Archive for October, 2009
Stop Thief! (…too late)
There’s nothing like having your laptop, computer bag, digital camera ,that little flip video thing that Kiva provides, as well as my zip drive and wireless modem from Rwandatel (that took a good ½ day to get configured at no small cost I might add) and even a brand new electric water heater for desperately needed morning coffees to put a bump in one’s day. I have traveled for many years and I took all the normal precautions, which made this experience all the more frustrating. Details aside, I’m pleased to say that I didn’t curse, cry or condemn. Here’s how I (came to) see it…
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Kiva Lenders Have Needs, Too
By Abby Gray, KF6 Togo and KF7 Senegal
Jacques, WAGES' Kiva Coordinator, and a colleague taking a boat to visit a Kiva client in a rural area.
Meet Jacques. He’s the Kiva Coordinator at WAGES, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Togo, West Africa. Every day, a loan officer hand-delivers a stack of borrower information forms and a USB chip full of photos. Jacques has trained the officers how to fill out the forms, use digital cameras, and get borrowers to smile and display their merchandise proudly for pictures.
Jacques formats the pictures, writes the information into paragraphs, and uploads everything to Kiva’s website. Then, during the loan cycle, he reports repayments manually and visits borrowers to collect a progress update and take yet another picture.
The work is inefficient, tedious, and time-consuming.
But it’s worth it. (more…)
Seriously? Another Typhoon?
Tracking "Ramil" - Northern Luzon, Philippines
By Mary Riedel, KF9, Philippines
This is how my morning started…woke up around 5 am – packed and ready to go – off on my first trip to meet the Kiva borrowers after 2 weeks in the Philippines! Started humming a little tune to myself…”I’m on my way, I don’t know where I’m going, I’m on my way, taking my time but I don’t know where….( shout out to Simon and Garfunkel)” (more…)
My first impressions in Cambodia
by James Han, KF9 Cambodia (AMK)
AMK's new home office in Phnom Penh
Sus-Dai (Hello)! My name is James Han and I recently took a 3-month leave of absence from my management consulting career to work in Cambodia with Angkor Mikroheranhvatho Kampuchea (AMK), currently Kiva’s largest field partner. I’m thrilled to see first-hand how AMK operates as they are one of the most well-respected and efficiently operated MFIs in SE Asia (more to come on that topic in future blogs). I also have some big shoes to fill as past Kiva Fellows from AMK have either been hired full-time by AMK to start new initiatives (again, more to come later) or have now become famous in the Kiva world (e.g. Kieran Ball who created the Kiva video, “A Fistful of Dollars – The Story of a Kiva.org Loan”). No pressure!
My work plan over the next 10 weeks will be slightly different from the typical Kiva Fellow work plan I have been out in the Kompong Chhnang province of Cambodia for the past week, meeting with the local entrepreneurs and conducting Kiva Journal updates. I’ll continue to do this for the next 2-3 weeks and then spend the majority of my remaining time working on a couple special projects for AMK. Before my placement began, I was sent a list of two dozen projects I could potentially work on, ranging from researching the use of mobile phones in microfinance to new product development for special interest groups, such as victims of human trafficking. While it was hard to choose, I decided to stay in my consulting sweet-spot and will help AMK revise their incentive and salary compensation programs and will also devise a measurement system so AMK can compare performance between their various branches. I feel like a kid in a candy shop and will certainly do as much as I can with my limited time here! Be on the lookout for updates!
I’ll leave you with my first observations about life in Cambodia:
When the Floods Recede
The aftermath of Typhoon Parma
By Adam Preston, KF9, Philippines
We as Kiva lenders want to believe that the borrowers take out their loans in good faith. We want to believe that the Kiva field partners conduct the necessary due diligence to ensure that their clients have ability and determination to succeed. But what happens when everyone is doing the right thing and disaster strikes? Given the natural disaster that recently fell upon the Central and Northern Luzon provinces of the Philippines, what if even the best MFI clients cannot meet their loan obligations? What then? (more…)
Flying is a true educational experience!
