Archive for March, 2011
In Peru, the race for President heats up
Geeta Uhl, KF14, Peru
On April 10, Peruvians go to the polls to choose their next President. Elections are taken very seriously here, as voting is mandatory and there is a 3-day national dry period before and on Election Day. Five candidates are running for President, and recent polls suggest that the race is still wide open.
My Heart has Taken Root
The Source of the Nile in Jinja, Uganda
Nila Uthayakumar, KF14, Uganda
My Rough Guide to Kenya has been open face down on my desk for the past few days. My time in Uganda has been incredible. I have seen and experienced so much in such a short period. Like my life has been on fast forward. This country captured me instantly. Drew me in. And held me close. Whispering. This land is unlike any other. (more…)
What was your last business trip like?
By Noreen Giga, KF 14, Peru
Mine entailed traveling around Central Peru for a week and a half. Part of a fellow’s duty is to complete a Borrower Verification. Kiva selects a random sample of ten clients that represents an organization’s portfolio and sends it to us fellows. We, in turn, visit each and every client on the list to verify that they are who they say they are, that they indeed received a loan for the amount posted on Kiva’s website, and to talk to them about their business and loan use. You can think of it as a mini-audit process.
I am serving as a fellow with Microfinanzas Prisma, a large micro-finance organization that is based in Lima, Peru, but has branch offices throughout the country. Before I received my list I was told I would get to do some traveling for work, I had no idea what that meant until now.
Continue Reading 30 March 2011 at 08:40 Noreen Giga 6 comments
Owe Money, Pay Money
So when I met Evans, an employee of the Christian Rural Aid Network (a local microfinance institute that partners Kiva in Ghana), and he informed me that he was a Recovery Officer, I got a little nervous. (more…)
Performing meaningful work for Kiva while learning a new culture
Clara Vreeken, KF 14, Bolivia
Clara volunteers as Kiva Fellow in Bolivia. She works for three micro finance institutions. She verifies borrowers’ data, implements changes and informs the lenders about Kiva’s entrepreneurs. In this blog she elaborates on her tasks as a Kiva Fellow.
Continue Reading 29 March 2011 at 10:24 claravisser 2 comments
Blast from the Past: KF7 turned microfinance professor visits Colombia to do field research
What happens to Kiva Fellows once they finish their placement and get released back into the world? This is a question I have asked myself many times as I look ahead beyond my placement in Colombia–luckily I will be part of KF15 and won’t have to make those decisions for a few months! Many of the current fellows will be heading to grad school in the fall, going back to their old jobs, or looking for new jobs in international development. But how many of us get the chance to continue on in the world of microfinance?
Continue Reading 28 March 2011 at 21:35 JohnGwillim 4 comments
Why does most coffee in Colombia taste like dishwater?
I have been a big coffee drinker for some time now. As a do-it-all teenager with a large appetite for anything nocturnal, it was the powerful affects of the highly-caffeinated, instant variety that initially got me hooked. That all changed at university, however, when I first discovered the soothing delights of real, natural coffee.
Continue Reading 28 March 2011 at 11:14 nickhamiltonkiva 4 comments
A Movement called No Pago/Un Movimiento se llama No Pago
A Brief History
In 2008, a movement began in Jalapa, Nicaragua by a man who was over-indebted. This man was able to convince other debtors facing economic hardship, to join him in relinquishing their responsibility to pay back their loans. President Ortega supported them. Then, the movement turned violent, there was fear that investors would avoid Nicaragua, and the micro-finance institutions united. A moratorium was passed favoring the debtors in the movement, along with a low interest rate and extended term. Still, some debtors did not make payments. Ultimately, an announcement appeared on Kiva’s website warning lenders of the increased risk in making loans to borrowers in Nicaragua.
A Face of the No Pago Movement
Before the 2009 economic crisis, Maribel received a loan from MíCrédito, a micro-finance institution. She owned a shop that sold ladies clothes, shoes, and cosmetics. Since she was successful, Maribel was asked to act as the guarantor on other loans, including one for her son.
