Author Archive
Morals & Microfinance
By Yelena Shuster, KF 11, Azerbaijan
For some, traveling abroad is an exotic means of recreation, for others it is a learning experience. I cannot find statistics reciting the numbers and nationalities of people who go abroad each year, but from my experience as a backpacker and Kiva fellow, most people who travel (either for leisure, student exchange or professional duties) come from one of the 32 developed countries (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, NZ, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, UK, US (see the World Factbook for more information). This means that essentially, over 80% of the world’s population, over 5 billion people, have never visited another country!
(Video included!)
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…)
Language & Culture in Azerbaijan
By Yelena Shuster, KF 11, Azerbaijan
I’d like to tell you about language in Azerbaijan especially since there have been some questions among Kiva lenders and translation volunteers as to why Komak is posting profiles in Russian using Latin letters instead of Cyrillic.
You see, since the start of the 20th century the Azeri alphabet has metamorphosed 3 times…
- Prior to 1929 Azeri was written in Perso-Arabic script.
- 1929–1938 A Latin alphabet was used (although it was different from the one used now).
- 1938 to 1991 The Cyrillic alphabet was imposed by the Soviet Union.
- 1991 With independence, the current Latin alphabet was introduced.
I’ve met several folks in their 40s and 50s who grew up reading only Cyrillic and now have difficulty reading newspapers and books. How isolated they must feel with their access to newspapers, magazines and books so unfairly limited by the alphabet! (more…)
Borrower verification in Azerbaijan: Meet a welder and a sheep farmer
By Yelena Shuster, KF 11, Azerbaijan
Last Tuesday I traveled from Baku to Fuzuli, a rural region in southwestern Azerbaijan, to meet two clients for borrower verification. The drive took us 4 hours (and 4 more to return), on a hot winding road that was paved but a few years ago. We drove past the Iranian border, a simple gate with vegetation behind it and no soldiers. Like custom dictates, we stopped for tea along the way at one of the road stops.
I was excited to go to Fuzuli. Named after a renowned Azeri poet of the 15th century, Fuzuli today is one of the “occupied territories” (see here). Only about 20% of Fuzuli remains within Azerbaijan’s jurisdiction and its current inhabitants are a blend of Fuzuli natives and internally displaced people from surrounding Nagorny-Karabakh. The main sector of employment in Fuzuli is agriculture.
As I’ve written in a previous post, Fuzuli is an important place for my MFI, as it is the place where Komak was founded amongst 20 internal refugees. Currently, about 30% of Komak’s borrowers live in Fuzuli.
I hope you enjoy the following video I made about my day doing borrower verification in Fuzuli!
Guests During One’s Lifetime
By Mammad Araz (Azeri poet born 1933)Someone is knocking at my door.
“Hey, who’s knocking?”
“I’m Memory.
I’ve brought a letter from your first love.”
(An angry woman appears in the kitchen.
The person knocking disappears with the letter.)Again, a knock at the door.
“Hey, who’s knocking?”
“I’m Praise!”
“Welcome!”
“Do you have anything to drink?”
“No, I don’t!”
“Then go on writing!”
(Praise leaves).Knock, knock.
“Who are you?”
“It’s me – Need!
Open the door!”
“What news?
I haven’t seen you for a long time.”
“It seems the less you see of me, the more you miss me.”
“Your neighbor gets a wage equivalent to five salaries
Another man buys a car.”
“By God, let me write!”Again knock, knock.
“Who’s that?”
“Your friend, Latest News!”
This damned world hasn’t collapsed:
Our century is the century of diplomacy, hey brother!
They speak about peace, carrying bombs in their pockets.
Two more of your poems were rejected
Because of your friends there.”*
“Give me some peace! Let me breathe!”Again a knock at the door.
“Who do you want?”
“I’m Fame!”
“Welcome, who are you looking for?”
“Mammad Araz”
“Brother, you’re late.
He doesn’t live here any more.”
“Where does he live now?”
“It’s near this place -
There’s a grave over which a woman is crying,
That’s where you’ll find him now.”* “They speak of peace, carrying bombs in their pockets” meaning that his friends are double-faced and superficial and, in reality, don’t support him.
Translated by Aytan Aliyeva
Yelena Shuster is a Kiva Fellow serving with Komak Credit Union in Azerbaijan. Support Komak borrowers and join our team Friends of Komak!
A video update from Azerbaijan
Yelena Shuster is a Kiva Fellow serving with Komak Credit Union in Azerbaijan. Support Komak borrowers and join our team Friends of Komak!
