Archive for July, 2007
Women We’ve Met Recently
We’ve met a wide variety of women in the last couple of weeks, from Mayan women who speak no Spanish at all and who try to scrape together a living with some weaving and a pig, to fairly ordinary poor urban women who remind us a little more of home, except that to them $15 is what you have to come up with every month for the kid’s school payment.
Last week Nancy met Clara Ajsoc in the highland village of Santa Clara La Laguna. Clara used her Friendship Bridge loan to buy a calf, which she raised, only to lose it to a sudden illness, leaving a young calf behind. But she bottlefed that one and raised it up successfully, and she now sells milk and cheese, where she had no livelihood before. And she wants to get another calf.
In San Antonio La Laguna, Nancy met Catarina Cox Perez, who lost her house to Hurricane Stan in October, 2005. She has been patching it back together bit by bit, but she lives in a really bad piece of broken house with no real windows, and she has to pile rocks up in the broken windowframes for a little privacy. But Catarina’s big goal with her next loan is to buy and raise 24 chicks. More power to her. There’s the great power of microfinance.
We’ve also met lots of more mundane people, storekeepers and weavers and clothing sellers, who are just battling the day-to-day struggle to pay for their kids’education. For them to come up with those few dollars per month for school fees and notebooks is an amazing battle. But so many assure us that they’re absolutely committed to their kids having a better life. And almost all we’ve met have kids who are getting at least some education. We’ve met many, many women who have absolutely no education. They sign their loan papers with a thumbprint. It’s just the normal way.
Elena Coché and Family
Yesterday we turned up a street out of the village we were in and then off that onto a path up into the hills. It was maybe a half a mile to a set of houses along a creek that were quite a bit more primitive than most we’d visited. Elena Coché, whose family is trying to get buy reselling a few clothes on the street. Their house is of wood, and they have to get water from a “well”set in the side of the creek bank; the kids get sicker in the rainy season.
You can look through all the stories of the women we’ve met on the Kiva site. To see if there are any available to make loans to, click here.
Add comment 27 July 2007
Sawa, Sawa
Jambo once again from cold Nairobi! I am going to start this blog talking about my trip to Kayole to visit some Kiva clients last Wednesday. Kayole is located about 30 minutes from downtown Nairobi, and is not really considered a slum, more of an ‘informal settlement’ whatever that really means. So we loaded up into the car and drove through the smoggy streets of the city. Driving through Kayole I was already struck about how different it was from Kiambiu-which is considered a real ’slum’- Kayole had actual buildings, mostly flats, ambiguously piled on top of each other, but it was proper housing nonetheless. It also seemed a lot smaller, and was sort of its own village really, set amongst some fields a few miles from the city. I was able to meet about five Kiva clients, all of whom were so nice, and I actually got to spend the day with a lady called Monica who was so funny and kept looking with disgust at the state of my nails!(She runs a beauty school, and was far more smartly dressed than I!) Everyone was really friendly, and we even had lunch with some of the clients, although since everyone spoke in Swahili most of the time, I just grinned and drank my Fanta! But it was fun, since I felt like I got to know some of the people who benefit from the loans, rather than just interview them. Of course I got the usual ‘hello how are you’ from all the little children running around everywhere, but it was a fun day. I also met a Kiva client who makes clothes, and she had some wonderful Katenge’s (sort of like a Kenyan kaftan) so I might have to visit her again and place an order!
One of the issues I have been pondering a lot recently, is why, when I meet some of the clients who are doing well, don’t they move out of the slums into the various ‘estates’ around Nairobi. This is where the ‘catch 22′ of slum-living really maks a point; since its so much cheaper to live in the slums than the rest of the city, most people, even if they could move out, tend to stay. Also, there are apparantly some parts of Kibera where people do not pay any rent at all, and so that helps explain, why despite the terrible conditions, people keep moving in. Yet one of the viscious aspects of this, is that it is difficult to have a profitable business in the slums, even if you wanted to charge just a few shillings more for the products you serve/offer, people would not pay it, since they know they can get the same old cheap price from someone else. I met a lady the other day, who complained how expensive for her it is to buy her beans and maize to sell, since she sells a plate of food for Ksh 25 (about 39cents). So I asked, her, why don’t you sell your food for more? And she gave me the reply I have heard over and over again, which is no one would pay more. Then I thought, why not sell your wares outside of the slums? And of course this is not so easy, since that would mean you have to lug all your gear; pots and pans, sacks of food, a pretty far distance into the city. It justs not worth it.
