Fast 6 months!
5 May 2008
It was in December 2006 when I received an email from my brother inviting me to join a cool new website named Kiva.org which allowed individuals with a credit card to finance entrepreneurs in the developing world. Although I had heard of Microfinance I didn’t fully appreciate what it offered the world until I began to research Kiva.org, its field partners, and had read Muhammad Yunus’s book “Banker to the Poor”. I then realized how special the Kiva concept was and knew I had to get involved.
I am now close to the end of my 6 month Kiva Fellowship working with their Peruvian partner Manuela Ramos CrediMujer. Zig-zagging my way through the Amazon Basin, Sierras, and Coast interviewing hundreds of entrepreneurs, writing about their lives, and working side by side incredible loan officers has been one amazing experience.
But the best part about this Fellowship has been discovering that there is no Microfinance/NGO scam… the system works. The working poor are responsible financial clients, the Microfinance Institutions offer valuable, fair services, and these small loans really do change lives! Every entrepreneur I interviewed agreed their life had improved after receiving a loan. Even when an entrepreneur hadn’t experienced significant economic gains they had discovered self worth, independence, and dignity. Externalities of self worth and dignity include happier, healthier families, environments, and communities!
This trip may be close to over but I’m eager to support Kiva and the Microfinance community for years to come.
Entry Filed under: KF3 (Kiva Fellows 3rd Class), Manuela Ramos / CrediMUJER, Peru. Tags: Chris Federer, Kiva, microfinance, Peru.
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1. Hao Zhang | 10 May 2008 at 17:54
Hi,
My name is Hao Zhang. I enjoyed reading your post because I readily identified with how you got involved with Kiva. Although no relative introduced Kiva to me, I discovered the site after watching the Yunnus interview on the Charlie Rose show.
I plan to apply for the Kiva Fellows program in the fall and hope to learn more about microfinance. In the mean time, I’ve been doing some background research on the field. I’ve come across a great deal of literature both praising the results of microfinance, as well as dismissing the long term economic impact of microfinance. For the latter argument, people claim that the loans are used for microbusinesses that does not hire many workers. They argue that to more effectively stimulate the economy, loans should be made to small or mid size businesses.
In addition, I’ve also wondered how people use these loans. I presume that these people have very little education and that they have a lot of domestic responsibilities such as child rearing. How do they open and maintain a business? And if many people use the loans, wouldn’t their businesses compete against each other and decrease overall profits?
What are your thoughts on these points?
Best,
Hao Zhang
2. Lamar | 2 October 2008 at 20:08
Hao:
I really believe that the strengths of a country are its people. Take 1000’s of people and give them the opportunity to make their own living, and with little or no help they will succeed. Success breads success.
In N. Africa I visited a Carpet factory where the government took the first born female and trained her to loom and make carpets. They gave her a loom and yarn and sent her home. It was her responsibility to teach and train all the other females in her home. What a great way to help people become self sufficient.