Revelations by the director of Komak, Kiva field partner in Azerbaijan
By Yelena Shuster, K11, Azerbaijan
I’d like to tell you a little bit about Komak, the MFI (microfinance institution), where I am serving my Kiva fellowship. Komak, which means “help” in Azerbaijani, has offices in four regions: Baku, Absheron, Khachmas and Fizuli. The central office, where I have spent most of my time is located in Baku, the capital city. Here I work with five other people: Aydin, the director; Emin, information technology; Aliabbas, accounting; Elnur, bookkeeping; and Afitab, the Kiva coordinator. With over 1,600 current active members, 80% of whom are IDPs (internally displaced people), Komak is a small but energetic MFI.
I asked Aydin, who’s been the director of Komak since its inception in 1999 to tell me about its beginnings and goals.
Aydin grew up in Fizuli and studied technology and food conservation in Odessa, Ukraine. He was living with his family in Fizuli, working as the manager of technology at the local wine factory (Fizuli afterall is one of most fertile regions in the Caucus, producing a variety of distinctive grapes from which delicious wine can be made) when the geopolitical conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh broke out with Armenia in 1992. As Armenian forces occupied his home town, Aydin and his family fled to the neighboring city of Horadiz, leaving all their belonging behind. Soon after their resettlement, Armenians occupied Horadiz as well and Aydin’s family moved again. His wife and five children went to Baku, where they stayed with relatives, while Aydin tried to forge out a living through agriculture in Ahmedbeyei for the next 5 years.
Why is microfinance important in Azerbaijan?
Yelena Shuster, K11, Azerbaijan
Greetings from Azerbaijan!
It’s been almost two weeks since my arrival. Not surprisingly, my impressions are multifarious. I enjoy the good and blast the bad, all the while trying to understand this country and its contradictions. On the one side is the growing economy, with multiple natural resources, on the other are the many people who do not get to bask in Azerbaijan’s growing wealth. While expensive stores line the streets that lead to the beautiful boardwalk along the Caspian sea, where young chick Azerbaijanis eat ice cream as they stroll with friends, bleak Soviet-style apartment buildings emanating poverty and struggle are just a kilometer or two away.
The other day I met an ex-Peace Corps volunteer who noted that in the town where he worked in northern Azerbaijan, the cold winters were frequently spent without heating. The irony is that gas is one of Azerbaijan’s most prominent resources and it was being sold abroad rather then provided to Azerbaijan’s citizens for use during the cold winters!
I have learned not to judge the state of the common people based on the government or politics, or on how the elite of a country flaunt their wealth. The real people are those individuals whom you may never see on television or read about in the news. And this is what I love about volunteering with Kiva… I get to meet real people!
One of the biggest Kiva challenges in Azerbaijan is encouraging lenders to lend to borrowers here. Either because of preconceived notions about what poverty is or mere disinterest in the region, borrowers here have a lot of trouble getting Kiva funds.
So why should you lend to a borrower in Azerbaijan?
Because without credit these individuals cannot improve their lot in life. Opportunities here are limited by corruption and lack of credit. In a post-communist developing economy like Azerbaijan’s, self-sufficiency is important. By helping Azerbaijanis expand their businesses, lenders also create opportunities for whole communities! By supporting a farmer who wants to buy more seeds or fertilizer we are helping his neighbors buy local and inexpensive food! By supporting a female hair stylist we are helping the network of local women and improving their self-esteem! And think about the children! As a borrower’s business becomes more financially prudent, children of borrowers can pursue their own interests like music lessons, sports and university education instead of being limited by subsistence activities.
Here’s a picture of a Kiva borrower with his calf. Aftandil’s other cows were out grazing and enjoying themselves on the pasture not far from his home. Free range, hormone-free, local yogurt? I saw it with my own eyes. Plus, Aftandil provides the local stores with fresh yogurt. He says that neighbors love his dairy products so much that they sometimes come to his house to purchase them. He’s seeking a loan to buy another cow because he’d like to dedicate himself to his cows full time and quit his part-time job as a construction worker. His loan request will be online later this week, meanwhile check out one of the other borrowers (many of whose loans are expiring in a day or two).
Çox sağ olun!
(thank you)
Salam əleyküm from Azerbaijan
By Yelena Shuster, K11, Azerbaijan
Last week I arrived in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan to begin my three-month fellowship at Komak credit union. For me, Baku is a special place because like the country of my birth (Ukraine) it was one of the 15 republics that made up the former Soviet Union.
So you may wonder, where is Azerbaijan?click on the map below for details
