Archive for September, 2007
Connecting
Eleven years ago, when I first moved into the neighborhood where I now live, I held a block party. I wanted to meet my neighbors – didn’t want to drive home, politely nod at folks I hadn’t met, but lived next door.
So, I had a block party. It worked. In fact, for the past ten years, it’s rotated from house to house. But, after the seventh year it started to get a little long in the tooth. The desire to “connect” was waning.
I miss the connection. Not just in the neighborhood, but in other ways, too. Too much pop culture, not enough real culture. So, I’ve been looking. People to people stuff.
Then about eight weeks ago, my son said I should check out the Kiva site. Something made sense – in a simple way. I was particularly taken by the lenders. Like me, they seemed to be looking – to connect. Person to person. Neighbor to neighbor.
So here I am, on B.A. Flight 0065 to Entebbe via Heathrow. A Kiva Fellow volunteering to serve in Kampala Uganda.
The world has gotten a lot smaller since I was born 57 years ago. Virtual worlds easily meet real worlds. Kiva is a conduit, where people connect to people. So, for the next four months, I’m just going to “journey” across the street to visit my neighbors. I invite you to join me.
Doug
6 comments 28 September 2007
Changes…
When I arrived here I was told that Phnom Penh was changing so quickly that even in the two months I would notice the difference in the city between when I arrived and when I left. It’s true that the city have been moving extraordinarily quickly. In 2000 there were no paved roads – now all the main streets are paved- and in 2005 there were no ATMs whatsoever – now they are everywhere. Nonetheless, I was skeptical that I would actually see any changes for myself, but it turns out they were right. My first journal mentioned the craziness of Phnom Penh’s roads. Well, this week, Phnom Penh instigated a new traffic system. I say new; I mean they instigated a system where there was none before. Now, on every street corner a policeman stands there waving the traffic on and holding up a red flag telling it to stop. Perhaps because of this, or maybe just because I feel more comfortable here in general, this week I rented a bicycle. I’m not sure why but the locals seem to find the phenomenon of me riding a bicycle amusing – hilarious even – but the laughter seems to be good natured and so I just smile and cycle on my way.
Add comment 27 September 2007
First day in the field!
First day in the field
On the morning of the 5th September, a credit officer, a man who works in the office and speaks both English and Khmer, and I headed out to the field. The credit officer had his own motorbike, and I sat on the back. Despite being early morning the thick heat hung in the air and was steadily increasing. We zoomed up the main streets for about 15 minutes, past restaurants, markets and shops until we came to an abrupt stop by an alleyway that I probably would not have noticed myself. It was so narrow that the bikes could barely pass through. Keeping my eyes steadily on the two walls that we were driving between and I failed to see the whole world that was opening up in front of me. Everywhere there were makeshift houses, mostly made of wood and ordinarily raised above the ground on wooden stilts – sensible considering the frequency of flooding in Phnom Penh’s poorly drained streets. We followed a narrow path that snaked round the houses until we arrived at the entrepreneur we had come to interview. The slums are suffocating; I feel the heat intensify by squalor and the cramped conditions, and mix with the smell of the garbage which lies in huge piles everywhere. I was completely overwhelmed and fascinated and disgusted all at once. The client we had come to interview, and indeed her neighbors, and various small children, and even a few dogs- stared at me with bemusement. Who is this strange English girl sat so precariously on the back of the motorbike? The translator calmly explained that I was there because I was interested in learning about their life and how they had used the loan. She begun to feel a little more comfortable and was all smiles by the end of the interview. We visited three other clients that morning, had a break for lunch and restaurant near the Credit office, and then headed straight back out to the field to visit another four clients. That evening I met a friend (a girl from home who is traveling around South East Asia) for dinner and could not stop talking about my experiences. It’s hard to explain exactly how I felt. A part of me was depressed – actually seeing with my own eyes how people live was a moving experience. But more than anything I feel that I have seen something I had to see – heard a story that that had to be told. Furthermore, I was not just going to the slums to see how awful they were; I was going to visit people whose lives had been better – to a greater or lesser extent – by the small bit of money that had been leant to them. That night, my friend and I had dinner in a rooftop restaurant filled with tourists and ex-pats, which floated serenely above the dusty chaos in the city below. It felt a million miles from the Phnom Penh I had seen that day.
1 comment 27 September 2007
First post from Samoa
Talofa! I can hardly believe that I am writing this from Samoa, the “Treasured Islands of the South Pacific”. I hope you will bear with me over the next 13 weeks as I share my experiences of working at the South Pacific Business Development (SPBD), Kiva’s partner MFI on the island.
Departing Los Angeles on a direct red-eye to Samoa, I arrived in the wee hours of the morning, weary and excited. The humid island air and a light rain were the first things to greet me as I stepped off the plane. I was later informed that my arrival coincided with the first signs of precipitation in several weeks. Since then, not a day goes by without at least the falling of a light shower. Fortunately, the onset of rain is considered an auspicious event, saving my journey from an ominous start.
You might be wondering if island life is all that it’s cracked up to be. Well, in a lot of ways, it truly is. The people are incredibly friendly and welcoming, the pace of life is nice and slow, and the beaches are just gorgeous. However, Samoa is far from a tropical paradise. Poverty on the island is real and apparent. According to the UN, Samoa is one of the 49 least developed countries in the world. Most of SPBD’s clients, before their first loan, lived on less than $2 USD per day, and 48% of Samoan families were assessed to be living below the poverty line. The pacific islands tend to be left out of the discussion when people talk about world poverty, but the islands’ struggles are very real.