So after my visit to Kayole, I ended up spending the weekend camping with some wazungu friends near to Lake Magadi, which is a few hours southwest of Nairobi, towards the border with Tanzania. Lake Magadi is a soda lake, and absolutely reeks of sulphur, but the flamingos were cool! It was really nice to get out of the city, breathe some fresh air, and relax, although the appearance of a cobra snake on Saturday night was not so conducive for a relaxing sleep, but makes for some good campfire stories! The area where we camped is also Maasai country, and although it wasn’t a National Park or Reserve, it is considered communal land, where the Maasai are left to live their lives as they choose, with all their precious herds of cattle and goat which were constantly walking past our campsite!
So that basically brings me up to today, Friday July 26th, this week has been a bit slow, but tomorrow I am finally going to Kibera, where a lot of the Kiva clients are. This is one of the largest slums, probably in all of Africa, so I am sure I will have a lot to write about next week! So until my next riveting installment, Kwa Heri!
Add comment 26 July 2007
Training in Azerbaijan!
Yesterday in Baku, sixteen Azerbaijanis from seven MFIs filled a small conference room for a class on writing business descriptions and success stories. They were craving training, not only on these critical elements of promoting their organizations, but also on writing in the English language. Among the attendees, employees from Kiva’s three Azerbaijani field partners were present: Murad and Jeyhun from NorMicro, Ulviyya from Komak, and Tamilla from AqroInvest.
The class was organized by Paul at ACDI|VOCA through the Azerbaijan Micro-Finance Association (AMFA) after he detected a high demand from the Azerbaijani MFIs for such training. Paul spent about an hour teaching methods for writing success stories. He touched on basics like length, structure, and formatting. The importance of considering the audience that will read the story was stressed. He also spent time discussing the importance of well-composed photos – a topic that was well-received by the attendees.
I spent about an hour discussing the elements of a quality (interesting!) business description. I tried to impress upon the attendees that they have the opportunity through these business descriptions to educate international lenders about Azerbaijan, the local industries, and living conditions for the entrepreneurs. I used actual Kiva examples and the attendees rewrote the business descriptions using a Kiva-based format I provided. Paul had a projector set-up to his computer, so we were able to project Kiva.org on the wall and click through listings to reinforce the importance of quality business descriptions. Hopefully, having a pre-made template and seeing some English-language examples will aid these MFIs in bulking up their business descriptions.
As the class was wrapping up, Paul mentioned a follow-on class covering English-language emails and PowerPoint training – everyone received those topics enthusiastically. They were also interested in a class on photo composition and photo editing (cropping, straightening, brightening). Additionally, a couple of the Kiva partners here have asked me to help them create systems for more efficient posting and one partner is interested in learning how to post videos! Looks like I’ll be teaching a couple more classes! I’m really hoping that the training and interest will be translated into high quality Azerbaijani postings that more accurately represent the great entrepreneurs here!
1 comment 25 July 2007
Photo printouts for our client friends! Finally
Mother and daughter of a client
As we take photos and write down the stories of clients, they are almost always thrilled to see their picture on the display of our camera. But they often have no picture of themselves or their family, and sometimes come close to begging for one.
Well, we finally figured it out for the first time today. Yes, I know this is not that difficult a challenge, but it was progress for us. When we returned from the village to the nearest town, we found a photo printing place, printed out the women’s pictures (and their children) and then sent them back to the village with one of the women’s husbands! I think this may work with some variations, and we can give something back to these wonderful women who spend their day with us.