Then, her son defaulted on his loan, leaving Maribel responsible to make his payments, and he took off. She lost her business, and faced $13,000 of debt.
Maribel joined the No Pago Movement, believing that the government would forgive her debt. That has not happened.
Although Mirabel was a client in good standing with MíCrédito, as was her son, there are situations that one cannot foretell. MíCrédito is working to restructure the loan payments of Mirabel.
My Perspective
As a Kiva Fellow in Nicaragua, I believe the micro-finance institution that I am working with, MíCrédito, has moved passed the No Pago crisis with a vigilant loan application process to avoid over-indebtedness:
- Every borrower is checked against a credit bureau, TransUnion and SinRiesgo, for outstanding debt including loans taken out for cars, store merchandise, and any loans from other microfinance institutions.
- Every guarantor is also checked for debt.
- If a borrower becomes delinquent in paying back their loan, the credit officer then checks the credit records of their spouse and children to see if the family is over-indebted, in order to ascertain the root cause.
- No Pago clients have been identified at each branch office of MíCrédito.
- No Pago clients are not allowed to default on their loans, while other clients are expected to make payments:
- First, the credit officer restructures the loan.
- Second, the credit officer contacts the guarantor of the loan.
- Third, the case is brought to a judge.
MíCrédito has six offices. I am currently at the branch in Estelí, in the north of Nicaragua, where the No Pago movement began, and where MíCrédito felt its impact the most.
MíCrédito Estelí has 28 clients still on their books, who are members of the No Pago movement. None of these clients are Kiva borrowers.
No Pago Today
The latest development is that the No Pago movement has offered the names of seventy-five thousand members who have promised to vote for President Daniel Ortega in the November election, if he forgives their combined debt of twenty-five million dollars. Ortega has not accepted the offer.
The movement No Pago continues to pressure other borrowers to join their cause with promises that the government will take care of their debt.
In March 2011, ASOMIF or the Association of Nicaraguan Microfinance Institutions published a Code of Ethics in a national newspaper, in order to re-affirm the integrity of their practices in regards to borrowers, society, and between member microfinance institutions.
-Karen Gray, Kiva Fellow 14, in Nicaragua
In depth information on this topic:
The Micro-Financing Institutions Are Politically Very Attractive by Patricia Padilla.
Una Historia Breve
En 2008, un movimiento empezó en Jalapa, Nicaragua por un hombre que estaba sobre endeudado. Este hombre fue capaz de convencer otras personas que tenia deudo, y ante un crisis económico, juntarse y renunciar sus responsabilidades pagar sus prestamos. Presidente Ortega los apoyo. Entonces, el movimiento se hizo violento, había un miedo que los inversionistas evitarían Nicaragua, y las instituciones de microfinanzas unieron. Un moratoria estuvo promulgado a favor de los deudores del movimiento con una tasa de interés bajo y plazo mas largo. Todavía, algunos deudores no hicieron pagos. Ultimadamente, un anuncio apareció en el sitio de Web de Kiva, prevenía las prestamistas del riesgo subido prestando a los que pedir un préstamo en Nicaragua.
Una Cara del Movimiento No Pago
Antes del crisis económico de 2009, Maribel recibió un préstamo de MíCrédito, una institución de microfinanza. Ella tenia su propia tienda que vende ropas, zapatos, y cosméticos para mujeres. Ella estaba exitosa, y por lo tanto los otras les pidieron que sea una fiadora por sus prestamos, incluyendo uno de su hijo.
Entonces, su hijo se hizo moroso, le dio a Maribel en carga de todos sus pagos, y se fue. Elle perdió su negocio y tenia que enfrentarse a deuda de $13,000.
Maribel junto el movimiento de No Pago, creyendo que el gobierno perdonaría su deuda. Pero, ya esta no sucedió.
Aunque Maribel estaba una cliente buena de MíCrédito, y su hijo también, hay situaciones que no se puede evitar. MíCrédito esta trabajando para reestructurar los pagos de Maribel.
