Show more screenshots »

Vittana is an application that supports a non-governmental organization aimed at helping people who are fortunate enough to have a little extra money to lend some funds via the Internet to students in less fortunate countries of the world. The group is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered out of Seattle, Washington. Vittana's focus is on provising student loans since such loans are basically unavailable and non-existent in these developing countries. As a Vittana user, one could browse through a large list of students and select one who speaks to them.

The loans issued by Vittana range in value form $200-$1500 and are funded by the individual users/ lenders on the Vitanna website. he loans are finally disbursed once Vittana has accumulated the targeted amount to cover the educational expenses listed by the student participants. All of the monies are then given to the student. A parent or a close relative often acts as a co-signer as well. The recipient of the loan can repay the loan once they land a new job and begin earning money. Vittana students have successfully repaid their loans at a rate of 97%, so users can feel good about donating their funds and helping someone across the world become a contributing member of the global economy.

To date, Vitanna has facilitated loans that have helped over 10,000 students to complete their higher education by 2015. In addition, Amazon.com has backed all of Vitanna's loans as well. Vitanna is a partner with such organizations as: Clinton Global Initiative, Brigham Young University, frog design, Grameen Foundation, HOPE International, Lex Mundi, Orrick, Perkins Coie, Pop!Tech, Unitus and University of Washington, Seattle.

Vitanna's mission statement is: "We envision a world of opportunity, where educated minds and skillful hands work together to uplift the next generation, breaking the cycle of poverty."

Vitanna is different from other sites in that it encourages its users to give back to the less fortunate with a strong likelihood that one day the person will be paid back as well. Users can feel good about doing something and also somewhat confident that the monies will be returned to them one day. The site is well designed, and the profiles are detailed and compelling.

The site is very well designed and easy to navigate. There was only one broken link encountered during the trial, however for the most part the site is very professional in its appearance. All of the student profiles are detailed and many users will feel compelled to help these students out, since their educational expenses are not really that expensive. Users can donate any amount that they feel comfortable with.

New users can sign up for Vitanna by clicking on the My Vitanna link in the upper-right corner of the Vitanna homepage. New users can either connect with their Facebook account or they can input their first and last name, email, password and then click on the registration link.

Becoming a registered member on Vitanna is free. Any funds donated to students should be paid back to the members and they can donate any amount that they are comfortable with lending.

Vitanna is an excellent resource for facilitating good deeds. For those who are concerned about the worldwide economy and who want to make a difference, they could visit Vitanna and browse through many different, compelling student profiles and find someone who speaks to them and whom they want to help achieve their educational goals. Vitanna is for the generous and altruistic person who has a little extra cash.

• Support a student somewhere in the world in their educational endeavors
• Join a group of people on the internet to create a lending team to support even more students
• Make a loan to a student and get repaid- 99.8% of students repay the loans in time

Vittana.org video

comments powered by Disqus