1 comment 25 July 2007
Alan in Kenya
My apologies! I’ve been in Kenya for three weeks and haven’t found time to even introduce myself – my name is Alan McGee, and I’m in Kenya working with the SEED Development Group. My time thus far has been spent in Kisumu, a city bordered on the west by the well-known Lake Victoria that any local will proudly boast its reputation as the second largest freshwater lake in the world. Since arrival, I’ve been in the field observing Kiva’s impact on the ground and until now have not been able to separate myself to share my experiences.
SEED Development Group has two main offices located in Nairobi and Kisumu, with satellite offices in Busia, Ugunja, and Migori. Pictured below are the Kisumu staff:
From left to right: Olivia Achien’g, Daniel Odongo, Vincent Nandi, Patrick Oketch, Peter Abok, Rogers Otieno, and Monica Wagude.
I’m staying in a small house with staff members Patrick and Rogers, and the hospitality I’ve been shown has been more than generous. Kisumu itself is a beautiful city–although rarely visited by tourists–and has a lot of economic potential with the growing number of entrepreneurial ventures as seen throughout the area. While it used to known as Kisumu town, the progressive growth within the area elevated the town to city status in December 2001. Aside from its ambitious inhabitants, the city is also home to Kibuye market – Kenya’s second largest open-air market where product and produce range from Mombasa imports on the east coast to neighboring Uganda and Tanzania. Every Sunday this market becomes a trading focal point for both local and imported items, as the city is flooded with consumers looking for a good bargain. I’ll try to upload some photos of the market very soon as it’s quite a sight!
3 comments 24 July 2007
Oí de Moçambique
Hi, I’m Shannon from San Francisco, CA and I am a Fellow working with Kiva’s MFI partner, Hluvuku-Adsema, in Mozambique on the southeastern coast of Africa. The country is probably best known for its magnificent beaches, but I will spend most of my time in the equally pretty interior.
After what amounted to 29 hours in flight and two more hours bumping along a dirt highway, I was happy to arrive at Hluvuku’s headquarters in the small town of Bela-Vista. Just south of the capital Maputo, the vila boasts one paved road and is home to about 4,000 residents. At one end of the Rua Principal is a church, grocery store, primary school and the Hluvuku-Adsema office. A ten minute walk to the other end is where I’m staying at the Quinta Mila; a motel on beautifully landscaped grounds run by Sra. Emília Dos Santos, a client of Hluvuku-Adsema and one of Mozambique’s most renowned female entrepreneurs. Hers is my first example that microfinance works, having built her business with the help of successive loans, today she caters to tourists passing through to/from South Africa and Maputo weekenders escaping the smog. She and the staff have taken me in like family; even the guard dogs Lady and Fofo shadow me everywhere (helpful companions when trying to get past other territorial dogs at night).
The Hluvuku-Adsema name holds bilingual significance: ‘Hluvuku’ means development in the predominant Bantu-based Ronga dialect and ‘Adsema’ is an acronym for the Portuguese equivalent of Association of Socio-Economic Development of Matutuíne. The districts served are rural and offer limited infrastructure to people in the throes of rebuilding their communities after a destructive sixteen year civil war and an ongoing battle against the HIV virus. Hluvuku-Adsema helps fill this void.
On my first day out in the field, I hopped on the back of loan officer Arlindo’s moto to meet with my first client in Salamanga village! Gas is expensive so motorcycles are the way to go. I quickly came to appreciate the hard work of loan officers who traverse miles of unkept, rugged roads to see as many clients as possible in a day to maximize efficiency. But as a passenger I enjoyed taking in the landscape; a vast green savanna on dusty red earth, a mixture of mud/wood and concrete block homes peppering the roadside, and men and women (dressed in vibrant traditonal capulana skirts and lenço headwraps) in constant motion skillfully carrying goods atop their heads, children on their backs, and herding livestock.
I have to admit that long days of meetings in the sun, trying to converse in a language I haven’t used in years, was initially tiring, but utlimately so rewarding. The people I’ve met are warm, welcoming, and predominantly single mothers who work long days to support several children and their extended families. Limited family funds allowed them to be schooled only through the 5th or 6th grade and, as a result, they speak very little Portuguese – I rely on Arlindo to translate between my Portuguese and their Ronga. While I didn’t initially understand the meaning of their words, their enthusiasm and smiles made it abundantly clear the positive impact this loan has had on their quality of life. And the more people I speak with, the more I see firsthand how even the smallest of loans can and do make a measurable difference.