Mi Perspectivo
Como una Kiva Fellow en Nicaragua, creo que la institución de microfinaza que asigno, MíCrédito, ha superado el crisis de No Pago con un proceso estricto en respecto de las aplicaciones de prestamos para evitar sobre endeudado.
- MíCrédito comprueba todos que piden un préstamo contra un departamento de crédito; TransUnion o SinRiesgo, para determinar deuda actual incluyendo prestamos para coches, mercancías, y cualquier préstamo de otra instituciónes de microfinanzas.
- MíCrédito comprueba todos de los fiadores también para determinar si tienen deuda.
- Si un cliente de MíCrédito es moroso, el oficial de crédito comprueba los perfiles de crédito de su esposo o esposa y sus hijos para determinar si la familia esta sobre endeudada.
- MíCrédito identifico los clientes que juntaron el movimiento de No Pago a cada sucursal.
- Los clientes que juntaron el movimiento de No Pago, MíCrédito no les permite a los de No Pago no pagar, mientras los otros clientes tienen que hacer sus pagos
- Primero, el oficial de crédito hace una reestructuración del préstamo.
- Segundo, el oficial de crédito contacta el fiador del préstamo.
- Tercero, el caso esta traído al juez.
MíCrédito tiene seis sucursales. Actualmente estoy en la oficina en Estelí, en el norte de Nicaragua, donde el movimiento No Pago empezó, y donde MíCrédito se sintió el mas impacto del movimiento.
MíCrédito Estelí tiene vente ocho clientes quien son miembros del movimiento. Ningunos de esos clientes son los que piden un préstamo en el sitio de Kiva.
No Pago en Hoy Día
Las noticia ultima es que el movimiento No Pago ofrecieron los nombres de setenta y cinco mil miembros que prometieron votar por Presidente Daniel Ortega en la elección en Noviembre si el perdona sus deudos en total de vente cinco millón dólares. Ortega ya no acepta la oferta.
El movimiento No Pago continua presionando a otras clientes para juntarse a su causa con promesas que el gobierno perdonara sus deudas.
En marzo 2011, ASOMIF o la Asociación Nicaragüense de Instituciones de Microfinanzas publico un código de ética en un diario nacional, para reafirmar la integridad de sus trabajos en respecto de sus clientes, sociedad, y entre instituciones de microfinanza que son socios de ASOMIF.
-Karen Gray, Kiva Fellow 14, in Nicaragua
Update from the Field: Social Quirks, Justin Bieber + Lots of Carbs
Compiled by Alexis Ditkowsky, KF14, South Africa
While it may have been a slower “official” news week than usual, I can assure you that the Fellows are keeping busy. One Fellow spent hours searching fruitlessly for borrowers in the jungle, another has been suffering from serious gastrointestinal issues (aren’t you glad he didn’t post about that?), and the rest of us have been plotting something very special for the end of the week. In the meantime, you can catch up on social quirks in Rwanda, transportation in West Timor, the importance of corn in Guatemala, and the latest from Mongolia all while taking a look at photos from South Africa. Enjoy!
Continue Reading 28 March 2011 at 03:58 Alexis Ditkowsky 6 comments
A field partner grows from the pilot to active stage
Congratulations to Credit Mongol! This Kiva field partner in Mongolia recently achieved active status on the Kiva website. As you may well know, Kiva partners with microfinance institutions (MFIs), like Credit Mongol, in countries across the globe, reaching hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs. These partnerships are what make Kiva possible on a large scale.
Kiva Fellow and Credit Mongol Kiva staff
Corn People: A Staple Food and the Key to Human Creation
If there is one common denominator for the rural homes in the Guatemalan highlands it is the cornfield. Sitting adjacent to most homes, the fields can be seen for miles from any high point overlooking a rural populated region. As we approach the end of the dry season, I watch workers routinely till the soil in preparation for the rains that will help sprout this precious crop.
However, the crop is more than just a food source; it is a key component to the creation myth in the Popol Vuh, the collection of mytho-historical narratives surrounding the creation of Quiché Mayan people.
Continue Reading 24 March 2011 at 15:00 Gustavo Visalli 5 comments
Hear that?? It’s Kupang Bemo Rap!!