By Ed Coambs kf9, Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation
I am standing in the Charlotte Douglas International Airport October 13, enjoying one last long hug from my wife before I depart on my travels to Bacolod, Philippines. Little do I know the many lessons that I will learn over the next three days. My travels start with no problems as I board my plane in Charlotte at 6:10 am for departure to Cleveland, OH. The flight goes smoothly to Cleveland and I will have a few quick minutes to grab breakfast before my next leg of my flight to San Francisco. I had briefly checked the airplane in-flight magazine for fast food locations in the airport, identifying a close Burger King. The plane lands and I quickly get off and start moving towards the Burger King. As I approach the area where the magazine reported there would be a Burger King I realize there is not one here. Lesson number one, just because you read it in a magazine does not mean that things have not changed. I settle for a pretzel dog, I know it seems strange for breakfast but I needed something quick.
Crossing Borders
By Mohammed Al-Shawaf, KF9 Palestine
Veer Right to Cross Into Israel/Palestine
I’ve discovered the best time to reflect: It’s in between the second and third rounds of interrogation at the Israeli side of the King Hussein Bridge border after fielding the same question over and over–”So…why are you here?”
I first recalled how eerily similar these questions were to the first time I told my father that I wanted to be a Kiva Fellow in Palestine:
“You want to go to Palestine?”
“What’s Kiva?”
“All out of your own pocket?”
“Can I see your bank card?
To my father’s credit, he was a bit less incredulous and did refrain from asking that last question, but you get the idea. (more…)
Tagalog, Ten Borrowers/Day, and Trepidation
Tricycle w/ Kiva Water Bottle - OK I'm totally obsessed with Tricycles. I kind of want to buy one. Sorry, but this won't be the last one you see in my posts. I just can't help myself!
Mary Riedel, KF9, Philippines
It’s Sunday afternoon and I’m sitting in a coffee shop in Cabanataun City, Philippines trying to drown out the music, “How do I live without you…” with Fiona Apple via itunes, and getting ready for a big week. I’m coaxing my internet connection like a dying plant. Do I get up and use the new phrase I just learned, “Hindi WiFi Pwede” (the Wifi is not working). For those of you who know Spanish, you’ll notice that pwede in Tagalog is similar to the meaning of puede (and it’s pronounced almost the same). Tagalog also known as Filipino is the official language here. It is fascinating language supplemented with tons of Spanish, Chinese, and English words, acronyms (CR- Comfort Room- is the restroom) and other slang words scattered throughout– then throw in phonetic text messaging and it’s like a crossword puzzle with an infinite number of Across and Down clues, again totally fascinating. For example, my co-workers tell me that “lamesa” is the word for table – so to say “the table” you would say “ang lamesa” of course I’m told by my Filipino teacher that you can also just say “ang mesa” and take out the “la” left in from the Shh’panish word for “the.” Every word seems to have a story to learn, just like all of the borrowers on Kiva.
So back to planning for my week ahead… (more…)
excerpts pertaining to M
by Jane Lim, KF9 Mongolia
notable quotes from recent reads…
“Ulaanbaatar is possibly the coldest capital city in the world.“
- Michael Kohn, Lonely Planet Mongolia, p14
as a testament to the point above, it snowed on wednesday for the first time since summer… and it’s only early october.
“The Mongols loved competitions of all sorts, and they organized debates among rival religions the same way they organized wrestling matches… Their debate ranged back and forth… No side seemed to convince the other of anything. Finally, as the effects of the alcohol became stronger, the Christians gave up trying to persuade anyone with logical arguments, and resorted to singing. The Muslims, who did not sing, responded by loudly reciting the Koran in an effort to drown out the Christians, and the Buddhists retreated into silent meditation. At the end of the debate, unable to convert or kill one another, they concluded the way most Mongol celebrations concluded, with everyone simply too drunk to continue.”
– Jack Weatherford, Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, p172-173
absolutely hilarious stuff.
