The power of your loan
2 July 2009
By Drew Loizeaux, KF8 Philippines
The last 4 months working as a Kiva Fellow have allowed me an up close look at many different sides of microfinance. It has been fascinating for me to see and made me look at the loans I make through Kiva in a different way.
As Kiva Lenders, our money not only goes to the borrowers themselves, but through our interest free loans we are also directly supporting each Kiva Partner that we lend through. Each Kiva Partner is different, and no matter what your reason is for believing in the power of microfinance, there is an organization that will fit your philosophy. In the same way that you may buy local, fair trade or made in the USA products you also can put your money in an MFI who’s mission you connect with. This is a powerful tool that each lender can, and should appreciate.
At ASKI for example, the MFI I am currently working with, the revenues from the microcredit program go to fund many other social programs that help enrich the lives of not only their clients, but also the communities in which they live. Below you can see are a few videos that highlight the ripple affects our loans can have.
This is a presentation I attended last week, where a member of a local ASKI sponsored youth group explains a village water project they are working on.
ASKI has always looked to provide more than just microcredit to their clients; ASKI Foundation was created last year to formalize and strengthen some of ASKI’s “Beyond Microfinance” programs. You can see ASKI Foundation General Manager, Bogg Burbos, talk about its programs further in the video below.
While we may be only directly funding one Entrepreneur at a time when we make a loan on Kiva.org, seeking out information about the MFI that supports the entrepreneur and understanding what the revenues from our loans will be used to do can enhance and enrich the lending experience. Happy lending!
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To learn more about ASKI you can visit their website here.
To see ASKI loans currently funding click here.
To join the ASKI lending team click here.
Drew Loizeaux has been a Kiva Fellow since Febuary 2009 and is currently working at Kiva’s partner ASKI in the Philippines.
Entry Filed under: Alalay sa Kaunlaran, Inc. (ASKI), KF8 (Kiva Fellows 8th Class), Philippines. .
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1. mainstmicro | 2 July 2009 at 23:59
Thanks for sharing the great work being done by Kiva’s field partners. It’s amazing to see that our loans not only impact individual borrowers, but entire families and communities.
I first learned out about the depth of ASKI’s work from this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtjR0IfOndY
I look forward to more updates from the Philippines.
Regards,
Ronan
(aka @mainstmicro on Twitter)
2. Unilove | 3 July 2009 at 00:30
Excellent post and good point! The videos add dimensions to the concepts… As I love to say: the more we learn, the more we lend!
Unilove
Kiva lender
P.S. Thanks for the link Ronan
3. Jan & John | 3 July 2009 at 07:15
Thanks Drew. It took me a while as a Kiva lender to start checking into the MFI’s. Now I have many favourites based on the different missions and or goals they share on their sites. I really enjoyed listening to the videos and would be interested in hearing more about that youth group and how they operate and manage to fund that type of project. Thanks for sharing, jan
4. Steve | 3 July 2009 at 19:25
The video is a great tool to let us be a part of your trip and feel how impressive the MFI’s and the clients are.