I had the opportunity to host Adam Grenier, part of KF7 in Sierra Leone, this past week as he conducted field research for a microfinance class he teaches at Tuft University in the Boston, MA area. Adam teaches the class as part of Tuft’s Experimental College, which is open to all students, and currently has a class of 23 learning the ins and outs of the microfinance world. Adam is able to not only draw on his experience as part of working with Kiva, but also continues to travel and bring his stories of microfinance in the field back to the classroom and his students. Adam reached out to me early in my time with Fundación Mario Santo Domingo (FMSD) to see if we would be able to host him and an international relations/documentary film student from Sarah Lawrence College, Trevor Wallace, for a week to see Colombia microfinance in action.

Trevor Wallace, left, and Adam Grenier, right, visit Kiva lender Magalis Maria Maturana Muñoz in Cartagena, Colombia as part of a borrower verification. Adam served as a Kiva Fellow during KF7 in Sierra Leone.

After a month or so of email chains Adam and Trevor arrived in Colombia, ready to experience all that the coast has to offer. After an initial weekend of visiting the beach and one of Colombia’s beautiful national parks, Parque Tayrona, Trevor and Adam were exposed to the inner workings of FMSD’s microfinance programs, as well as some of their other projects, like their subsidized housing community projects (for more information, see my previous bog post Here).  We also got the change to visit multiple clients, ranging from an artisan, a store owner, all the way down to a blind broom maker.  Trever spent his time filming for a documentary he is creating for his class, while Adam was able to ask a lot of questions and gain perspective into the differences in the lives of borrowers and loan officers alike in Colombia verse his MFI in Sierra Leone.

Trevor and Adam give a presentation on Microfinance Around the World to the loan officer team in Cartagena.

Adam and Trevor found a way to give back as well; they gave a 90 minute presentation different microfinance models around the world (highlighting Sierra Leone and Haiti) and used a question and answer session to compare and contrast the differences with the model used by FMSD.  The loan officers really got into the presentation and were excited to see some of the “improvements” to the system in Colombia verses the rest of the world–such as clients paying at a bank or payment center rather than the loan officers being responsible for the payments and all of the risks involved with collections, mainly focused on safety.

Adam gets the chance to meet Rosemburg, a young entreprenuer who's loan was partly funded by a student from his class.

One of Trevor and Adam’s highlights of the trip tied back to class back at Tufts–each year Adam gives each student a $25 gift card and allows them to become a Kiva lender.  Trevor attended this class the week before they left and a few of the students chose to lend to FMSD.  I received a last minute list from Adam asking it it may be possible to visit one of these brand new Kiva lendors.  On Adams last day in town with the help of a very nice Kiva Coordinator Adam was able to track down and meet Rosemberg Guerrero Acosta, a 20 year old entreprenuer that is using his loan to improve his fast food stand.  Rosemberg is using the proceeds of his business to fund his education and Adam was able to catch up with him after he finished classes for the day, giving him a rare opportunity to view the lender, borrower, and MFI all in one week.

Though Kiva fellowships end, it is great to see that some KF’s continue to have the opportunity to keep promoting microfinance and the work that Kiva is doing.

John Gwillim is part of KF14 and currently serving in Barranquilla, Colombia.  He will continue on as a member of KF15 in Santiago, Chile.

Interested in learning more about Fundación Mario Santo Domingo?  Visit their page on Kiva here!

It was the summer of 2008.  As I sat and watched the stock markets crash around the world from my Cambodian apartment, I could not help but get nervous about my job prospects post fellowship. At that point, I felt like I’d made a mistake by leaving a great job in philanthropy to follow my heart by becoming a Kiva Fellow to learn how microfinance works on the ground. I remember when I told my family of my decision, they thought I was crazy.  I was beginning to think they might be right. Watching US financial pillars crash and stock markets tumble each day, I worried and seriously asked myself, “What am I going to do once my time as a Kiva Fellow is done?”

Fast forward a year, and three Kiva Fellowship placements later: it’s the summer of 2009 and I sit in my apartment in San Francisco looking up jobs on the internet. I am a natural optimist, but nothing looks right for me. As a woman in her early-30s, I either have too much experience or too little, and my resume clearly shows I am neither an Administrative Assistant nor Executive Director. With unemployment rising and my options limited, it looks like I will need to make my own way.