Até logo! I’m off now to live and work in Boane (two hours northwest) to be closer to the majority of Hluvuku’s entrepreneurial clients and… Internet access por fim!
Add comment 23 July 2007
My Second Day of Interviews
Wednesday I headed up to San Antonio, Solola, Guatemala. It was my second day doing interviews and photos to post profiles for Friendship Bridge.
Patti (the Friendship facilitator) and I hopped into the taxi (really the back of a pickup). We snaked our way along the shore and up the side of a mountain — the view was incredible. As I looked across the emerald lake toward the towering volcanoes, I wondered how such a beautiful place could house such incredible poverty.
All day I sat with the Mayan women in their homes, business and community center learning about their struggles, victories and dreams.
These people had been living in a war-torn area for twenty years only to be further pummeled by the incredible natural disaster Hurricane Stan in 2005. The torrential rains as a result of the hurricane washed away many communities. Whole neighborhoods no longer exist because of the mudslides that swallowed up the land the neighborhood sat on and with it thousands of people. It threw these people further into grave poverty.
Poverty is when people who have never had a day of schooling and have no resources to obtain the basics and no access to funds to take care of medical or dental emergencies then lose everything in a natural disaster. Some of the women have no shoes for themselves or their children. Most of the women I interviewed never went to school but know the value of schooling are struggling to figure out how to pay for their children’s education. The children have to wear shoes to school and need notebooks and pens. Many families just cannot afford this and are lucky to be able to feed their children. Some do not have electricity or running water. Some have electricity to their house but no lights are on. Perhaps they can not afford light bulbs or the electricity or probably both. When the family has food shortages, this is poverty. When a person has a rotten tooth and it hurts and keeps them up all night and there is nothing they can do about it because there is no money for a dentist, I see this as poverty. The poverty in this town is great.
The women are survivors because they have no choice. They deal with what they are dealt. If they lose everything but the shirt on their backs, they sell that shirt so they can take care of their family. One woman did sell one of her two huipiles, her hand woven top, which cost over $100. It was all she had after the hurricane took everything, including her home.
Most of the women in the area make a living hand weaving traditional maya textitles which are turned into belts, scarfs, huipiles, pants, jackets, cloth bracelets, purses, table and bed covers. They can spend $10 in material, weave a product over the course of two weeks, and sell it for $40. They can only sell a few because the market is so flooded.
In order to weave they seek out loans to buy materials. Before the loans they could only afford material for one product, then wait until it sold and buy the material for the next. With the loans the women can buy enough material to make a few products and sell many more. At other times the loan may be used to send the children to school or just to buy food. The women repay the loan every month and usual pay off the few hundred dollars they borrow in six or nine months. Before microfinance there was little hope to crawling out of poverty, but at least now the families have some hope and room for dreams.
As I came home after the day of interviewing, the women’s stories, tears, smiles and laughter stuck deep in my soul. I will never be the same, I am so thankful for being able to have a day like this.
Randy and I will travel around Guatemala for at least another 10 weeks, interviewing the women thoughout this country and capturing a moment of their lives.
Add comment 23 July 2007
Overdue update
Well I have been here for over a month now and have a little less than a month left. I can’t believe so much time has passed already. Next week I will be taking some time off from my Fellow duties to visit Tanzania with some family. Then I return to Nakuru for a week. After that I will travel to Eb-F branch offices in Mombasa and Nairobi.
So it’s been a while since I’ve written. It’s going to be easiest to go with the bullet/list format I went with in my last entry. It’ll be a mix of recapping certain days/events and just random thoughts/observations. Enjoy.