Farmers playing Wall Street
By Karl Baumgarten, KF9, Costa Rica
In the last 5 years, financial innovation has spread rapidly to the field of microfinance. What previously was better coined micro-credit is starting to live up to its name, with more and more MFIs starting to offer a full gambit of financial services: microinsurance, microsavings, remittances and others. Technology is enabling these products to spread faster and further. But just what are the impacts of these products and how can we be sure that microfinance is really doing all that its rosy image implies? One increasingly popular method is a randomized control trial, where individuals are randomly divided into treatment and control groups to evaluate the impacts of various development interventions. The participants are surveyed at the beginning of the experiment and again at the end. As the treatment and control groups are randomly chosen, the differences between them at the end of the period can be attributed to that treatment/intervention.
Below are a few interesting products and findings I have come across recently: (more…)
this is not aisle 3
By Shereef Zaki, KF9, Perú
One of my first posts was titled ‘recession proof’’ in which I described the resilience of micro-businesses and the integrity of micro-lending. This time around, I want to detail a theme I had only painted with large brushstrokes.
Although EDPYME Alternativa’s borrowers are scattered throughout the region, I live in Chiclayo and it has become the backdrop and the context of my life. To me, one of the most fascinating parts of this small city is the dearth of big box stores. In their absence exists a constant buzz of small-scale commerce.
Let me describe this vibrant economic landscape. In the center of the city, around the main plaza, there is a mixture of restaurants and shops devoted to clothing and electronics (especially cell phones). As one ventures further from the center, the streets become organized by economic themes.
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- A shop selling paint or glass on Avenida Cuglievan
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- Another shop selling glass on Avenida Cuglievan
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- A string of shops selling paint on Avenida Cuglievan
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- An endless stretch of candy shops on Bolognesi selling King Kong*
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- A row of salons on Avenida Arica
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- Four corners and four pharmacies at the intersection of Balta and Pedro Ruiz
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- In the Mercado Modelo – one of the largest semiformal markets in Perú – there is a seemingly endless amount of organized commerce. For example, the footwear section
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In search of Kiva’s highest microloan
By Adam Kemmis Betty, KF9, Bolivia
Kiva’s website provides a wealth of statistics for curious lenders, but one unfortunate and disappointingly uncontroversial omission is the altitude at which the loan was disbursed. With the average borrower living at 4,150 m (13,615 ft) above sea level, I’d be willing to bet that Pro Mujer Bolivia would be a good place to start in any search for Kiva’s highest microloan (any challenges from Peru or Kyrgyzstan?).
On top of the world: El Alto, Bolivia
Re-Learning in Sierra Leone
by Stephanie Meyer, KF9
So after three hectic days, 30 hours of flying, a water taxi, a car ride, and a lot of help from friends, I have arrived at my MFI post in Makeni, Sierra Leone, with Salone Microfinance Trust (hereafter, SMT). (Never heard of Makeni? Check it out HERE) Having traveled long-term in Africa before, I was quite proud of the knowledge that I had, and fairly confident in my ability to get around the ins and outs of life in Sierra Leone once I arrived. What I found, however, is that I have a lot to re-learn…
Premières impressions à Santo Domingo
By Thomas Gold, KF9 Dominican Republic
For English version, click on “read the rest of this entry”, then scroll down.
« La République Dominicaine est un pays aux couleurs vives, musiques et danses irrésistiblement entraînantes et climat tropical».Voici la seule image que j’étais capable de me figurer, en attendant mon avion à l’aéroport de San Francisco, du lieu où j’allais passer les prochains mois de ma vie.
Une semaine après mon arrivée dans le pays, cette vague représentation s’est précisée et matérialisée, en fonction des premières impressions que j’ai pu ressentir, et dont voici quelques exemples.
