Author Archive
The Ladder of Autonomy
By Allison Moomey, KF16, Burkina Faso
The longer I’m with my partner microfinance institution, Micro Start, the more impressed I am with them. Not only are they wonderful, hard-working people who get things done, but they also have a long-term, sustainable, and empowering vision. I recently completed a credit and savings product survey, and one of the questions for each product is “what is the goal of this product?” The answer always involved the word autonome, or autonomous. Each product is working to eventually move the client to financial stability and independence.
A loan officer with one of Micro Start's solidarity groups, one rung up on the ladder of autonomy.
La Réalité de L’Afrique
By Allison Moomey, KF16, Burkina Faso
I spent last weekend in a small village about 10km outside of Banfora (a small city about 6.5 hours from where I live in Ouagadougou) with some incredibly welcoming and generous Peace Corps volunteers. As often as I get annoyed by bugs, heat, and unreliable internet, I live a pretty charmed Burkinabé life in Ouaga. Staying in a village without electricity or running water was a wake-up call to the realities of life here. I didn’t do any of the hard work like getting water or biking products to market that most residents do each day. I lived like a pretty privileged guest. But I was still exhausted after just 48 hours. I can’t even begin to imagine what life would be like as a resident with only tôt (nutritionally empty starch) to eat, daily trips to the pump for water, and a dirt floor to sleep on every night. Although not as rural, these same challenges are a daily reality for many of Micro Start’s borrowers. The weekend was full of lessons, and recognizing my lack of hardcore-ness was only the beginning.
- The lack of infrastructure means gorgeous nature is still intact!
A Day in the Life Part I: Kiva Coordinator
By Allison Moomey, KF16, Burkina Faso
I was a fan of Kiva long before I realized there were real people who make those profiles miraculously appear on Kiva’s website. Likely, you’re a bit more aware. Or perhaps you’re like me, and you’ve just never thought about it. If so, this is like the Santa revelation… there aren’t gnomes behind the screen, but instead hard-working, committed groups of people. Either way, this is the first in a series of posts dedicated to them and all that they do!
There are so many people behind the posting of a single profile, and this is just part one in a series of posts to give each a bit of exposure. We’ll begin with the person running the Kiva show at the MFI-level: the Kiva Coordinator (in Kiva-speak, the KC). Now, this position looks different at each MFI. At some larger partners, the KC may solely be doing Kiva work. At many- like Kiva’s fabulous first partner in Burkina Faso, Micro Start- it’s just one of many things on his/her plate.
Waga-what?!
By Allison Moomey, KF16, Burkina Faso
Ouagadougou- pronounced Wagadugu and lovingly referred to as Ouaga by those who live here- is home to Micro Start, Kiva’s first partner in the small west African country of Burkina Faso. If you’re like most, you’re wondering … Is that a country? Where? I must know it by another name. Is it a new country? Why have I never heard of it?
Yes it’s a country. In West Africa. It’s previous name was the Republic of the Upper Volta (awesome). No, it’s not a new country. I’m not sure why few have heard of it, but I would venture to guess because it’s small, stable, and poor. African countries don’t tend to make the news when they’re peaceful and lack global economic impact.
The Cultural Complexities of Poverty Alleviation
By Allison Moomey, KF 16, Burkina Faso
About 3 weeks ago I arrived in Burkina Faso, ready and excited to work with Micro Start, Kiva’s first partner in the west African country. Micro Start has an amazing mission “to improve families’ living conditions in general, and that of women in particular, by facilitating access to financial and non-financial services” and a conscientious staff who start working at 7:30am to carry it out. This is Micro Start’s Kiva Coordinator (KC) and I at the office during one my first days:
