Kiva Stories from the Field

I promise I won’t let the Madonna/Guy Ritchie break-up news distract me from writing a great blog on the mission and values here at SMT in Sierra Leone.  While I admit I’m grief-stricken, I need to move on.  I’ll look on the bright side…Guy Ritchie can now go back to making fantastic movies (see Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels).

We’ve all been members of organizations during some part of our life – corporations, unions, schools, Tuesday night basket weaving, Guy Ritchie fan club, etc., etc.  The one constant I’ve found in every organization I’ve been a member of is that they all have a mission statement. 

To some, like Kiva employees and Fellows, the mission statement is powerful and engrained permanently in our memories (Connecting people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty).  To others, the mission statement consists of empty words on a piece of fancy memo paper that we slyly toss in the recycling bin after a week of having it tacked up in our cubicles (I’m neither confirming nor denying I’ve done such a thing). 

The mission statement at SMT is as follows:

To reduce poverty among the economically active

by providing sustainable access to financial services

Let’s break it down…

“…reduce poverty…”

There will be those who will be unsatisfied until the World is completely rid of poverty.  I’m not convinced, however, that poverty has garnered enough attention to this point to be considered museum material.  We’re only at the beginning stages of the global effort.  We need a starting point and reduction is a more fair and suitable approach to our missions.  SMT understands it’s a gradual process and maybe someday they’ll be able to change their mission to “eliminate poverty…”

“…economically active…”

SMT will help those who want to be helped, who thrive on being active in the market and in their community.  Potential SMT borrowers are thoroughly screened to ensure they are capable of generating income to re-pay their loans.  SMT does not do hand-outs.  If they did, they would not survive as an institution.  Furthermore, we should agree that poverty is a threat to peace.  If microfinance can make inroads in places like Pakistan and Afghanistan, then we are moving in the right direction toward peace and economic stability.

“…sustainable access…”

Charity is not sustainable, particularly in the fight against extreme poverty.  Giveaways and handouts take away initiative and responsibility from people.  Handouts encourage dependence rather than self-help and self-confidence.  The poor that SMT serve have a chance to participate in decision-making that affects their lives.  SMT empowers its borrowers to control their own destinies.  This way, they can achieve a lot more, a lot faster.  It’s a philosophy that can be continued over multiple loan cycles.

“…financial services”

The focus of SMT remains on offering a premium micro loan product to their clients.  They offer four micro loan products, which I will discuss more extensively in a future blog: (1) individual (2) group; (3) salary; and (4) agriculture.  As mainstream microfinance evolves to include other products such as micro insurance or other products, SMT, in collaboration with their parent organization, Christian Children’s Fund, will assess the opportunity and determine whether a foray into the new product is prudent. 

Well, I hope this posting has given you a better understanding of SMT’s mission and values.  In the brief amount of time I’ve had the pleasure of working with SMT, I can unequivocally say their mission is possible. 

SMT

Adam Grenier is a member of Kiva Fellows Class 6 placed in Makeni, Sierra Leone.  When he’s not wondering how on Earth the Tampa Bay Rays (!!) beat his Red Sox to get into the World Series, he can be found meeting Sierra Leone borrowers and supporting SMT and Kiva’s missions.