The presence of religion on the island really made an immediate impression on me. I couldn’t help but notice the number of ornate churches, dwarfing all other nearby structures, populating almost every corner of every village throughout the island. Even at the airport, advertisements for local churches appear next to ones for mobile phones. Perhaps less traditional faiths are starting to make inroads as well, as I had to rub my eyes in disbelief when a large box marked with Scientology literature rolled past me on the conveyor belt during baggage claim.
Being of Chinese heritage myself, I was very surprised by the noticeable Chinese presence in Samoa. Throughout the streets of Apia (the capital and commercial center of Samoa), many restaurants have shops have alternate signs written in unmistakable Chinese characters. I was told that Chinese migrant workers arrived en masse before the First World War, during colonial rule (not sure if it was German or British then). Many stayed behind, started families, and have built some of the most successful local restaurants and trading businesses around. I tested out a couple of the local Chinese restaurants, and while it didn’t exactly taste like home (by which I mean Chinatown of course), it’s never a bad thing to have quick access to some fried rice!
Well, that’s it for introductions and first impressions. Until next time, Tofa Soifua!
5 comments 25 September 2007
My Last Blog….
Totos in Kayole Slums
Jambo Jambo everyone! Sadly my blogging and Kiva time has come to an end, I am actually writing this from home as I thought it would be interesting to compose my final installment from the perspective of being back in the ‘developed’ world. But before I launch into the big spiel I prepared about my amazing time in Africa, I will first delve into my last week working at Action Now Kenya.
My last week was pretty busy, seeing the last few clients and wrapping things up. We managed two trips into the field, firstly to Kibera to visit the last few clients there I had not seen, and then to another informal settlement called Mlongoro. This slum area is on the bustling Nairobi to Mombasa highway; I say highway in the loosest sense of the word since it does not resemble any highway you would ever had seen, its basically you’re average (sometimes) paved road. They are currently expanding it to make it into a dual carriageway, and in the process destroying all the settlements along the road. Anyway, so it’s not exactly a ’slum’ area, since the housing is more formal, with real buildings made from concrete. But like the other slum areas I have visited, Mlongoro too has its own flavor. And man was that flavor funky smelling, you see, unlike Kibera or Kayole, Mlongoro has no semblance of a sewage system. In the other slums trenches are dug that act as rudimentary vessels to carry away waste and garbage- or as usually is the case just let it sit there- but at least its not in the road. However, in Mlongoro the waste and sewage was everywhere, and of course with my luck we visited on a particularly hot day so let’s just say things were festering and bubbling in a way that it funnily enough made me think of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Don’t ask me why, but I had the theme tune in my head all morning!
Judy, Me and Christine at my last day at work.
Mlongoro settlement grew from the busy road as an area for the truck drivers to stop off before hitting Nairobi, or after it if they are on their way to Mombasa. This is also an area where HIV/AIDS is a increasingly becoming more endemic, as there is also a lot of prostitution. As a consequence of this growing trend, a number of NGOs have set up Health clinics, and we were lucky enough to visit one, and also visit with some of the people trying to combat the problem, by educating young people and trying to support them with vocational training. We met with a wonderful gentleman who had also started up a Microfinance institution and we met with him for a while, learning about the vocational and business training he provides.Then alas, the next day at work was my last one, and I had to say goodbye to the amazing women I have had the honor of working with for the last two months, I am including a photo of a few of them in this blog! A few of us went out for a nice long lunch of nyoma choma the famous Kenyan barbeque meat feast! Then I hopped on the Citi Hoppa bus back to the suburbs and spent my last weekend saying goodbye to friends, visiting an amazing Maasai market, and feeding giraffes at the giraffe centre which was really cool, except I learned that giraffe tongues are really quite foul, purple and gooyey! But I would highly recommend it since its not often that one gets to spend a Sunday afternoon feeding giraffes who were roaming free around this amazing hotel in Nairobi!
Up Close and Personal With Giraffes!
I have worked in Africa before, in Tanzania, another amazing country. But my experience in Kenya was totally different. I was able to work with some really inspirational people, both the Kiva clients and the ANK staff, and I did not feel like a tourist or a traveler I felt like I was really living there, if that makes any sense! Having left Kenya almost 2 weeks ago now, I still really miss it. Even though it was chaotic, messy, smelly, hard, and trying at times, I really miss it. Because Africa is exciting, fresh, exhilarating, challenging and beautiful; everyone wants to speak to you and know you. You could be waiting for the bus on a cold and smoggy Nairobi morning, but your fellow commuter wants to meet you and discuss once again why the bus is so late; if that happened at home I would be scared that the person was going to rob me or something silly; in Kenya I never felt that. They would give you the shirt off their back if you needed it, there is a certain solidarity there that I feel missing in the industrialized world.
What I am clumsily trying to say is this: Go there, don’t be hesitant because of what you hear on the news; Africa is an amazing place and anyone you will meet who has been there will tell you the same exact thing. There is just something about that place that sticks with you, Africa gets into your head; it’s the red dirt that stays under your fingernails, it’s the totos that follow you around and just want a snippet of your attention, it really is the ‘cradle of humanity’. But Africa also has a long way to go, working there has enabled me to see how much there is still left to be done to help people out of poverty. I really believe that Microfinance is an invaluable tool in helping people, in a dignified manner, of lifting themselves out of the trappings of modern day poverty.Ok enough of my lecturing. I hope you all have enjoyed reading my blogs as much as I have enjoyed portraying my time in Kenya with you, and I would like to send out a big thanks to all the Kiva Staff who gave me this wonderful opportunity, to the staff of ANK for supporting me and teaching me so much, a big thank you to the Kiva Clients whom I had the pleasure to meet, and lastly, to all the lenders out there all over the world who are supporting these people. Your loans are really making a big difference in a lot of people’s lives, so thank you.
This is where my journey comes to an end, so, Kwa Heri!
Add comment 18 September 2007
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