By Lisa Skowron, KF14, Indonesia
My experience with public transport in Kupang, West Timor, Indonesia! Also, please vote for your favorite Kupang Bemo at the end of the post! 
Photos from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
By Alexis Ditkowsky, KF14, South Africa
Procuring your own transportation as a Kiva Fellow can be expensive, particularly when petrol hovers around $5/gallon. But while I miss the adventure of crowded taxis and mini-buses, I can go to the field on very short notice and have enough energy at the end of the day to update this very blog. So here’s the latest collection of photos from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, taken earlier today. Enjoy!
Continue Reading 23 March 2011 at 10:43 Alexis Ditkowsky 7 comments
Hissing, High Fives & Apologies; Some Habits I Have Acquired In Rwanda
Caitlin Ross, KF14 Rwanda – During my 5+ months here in Rwanda, I’ve made myself at home in Kigali, and adapted to the Rwandese lifestyle. I have also picked up some…interesting habits, many of which will not translate when I return home to the US in June. Below are a handful of quirks that I have acquired during my crash-course in Rwandese culture…
Continue Reading 22 March 2011 at 03:21 caitlinross86 5 comments
Update from the Field: Fun Facts, Field Visits + Back to Basics
Compiled by Alexis Ditkowsky, KF14, South Africa
For many Fellows, this week was about getting back to basics: the borrowers. In between fun facts about Kiva Fellowships, doing database detective work, and reflecting on the internal dynamics of Kiva’s partner microfinance institutions, Fellows found themselves in the field again and again, much to their delight and often to the delight of borrowers. From Latin America to Africa to the Caucasus to Southeast Asia to Eastern Europe, meet Kiva clients, learn about their businesses, and check out all of the great photos.
Continue Reading 21 March 2011 at 01:53 Alexis Ditkowsky 9 comments
New Horizons- A Fellow’s First Field Visit
By Caree Edson, KF 14, Armenia
While Kiva works with three microfinance institutions in Armenia, I have, thus far, only had the privilege to spend time with the staff at one. When I was offered an opportunity to do some Borrower Verifications for Nor Horizon (another partner institution), I jumped at the chance. Borrower Verifications, while requiring a lot of time and effort on the part of the fellows, are by far the best part of this journey. They entail going out into the field with credit officers and meeting with clients to ensure the accuracy of the information being uploaded on Kiva’s website. In Armenia this makes for a fantastic way to spend a Friday.
Women Working for Women: Staff + Client Collaboration in Nepal
By Claudine Emeott, KF14, Nepal
On my first day of work at BPW Patan in Nepal, I took a quick look around the office and was amazed to find myself surrounded by almost all women. Granted, it is a small office — BPW occupies just one room — but the ratio of women to men is nonetheless striking. All of BPW’s full-time staff, including loan officers and accountants, are women. BPW’s entire board is made up of women with impressive and varied backgrounds, ranging from commercial bankers and university professors to a former Supreme Court Justice (she and Sandra Day O’Connor are friends). Of the 17 people working for BPW on a paid or volunteer basis, only two are men. With all due respect to these two men for their invaluable work with BPW, it is, to be sure, the women who run the show. I say this because I know the men would agree!
BPW, which stands for Business and Professional Women, serves only women borrowers, so its very foundation is rooted in a mission to empower female entrepreneurs.
BPW Borrowers at Group Meeting
Of course, many microfinance institutions share this common goal, and my fellow Kiva Fellow Mei-Ing Cheok recently wrote a great post about CRAN’s work with women in Ghana. What strikes me about BPW is not the mission itself but the way it is carried out.
For starters, it is clear that the staff genuinely enjoy their work. They smile. They laugh. They have a spring in their step on their way to the office (okay, maybe that’s just me). And, lest we forget, this is hard work, with long bus rides to and from the field and piles of paperwork waiting for them upon their return.