I searched my soul for what made me happy, what I am good at, and what could make me some money. Inspired by the hundreds of Kiva loan recipients in Cambodia and the Philippines I had interviewed, I decided to start my own food cart and became the newest member of the San Francisco food cart scene. Yup, I started Asian Street Sweets (@asian_st_sweets), and cooked up some of my favorite Cambodian and Philippine street desserts. I would set-up at events or heavily trafficked street corners in the Mission.  My desserts usually included combinations of coconut sticky rice with fruit steamed in banana leaves, maybe some toasted sesame seeds, tapioca balls, or red beans. Many passer-byes were curious, and all were pleasantly surprised once they tried it.

During my food cart adventures, I came to realize that I loved cooking as a hobby and not as a career. And, while I steamed my “nom som cheak” (Cambodian New Year’s Day treat), I searched for other career opportunities.

Trolling through job website after job website, I finally came upon a job opening with Oikocredit USA (www.oikocreditusa.org). Established in 1975, Oikocredit is a non-profit organization that provides loan capital to fair trade businesses, co-operatives, microfinance institutions, and small and medium sized businesses in developing countries. They are able to do this because socially minded individuals invest as little as $20 and chose to make a modest 0-2% interest return on their investment, but more importantly positive social and environmental impact. Investing in fair trade cooperatives, development projects, sound environmental practices, and having conducted social impact studies for the past three years, I knew I had found the job I wanted.

I applied and during the interview process, the Executive Director Mr. Terry Provance stated, “I am impressed to see that you were a Kiva Fellow. Tell me about your experience and what you think about microfinance.” I explained my work with CREDIT MFI and ASKI MFI, and emphasized that I was not interested in working for just any financier of microcredit, I wanted to work for Oikocredit, a company that cared about its clients, the environment, and community development. Through my work as a Kiva Fellow, I explained my thoughts on what unhealthy microfinance looks like, and expressed that I was not interested in that kind of work.

A week later, I received a phone call asking if I wanted the job, and of course, I said, “Yes!” I am now the San Francisco Outreach Coordinator for Oikocredit helping individuals change the world through small socially responsible investments. It is challenging work as I search for new investors, but work I am prepared for thanks to my Kiva Fellowship.

To find out more about how you could have the life-changing experience of being Kiva Fellow, see http://www.kiva.org/fellows.  To learn more about socially responsible investment opportunities through Oikocredit, visit  www.oikocreditusa.org

Jacques, WAGES' Kiva Coordinator, and a colleague taking a boat to visit a Kiva client in a rural area.

Meet Jacques.  He’s the Kiva Coordinator at WAGES, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Togo, West Africa.  Every day, a loan officer hand-delivers a stack of borrower information forms and a USB chip full of photos.  Jacques has trained the officers how to fill out the forms, use digital cameras, and get borrowers to smile and display their merchandise proudly for pictures.

Jacques formats the pictures, writes the information into paragraphs, and uploads everything to Kiva’s website.  Then, during the loan cycle, he reports repayments manually and visits borrowers to collect a progress update and take yet another picture.

The work is inefficient, tedious, and time-consuming.

But it’s worth it.

It’s worth it because, at 0% interest, the funds from Kiva are cheaper than many other sources of funding – despite the significant expense of coordinating the relationship and producing the borrower profiles.   WAGES accepts this administrative work as a necessary cost of using Kiva funds.  Essentially, it’s the cost of marketing.

However, in a much-discussed blog post called “Kiva Is Not Quite What It Seems,” David Roodman offered a critique of Kiva’s model, writing:

Surely it would be better for us to give in a way that allows the microfinance institutions to put more of their limited energies into helping poor people manage their difficult lot and less into making us feel good.

Working as a Kiva Fellow in Togo and witnessing Jacques’ tremendous workload, I was tempted to agree with Roodman.  How selfish of us, the lenders, to demand such wasteful expenditures of time and money just so we can feel we’ve made a difference!

Since then, I’ve come to realize that having a cost associated with attracting lenders is not wasteful or irrational.  It’s simply a reflection of a universal principle: Nothing in life is free, not even charity.  Every non-profit organization marks a portion of its donations for fundraising and marketing.  Sure, cutting back on these expenses would allow them to funnel a higher percentage of donated funds directly to their cause – but would the donations still come in?  There’s clearly an optimal balance to be struck – the one at which a non-profit gets the most bang for its marketing/fundraising buck.

In the case of Kiva, the lenders want a rewarding experience, even at a cost to the MFIs.  Roodman calls this desire an “irrationality” of private philanthropy.  I consider it a rational phenomenon that’s emerging in the new gray area between capitalism and charity.  Like many things in this uncharted territory – including microfinance – its implications are not yet fully understood.  Kiva, however, seems to be harnessing this phenomenon successfully, thanks to a built-in gauge: If the administrative cost of providing the Kiva “marketing” content was too high for MFIs, more of them would seek alternative sources of capital.  And if the warm and fuzzy return on investment provided to Kiva lenders wasn’t engaging enough, lenders would seek other, more rewarding causes to support.

Roodman’s article also criticized Kiva for not adequately communicating that 95% of loans seeking funding on the site have already been disbursed (a system that is actually more efficient than “true” peer-to-peer lending).  Matt Flannery, Kiva’s CEO and Co-Founder responded, reiterating Kiva’s dedication to openness and promising to make things clearer on the website.

How will this improved transparency affect Kiva’s funding supply?  Casual Kiva users probably won’t notice or care, and will continue to lend.  Die-hard Kiva users (they call themselves “Kiva Friends”) already knew and kept lending too.  The conscientious, newly educated user, however, might start to question whom they are really helping when they click “Lend $25.”  The answer to this important question depends on how an MFI uses the savings gained from accessing Kiva’s cheap capital.  Are the savings used to cover financial literacy training?  Are they passed on to clients through lowered interest rates?  Or, are they being used to pay a high salary for the MFI Director?

Once lenders start thinking about questions like these, they might start paying more attention to Kiva’s field partner profile pages, perhaps asking for more disclosure.  Roodman points out that Kiva may fear that complete honesty would undermine growth.  Flannery refutes this. Only time will tell. What is clear, however, is that Kiva will constantly evolve, thanks to its dedication to self-improvement and transparency – and with the help of conscientious critics like Roodman.

***

I am a Kiva Fellow Alumna, Class of KF6/7, who served three months in Lome, Togo, and three more in Thies, Senegal. I now volunteer at the Financial Access Initiative in New York City, sharing research-based insights with the Kiva Community.

How a Kiva Fellow Alumna’s non-profit organization, SunPower Afrique, is shedding light on MFIs in West Africa

“Beep,” complained my laptop, unhappy about its sudden switch to battery power.  The fan above me whirred gently to a stop, no longer drying the beads of sweat incessantly forming on my forehead.  “Page can not be displayed,” grumbled Firefox.  My internet connection was gone, along with any hope I had of uploading my stack of borrower profiles to the Kiva website.

I walked out into the hallway and found the employees of my Senegalese microfinance institution slowly leaking out of their offices as well.  We pulled up chairs in a circle, sat down, and prepared to sweatily twiddle our thumbs until the power gods had mercy on us, whether in ten minutes or ten hours.

An employee at FECECAV, a Togolese MFI, tracking loan repayments by hand. Many of FECECAV's branches operate without electicity.

Power cuts are a regular occurrence in West Africa, as in most parts of the developing world. Production and distribution of electricity are unable to meet demand, causing frequent rolling blackouts and interrupted service.  For MFIs (and many other businesses), this means countless manpower hours lost, high overhead costs, low employee morale, a short shelf-life for office equipment and other low efficiencies in daily operations.  These consequences are even more debilitating for MFIs who work with Kiva – the Kiva partnership depends on technology and internet connectivity to successfully fund loans for enterprising clients.  Gasoline-powered generators, the obvious alternative, represent a significant up-front investment and are extremely costly to run and maintain.

So, what can be done to provide MFIs with a reliable source of power??

Enter Kira Costanza, the courageous Kiva Fellow Alumna, galloping in on her trusty steed named Solar Power!

Kira, a Kiva Fellow in 2008, was also stationed in West Africa, at a small MFI called FECECAV, in a small town called Kpalimé, in a small country called Togo.  Kira, like me, experienced first-hand the inefficiencies of an unreliable electrical infrastructure.  Instead of forgetting the problem and escaping back to her comfortable, electricity-abundant homeland, she decided to do something about it!

Kira’s dad, Jon Costanza, is the Founder and President of Sunpower Builders, a US-based solar company where he has been designing and installing solar energy systems since 1972.  Kira saw an opportunity to use the connections forged by her Kiva Fellowship to help bring a reliable, environmentally friendly power source to MFIs in Togo.  Together with her father, she founded SunPower Afrique, a 501(c)(3) non-profit that aims to connect West African MFIs and their clients to solar energy.

