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Wokai was founded in March 2007 by Casey Wilson and Courtney McColgan after meeting while studying at Tsinghua University in Beijing.<ref name="Newsweek">[http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/chinacalling/archive/2009/04/01/facebook-for-china-s-farmers.aspx China Calling : Facebook for China's Farmers]</ref> As of November 2009, it has a staff of 8 and maintains 5 chapters of local volunteer representatives in New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Beijing and Hong Kong<ref name="Team">[http://www.wokai.org/f/about/index.php?page=team "Team" on Wokai.org]</ref> and has raised $106,600 in loan capital from 660 contributors to distribute to 205 recipients.<ref>[http://www.wokai.org/ "Home" on Wokai.org]</ref>
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Wokai allows accredited [[microfinance]] institutions in China, called "Field Partners", to post profiles of qualified local [[entrepreneur]]s on its website.<ref name="SF Chronicle"/> Lenders browse and choose an entrepreneur they wish to fund.<ref name="SF Chronicle"/> Wokai aggregates loan capital from individual lenders and transfers it to the appropriate Field Partners to disburse to the entrepreneur chosen by the lender.<ref name="About"/> The average loan is around $300 and is used by farmers to invest in simple business improvements such as adding additional livestock or buying new products for dry goods stores.<ref name="MSNBC" /> As the entrepreneurs repay their loans, the Field Partners remit funds back to Wokai and the lender is alerted of this repayment.<ref name="About"/><ref name="AsianWeek">[http://www.asianweek.com/2009/07/13/bay-area-microfinance-reaches-rural-chinese/ "Bay Area Microfinance Reaches Rural Chinese : AsianWeek"]</ref> Once the loan is repaid, the Wokai lenders can re-loan it to another entrepreneur, up to a total of three loan cycles.<ref name="About"/>
Donors' funds are transferred to Wokai through [[Google Checkout]].<ref name="HelpCenter">[http://www.wokai.org/f/about/index.php?page=questioncenter "Help Center" on Wokai.org]</ref> Wokai's Field Partners charge between 15% and 20% interest rates.<ref name="HelpCenter"/> Field Partners use the interest from borrower loans to cover staff salaries, transportation, and operating costs.<ref name="HelpCenter"/>
==References==
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