During loan meetings in the field, the staff and borrowers interact with ease, friendliness, and warmth. They share stories about their families and pass around babies. They linger after the work is done, talking over tea. Sometimes an invitation to a borrower’s home for fresh curd and a Hindi film is too good to pass up. The borrowers have extended their familiarity and generosity to me as well, not hesitating to tell me when I have ink smeared all over my face (thank you) and inviting me back the following week for dinner at their houses.
This level of equality extends beyond personal relationships to professional collaboration. BPW works in 62 different centers, which have up to eight groups of five women each; the members of each center elect a Center Chief, who is responsible for managing the groups and assisting loan officers at center meetings. The photo below shows Kiva borrower Narayan Devi Maharjan, a center chief in the village of Thecho. At the last meeting, Narayan Devi took over the calculator, helping the loan officers with their work — and clearly enjoying it.
Center Chief Narayan Devi Maharjan Helps Loan Officers with the Books
All borrowers benefit from required financial literacy training and can also participate in reading and writing classes (an estimated 30% of BPW’s borrowers are illiterate).
BPW staff have also solicited business advice from their clients. Several of BPW’s staff and board members are entrepreneurs themselves, and Urmila Shrestha, BPW’s director, has taken advice from borrowers about design and material choices for her textile business.
BPW Director Urmila Shrestha Wears One of Her Handwoven Shawls, Inspired by BPW Borrowers
Working in an office with a female majority is a new experience for me. And at this office in particular, it is an empowering and inspiring one.
Hand in Hand: BPW Officer and Borrower
Claudine Emeott is honored to be working with the women — both staff and borrowers — of Nepal’s BPW Patan. Check out the BPW Patan Lending Team and consider making a loan to a woman entrepreneur from Nepal (both women and men lenders are welcome!).
Previous posts by Claudine Emeott:
Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Landscape of Microfinance in Nepal
Small if Beautiful: Microcredit Fair in Nepal
Realities Of Microfinance In Benin. (Part 1, The White Man)
WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just to clarify, this is the sound of a small child bursting into tears at the first site of me. And once again it’s the sound that welcomes me as I enter a Beninese village, accompanying the loan agent to make sure my training has stuck.
“Ha ha. Yovo yovo yovo yovo”, exclaims the mother (Haha. White man white man white man). And picks up the child to force her closer to me.
WWWWWWWWAAAAAAHHHHHAAAAAHHHAAAA!!!!!!!
Continue Reading 16 March 2011 at 12:47 Gareth Davies 4 comments
Piece by Piece: The Garment Worker’s Loan
By Stephanie Sibal, KF14, Cambodia
Gritty streets, massive white buildings, heavily-guarded gates. These are a part the outside view, the experience of someone blindly walking by a garment factory in Cambodia. About 20 kilometers out of Phnom Penh are Ta Khmao and Kandal Sleung, regions well-known for the numerous garment and apparel production factories there.
Of course, there is more to garment production than the fashionable pieces that exit the factory for commercial sale; there is the story of the garment factory worker who works tirelessly to produce them.
Is it possible to support a family on factory wages?
Get into the groove
Whilst I was in Ghana life felt very easy. I was really fortunate to be visiting clients on field trips once a week, the sun was shining and life by the beach was fun and very relaxing. In February I moved to the Ukraine for Kiva Fellowship number two and I’ll be honest, it was a bit of a challenge. I’m pretty good with changing environments but it was like life was flipped 180 degrees. Then i realised what was missing… Kiva clients!
Database Detective: South Africa Edition
By Alexis Ditkowsky, KF14, South Africa
I realize your interest may be waning based on the title alone but I encourage you to keep reading because not everything a Kiva Fellow does is as wild and crazy and emotionally rewarding as a borrower visit. But, as a Kiva Fellow, I aim to please so I’ve also included pictures from a recent trip to the field at the end of this post. Now there’s something for everyone – for those of you who want to geek out a little, I’ve got you covered, and for everyone else who just wants to be transported to South Africa for a minute in the middle of the workday, you’re taken care of, too.
