Archive for August, 2010
First Week as a Fellow…Off to a Running Start!
After attending an exciting week of training in San Francisco, a wave of 37 new Kiva Fellows have been pouring into new places across the globe. The emails we exchange as we transition into the field reflect both excitement and hesitation. What am I forgetting on my packing list? Am I prepared to work in microfinance? How will my MFI receive me?
Continue Reading 6 August 2010 at 15:02 kelseyquam 1 comment
Farewell from Sri Lanka
By Cheney Wells, KF 11
Finishing up my Kiva fellowship in Sri Lanka was a bittersweet experience. My relationship with both Kiva, and with their field partner, the ever-efficient BRAC, has been a positive one. I believe I made tangible contributions to the relationship between the two organizations, and through those efforts, learned a great deal. I enhanced some of the hard technical skills that I had expected to improve on the job (financial reports, Excel), and also had the chance to learn valuable soft-skills that I had not anticipated needing when I set off for Sri Lanka to work as a Kiva fellow.
One soft skill I had the opportunity to practice was the process of negotiation. When I arrived to Sri Lanka, I did not anticipate having to try to facilitate an agreement with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) in order to get approval for a continuation of an agreement signed last year between Kiva, BRAC Sri Lanka, and the CBSL. My final month of work in Sri Lanka, however, ended up being dedicated almost entirely to trying to get a renewal of that approval. Through several meetings with the CBSL and with other parties, I did my best to try to reach a new agreement between the three parties. It is unclear if those efforts will bear positive results, but I am proud of the work of Kiva and BRAC Sri Lanka to get renewed Central Bank approval.
Thus the future of BRAC Sri Lanka remains uncertain. There are a great number of borrowers here who already received Kiva loans, and they are now in the process of using those loans for their businesses, and making repayments on the loans. There are not, however, any new borrowers being added to Kiva’s Sri Lanka portfolio, due to the aforementioned problems with the Central Bank here in Sri Lanka.
It is of course difficult to measure the exact impact Kiva has had here in Sri Lanka. Certain tools do exist in the field of development to try to monitor and evaluate the impact of development programs, and Kiva has in fact begun to do so in many countries with CERISE, to continue to improve its measure of its microfinance activities. Despite not having all the tools and resources needed to do a thorough report on the overall impact of Kiva’s work in Sri Lanka, I can at least say that I do not see the situation with Kiva here as a failure. Although many resources were invested here both on the part of Kiva, and by BRAC Sri Lanka to bring Kiva loans to borrowers here, there are now nearly 200 borrowers who received loans at a special interest rate of 12% from BRAC Sri Lanka, and at no interest from Kiva. As had been stipulated by the Central Bank here, all of those borrowers are below Sri Lanka’s poverty line (families below household incomes of 7,500 LKR, or approximately $2 per day), so these loans went to some of the neediest people in Sri Lanka. And if things work out, then there will still be a future for Kiva in Sri Lanka! Let’s keep our fingers crossed.
An Inside Look at an MFI -En Espanol Tambien!
As I sit on my semi-comfy coach listening to some buoyant Central Asian tunes I try to reflect on my three months gone past. How can I begin to explain the world Kyrgyzstan has opened for me? Through my past blogs and my sharing of my Microfinance Institute’s (Mol Bulak Finance) work I have attempted to show you. There is one more important item left for me to discuss, and that is the subject of employees at Mol Bulak Finance (MBF).
“They are lined up around the block”
By John Murphy, KF12, Costa Rica
Great things are happening here at EDESA in San José, Costa Rica. A quick rundown of what EDESA does and how that ties back to Kiva and lenders like you.
Continue Reading 5 August 2010 at 14:50 johnfmurphy 10 comments
The Best Story
By: Eric Burdullis, KF12, Guatemala
“Again it might have been the American tendency to travel. One goes, not so much to see but to tell afterward” John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley. As a Kiva Fellow, I travel differently. I have too. Instead of trying to throw myself into those great stories that I could tell over and over to friends—about the times when I sipped mate with Argentine gauchos on the Pampa or hiked Machu Picchu in the pouring rain, I am looking for a different story.