Since the end of her Kiva Fellowship in 2008, Kira has been working hard to get the right people connected, to learn about electricity in Togo, and to raise funds for her project.  As a pilot project, Kira plans to install a Photovoltaic system (solar panels that generate electricity!) on the roof of FECECAV’s headquarters in Kpalimé, and eventually to install solar electric systems on all of FECECAV’s branches and satellite offices.  According to Kira, “Many of these offices currently have NO power, and a computer, printer, fax machine/phone, fan and light bulb can completely change the way they work and help them to reduce poverty so much more efficiently.”

Currently, Kira is back in Togo doing market research and project development.  She has raised about half of the funds required to install the solar electricity system at FECECAV’s headquarters. Importantly, Kira plans to train a local workforce to install and maintain the solar systems, thus creating a successful and sustainable model that can be replicated in other countries.  She is also fundraising to help FECECAV offer a new, innovative loan product: solar loans, a long term loan with a low interest rate to help small business clients switch to solar power.  Behold, the never-ending potential of microfinance!

Kira and her Togolese colleagues in front of a FECECAV branch office. SunPower Afrique aims to install solar power at all of FECECAV's branches.

Kira’s work would not be possible without the connections she made during her Kiva Fellowship.  Now, thanks to SunPower Afrique, FECECAV – and, in the future, other MFIs – can manage their Kiva partnerships more efficiently and accurately, thus better serving their clients in the ongoing fight for poverty alleviation.

Kira’s decision to venture into uncharted social-entrepreneurship territory reminds me of some other young people I know: Matt and Jessica Flannery.  Kira’s is the same entrepreneurial spirit that motivated the creation of Kiva, the same spirit that inspires Kiva lenders to risk their hard-earned money, and the same spirit that drives Kiva borrowers to create and run their own businesses.

I am awed and inspired by Kira’s energy, her initiative, and her genuine passion for helping the people that she (and I) grew to love in West Africa.  I hope that you might be as well.

Please check out Kira’s website or contact her at kira.costanza@sunpowerafrique.org to learn more about SunPower Afrique!

***

I am a Kiva Fellow Alumna, Class of KF6/7, who served three months in Lome, Togo, and three more in Thies, Senegal. I am now working in New York City as a Research Assistant at the Financial Access Initiative, sharing research-based insights with the Kiva Community.

In Dakar, this ad provoked vandals to rebel against the culturally inappropriate image. In New York, it wouldn't get a second glance.

If you have to deal with culture shock after 8 months of living in West Africa, New York is one of the most dramatic places to do it. On one hand, the vibrancy and energy of pedestrian-filled, trafficky New York streets isn’t all that different from the dusty “rues” of Dakar. Colorful fruit carts still grace the sidewalks, and overhearing conversations in foreign languages is a daily occurrence. On the other hand, skyscrapers and giant billboards of half-naked models are everywhere, as are exorbitant price tags on everything from purses to sushi dinners.

Having completed my official Kiva duties, I am now doing research at the Financial Access Initiative (FAI), a microfinance think-tank of sorts. It’s a consortium of researchers from NYU, Harvard, Yale, and Innovations for Poverty Action, focused on expanding access to quality financial services for low-income individuals.

FAI researchers tackle questions big and small – from studies on the impact of microfinance (Does it really change lives?) to the most effective MFI program designs (Do lower interest rates improve repayment rates?) to industry-specific questions (What is the risk of owning female versus male calves?) .

These are exactly the types of questions that plagued me as I uploaded borrower profiles in my sweltering Senegalese conference room (especially the one about calf gender). I’m really excited to be here tackling them, and I’m also excited to share some of our most interesting research pieces on the Kiva Fellows Blog!

I thought today would be a good day to drop my first line, because Kiva was mentioned on the FAI blog. You can read the post here; there are some interesting observations on the perceived value of things being “free” rather than “cheap” – for example, lending on Kiva.org.

Cheers to all the Kiva Fellows still in the field, and bon courage as you struggle through language barriers and health scares, power outages and encounters with new and disgusting kinds of bugs. Just remember that once you’re back home in your cozy apartment, eating McDonald’s and watching American Idol, it won’t take long for your soul to start tugging at you, asking for the next challenge, the next entrepreneur to interview, the next flight into the unknown. Enjoy it while it lasts.