- The weekend of July 6, the entire staff of Ebony Foundation went on a staff retreat / team building session to Maasai Mara, one of the biggest national reserves in Kenya. It’s located on the border with Tanzania, and when you cross over to that country you are in the Serengeti. Every Ebony employee came, not just from the head office here in Nakuru but also from branches in Nairobi, Mombasa, etc. Apparently James, Ebony’s director, places a high value on such retreats and they are not an uncommon part of this organization’s culture. I think that’s absolutely fantastic. I took a sociology class this past semester called Leadership and Organizations. Among other things it covered how to build effective organizations and vibrant organizational culture. Everything I have seen at Ebony makes good on the theories my professor lectured about. James and the rest of his management team work hard to ensure a friendly, welcoming and supportive environment for the entire staff. A clear mission and vision are articulated and reinforced at every level of the institution. Speaking of that vision, James took time on Saturday night to reiterate it: Ebony Foundation seeks to help their clients create successful businesses so that they may improve their family’s livelihood. Providing credit is just one aspect of that process. James dubbed it “integrated microfinance” – Ebony provides loans, but also training, mentorship, introduction and access to technology, contacts with both government officials and private sector partnerships, etc.
All in all it was a fantastic weekend. Much of the time was spent enjoying the beauty of the land and enjoying each other’s company. It was refreshing to see everyone’s other side, the more relaxed and informal attitudes that can only come out when we’re out of the office. Saturday we spent much of the morning and afternoon on a game drive. We saw lions, a cheetah, elephants, zebras, rhinos, giraffes, and more. The landscape is absolutely breathtaking – stunningly beautiful beyond what my words can describe. I urge anyone who has the chance to visit Kenya to do so because everything I have seen, not only in game parks and reserves but also just in my visits to the field to meet clients has always left me in awe.
At night we made a huge bonfire and cooked our own dinner. That entailed slaughtering, skinning and roasting two goats on an outdoor cooking fire we made. It was the best weekend I have had here so far.
I was also lucky to meet some Maasai. The Maasai are one of the oldest tribes in Kenya and the one that has remained by far the most traditional. They have almost completely maintained the same culture and lifestyle that their ancestors had hundreds of years ago. This rejection of modernity is both a boon and a curse. On one hand, they are respected by all Kenyans for their adherence to tradition. They are a proud and amazing people. On the other hand, there are drawbacks. For instance, it is common for female circumcision to be practiced on girls as they enter their teens. Soon after the girls are usually married off to much older men. Many Maasai children are also not educated at all, or if they are they barely make it past primary school.
- Back in the office after Maasai Mara, we had to move to a new office. The Kenyan government just recently passed legislation regulating microfinance activity in the country for the first time ever. Part of the new laws require all MFI head offices to be located on a quarter acre of land. Renting or owning that much land is not easy, so the provision is one way to ensure that the MFIs in operation are legitimate. It’s a counter for the so-called “briefcase banks” – the con operations that swindle impoverished Kenyans who are seeking loans to better their lives.
- I know I’ve written previously about the frustration of using matatus, the public “bus” system here and the related issue of time culture in Kenya. Well the other day I remarked how there are no traffic lights anywhere in Nakuru. I was told that the government had installed them a few years ago but had to take them down after public pressure. Apparently, people didn’t like waiting (and didn’t understand why they had to wait) at red lights when there were red if there was no traffic moving on the cross street with the green light. I find it ironic that people were impatient about the few seconds wait at a traffic light, but that no complaints are raised about the indefinite and unpredictable amount of time you may have to wait for a matatu to depart, which is entirely up to its driver and conductor.
- Despite the chaos, traffic here works. It just does – pedestrians, animals, carts, rickshaws, bicycle taxis, motorbikes, trucks, and cars all weave through the streets. I’ve rarely seen any accident. But the other day I was given a grim shock. My commute to the new office involves taking a matatu to the town center, walking a few blocks, and then taking a bicycle taxi to the office. On my taxi the other day, we rode past a huge crowd in the middle of a busy street, surrounding a truck that had stopped there. The truck had hit a man transporting vegetables on his bike. He lay there motionless in a pool of his own blood. It was utterly horrific and a very gruesome reminder of just how fragile life is and how quickly one’s fortunes can change.
