Archive for May, 2010
Liberia: Tryin’ Small
Liberia is tryin’ small. This common expression can be heard everywhere here: it means “I’m okay” or “I’m getting by” and is the equivalent of how many Americans reflexively answer “Fine” to the greeting “How are you?” But many in Liberia are tryin’ larger, thanks to microfinance institutions, many of which have set up shop since 14 years of civil conflict ended in 2003.
Continue Reading 4 May 2010 at 13:48 John Briggs 12 comments
The first one of a kind
In the nearly eight months that I have been a Kiva Fellow, I have noticed that an increasingly common response people have when I tell them we fund microfinance institutions is: “that’s great, but aren’t those guys just getting really rich by charging the poor tons of money on their loans?” It seems as though recent press has given microfinance somewhat of a tarnished reputation.
Does the world care about you?
While we go around looking for that one person who can be our “world”, we sometimes forget that there is a “real world” out there as well
Lost & Found in Translation
By Leah Gage, KF10 Ukraine
In a few days, my Kiva Fellowship with Kiva’s field partner HOPE Ukraine will come to a close. In three months I’ve visited 10 different towns and villages throughout Ukraine and met about 40 Kiva borrowers. Not only is this essential to my work as a Kiva Fellow, but borrower visits are my absolute favorite part of volunteering for Kiva! And none of them would have been possible without my favorite Ukrainian ladies, my interpreters Kate, Masha, Nastya, Oksana and Alina (pictured below).
Pictured clockwise from top left is me with Kate, Masha, Alina, and Nastya
Coca Cola in a Baby’s Bottle: Health Horror Stories from Samoa
According to the World Health Organization, Samoa is the world’s fattest country. At least 75% of Samoans are obese and 40% suffer from Type 2 diabetes.
Mavluda’s poem and why you should get decked out in shiny hats
By Rosalind Piggot, KF10, Tajikistan
As I sat down at the living room table, former Kiva Entrepreneur Mavluda Muhidinova hurried to show me her work. 5 plate-shaped pieces of black material were already on the table: work in progress. Mavluda had been hand-stitching traditional Tajik men’s hats, which are part of her business as a hat maker.
Mavluda shows me the first hat she ever made
I was amazed when Mavluda pulled out the first hat she ever made. She had kept this green crochet hat since the early 1960s. “I came up with the idea for this hat myself. Here, men only wear the black hats.”
Tajik men's hats and ladies' wedding hats
“I am one of the few people in this city (Isfara) that actually makes the hats. (more…)
Work It Out
What do you do when your client is delinquent because the business that they have been doing for years is no longer viable? Or their spouse was in a traffic accident and their expenses tripled?