Continue Reading 15 March 2011 at 05:36 Alexis Ditkowsky 9 comments
Death By Fire
By John Farmer, KF 14, Mexico
Friday, near Jojutla, in the Mexican state of Morelos, I had the pleasure of visiting Doña Mari. “Buenas tardes! Adelante!” she coughed in welcome. My visit was a routine Kiva borrower visit, a chance for me to learn more about our borrowers and further their understanding of Kiva.
Her credit history started ten years ago when her son was sick. Though her town has a free clinic, only a fraction of those who seek attention are tended to, so she took her son to private doctors. The medical bills piled up, and she borrowed from private lenders (a.k.a. loansharks) to pay her debts. She and her husband did what they could to pay off what they owed, but after several years they weren’t getting their heads above water. Fortunately, four years ago, through a government poverty eradication program, she received a mill to grind corn. That would give her a better income. The downside: she had a 220-volt electric mill sitting in her yard and nowhere to hook it up. To get it set up, she needed over a hundred dollars.
Continue Reading 14 March 2011 at 18:00 john.beckwith.farmer 3 comments
Kiva Fellows by the Numbers
By David McNeill (Sierra Leone) and Adam Cohn (Rwanda), with lots of help from the 14th class of Kiva Fellows
It turns out that one thing Kiva Fellows seem to have in common is a love for data. With that, Kiva Fellows David and Adam polled the current fellows in the field on the costs of various necessities and niceties in their current placements. The numbers, which we humbly title the Kiva Fellows Index, give some good insight into the conditions in the far-flung places we now live and work.
Far from home
View Larger Map
Kiva Fellows are in it for the long haul. On average, we’re 5,745 miles away from home, as the crow flies. The fellows who have trucked the farthest, at least by line of sight, are: Adam Cohn, who crossed 8,892 miles from Seattle, WA to Kigali, Rwanda; Caitlin Ross, who also went to Kigali from her home in Burlingame, CA, for a total of 9,417 miles; and the longest haul goes to Lisa Skowron, who flew 9,519 miles from her home in Chicago, IL to Kupang, Indonesia!
Internet
The first prize for the slowest Internet speed goes to Carlos Cruz in Liberia, with a close second and third for Claudine Emeott in Nepal and David McNeill in Sierra Leone. They experience speeds 10-100 times slower than in the US, making them thankful to the Kiva engineers who make Kiva.org one of the quicker websites to load. At these speeds video chatting is impossible, voice is dodgy if possible at all, and emails aren’t even guaranteed to work. Forget about watching videos on YouTube or listening to Internet radio. Having Internet access is quickly becoming almost as important as having electricity or indoor plumbing.
Weather
Many of us are serving in hot parts of the world without the blessing of air conditioning. The unlucky winners in this category are neighbors in West Africa – Carlos Cruz in Liberia and David McNeill in Sierra Leone. They survive high temperatures in the low 90’s (F) and lows that only get down to the upper 70’s or low 80’s (F). Carlos, we hope you’ve got a fan and electricity to run it like David does (most of the time).
On the other side of the spectrum, Amber Barger is struggling to keep warm in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia where it dips down to -9 (F) at night. David would be happy to trade one of his hot sunny beaches for some of Amber’s ice!
Amber trying to stay warm on her unheated camel ride in Mongolia
Housing
Carlos Cruz got the sweetest deal on rent, with free housing courtesy of his host microfinance institution in Liberia. The runner up is Gustavo Visalli in Totonicapan, Guatemala. He pays only $100/month, and that includes electricity, a flush toilet, and all the black beans and eggs he can eat!
Gustavo cooking up his all-you-can eat buffet in his sweet house in Guatemala
Transportation
There are some definite advantages to working in developing countries. Most of us spend less than $1 getting to work each day riding buses, motorcycles, or other modes of public transportation. For David in Sierra Leone, a ride in the back of a car taxi to a town 2.5 hours away only costs $3.50 (there are four people squished in a seat made for three, though). Stephanie Sibal has the sweetest deal on transportation – her host organization in Phnom Penh, Cambodia provides her a car and driver to bring her in to work in the morning.
With the cost of oil on the rise, we did a quick poll of gas prices where we are serving. The highest price is in South Africa at $5/gallon. If you want the cheapest price, you’ll have to drive to Indonesia ($2.15/gallon) or Kyrgyzstan ($2.73/gallon).