- Something I have discovered about myself in my time here – and in talking to friends of mine who are also spending the summer abroad – is that I’ve become more patriotic. I’ve always considered myself an American but have never been ardently patriotic or outspoken about it. But for instance, the other day I was watching Black Hawk Down…one of the guys I was watching with said jokingly “the only war America lost” and “I do know this about your country, you’re a big bully.” I found myself feeling oddly defensive and snapped back a bit. But then I checked myself. After all, America’s rep on the international stage isn’t exactly stellar these days.
- Finally, I am craving an everything bagel from a New York City deli. A good bowl of penne vodka and some warm Italian bread would be nice too.
Add comment 19 July 2007
Randy and Nancy in Guatemala
Clara in Santa Clara La Laguna
Hello to all of you from Mazatenango, Guatemala. We wanted to introduce ourselves – We’re Randy Fay and Nancy Lewis, and we’ve just started helping to post clients from Friendship Bridge. We’re in the middle of an epic bicycle trek from the north of Canada to the bottom of South America – you’re invited to follow us on our blog at hobobiker.com. But we’re thankful and excited to be able to spend a time here in Guatemala as Kiva Fellows helping to post new clients to the website.
We spent last week in the beautiful highland lake area near Panajachel and over the weekend rode our bikes down out of the mountains to the coastal regions near Mazatenango. On a typical day we get on a bus to some village and meet one of the Friendship Bridge loan workers there. They’re all women and they’re called “facilitadoras” (facilitators) or “asesoras” (loan assessors). Most are quite young, ambitious, on-the-ball, and exceptionally intelligent. They’ll take us out to the houses of the businesswomen who are receiving Friendship Bridge loans where we can ask them about their business, life, challenges, and dreams. When we’ve interviewed all the women we can handle for the day, we head back to the hotel and try to write them all up.
A few of the stories are pedestrian, but many, many of them are so compelling. These people are fighting a battle to make a living every day. Clara, the woman in the photo, bought a calf with her first loan, raised it to maturity, then it died suddenly leaving her with a 21-day-old calf to bottlefeed to maturity. BUT the cow in the picture is that calf, and Clara is selling cheese and milk successfully. Like most of the women in the highlands, Spanish is not her native language, but unlike most, she can speak it pretty well. Many of the highland women speak no Spanish at all and we have to rely on the facilitadora.
Today we met with Petrona, a 28-year-old widow, who has a market table loaded with clothing, trying to put her life together after her husband died several months ago. She says she has to fight the fight to make it for the kids, and she’s doing it. She used her first loan to buy some clothing to get started.
1 comment 18 July 2007
Baadaye…..
Continuing on from my last blog, I believe I was talking about my adventures last Wednesday, which would have been July 11th. Firstly, one thing I would like to discuss was my bus ride that morning. I waited for 45 minutes to get on a bus, because they were all full. So imagine my delight when FINALLY a bus let me on! I sat in the last row of the bus, and settled into the quick 10-minute journey to ANK. Upon reaching the hospital stop though, this seemingly smooth bus ride turned into a roller coaster at Disneyworld, as the bus was pulling through the bus stop I was being bounced at least 1 foot up into the air! Gripping onto the seat in front for dear life, this ordeal lasted a good 15 seconds, yet unlike a ride at DisneyWorld, this was not a barrel of laughs, but at least it was a much cheaper thrill! So after that eye-awakening start to the day, I realized one important thing; don’t sit at the back of the bus!
Wednesday was also my first field visit, to meet some of the Kiva clients in the Kiambiu slums, and if my map skills serve me correctly, Kiambiu is located on the eastern side of Nairobi- also known as ‘Eastlands’. I have visited slum ‘areas’ before, and therefore thought I might be mentally prepared for what I was going to see, however, walking through the slums and meeting the people was a very different experience.
