Kiva Stories from the Field

Do you need more fun in your life?

9 February 2010 at 00:53 marydear 11 comments

I am not sure if it is an East Coast thing or a Catholic school thing but when I was in grammar school I loved field day. In kid language Field Day = “No more classes, no more books, no more teacher’s dirty looks.”A day full of watermelon to eat and games to play – a clear demarkation that summer and weeks of PLAYTIME were on the way – This was only the beginning!

Ahhhh the yester years of Playtime…. In our busy ADULT lives, it seems playtime often falls off the radar. How many times have you thought, “I need more fun in my life.” Perhaps you have chosen to take on more at work, join a professional organization, or volunteer at your child’s school. If this sounds like you – you probably feel overworked.

Well, your not alone, many Kiva borrowers also feel overworked but unfortunately they can’t decide (as I often do) to scale back a bit. When you’re fighting poverty with 2 small businesses, dealing with a corrupt government, raising 3 kids and maybe even a grandkid or two I don’t know that choosing to give up your “playtime” is an actual choice. Please know I don’t say this to make anyone feel badly but rather to state a fact. Which makes watching 40 working poor women running around with flour all over their faces, coins in their mouths – literally playing – a sight to cherish.Two months ago ASKI, one of Kiva’s Microfinance Field Partner’s in the Philippines hosted a Team Building Event where I got to see just that. I have written about this event before but now that my Mac has recovered from the coffee incident (don’t ask) you just have to see this video footage!! (20 seconds will do – the flour faces are priceless)

ASKI is an amazing organization that offers Credit + (as some people are coining it these days) which means it offer microloans (credit) +plus many other services (like insurance, training, scholarships) to their clients. The attendees of the event were all Group Loan Leaders being rewarded for taking on the extra work of organizing borrowers in their villages. These women had never met each other before (a big deal for women who usually only interact with local villagers or family members). But in no time they were working and laughing together as they tried to win prizes. I’m sure many exchanged numbers – and will no doubt keep in touch via text of course (networking in it’s purest form).

So if your looking for something hysterical to do with or without your kids or your HR Department is looking for a new incentive scheme, a cheap way to boost moral, or smooth cross-functional department tensions – you can just forward them this video and the list of ingredients below-  it’s a really cheap solution in a down economy! Alright. I know, I know it wouldn’t fly – but honestly why? Why do we take ourselves so seriously that we can’t follow the lead of ASKI borrowers. Why does “fun” have to be so sophisticated anyway - As one of my favorite bumber stickers says, “Maybe the Hokee Pokee is what it’s all about.” But that my friend is a whole other blog post.

2 C Flour

4 Plastic Chairs

2 Bowls Coins = to the Amount of Players

Many Screaming fans.

Think ASKI rocks like I do? Support an ASKI borrower – like ummmm Now

Mary Riedel has wrapped up her KF9 Placement with ASKI in the Philippines but has just recovered her video files from her time in the field. (Take it from her… always drink a covered coffee cup near your computer) She is doing a KF10 Placement with Maxima in Cambodia. Click here to support a Maxima client.

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