The Cable Broke
By Zal Bilimoria, KF9 Ecuador
Let me start off by saying that I think everything will be fine. Everyone is safe – no injuries but a few terrified souls. I wish I had brought my camera with me, but we were told to leave instantly. It all started when Rocio – the Kiva Coordinator at Fundacion ESPOIR in Quito responsible for uploading loans from the branch offices to Kiva.org – was showing me the painstaking manner for how she uses a combination of Excel spreadsheets, a scratch piece of paper and a calculator to upload the monthly repayments of ESPOIR’s borrowers from the two offices in Cuenca and Manabi. More on that later.
I was facing the terrace window at the time and saw a large flash followed by smoke as the ground shook momentarily on the top floor of the Comandato building where ESPOIR’s administrative office is located in Quito. Simultaneously, we lost power, and fire alarms started to pierce our ears. We quickly went outside to the terrace – unwisely I must say – to understand the cause. Based on the location from where the smoke was coming, it could only have been the elevator right outside the office. My heart sunk a bit, as I feared for any people that might have been inside (luckily, no one was). We still do not know the cause, as this just happened less than 30 minutes ago.
Apparently, the cable broke, but the elevator had remained steadfastly in place. I can still smell some smoke, but what I’ll remember most is the terrified look of a few individuals in the office who were being comforted by those of us who were trying to calm them down and even laugh about it a bit to ease the tension. Even more concerning, there is a gas station next door!
I walked over to the desk of Karina – with whom I’m currently staying in a very nice, comfortable apartment in New Town – and asked her how the servers were doing since she’s been head of Systems for ESPOIR for 15+ years. All of them were down, and the head office was not able to connect to the branch offices – a potentially serious issue when thinking about the sheer amount of data that is being downloaded and stored – tens of thousands of loans and the associated data. We believe there was no data loss, but the staff is still in the process of verifying as the servers are now back up and running.
We quickly exited the building as the fire truck, ambulance, and police cars drove up. After 20 minutes, we re-entered the building after the emergency support crew reassured us.
The cable broke. I found it incredible that I was speaking to a few friends and family back home last night about my overdependence on the Internet, as both Facebook and YouTube are blocked in ESPOIR’s offices and there is no connection available in the apartment where I’m staying. I even started a draft of that post, but when I heard that the cause was a broken cable, it reminded me that there are more important things in life than my access to the web. As I now hear laughter and talk of where to each lunch permeating the office, I know we’ll all be fine, and that I bonded 30 minutes ago with the incredibly warm and friendly staff members at ESPOIR.
Check out Kiva.org and lend to the hard-working women of Ecuador.
“Filipinos are like Bamboo…
By Prem Thomas, KF9, Manila, Philippines
We bend, but don’t break.” These are the words Lala, the Kiva Coordinator, at the Center for Community Transformation Credit Cooperative (CCT) used to describe the Filipinos who have and will bounce back from the flooding caused by Typhoons Ketsana and Parma. My name is Prem Thomas, and today is my fifth day at the head office of CCT in Manila, Philippines. I spent the last four years working in finance in New York; most recently I was at a civic venture capital fund and previously worked at an investment bank. I will be taking over for Merrick Brown (KF8) who has been helping CCT for the last three months.
A CCT borrower out and about, they seem to be everywhere.
“You Are Welcome”
By: Jed Goldstein (KF9, Uganda)
Hi my name is Jed Goldstein and this is my first blog post as a Kiva Fellow. I arrived in Uganda 4 days ago on Saturday afternoon and began work with Pearl Microfinance on Monday. So far I have felt incredibly “welcome.” I surround “welcome” with quotation marks because meeting someone new and introducing yourself in Uganda is a serious act not to be taken lightly.
The first phase of introduction requires a firm handshake and a level of prolonged eye contact. If you are strong enough to make it through the mini staring contest a local Ugandan will offer his/her name followed by the patient, but strong declaration that “you are welcome.” So, considering I have met more Ugandans than I can remember in the past couple of days, I say with confidence that I feel extremely “welcome.”
