In The Words of Our Clients – An SMS Journal Pilot in Kenya
28 July 2010 at 22:08 Jeremy Gordon 5 comments
By Jeremy Gordon, KF11, Kenya
On July 26th, Erick Bii updated the 21 lenders that had supported his loan with the state of his business, the impact of his loan on his family, and his recent challenges. To read the full journal, click on the quote above.
To communicate with his lenders, Erick didn’t need to travel to the Juhudi branch office in Litein, or even sit down with a loan officer at his farm. Instead, he responded to a series of SMS questions sent to him via his mobile phone. Erick chose to receive his survey in Kiswahili, but in several of [our] [early] [tests], borrowers preferred to send their updates in English.
A SIM-card and modem in the Juhudi office collect text messages from clients as they complete their surveys
There are a couple of exciting aspects to this method of getting journal updates. First, there’s no need for an intermediary: the text message responses are received and compiled automatically at Juhudi’s main office, and sent to Kiva’s website as soon as they’re reviewed. We want our lenders to read the exact words of the entrepreneur, so for now, journals received in Kiswahili will be posted as is—we’ll show the English translation of the questions ask, but rely upon our lenders to provide a translation of the responses (perhaps from Kiswahili speaking acquaintances or lenders, or failing that, a web service like Google Translate).
Secondly, the system we’ve developed has the option of customizing the questions sent based on the type of loan received by the client. Because Erick’s loan was to purchase an insured dairy cow, his survey included a question about how much milk he was able to sell. But we can take that a step further and ask the entrepreneurs what you, the lending team, are most curious about. In the not too distant future, I would love to see lenders proposing questions for the client whose loan they’re supporting, and for Juhudi to incorporate the best ideas into that client’s survey.
It’s in pilot testing now, but Kiva journals like this one could become more frequent on Kiva’s site. Because journals are such an important part of Kiva’s mission to connect entrepreneurs and lenders, we’re eager to hear what you think about this project. Would you be interested to read SMS responses in the next journal from your portfolio? What would you most like to hear from the entrepreneurs you’ve supported?
Jeremy is a Kiva Fellow working with Juhudi Kilimo in Nairobi.
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Entry filed under: Juhudi Kilimo (JK), Kenya, KF11 (Kiva Fellows 11th Class). Tags: blogsherpa, Jeremy Gordon, Journal, Juhudi Kilimo, Kenya, Mobile Phone, SMS.
1. Georgina Partin | 16 January 2011 at 07:32
I am excited to have this opportunity to “hear” from the entrepreneurs themselves. THANKS!
2. Casey | 24 August 2010 at 10:33
This is exciting. Please keep us posted on how it works out.
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4. Petra | 30 July 2010 at 05:18
Hi Jeremy,
To me too, it does sound like a great way to get updates. It might be too difficult for some entrepreneurs to “spontaneously” tell about their life, but for others it means that they spend less time on being interviewed and more time on being an entrepreneur. For the MFI, I surely see the benefits in that it saves time and traveling.
What I often would like to know, is how easy (or hard) it is for the entrepreneur to repay the loan. Are they having a difficult time with it, or is it easy?
And how satisfied they are with the things they bought using the loan; does it really help them in their business? Was it a good idea, they think?
Finally, sometimes the story that’s presented with the loan makes you want to ask more questions, such as: how’s your daughter? Has your husband recovered from his illness? Etc. That depends on the story. So here it would be great if lenders could ask questions too. Not every question should HAVE to be answered, though. It can be that some questions are to private!
5. Lena Shuster | 29 July 2010 at 01:16
Hi Jeremy,
SMS sounds like a great way to get journal updates. But i’d worry that if people need to type out things on their little cell phones, they’ll give even less information about themselves then they do with pronging from me and credit officers when we visit them. Or do you find that Juhudi Kilimo clients are very enthusiastic to provide updates about their activities?