***

I am a Kiva Fellow Alumna, Class of KF6/7, who served three months in Lome, Togo, and three more in Thies, Senegal. I am now working as a Research Assistant at the Financial Access Initiative, sharing research-based insights with the Kiva Community.

Kiva’s launch in the United States on June 10th generated a huge amount of media attention for Kiva, and an equally-large number of hits for the Kiva Fellows Blog. Kudos goes to John Briggs KF8, currently on his second Kiva placement with KADET in Kenya, for his #1 in Q2 post in response to the “Pissed Off Kiva Lenders” lending team with 1,712 views to date.

The top 5 blogs in Q2 were:

1. Pissed Off Kiva Lenders, John Briggs KF8, Kenya

2. A Rose From Florence, Stephanie Koczela KF7, Uganda

3. M-Banking!, Brett Dobbs KF7, Kenya

4. I Am Living In Kisumu, Kenya, Milena Arciszewski KF7, Kenya

5. Welcome, Kiva, to West Timor!, Kieran Ball KF7, Indonesia

Quarter 2 has been a time of change for Kiva, both on a macro level, as people in Kenya and Cambodia make their first Kiva loans to entrepreneurs in northern California and New York City, and a micro level, as Kiva Fellows upload short videos to this very blog detailing the daily activities of borrowers and loan officers alike.

Emily Sweeney KF7, Peru, found the time to travel to Lake Titicaca, where she later found out that many of the artisans selling their crafts on the floating islands were borrowers of her MFI, Manuela Ramos. She was particularly struck by the way microfinance had merged with the unique island culture of Los Uros.  Katie Davis KF7, Cambodia, got a crash course in rice accounting from staff at her MFI in Cambodia, vastly different from the sophisticated financial and analytic tools she used at her job in the United States, but which proved to be incredibly effective.  Several new KF8 fellows have undergone changes since starting their placements in late May and June, including Alia Rafeh KF8, Lebanon, who traveled 7,000 miles to begin her placement with Al Majmoua, Cissy DeLuca KF8, Indonesia, who made the official change from Kiva intern to Kiva Fellow this past Sunday as she departed for her fellowship with TLM via Taipei and Tamara Sanderson KF8, Mongolia, whose role at Kiva changed from volunteer to fellow as she started her placement with XacBank, noting the important role connection plays in empowering a relatively new Kiva MFI.

Videos you should be sure to check out:

Zev travels home from work in Indonesia

Hanh attempts to cross Hanoi’s bustling/frenetic (depending on your point of view) streets shortly after arriving in Vietnam

Athan ate a traditional Umu meal in Samoa

Ashley King-Bischof posted a video of thank yous from borrowers in Cameroon

If you’re interested in learning more about the Kiva Fellows Program or other opportunities to get involved with Kiva, be sure to check out the Do More section on the Kiva website.

Arariwa is an amazing organization with an extremely dedicated group of loan officers. I was consistently impressed with loan officers’ dedication to their clients—not just putting in long hours for little pay and running risks by carrying cash, but in some cases even relocating to remote villages in order to serve clients without previous access to financial services. For example, Tula Barazorda and Armando Cabrera live and work in Pilcopata, a remote jungle town that’s 8+ hours from Cusco on rough, narrow dirt roads. Pilcopata is a sleepy little town where there’s little to do but shoot the breeze and swat the mosquitoes. One morning – over breakfast, no less – Tula and Armando had a long, nonchalant conversation about all the different kinds of bugs that can burrow under your skin, how to tell the difference, and the pros and cons of each one (never before have I been so grateful to my parents for raising me in Minnesota, where all we have is ticks).

All in all, my time at Arariwa was an incredible experience, and I’m already itching to go back and visit. I’m also looking forward to reading much more frequent blogs from my Arariwa successor, Lee Bruner!

To see all currently fundraising loans from Asociación Arariwa, click here.

Cynthia McMurry is a fourth-time Kiva fellow working with brand new Kiva field partner Fundación Espoir in Quito, Ecuador. Previously she worked with Fundación AgroCapital in Bolivia and FINCA Peru and Asociación Arariwa in Peru.

The latest news from Nicaragua has unfortunately been the decision by the United Nations to cancel $62 million dollars worth to funds destined to assist in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs are eight goals created by the United Nations to combat some of the developing world’s most pressing problems such as improved access to education and health. The decision to revoke the funds is a direct result of electoral fraud that occurred last fall during the mayoral elections. People were denied access to vote, votes were not counted, and many of the international watch groups were denied full access to oversee the electoral process.