One of my first tasks as a Kiva Fellow was to deliver a bunch of electronic equipment to local MFI’s. I think in total I transported from the U.S. 16 digital cameras and 2 laptop computers to Kampala with me. Yesterday I began making the delivery rounds and could not believe the warm receptions I received. All of the MFI employees were so grateful to be receiving items that will facilitate their connection with Kiva and better allow them to post business profiles on the website.
While it was great to be treated as mini celebrity when I was delivering the items, my coworker here at Pearl said something very interesting to me as I handed her four cameras. She remarked, “You guys are doing everything— Giving us the food then feeding us.” This statement captured my attention, so I recorded it in my notebook and thought about what exactly she meant for a while. My conclusions (they may be wrong of course) are as follows:
Here in Uganda where 50% of the population lives on less than $1.25 per day, nothing is given and life is a constant struggle to survive. Gifts here are not given or received in vain, but they are appreciated to a level and extent that is hard for me, and I believe many of my fellow Americans, to fully understand. The reason I write of this is to remind Kiva lenders, just how grateful the entrepreneurs, not just in Uganda, but around the world are for their loans. These loans in many cases serve to make that “constant struggle” just a little bit easier.
If you would like to lend to a pearl borrower please follow this link: PEARL’s KIVA PAGE
Dignity and Exhaustion
by Kelly McKinnon, KF9, Leon, Nicaragua
My attraction to Kiva and to their model of how microfinance fits into development, I’ve realized, has very much to do with their insistence upon the dignity of the individual. Throughout the Kiva Fellows training, through conversations and actions this concept was repeated, emphasized and modeled. I’m wishing I had the presence of mind to recognize that this exact insistence is what drew me here in the first place, wishing I recognized long ago this is what I felt during my summer in Honduras, wishing I had the eloquence to express this when I interviewed for this fellowship or for the dozens of forms I find myself filling out.
But my goodness! How guarding the dignity of another person is a delicate thing!
I visited my first client. An older woman in a nightgown opens the door to us; my exuberant colleague recognizes our intrusion and apologizes for the disturbance. We sit in the sala to explain what a journal update is, how Kiva is an odd funding entity that wants to know her dreams. She rocks back and forth, comfortable in her own home, but not in light of our probing questions. She is tired. I cannot pick her out of a family picture resting on the coffee table. The cast on her left wrist rests on a pillow in her lap. She is thin and her movements are those of someone who is more than just tired.
I am struck not by sadness, but by her honesty, her resolution. I sit in front of her embarrassed to be here as a business woman. She does not look to me for pity. As a business woman, she answers my questions. I am more grateful for Kiva’s oddity, for its requirement that the practice of business recognize this dignity.
We ask a woman with cancer what are her dreams. She is 66 and says with equal pragmatism that she has no dreams and that her loan payments are never late.
My Microfinance Institution
By Anne Hector, KF9 Kenya
My microfinance institution is the Small and Micro Enterprise Programme of Kenya (SMEP) and it is located in Nairobi… not at the foot of the Ngong Hills, I have to admit, but it is very very near Ngong Road. (more…)
We are all Kiva partners (Somos Todos Socios de Kiva)
By Sheethal Shobowale, KF9, Peru
Wordreference translates the Spanish word socio as member or partner.
Yesterday, on my first day as a Kiva Fellow at Asociación Arariwa, I got to see my first group loan disbursement. Raquel (the Kiva coordinator at Arariwa) described the borrowers as Nuestros Socios (our members). In a group loan at Arariwa, the borrowers are Socios del banco. A lender who joins the Kiva community can also be called a Socio de Kiva. I translate Kiva’s partner MFIs as Socios de Kiva (Kiva partners) and I describe myself as Socio de Kiva (Kiva Fellow). And one more: here’s a past blog post by another Kiva Fellow, Michelle, about Socios Dinámicos.
