Kiva Stories from the Field

Why am I going to Kenya?

29 April 2010 at 18:00 stevensgrey 22 comments

By Steve Grey, KF11, Kenya

My name is Steve Grey and tomorrow I fly for 24 hours from Charlotte, NC to New York City to Amersterdam to Nairobi, Kenya.  I am a new Kiva Fellow who will be working with Small and Micro Enterprise Programme (SMEP), one of Kiva’s lending partners in Nairobi, Kenya.  Like other Kiva Fellows, I’ll be working to promote Kiva’s mission and make a difference to borrowers, lenders, and Kiva partners like SMEP.

For those new to Kiva, here’s a quick summary:

Kiva’s mission is to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty.  Kiva is a non-profit organization that provides “micro-loans” to people in developing countries (through local lending partners) so they can start or expand a small business.  Micro-loans are typically for a few hundred dollars (for example, to buy a dairy cow or a sewing machine), usually repaid in less than a year. It’s not a donation; it’s a loan.  To date, Kiva loans have a repayment rate over 98%.

That means, with a few clicks on Kiva’s website (www.kiva.org), you can make loans to self-motivated “entrepreneurs” in 52 countries.  For example, 20 Kiva members recently loaned about $25 each to Mable for a $525 loan to purchase sugar, cooking oil, flour, etc. to expand her small store in Kakamega, Kenya.

Kiva does not administer the loans directly.  Instead, it works through local lending partners (“microfinance institutions”) in each country.  The lending partner (like SMEP, who I’ll be working with) screens the borrowers, posts their profiles to the Kiva website, disburses the money, collects payments, and keeps records. Kiva’s website is the bridge between you and the borrower, through the local lending partner.

If you want to learn more about how Kiva works, go to www.kiva.org/about/

So why am I going to Kenya as a Kiva Fellow?

It started in 2008.  After 20 years in Silicon Valley high tech, I went back to school to get a Masters in Counseling at Santa Clara University to focus on adolescent counseling.  After graduation, I was planning to move back to NC where most of my family lives.  But then I met the Higham family.  John and September Higham took their two middle-school age children (Jordan and Katrina) out of school and traveled the world for a year (see their book).  Inspired by them, I traveled with two friends (David Conway and Joe Tepe) to 26 countries between July 2008 and August 2009.  Along the way, we did volunteer work at orphanages, children’s homes, and schools in 15 developing countries (see blog).

What does that have to do with Kiva?

Since we spent most of our time volunteering in developing countries, we saw a lot of poverty.  From favelas in Brazil to slum settlements in South Africa to beggars in Calcutta to subsistence farmers in rural areas (including Kenya) poverty was pervasive… but it wasn’t hopeless.

In the midst of poverty, we met some inspiring people:

-       People like Nelson, a vocational teacher in Gulu, Uganda.  Nelson was teaching former child soldiers and abducted women to now become tailors, because they lost their education when they were abducted as part of the rebel war (now thankfully over).

-       People like Philip, who wanted to help orphaned street kids from Sao Paulo, Brazil.  Now he provides housing, education, and job placement to over 200 boys and girls.

-       People like Victor who, stricken with polio himself, started a school for disabled children in the jungles of Peru.  What started with 6 children in a tent now serves over 600 children.

-       People like Leo, who left a stable, comfortable job in Jakarta to start an orphanage for children orphaned by the massive 2004 tsunami in Indonesia.

-       And finally, people like Fridah, a teacher in Mashaka, a small rural village in Kenya.  Fridah teaches at a school for 4-8 year old children who can’t afford the uniforms and supplies required to attend public school.  Sometimes she and her co-workers go months without getting paid.

Over the course of the year, we met many people living in poverty.  But I was struck by the vitality, resilience, and generosity of the poor.  We met hard-working folks who simply lack the opportunities we take for granted.  As I read more about poverty alleviation, I became intrigued and hopeful about micro-lending.  (If you want to read about the pioneering days of micro-lending in Bangladesh, read “Banker to the Poor” by Muhammad Yunus.)  Could micro-lending be part of the solution to ending widespread poverty?  With 20% of the world living on $1 a day, and 40% living on $2 a day, we need solutions that work.

So why am I going to Kenya as a Kiva Fellow?

I’m going for three reasons:

-       I’ve been inspired by the people I’ve met (Nelson, Fridah, Victor, …) who are giving their lives to help the poor by empowering them to build a better life for themselves.  And I met many such people in Kenya and East Africa.

-       I want to honor the perseverance, creativity, ambition, and hope of the people I’ve met who are living in poverty.  They have hopes and dreams and most are willing to work hard to bring their dreams to life.

-       I want to know if micro-lending really works.  I want to see if it can help the working poor lift themselves out of poverty by their own initiative, creativity, and enterprise… if someone gives them a chance.  You can be that someone.  If you haven’t already, go to www.kiva.org/lend and read some borrower profiles.  See if there’s someone you’d like to help.

I’ll leave you with a few photos of beautiful Kenyan countryside (near the school where Fridah works):

Steve Grey is a Kiva Fellow working with Small and Micro Enterprise Programme (SMEP) in Nairobi, Kenya. He is working to get the institution from pilot to active stage as a full-fledged Kiva partner.

Entry filed under: Kenya, KF11 (Kiva Fellows 11th Class), Small and Micro-Enterprise Programme (SMEP). Tags: Banker to the Poor, Kiva, microfinance, microlending, Muhammad Yunus, Nairobi, poverty, Small and Micro Enterprise Programme, Steve Grey.