Archive for June 17th, 2008
In Love
I fell in love today. It started out as an innocent crush, evolved into a dangerous infatuation, and today turned into full-blown, head-over-heels in love…with Guatemala, that is! What an amazing place this is. I’ve spent quite a bit of time traveling throughout Latin America, but I’ve never been so taken by a place and its people. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what has swept me off my feet, but it’s some wonderful combination of the breathtaking countryside, the extreme warmth of the people, the crazy packed buses and terrible roads, the conversations with random kids trying to sell me things, getting drenched in a rainstorm and feeling like a little kid again, and most of all, seeing first hand how incredibly strong women combine ingenuity, drive, and a small loan to improve the lives of their families.
I’ve spent the past week working out of the Friendship Bridge Quetzaltenango branch office, and have travelled around to small, rural villages in the beautiful highlands of Guatemala. The experience has been wonderful on so many levels. I’ve had the pleasure of running around rural Guatemala with various loan officers, all of whom have been an excellent resource for finding where I need to go and helping with translating for the many indigenous women who don’t speak Spanish. They’ve also been great fun to chat with on all the many, many long and bumpy bus rides. Additionally, I’ve been able to stay with a Friendship Bridge employee and her family out here, which has been a great way to get a glimpse of real day-to-day life in Guatemala. They have treated me like a queen and I don’t think I’ve stopped eating since I arrived! The best part of all, though, has been going to people’s homes/places of business and getting to hear their stories. There have certainly been some challenges, which I think I’m learning to overcome a little more with each interview.
Some of the ladies are very shy, and simply say their business is good and repayment is good and their families are good. There’s definitely a skill to getting them to open up, and hopefully I’ll continue to learn how to do that better. Some ladies, on the other hand, get really excited to talk about their families and their businesses. They are often very appreciative of their loans and very proud of what they have done with it. My favorite part is seeing the pride in their faces when they talk about being able to send their children to school. And for those that can’t, they repeatedly emphasize how giving their children an education and better opportunities for the future is their top priority.
Fortunately, most of the women I’ve talked with so far (approximately 35) have had pretty positive stories to tell. Their businesses are going relatively well, many of them are able to send their children to school, loan repayment has been going well, etc. But there certainly have been a few in situations that I can’t even fathom. A story of taking out a loan to purchase inventory for a little store a woman just opened up to try to support her family, only to have all the inventory stolen. “Fighting” just to pay back the loan and feed her 8 children while her husband drinks away any money he earns. And yet this woman smiles a sad smile, graciously thanks me for what I’m doing, and focuses on the dream that someday her children will have a better life. It’s so unbelievably humbling to realize the real issues people face everyday all over the world. And it makes me feel ashamed and ridiculous for many of my “needs” back in the U.S. What a privilege it is to get a glimpse of these women’s lives, hear of their struggles, be in awe of their successes.
A friend recently made a comment about balancing life’s moments with life’s big picture. The more I think about this, the more I realize how easy it is to be wrapped up in life’s long-term goals and plans, often letting day-to-day moments slide by without notice. At the same time, so many people around the world don’t have the privilege to think much beyond getting food on the table each day and keeping a roof over their heads. Yet the women seeking these loans have made a point to work to improve their lives overall, and it’s unbelievably inspiring to see the perseverance that drives them each day. Since I’ve been in Guatemala, each day has been an adventure, full of rich experiences. I can’t stop thinking about how amazing it is to live in each moment, soaking it all in. Life is so pure, so simple, so real, and I’m absolutely in love with it!
6 comments 17 June 2008
Sierra Leone: Yeah, but No
When I tell people that I am heading to Sierra Leone for the summer to do microfinance I usually end up getting the following three questions: 1) Aren’t they killing each other over there? 2) Did you choose Sierra Leone? 3) Are you crazy?
So I thought I’d kick off my first post to the Fellows Blog by answering those questions. And to keep you on your toes, I’ll start with question 2, follow that with question 1, and then let you decide for yourself on question 3. Oh, and if you don’t want to read the whole blog, my executive summary (a little gem of a technique I picked up in the corporate world) is that the answer to all three of these questions is “yeah, but no.”
Question 2: Did you choose Sierra Leone?
Yeah, but no. Sierra Leone was one of three African countries on my short list for placement through Kiva. Why? For me, Africa seems like the place to be. Skin-melting heat, squat-style toilets, and a healthy supply of malaria-carrying mosquitoes… everything you want in your summer vacation, right? Since I had previously traveled in East Africa, I short listed a few West African countries that speak English.
To be honest, in April when I was first interviewing for the Kiva Fellows program, I didn’t know anything about Sierra Leone. I mean I knew where it was on the map, but anyone who had seen Leonardo DiCaprio’s shining performance in “Blood Diamond” knew more about Sierra Leone than I did. But after some intense research, thank you Wikipedia, I agreed to make Sierra Leone my number one draft pick. I decided that the country risk level seemed “appropriately exciting” and Kiva seemed to really want to send me there because they hadn’t found anyone else crazy enough to place in Sierra Leone yet. The icing on the cake was that Sierra Leone also had an extremely enticing distinction. According to the UN’s Human Development Index, Sierra Leone is the least developed country in the world. How can you say “no” to #1?
Question 1: Aren’t they killing each other over there?
Yeah, but no. After I agreed to my placement in Sierra Leone, I dug into the country history and current status. After a few books, a couple documentaries, a child’s memoir, and more Wikipedia, I have a superficial knowledge of what is taking place in Sierra Leone. To inadequately summarize, Sierra Leone is recovering from a devastating civil war that lasted from roughly 1991 to 2002. A corrupt government was fighting a brutal rebel army, the Revolutionary United Front. The war eventually gained notoriety for its human atrocities and the UN stepped in to help bring the war to an end.
What struck me most when I was reading about the war was that the classic good vs. evil framework that I am accustomed to was nowhere in sight. The Rocky theme song never started up and Sylvester Stallone didn’t do a few pushups before beating up the bad guy. Rather, it can be argued that both sides of the conflict had questionable motives and resorted to ruthless tactics. But what is clear, is that a large amount of the civilian population was trapped in the middle. The prevalence of gruesome violence inflicted on innocent people is the most notable aspect of the war in my mind.
As I prepare to head over to Sierra Leone, the question that continues to bounce around in my mind is, “Even though the fighting officially ended a few years ago, how can people involved in this nightmarish war, victims or aggressors, return to their everyday life?” I can’t begin to imagine how that is possible. But I certainly hope that when I return from my trip, I am less amazed by the human capacity for violence than I am inspired by the human capacity for resilience. (That’s my cheesy, melodramatic comment for this post, every blog should have one.)
Question 3: Are you crazy?
Rather than answer that directly, I thought I’d offer a glimpse into my personality, and let you decide. When I was at the travel doctor this month, getting injected with every vaccine known to man, my doctor stressed that it was very important for me to take my Oral Typhoid Vaccine on schedule. I reassured her that I would, but she didn’t seem to believe me. She came back into the room a few minutes later and asked me if this would help… it was one of those rubber bracelets like Lance Armstrong wears. But this one was orange and said, “Remember Oral Typhoid Vaccine.” A huge smile spread across my face when I saw it. I told my doctor that I definitely needed it… not that it would help me remember at all, but because it was the coolest fashion accessory I had ever seen.
I’m heading to Sierra Leone in 2 days, June 19th. I look forward to writing about something more interesting than my bracelet at that point. But is that really possible? Stay tuned.
-Nicholas Sabin
9 comments 17 June 2008
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