Continue Reading 5 August 2010 at 07:00 Eric Burdullis 8 comments
Broken legs and hospitals in Azerbaijan
By Yelena Shuster, KF 11, Azerbaijan
Being a loan officer has its perilous moments. The scary Caucasian shepherd dogs that guard client’s homes and threaten to bite you and the difficult to find addresses of remote properties that one must search for in the unrelenting summer heat are obstacles. Then there are the numerous unforeseen hazards one encounters trying to go the extra mile as a loan officer…
Last week one of our loan officers at Komak went to meet a new client, a tomato farmer from the Absheron region. To get a better picture of the borrower’s greenhouse for his Kiva profile, Emin climbed on the roof of a 3 meter high building. Then he slipped and fell onto the hard pavement below, shattering his ankle completely.
I wish I knew more about the state of medical care in Azerbaijan. When I saw Emin in the hospital last week he was reluctant to tell me details. He was sharing a small sunny room with another man, who’s chatty wife laughed at my inquiries about the hospital. After I’d told her about the insurance system we have in the United States she said, “So it’s the same, without money one doesn’t get treatment.” “Almost” I insisted, “except in the US one is guaranteed treatment in the emergency room but may end up with debt of hundreds of thousands of dollars or lose their house.” She nodded her head disapprovingly. (more…)
Microfinance is Contagious
KF11/12 James Allman-Gulino talks about how his Ugandan acquaintances have reacted to learning that he works with microfinance institutions, and how hearing about his work has prompted them to access vital loan capital of their loan.
Continue Reading 4 August 2010 at 00:01 James Allman-Gulino 5 comments
12th Class Kiva Fellows Training Week Recap
By John Murphy, KF12, Costa Rica –
By the end of our week together at Kiva HQ in the Mission District of San Francisco, it had become clear to everyone what all the Kiva hype is about. If you are a Kiva fan (which reading this likely indicates), getting an inside look at Kiva HQ would only reaffirm your admiration.
Continue Reading 3 August 2010 at 12:10 johnfmurphy 5 comments
Sorghum Beer Recipe
Austin Harris, KF11 Rwanda
African sorghum beer is a brownish-pink beverage with a slightly tangy and sour taste that has an alcohol content between 1% and 8%. It is a part of the culture and an important source of income for many Africans. However movements to regulate this product bring into question if and how this product will remain a livelihood for the rural poor.
Continue Reading 3 August 2010 at 02:36 austinharris 1 comment
Vote for Kiva Field Partner Juhudi Kilimo as an Ashoka Changemaker!
By Rachel Brooks, KF9/10, Kenya
Kiva Field Partner Juhudi Kilimo has been nominated by Changemakers and Artemisia as a model of how to build the field of social business. Juhudi qualified as one of 448 entries from 78 countries as an outstanding demonstration of innovation, social impact, and sustainability.
Vote now (http://www.changemakers.com/socialbusiness/finalists#tab-section) until August 11 to help them win $5000. The winner will be announced on August 18th.
Continue Reading 2 August 2010 at 12:59 Rachel Brooks Leave a comment
Think, Pray, Work
In 1997 Esther Borh was a LEAP Borrower. Today she is the branch manager of one of LEAP’s 12 branches. In describing her job, Esther says that, “I think, pray, and work for everyone.”
Baseballs and candy (a very special repayment meeting)
by Magdalena Malinowska, KF11 Dominican Republic
It started at 10 am on a Thursday in Monoguayabo, a dusty industrial neighborhood of Santo Domingo. But first I had to get there and that took a long while, but it was worth it because the Luz de Madre Group’s meeting turned out to be unforgettable.
There was nothing out of the ordinary about the series of unthinkably beat up vehicles well beyond their expiration dates still serving as daily transport for hours at end. Nothing new about the purpose, the format and of the bi-weekly repayment gathering of ten of the seven thousand of Esperanza’s currently active borrowers in the Dominican Republic: attendance was taken, passbooks were updated, money was collected, Kiva interview was accomplished. In my 9th week in the field, I have witnessed several dozens of these all over the country. So what made this one special? Two things.
Continue Reading 1 August 2010 at 20:21 Magdalena Malinowska 2 comments
Video: How MFI’s explain Kiva to borrowers
Jenny Jin, KF11 – Kenya, KADET
Check out a video that features how a microfinance partner, KADET, explains Kiva to clients.
Continue Reading 1 August 2010 at 10:35 Jenny Jin 6 comments