Of course we all have other names -
- Institución de Microfinanzas – Microfinance Institution: Asociación Arariwa
Institución de Microfinanzas - Microfinance Institution: Asociación Arariwa
- Prestamista – Lender: Kiva Lending Team Amigos de Asociación Arariwa
Prestamista - Lender: Kiva Lending Team Amigos de Asociación Arariwa
- Prestatario – borrower: Ayda from Asociación Arariwa, Cusco, Peru
Prestatario - borrower: Ayda from Asociación Arariwa, Cusco, Peru
- Voluntario – Volunteer: “Lethal” Sheethal Shobowale, Kiva Fellow, KF9, Peru
Voluntario - Volunteer: "Lethal" Sheethal Shobowale, Kiva Fellow, KF9, Peru
but I really like the idea that we are all socios (partners or members) of Kiva, of microfinance and in alleviating poverty. And going back to Kiva’s mission, Connecting People through Lending to Alleviate Poverty, being connected as socios seems to make sense to me.
Please consider becoming a Socio of Asociación Arariwa by lending to Arariwa borrowers and joining our Kiva lending team – Amigos/Amigas de Arariwa!
Sheethal Shobowale is currently serving as a Kiva Fellow with Asociación Arariwa in Cusco, Peru.
The place between Russia and China
by Jane Lim, KF9, Mongolia
here’s where i’m at:
i wanted to write a before and after just so you can hear my drawn breath of anticipation / trepidation in between…
before: 9:30am EST on Friday, Oct 9th
i realize no one knows a lot about Mongolia… therefore i can make up absolutely anything and people will believe me. haha
case in point. (some of the following are actually true)
- there is a mongolian mythical creature called the Mongolian Death Worm which is purportedly found in the Gobi Desert, grows up to 5 ft long, and spews sulfuric acid which makes it deadly to men
- Genghis Khan’s father wasn’t his mother’s first husband
- mongolians historically have been nomads, and hence do not farm; therefore amongst many other things their vegetables are made-in-china
- there is another mongolian mythical creature in the Kharyagas lake which is roughly equivalent to the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland
- there is a Louis Vuitton store in the capital
- there still exists barter trade in Mongolia. I am for instance, trying to use xx units of xxx as currency. (am not revealing exactly what because i don’t want it to devalue. j/k)
turning to more mundane matters, in the next 35 hours starting at 4:30pm EST i will take 3 flights, have 2 layovers, be in 4 airports (Boston>LA>Seoul>Mongolia), before arriving in Ulaanbataar.
hopefully it’ll go like clockwork.
after: roughly 3pm on Sunday, October 11th (Mongolian time is exactly 12 hours ahead of EST)
Landing in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
time to be a Kiva fellow.
Geopolitics and giant goats: thoughts from a week in Dakar
By Ilmari Soininen, KF9 UIMCEC Dakar, Senegal“Africa lite” is how a retired career diplomat once described Senegal to me. Glancing at a map of West Africa he may have a point. Bloody diamond-fuelled conflicts in Sierra Leone and Liberia, violent Islamic extremism in Mali and Mauritania and the recent military coup in Guinea make Senegal look like a bastion of stability, even in light of the resurgence of a separatist movement in the southern region of Casamance (recent news).
Further, despite relatively weak institutions and inescapable corruption, Senegal has had a rich history of democratic elections. The transition of power in 2000 to the current president, Abdoulaye Wade, was smooth and peaceful despite fiery campaigning. Looking back to the previous change of guard is perhaps even more telling: in 1980, President Senghor became the first African head of state to ever step down voluntarily. Pretty amazing.
But enough geopolitics, let’s get to the giant goats. (more…)
A Sunday outing, MFI-style
By Rob Packer, KF9 (Kyrgyzstan)
I feel it’s almost become a cliché to write about the inspiring professionalism and overwhelming dedication of MFI staff on these pages. I’ve now been at my Kyrgyz MFI, Mol Bulak Finance, for a week and have now seen where the clichés come from: reality. As if to drive the point home, MBG’s indefatigable Credit Manager, Renat was waiting outside my apartment at 9am on a sunny, but cold October morning to visit borrowers in and around Kara-Balta, Kyrgyzstan.