We parked the car in a churchyard, since it was safer, – there was an askari (private security guard, of which there are an estimated 100,000 in Nairobi- even the coffee shops downtown have askari) we then walked up the road to the entrance of Kiambiu. Walking past a few vegetable and fruit stalls, you then cross a bridge over mysteriously grey-colored stream; presumably it was that odd color due to the garbage and pollution everywhere. Then you enter the area where the houses are, with stray dogs lying everywhere, and children playing in the paths. The people of the slums are used to seeing mzungus (a white person) since a lot of other NGO’s, charities and international organizations work amongst them, however, it is still fun for the children, and they come up to you, with their big inquisitive eyes and runny noses, shouting ‘ hello how are you!!’ to which I replied, ‘ fine, how are you?’ Some of the braver youngsters ran up to me and shook my hand, whilst a few of them simply followed us around.
Walking through the main ‘street’ of Kiambiu was almost like an out of body experience, I mean you know what to expect when you hear the word ‘slum’; dirty roads, open sewage, rickety houses built of mud mixed with cement and held up with timbers; but it is still surreal. The burning rubbish gives out a rancid stench that sits in your throat, and the smoke stings your eyes, as you try to stay upright dodging huge holes in the dirt paths, with people staring at you the whole time. All I could think of was how unfair it was that people had to live like this, especially when you see the small toddlers playing with rubbish along the roads, and massive amounts of guilt for the life that I am lucky enough to lead at home. Simple things we take for granted; access to clean drinking water, free education, simply knowing that we will have dinner tonight; these things are not guaranteed for the people of the slums. Even something as commonplace as street lighting- recently there has been a project running in Nairobi called ‘Adopt a Light’, whereby local businesses sponsor lights to go up by advertising on them, and in return the people of the slum areas get lighting, which has helped improve security.
I was able to meet a few Kiva clients in Kiambiu and also sit in on a meeting of a credit group. Women seem to be the main beneficiaries of micro credit, and it seems a lot of this is down to the fact that many of these women are left to run the household and bring in money, whilst their husbands often look for casual work in the industrial areas of Nairobi. Women have proven themselves to be trustworthy and reliable as loan recipients, sorry I do not mean to be sexist, but this does seem to be the general trend. Consequently it is the women who have often organized themselves into ‘Merry Go Round’ Groups, like a rotating credit fund, to pull together their resources, improve their businesses, and therefore provide for their children.
As we walked away from the slums, I was chatting to one of the ANK staff, who informed me that Kibera – the largest and most infamous of the Kenyan slums- is actually worse. Worse? I thought, how could anything be worse than that! But apparently Kiambiu is actually relatively clean and organized, whilst Kibera there are houses everywhere, right next to each other leaving no space for paths, or to allow for some sort of basic drainage system. Next week we are planning to visit Kibera, and I have to admit that I am anxious about it.
Sunday July 15th
By the weekend, I was ready for a bit of a relax, and maybe out to get some ‘Western’ grub, although I am loving the food here, its always nice to have a taste of home. So on Sunday, whilst most Kenyans attended church, I went to the Sarit Center in search of Harry Potter and pasta! So I braved the infamous matutus and made my way to the shopping center- the matatu was not that bad- I like to call them ‘party on a bus’ since they blast out loud African music and are crammed with young people.
Much to my delight I found both Harry and pasta! So I purchased my ticket to see the latest installment, selected my seat- you are assigned a seat in the cinemas here- and then spent a glorious hour at the food court devouring my pasta and Mexican salad (one of those salads in a big taco shell, which really surprised me to see, kind of random to find in the middle of East Africa!) I wandered around the shopping center, and then the time finally came for HP, which was awesome, and a nice treat to have, despite the fact I blew my daily budget for it, it was worth it!
Now that brings me up to today- Wednesday- and after a few days of tremors it seems there has been an earthquake over the border in Tanzania- nothing bad but still a little unsettling, especially since last night after a tremor at about 9pm I convinced myself that the ceiling in my room was going to collapse! But luckily I woke up, sans ceiling collapse, just another day in crazy Kenya!
That’s about it from me in Nairobi for now- I will have more adventures (and misadventures!) to report later on in the week; after a field visit to Kayole, a slum area outside of Nairobi, so, until then, Kesho ( tomorrow)!
1 comment 18 July 2007
RSS - Posts
