Beans, rice and a lot of Esperanza (Hope)
30 January 2009
After approximately a year of waiting I finally made it to my destination: the micro finance institute (MFI) Esperanza/Hope International located in balmy, beautiful Santo Domingo! Kalie Gold (another Kiva Fellow) and Analin (Kiva Coordinator) have been gracious enough to show me the ropes, and there is plenty to do. Right now we are currently working on designing a short training course for getting better profile pictures, more journal updates, getting documents sent on a timely manner, etc.
I was really excited to learn that Esperanza/Hope International are getting ready to launch Kiva loans from Haiti! I am really, really excited that I will be part of this amazing opportunity. As many of you know Haiti, the least developed country in the Western Hemisphere, has been experiencing severe economic recession. This has resulted in the majority of its residents to live in extreme poverty. To give you an idea of the situation the current gross national income (GNI) is currently only $560 (USD). Haiti is also severely deforested, with estimates of approximately only 2% of the country forested. The economic and environmental conditions make Haiti a destination of UN Peacekeepers, and development organizations.
We will be traveling to Trou du Nord, Haiti to interview Kiva borrowers. I am unsure of how many loans will be posted. But I am confident that Kiva members will snap them up quickly so keep your eye out for the Haiti loans! I hope you will participate in the important challenge of alleviating poverty one micro loan at a time!
Esperanza/Hope International Central Office in Santo Domingo
This afternoon I had the pleasure to see a group of 5 women receive their loan money. I have to say when I saw the women get their money and talked to them about what they planned to do with their loan I got a bit emotional. One woman planned to sell men’s shoes, another a fruit stand, and another clothing. It is such an amazing thing to see these women get a chance at something more. One of the women told the loan officer that in two years she was going to have a bought a car by then and was going to stop by and pick him up! Now that’s confidence.
Analin, Kalie and I
Loan officer dispersing the loan money.
Entry Filed under: All, Americas, Dominican Republic, Esperanza International, Haiti, KF6 (Kiva Fellows 6th Class). Tags: Analin, Ashley Nelsen, Dominican Republic, Esperanza International, Haiti, Hope International, Kalie Gold, Kiva.
9 Comments Add your own
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <pre> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed
RSS - Posts
1. Dana | 30 January 2009 at 16:17
Changing the world one loan at a time, Ash! Have fun down there.
2. Find Niches | 30 January 2009 at 16:58
Excellent content here and a nice writing style too – keep up the great work!
3. catherine g. | 31 January 2009 at 10:44
always good to hear about you and your work…God bless you!
4. Meridith Lynn | 31 January 2009 at 12:32
Steak and potatoes turned to beans and rice
Looks like your already busy down there! XO Miss you
5. Jane Snodgrass | 1 February 2009 at 05:49
You are amazing! You have taken on so many challenges to help the poor. I will look forward to your updates. Have a great day, Jane Snodgrass
6. Mary | 2 February 2009 at 10:20
You go girl!! What an awesome organization your involved in! Keep us updated, and have fun!
7. Sarah Forbes | 5 February 2009 at 07:44
glad you’ve made it out into the field Ashley!! Yay!
8. Claudia Martinez | 8 February 2009 at 07:25
Hey!! Sounds great! Estaba viendo tele esta semana (creo que era el canal infinito) y estaban dando un programa sobre esperanza! Muy lindo e interesante… Buena suerte!!!
9. Irwan Wijaya | 22 June 2009 at 08:05
Dear KIVA Community,
I’m a small entrepreneur from Indonesia. Now I have a small vegetarian cafe. I intend to develop my business, but I have problem with fund. I don’t have enough fund. So, I intend to borrow some money from the lenders community in KIVA.
But I don’t know how to register as a borrower in KIVA. So I want to ask how I can register as a borrower. I would be very glad to receive help from the lenders. Thank you very much indeed.
Best regards,
Irwan