawn into her tale of woe, and I just wanted to make sure her story was legit, so I googled her name. Once I did that, I think I understood why she couldn't find work. Ranking pretty high in the search results was an article in an area paper, dating back to 2010(!) saying she was arrested for DUI.

Employers always do background checks. I don't usually think twice about it since I have nothing to worry about, but I imagine a DUI, even an old one, might give some employers pause. I'm sure she was punished enough by having that go public in the paper, and it appears that was a one-time thing (of course I don't really know). But it's a shame that one bad decision can affect your livelihood for years to come. Of course, if there was someone in my family hit by a drunk driver, I would have no sympathy.