Refreshment
For refreshment, Stephanie Sibal is a definite winner – she only has to pay 15 cents for a Coke served in a plastic baggie! The following people have a four-way tie for the cheapest beer at only $1 a bottle: Stephanie Sibal again (Phnom Penh, Cambodia), John Gwillim (Barranquilla, Colombia), Geeta Uhl (Ayacucho, Peru), and John Farmer (Mexico City, Mexico). For coffee, some people like John Farmer have the luxury of a nearby Starbucks in Mexico City, Adam Cohn can drink 100% local coffee at multiple Bourbon locations in Rwanda, while poor Noreen Giga is still searching for a good cup in Lima, Peru.
Stephanie enjoying her Bag-o-Coke in Cambodia
As you can see, some of life’s necessities are more accessible, while others are prohibitive, for those who relocate to the other side of the globe. If you’d like to look at our full spreadsheet of stats, you can see it here.
Have you found places where a Coke is incredibly expensive, or internet is mind-blowingly slow? Let us know in the comments!
Update from the Field: Carnival, Collaboration + Cheese-Making
Compiled by Alexis Ditkowsky, KF14, South Africa
This past week was all about collaboration: Fellows coordinating across continents to profile entrepreneurs and organizations who believe International Women’s Day should be every day and community members coming together to celebrate Carnival in all of its elaborate glory. We learned about public health in Peru, making cheese and cigars in Nicaragua, the impact of climate change in Bolivia, and the challenges faced by a microcredit saleswoman in Guatemala. Life as a Kiva Fellow is busy as always!
Continue Reading 14 March 2011 at 00:45 Alexis Ditkowsky 8 comments
What are they smoking in Nicaragua?
Every morning in Esteli, Nicaragua, a siren goes off at 6am, calling hundreds of factory workers to start their day, making some of the finest cigars in the world.
Juan Carlos is a Kiva borrower. He grows tobacco for making cigars.
First, the tobacco leaves are fluffed during drying to release heat and moisture.
Then, the leaves are flattened, cleaned, and misted to make them malleable.
Next, the leaves are rolled into a cigar by hand.
The cigars are checked on the "Drawmaster" which is a vacuum, that tests ease of inhalation.
There are over 40 types of cigars, "Torpedoes" being the most formidable, in my opinion.
Cigars are sorted by size, color, and quality.
Boxes are made. Cedar-lined being the best.
The finished product.
To support MiCredito, please join our Lending Team: Amigos de MiCredito
Check out all MiCredito Borrowers on Kiva!
Learn more about MiCredito, a new Kiva Field Partner in Nicaragua, serving urban and rural clients from six branch offices.
-Karen Gray, Kiva Fellow 14, in Nicaragua
Say Cheese For Kiva Student Loans
Outside the town of Esteli in Nicaragua, you can find the Catholic University of Dry Tropic Farming and Livestock (UCATSE). In October 2010, MíCrédito and Kiva disbursed their first student loans there.
These loans allowed the students to put into practice, what they had learned in the classroom. One group of students used their loans ($75 per student at 1.5% interest per month) to make cheese which was sold on campus.
As a Kiva Fellow, I decided to visit the university, meet the students, see the process firsthand, and offer my services as an official taster.
Students in the AgroIndustry Lab, ready to make cheese.
Cheese or queso fresco made at the university.
Cindy, the MiCredito Kiva Coordinator, lent a hand in the cheese-making process by stirring the milk to cool it, before adding the enzyme that would thicken the milk.
Next step, the curdled milk was strained to remove the liquid.
Salt was added, and the cheese mixed until crumbled, then formed into balls.
The finished product is called cuajada.
A slice of cheese is served with rice, beans, and tortillas.
Future student loans are being considered for projects to raise pigs, and to cultivate a high-quality tomato.
To support MiCredito, please join their Lending Team: Amigos de MiCredito
Check out all MiCredito Borrowers on Kiva!
