Archive for May 26th, 2009
U.S. microfinance: Who’s on our side?
One evening last week, Brooklyns’ Borough Hall opened its doors to over hundred information hungry entrepreneurs.
Nydia Velazquez, A spunky and bold congresswoman addressed the diverse crowd of entrepreneurs.
This is what she had to say…
Nydia Velasquez from Erica Dorn on Vimeo.
The recovery package has included…
The economic recovery package will enable up to $50 million to be disbursed in small, community-based loans like microloans that are capped at $35,000 each. In addition to this money, $24 million in technical assistance grants will also be available for the microlenders.
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Erica Dorn is a fellow in New York City researching U.S. Microfinance. Please feel welcome to contact her at erica.dorn@fellows.kiva.org
1 comment 26 May 2009
Signing Off from Senegal
My memories of the last eight months away from home are a jumbled mass of color, freedom, fear, patience, frustration, and energy – raw, shifting memories that have not yet arranged themselves into neat, packageable stories that I can pull from the shelf at parties when I get home.
Watching Obama's Inauguration Speech on the Togolese Roadside
I have tested my sense of self against new backgrounds, ripped away the familiar context of home to hold my idea of “Abby” up to bright new lights. I have sometimes been ashamed of my reactions to new stimuli, and sometimes proud. Catching myself swearing under my breath at street children who asked a little too aggressively for money was not my finest moment; insisting that the Kiva Coordinator not fudge the dates to make loans eligible for Kiva’s website redeemed me.
I have learned about how microfinance operates on a day-to-day basis and about the difficulty of managing work and relationships across distances and cultures. Telling an MFI employee she did not have the IT competency necessary to be the Kiva Coordinator and watching her eyes tear up was my first real introduction to the uncomfortable realities of managing people. These challenges of human nature, of judgment, failure and success, cross all cultural boundaries.
Sunset Behind a Baobab, the National Symbol of Senegal
I have changed in many ways. After struggling for months with my pocket French dictionary, and then, this morning, listening to myself rattle off yet another training in French on sending journal updates to Kiva lenders, I felt like I had tangible proof of how I’ve grown since September. Other ways I’ve grown are less easy to put a finger on, and most will continue to be elusive for many months to come.
11 comments 26 May 2009
On legal courts and stock markets
Courts and stock markets appear to have very little in common. The first are a revered part of most countries’ legal infrastructure; we cannot imagine life without them. The second, seem to bounce from loved to hated and back again in a matter of hours and are often far from respected; some countries even believe they can do without them altogether. But what do they have in common?
They both play important roles in checking the status quo. Both institutions are often the only places that can bring powerful people and institutions to account for their deeds. Courts, with their sacrosanct independence from politics and private interests, are able to bring down decisions punishing anyone that violates the law or does not honor a contract. Stock markets, for their part, can punish companies that are not fully dedicated to implementing the strategy they promised their shareholders they would adhere to and implement successfully.
2 comments 26 May 2009
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