The view from Bishkek
The road out of Bishkek was my first trip outside of the capital within Kyrgyzstan after my night-time journey from the airport into town. Our route out took us past Osh Bazaar, one of Bishkek’s largest, and Kyrgyzstan’s largest used car market, which is a phenomenon I hope to write about in a later blog. Along our route thousands of kilometres of flat Kazakh Steppe and West Siberian Plain crashed spectacularly into the snow-capped Toblerone blocks of the Alatau Mountains, the advance guard of the Himalayas, which rise 3500 metres within the space of 50 km. (more…)
Rice, Beans, and an Inspired Hypothesis
By Alana Solimeo, KF9 Costa Rica
After six months of subsisting on rice and beans while living in Boulder, Colorado, in order to save scrupulously in hopes of being invited to the Kiva Fellows Program, where do I stand? In San Jose, Costa Rica…eating nothing but rice and beans. I am finally here and don’t let that intro fool you; I’m exactly where I want to be. Three days into the fellowship and I already have my two favorite things planned: a weekend beach trip and a research topic! (No, I’m not a student just a serial nerd.)
I have been placed with EDESA, an MFI that was formed as a response to an increasing demand for loans to the Community Credit Enterprises (ECCs) that are all throughout Costa Rica, primarily in under-targeted rural areas. ECCs are legal businesses, member/shareholder/borrower-owned and run that, after their lending capacity expands past that which can be funded by the initial “IPO,” seek more formal funding. EDESA loops back into the story rather seamlessly at this point. After the ECCs have been well-established, trained, experienced, demonstrated success and increased capacity, EDESA becomes a source of funding and the ECC becomes a member/shareholder/borrower of EDESA!
Needless to say, their microfinance model is unique, and it’s setting off my dorky, academic-research-paper-writing inclinations like mad. Young like Kiva, with a far reach, a unique model, and great ambitions, EDESA is a slight anomaly. This makes me wonder, if Kiva’s explanations for low cost delivery method are technology and partnerships, what’s EDESA’s explanation?
Tempted at this point to present my hypothesis, I think I’ll give myself a full week on the job first. Check back in to the Kiva Fellows Blog to see how my perspective on success at the MFI level develops and evolves. Join EDESA’s lending team to stay up to date with my journeys visiting ECCs and their borrowers throughout Costa Rica.
For more detailed descriptions of both EDESA and the ECC’s microfinance models please refer back to Kiva Fellow Megan Montgomery’s blog from her time here in San Jose.
Unsung Heroes
By Shereef Zaki, KF9, Perú
‘Connecting people through lending,’ precedes ‘alleviating poverty,’ in Kiva’s mission statement. I have come to believe that the goal might actually be of a higher as opposed to a simple aesthetic preference. I mean, maybe we could eradicate poverty individually, but with the concerted effort of a community it can be done more effectively. In a community one can share ideas, efforts, problems, solutions and risks.
And last week that is exactly what Kiva’s partner institutions in Latin America did. For the second year in a row, nearly all the MFIs who work with us in South America sent a representative to our Cumbre (summit, or in this context conference). For a full day we talked about new site features, challenges to the microfinance industry, new organizational efforts and new collective ideas.
Kiva connects people - on many levels
Babies and Banking
For many of us, going to the bank (or the doctor, the post office, etc.) is a quiet, adult activity, but for many recipients of micro-loans, they have responsibilities like children that can’t get left behind.
Continue Reading 9 October 2009 at 07:24 Julia Kastner 7 comments
“After the storms, a new morning comes.”
The rain has stopped! Umbrella and tricycle outside ASKI!
Mary Riedel, KF9, Philippines
I’m sitting in Cabanatuan City, Philippines on the island of Luzon, which is one of the main islands in the Philippines (a nation composed of over 7000 islands). My name is Mary Riedel and it’s Day 5 of my Kiva Fellowship at Alalay sa Kaunlaran, Inc. (ASKI) (a partner in development). ASKI has been an MFI Partner with Kiva for 10 months and I am the third fellow to be on the ground here with Adam Preston fellow #4. They have over 2000 Kiva Entrprenuers and have raised a little over 400K on Kiva.