More about MiCredito, a new Kiva Field Partner in Nicaragua, serving urban and rural clients from six branch offices.
-Karen Gray, Kiva Fellow 14, in Nicaragua
The Microcredit Saleswoman
by Gustavo Visalli, KF14
A loan officer (center) meets with her clients
One key challenge to spreading microcredit in rural Guatemalan communities is actually finding entrepreneurs who are looking for a loan. In the rural highlands borrowers are not exactly surfing Google in their search for a way to expand their businesses. This makes monthly promotions crucial to finding new clients and keeping the Microfinance Institution (MFI) afloat. (It has also proved challenging to keep up with Kiva lenders; at the end of February all loans were fully funded at one point on Kiva!)
Yolanda, a loan officer in one of ASDIRs rural branch offices, let me tag along one day to experience firsthand how challenging this can be.
ASDIR loan officers must rely on word of mouth and make themselves as accessible as possible to prospective borrowers. We rode a microbus (Yolanda is not a fan of riding on motorbikes) for an hour up and down a rough dirt road. Our goal was to reach and meet with previous clients and inquire about any possible new prospects.
We forgot that we were travelling on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday here in Guatemala. This day involves groups of young boys running around throwing rotten eggs and handfuls of flour at teachers, young girls, and apparently, loan officers and Kiva Fellows:
I was initially surprised that Yolanda offered to take me along on one of these promotional visits (I imagined a loan officer knocking on every door in the neighborhood and dishing out the same sales pitch). However, Yolanda had a very casual and respectful approach with her contacts. Watching her interact with members of Las Canasteras Group was like watching old friends catch up after months of absence. This could be why ASDIR has so many repeat borrowers.
Las Canasteras Group has three previous loans with ASDIR. One group member, Doña Loida Isabel, used her portion of the loan to develop her general goods store and chicken raising business. Her previous loan is 100% repaid, and we spoke about the possibility of the group’s next loan and its use.
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Back home in the U.S., door to door salespeople lose their credibility with me the moment they ring my doorbell. If your product is so amazing, why does it require you to travel to my doorstep for me to hear about it? Rural microloans obviously do not apply to this reasoning because of accessibility. An MFI requires loan officers with the drive of a salesperson in order to stay sustainable. This drive combined with an honest approach to new and existing clients is an art which Yolanda has clearly mastered.
ASDIR’s partnership with Kiva makes ASDIR loans even more accessible to the rural community. It’s the hard work in the field at the beginning of the month that keeps new profiles popping up on Kiva.org.
Gustavo is a Kiva Fellow working with Asociación ASDIR in Totonicapán, Guatemala. He forgot about being covered in flour after a few hours and wondered why he was getting so many strange looks and laughs for the rest of the day.
Take 20 seconds to join the Amigos de ASDIR lending team on Kiva today!
Gustavo’s previous posts:
“No Pasa Nada”
By Noreen Giga, KF 14, Peru
I first heard this phrase while studying abroad in Spain my junior year of college. My friends and I said “no pasa nada” every other sentence when we realized there was really no limit as to when this phrase could be used. Walk in on someone in the bathroom? “No pasa nada” would be the response. Bedridden with a cold? “No pasa nada.” Walk in late to class because you overslept? “No pasa nada.”
“No pasa nada” has taken on a new meaning to me now, preventing HIV discrimination in Peru.
Continue Reading 10 March 2011 at 13:00 Noreen Giga 3 comments
Mud torrent, climate change and food crisis in Bolivia
Clara Vreeken is a Kiva Fellow in Bolivia, where she works for IMPRO, Pro Mujer and Emprender. Last week mud torrents destroyed 400 homes in the capital La Paz. Climate change in Bolivia leads to less food production, hunger and protests in the streets.
Continue Reading 9 March 2011 at 13:13 claravisser 4 comments
Celebrating Carnival in the Andes
Compiled by Geeta Uhl, KF14, Peru
Kiva Fellows celebrate Carnival in the Andes- in Ayacucho and Cajamarca, Peru and Oruro, Bolivia. Check out photos and descriptions of the various celebrations and traditions in South America.
