A Long Layover for Thought
24 February 2009 at 08:18 Ashley King-Bischof 8 comments
A warm welcome to the Kiva Fellows Blog! I would like to introduce myself to you, my name is Ashley King-Bischof. As one of the last KF7 Fellows to arrive in the field, I make my way to Bamenda, Cameroon with much anticipation and excitement. My travels to Cameroon started in the San Francisco Bay Area and will last more than a couple of days before arriving to my final destination. The first part of my trek was across North America to New York City, where I am now. From there I have a longer red-eye to London, a quick jet over to Zurich and then another flight to Douala, Cameroon. As a last, and probably the most crowded trip, I have a red-eye bus ride to Bamenda. A lot, right?!
There is a reason for that; there are no direct flights from the United States to Cameroon. I had no choice but to layover in a third-party country. Ironically though, a loan to an entrepreneur in Cameroon can be fundraised faster than the time it takes me to get there by plane. Kiva’s online platform bypasses the need for a lender to meet face to face with its borrower in order to give them credit. Instead, with a click of a mouse, their loan can have the same, positive effect through the internet. It blows my mind to think of how Kiva will affect the lives of people over time with this method; the possibilities are endless. That said, my opportunity as a Kiva Fellow still requires me to layover in Europe, and although it will take some time to get to Cameroon, the wait sure does make me appreciate Kiva’s online immediacy.
With a flight or two to go, I look forward to being a Kiva Fellow in Cameroon!
You can check out the MFI I will be working with, GHAPE. They have been working with Kiva for 2 years now.
Entry filed under: Cameroon, GHAPE (Grounded Holistic Approach to Poverty Elimination), KF7 (Kiva Fellows 7th Class). Tags: Ashley King-Bischof.
1. Voiceofcameroon | 19 January 2010 at 13:52
KIVA, thank u for helping the people of our country (Cameroon).We hope Paul Biya the corrupt president learn a good lesson fom KIVA. My blessings go to the people of Bamenda. Thank you again KIVA.
2. Miriam Hidalgo | 25 February 2009 at 10:29
Ashley! Its great to get news from you. What a long trip! I wish you mostly window seats
Keep us posted!
3. Unilove | 24 February 2009 at 23:16
Excellent! Best wishes for a wonderful, enlightening, and rewarding time! We lenders love to hear about all of your adventures and insights!
4. jeffzira | 24 February 2009 at 22:03
Good luck out there. And don’t get your wallet stolen, hehe
5. Jan & John | 24 February 2009 at 14:04
All our best wishes go with you Ashley. Here at Kiva Friends, GHAPE is one of our favourites. We wait (not patiently) for details of your next experiences and learnings
jan.
6. Kiva in Senegal « Kiva Stories from the Field | 24 February 2009 at 13:49
[...] with Caurie Microfinance based in Thiès, Senegal, about an hour and a half east of Dakar (which unlike Bamenda, Cameroon, is really easy to get to from the US – a seven hour nonstop flight from your choice of New [...]
7. Lily | 24 February 2009 at 08:57
Oops. Sorry, wrong MFI. No Florence there!
8. Lily | 24 February 2009 at 08:57
Here’s wishing you a safe and enjoyable trip! Please say hi to Florence from a Kiva Friend.
~Lily