It’s weird to be so close to the recent devasation of Ketsana (Ondoy – local name) and Parma (Pepang – local name) and still feel somewhat removed from it all, apart from the rain of course and carrying “payong ko” (my umbrella). However, it has touched the lives of many employees here and all of the Kiva clients/borrowers at ASKI who live in Region II (Northern Luzon) where there was serious damage from Parma. This region was chosen to be “Kiva Country,” (as the ASKIANS call it) because it is the most remote and under-served area in the ASKI portfolio.
Kiva Fellow on La Frontera
By Julie Pachico, KF9 Mexico
FVP's mission statement: "to generate positive, durable change..."
I’ve been living in the Mexican border town of Nuevo Laredo for almost two weeks now, working with the microfinance organization Fundación para la Vivienda Progresiva. While most Fellows in my KF9 class must confront extreme jetlag, long layovers, and complicated visa applications, I didn’t even have to buy an international ticket: I flew into Laredo, was picked up by someone from FVP and then we just drove over the border. If I were so inclined, I could simply walk over the bridge to Texas and go to Starbucks. It all feels a bit disjointed here on la frontera, to say the least.
Nuevo Laredo has certainly taken its fair share of blows over the years. While it isn’t spoken of in the same horrified, awestruck tone with which people mention Tijuana and Juarez, the city and its inhabitants still come off as slightly traumatized. The streets are eerily deserted here, especially after 7pm. While driving to meet clients, the loan officers often point out locations of interest to me: “oh look, see the bullet holes in the walls there? That’s where the big shoot-out six years ago took place.” “See that apartment building? That’s where they assassinated that journalist.” It’s always the vague and indefinite “they” (“ellos”); apparently the newspapers don’t cover drug-related crimes and executions anymore. One of the accountants told me not to go to a particular gym because “the police go there,” which was definitely a first for me.
Following The No Pago Movement in Nicaragua
By Victoria Kabak, KF9, Nicaragua
As some of you may have noticed, this week a notification was placed underneath the borrower profiles on all loans to Nicaraguan borrowers on Kiva.org. It reads, in part:
In mid 2008, a movement began in Nicaragua called “Movimiento No Pago” (a movement for non-payment of loans). This movement, supported mostly by farmers of the north of Nicaragua with ties to the left-wing party in Nicaragua, has been organizing protests (some violent) and forcing microfinance institution branches to close…This group has submitted a law to the government to create a moratorium on debt repayment. The group contends it will not make payments on their loans until such law is passed. If passed, the law could have a crippling effect on the microfinance industry and banking sector in Nicaragua. The network of microfinance institutions in Nicaragua (ASOMIF) has been negotiating with the government in support of an alternative proposal.
During our training two weeks ago in San Francisco, I learned for the first time about the “No Pago” movement, known formally as “el Movimiento de Productores, Comerciantes, Microempresarios y Asalariados del Norte,” or the Movement of Farmers, Merchants, Microentrepreneurs, and Wage-workers of the North (among other similar names). Giovanna, Kiva’s Microfinance Parternships Manager for the Americas, wanted me and the other two KF9ers going to Nicaragua to know about the situation in advance.
I could write pages and pages about what’s going on, but I’ll give just a brief summary. (more…)
Tchau Moçambique
By Cameron Morris KF8, Mozambique
On Monday ten hours of arduous bus travel took me from Maputo to Johannesburg and brought a pretty definite end to my Kiva Fellowship. Before going to Mozambique I was easily amazed by wonky, academic models that sought to bring the end of poverty to the world. It didn’t take long to realize that those theories are exactly that, just theories that in reality cannot be easily applied. People are not merely numbers or statistics and their problems are not inputs into functions. Their problems are real and have voices. Voices that are not full of sob stories, but that are pragmatic and eager to get things done. They do not need economists in white coats to solve their problems, nor do they need bags full of money. They merely need to be enabled to pursue their ideas, plans and dreams. (more…)
