As a Kiva Fellow, drinking the Kiva kool-aid and eating, living, breathing Kiva day-in and day-out, my browser is full of tabs following Kiva online. I wanted to share those ways to connect with you. So you too, can friend, follow, subscribe and join away!
Blogs:
Kiva Fellows – a great place to read all about the stories, experiences and reflections of the approximately 40 Kiva Fellows that are currently in the field.
Kiva Blog – To read about happenings from Kiva HQ including new country launches, partnerships and resources for ways to get more involved with Kiva.
Phew! Is there anything I’m missing? Is there anywhere you’d like to see Kiva online that isn’t listed here? Thanks and happy connecting, see you around the Internet!
Sloane Berrent, KF8, is currently serving her placement with Ahon sa Hirap (ASHI) in the Philippines. She is learning to love, or at least not visible cringe from, love ballads from the ‘90s, the de rigueur music choice in every taxi, tricycle, jeepney, café and restaurant experienced thus far. When better “connected” you can find her promoting Kiva on Twitter and writing about social action campaigns on her blog, The Causemopolitan.
I have a professor and mentor from my undergraduate days whose advice and thoughts I value and respect so much. I still communicate with him regularly, and over the years, the topic of interest rates in microfinance has come up repeatedly in our conversations. This is the man from whom I first learned about community currency, an alternative exchange system used alongside national currencies. He is knowledgeable about micro and macroeconomics, as well as finance. However, our conversations about interest rates for microloans always end the same way: with me, for the most part, defending the rates charged for microloans, and with him maintaining that the rates are most often too high. I think I finally have the words to support my position, and I offer them up to you all.
It seems I’ve always intuitively known that if you want to be in the business of giving very small loans to the poor, your expenses are going to be higher than if you are a financial institution that works with middle to high income clientele. If you want to continue providing basic financial services to the poor you must have a sustainable operation, with an ability to cover all your expenses and generate funds to lend as well. Many microfinance institutions (MFIs) rely on donor funds to stay sustainable, and I would even venture to say, without the statistics at my fingertips, that the majority of MFIs begin operations this way. Many are not able to wean themselves from donor funds. But relying on donor funds has its own cost, in terms of meeting donor needs, reporting back to donors, and the very real threat of MFIs losing sight of their own missions by putting their financial viability (and sometimes donor missions) at the top of their priority list. The more recent trend in microfinance is to move away from donor funds and seek financial sustainability as quickly as possible. Scaling up the business by adding more borrowers is a step in this direction, and there are certainly MFIs, who once they have reached a financial comfort level, have lowered their interest rates. However, that comes with time and sustainability. The first goal, before lowering interest rates, is financial self-sufficiency.
One thing that is really important to acknowledge is that different country contexts present different challenges to meeting financial sustainability for MFIs. For example, Kiva recently launched its first loans to borrowers in the United States. One of the MFIs offering these loans, ACCION, charges an interest rate of 12% APR. That may seem on the reasonable end to many from the US. However, (more…)
Hello from Kisumu, Kenya! After 36 hours of flying and several very sound nights of sleep, I’m writing you from the offices of Kisumu Medical and Education Trust (K-MET), our Kiva field partner! I say our because I have the privilege of working alongside my wife, Alison Carlman throughout our Kiva Fellowship. What an experience!
After arriving at the tiny Kisumu airport on Monday evening, we were able to settle into our temporary housing on the K-MET “complex.” We were in a bit of a daze from the sleepless flights and harrowing airport encounters trying to convince airport personnel in every country that we traveled through that they should exempt us from the charges levied on overweight baggage. Since when is 30kg a person overweight!?
Moving on.
The Kenyan experience thus far has been wonderful. From Ekesa, the administrative manager who picked us up from the airport, to the administrative staff, to John Asuke, the director of the revolving loan fund, to the staff at the field offices—everyone we have encountered at K-MET—and in Kenya in general—has warmed our hearts to an unexpected extent. We are so excited to be able to work with this group of exceptional people! (more…)
