Author Archive
25 Years Working Where the Need is Greatest
By Noreen Giga, KF 14, Peru
Founded in 1986, Prisma is celebrating 25 years of bringing “financial services and non-financial services to disadvantaged communities in order to strengthen them, and promote sustainable social and economic development.” And the credit branch of Prisma, Microfinanzas Prisma, formed in 1994 is celebrating 17 years of reaching Peru’s urban and rural poor.
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.
“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.
What does Lima look like?
I found myself asking that very question shortly after I started working with Microfinanzas Prisma. I arrived in Lima, Peru the end of January for my three month Kiva Fellowship and headed to my hostel in San Isidro, the financial district of Lima. I spent the few days before my fellowship touring the city.
I visited the center of the city and saw the Plaza de Armas.
And went back to take in the view at night.
I visited Miraflores, a district of Lima that is located on the water.
And I of course found some time to visit Barranco, another district of Lima, to go to the beach!
But is this what Lima looks like? Partly. This is what Central Lima looks like.
Lima, the capital of Peru, is nicknamed “El Pulpo” (The Octopus) by some, referring to the sprawling metropolis that is about the size of Rhode Island, has a population rising close to 9 million people, and is home to around a quarter of Peru’s total population. Where do they all live? The city of Lima is further divided into 43 districts. The majority of the districts pertain to Central Lima, but the rest spread into what are the Northern and Southern Cones of Peru. And this, to me, is what Lima also looks like.
Southern Cone of Peru
Northern Cone of Peru
Neighborhoods in the Northern and Southern Cones of Lima have sprung up in the sand and on the sides of mountains. In these new neighborhoods that continue expanding with the arrival of Peruvians moving inward from the outer provinces of Peru, microfinance work is abundant.
A number of services are lacking in these neighborhoods and it is a real opportunity for Prisma clients to get creative with their businesses. Today, I met with a woman who rents washing machines to her neighbors. Maria, started her business two and a half years ago. The laundry service that she used was the only laundry service in her neighborhood, and was extremely far away. Not a practical option for most families, including Maria’s. I couldn’t help but think of basic economics 101 terms my father once went over with me as Maria told her story, such as: supply and demand, market share, and new market opportunities. But Maria doesn’t have an MBA and I doubt she thought of these terms as she planned her business strategy, but she clearly had a handle on the concepts.
Shortly after she had her second child she embarked on this business of renting washing machines by the hour. And she personally transports the machines to her neighbors houses. It’s difficult, she says, but worth the money and stability it provides for her family.
To learn more about other Microfinanzas Prisma clients like Maria, or to receive regular updates from the field like these join “Friends of Microfinanzas Prisma” today!
Is it ever too late to follow your dream?
After my first week as a Kiva Fellow my short answer is no, and I guess the slightly longer answer, definitely not! That is what the clients of Microfinanzas PRISMA have shown me, especially Rosa of San Juan de Miraflores in Lima, Peru. Rosa is preparing the lunch she will serve to customers in the back kitchen when Ángela, the Kiva Assistant in the Lima Sur office of PRISMA, and I arrive. She comes outside immediately to talk to us, bringing a savory smell of potatoes with her.
Rosa is 56 years old and preparing to open her own restaurant in her house in the next year or so. How many of you would embark on a new business in your 50′s? I don’t know that I would. But as Rosa explains, before she had been washing clothes for neighbors. The job was physically demanding on her and not very profitable. And she believed she had great recipes to share with everyone, “recetas muy ricas” as she describes. So she did what anyone wanting to start her own business would do. She asked around about where she could get some start up money. And she got connected with PRISMA.
Six years later I am standing and talking to Rosa in the kitchen of another building because her house is under construction. The walls are being painted and she hopes to put in tiling and tables and chairs for her customers to sit and enjoy their meal. She invites us back to he kitchen as we continue to talk. And I snap a few shots and show her the photos I took. She laughs and grabs my arm as she covers her mouth with her hand. Her happiness is a little overwhelming for me.
Rosa as she prepares her savory potatoes for lunch.
I am still thinking about Rosa after we leave and Ángela asks me what I think about all of this. I get choked up and say “es increible, es increible.” Part of what drew me to Kiva was the idea of female empowerment that Rosa embodies. That women, with the help of MFIs like PRISMA, can realize their dreams of owning their own business at any stage in their life and attain the financial independence to care for themselves and their families.
Thank you, Rosa, for an amazing first week as a Kiva Fellow and for showing me that it is really never too late to follow your dream!