It was therefore determined a fraud by observers from the European Union, the Carter Center, and the Organization of American States. While the fraud is old news, the cancellation of funding has been in the headlines since the announcement was recently made. Taxi drivers, store owners, co-workers- anyone who can get my attention seem to want to tell me, the foreigner, how embarrassed and worried they are that their government has allowed this to happen.

The cancellation of funds and an expanding economic crisis has left the majority of Nicaragua’s poor without a support system. In a country where 45% of the population lives on less than $2 dollars a day, it is important that Kiva lenders continue to support Kiva loans and other forms of development in Nicaragua. Clients of ADIM, the MFI where I currently work, used to tell me that their business goal was to “expand their business,” now the answer I regularly get is to “survive the economic crisis.”

Crater lake and volcano in Nicaragua

To support current ADIM loans currently fundraising please click here: http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&partner_id=120&status=All&sortBy=New+to+Old

For more information on the electoral fraud in Nicaragua please read: http://www.economist.com/world/americas/displayStory.cfm?story_id=12607338

By Nick Cain, KF7 Paraguay

In Cochabamba, Bolivia, milk is quite literally the ticket to financial services and economic growth.  Kiva lenders, meet CIDRE, your newest Field Partner in Bolivia.  Last week I traveled from Asunción, Paraguay to Cochabamba, Bolivia to train CIDRE’s staff members on the Kiva platform, help them learn a little about the Kiva community, and make sure they had everything they needed in order to start connecting their borrowers to Kiva lenders.

The staff was enthusiastic to get to work and learn more about Kiva, so Day One of my visit was all training sessions and PowerPoints.  But on Day Two, CIDRE’s new Kiva Coordinator, Diego Cardona, and I set off for the outskirts of Cochabamba to meet some borrowers.  Most of CIDRE’s loan products are geared to serve the region’s dairy farmers, a community of micro-entrepreneurs who own anywhere from 5 – 25 cows and earn income by selling milk to Pil, the region’s lone dairy corporation.  Cochabamba’s dairy farmers are concentrated in a large swath of land behind the city’s airport.   About 10 minutes after leaving CIDRE’s offices in the city center, paved roads gave way to a lumpy, dusty web of cinder-block houses and muddy cow pastures.  Eventually Diego and I came to a stop, eye-to-eye with a couple of rather hefty bovines.

Outside the home of one of his clients, Diego told me a bit more about how dairy farmers are able to access CIDRE’s financial services.  It was a classic lesson in how the microfinance industry finds innovative ways to bring credit to those who are usually shut out of the financial system.  Without bank accounts or formal financial documents, receipts or tickets from Pil are the best and often only way that the farmers can prove their income.  CIDRE’s loan officers told me that these tickets, which show how many liters of milk a farmer sells to Pil each month, are critical to the evaluation of each borrower’s eligibility for a loan.  Depending on their income and other assets, most farmers are also required to put up some or all of their cows as collateral for the loan.  Thus, for every new client, loan officers have to make the rounds at the cow pasture, snapping photos of each animal to ensure that CIDRE can tell them all apart.

Kiva Coordinator Diego Cardona documents collateral for a client's loan

With access to a loan, CIDRE’s clients are able to buy more food for their cows or invest in new animals, both of which can be leveraged into higher milk production and an increase in income.  According to Diego, CIDRE has found that farmers who are able to acquire 10-12 cows or more are most likely to increase their income, while those with fewer tend to make just enough money to sustain themselves and their business.  By tapping into the funding made available by Kiva lenders, CIDRE will be able to extend their reach even further into Cochabamba’s dairy farming community.

I hope you’ll join me in welcoming CIDRE to the Kiva community.  Their first set of loans should be up on the site soon, so keep an eye out for those cows!

Nick Cain recently finished a 16-week placement with Fundacion Paraguaya.  He promises to still wear his Kiva t-shirt when he gets home.

Posted in All, Bolivia, CIDRE, KF7 (Kiva Fellows 7th Class) Tagged: blogsherpa, Bolivia, CIDRE, cochabamba, dairy production in bolivia, kiva in bolivia, microfinance in bolivia, nick cain ]]> http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2009/06/16/the-cows-of-cochabamba/feed/ 6 nickcain Cochabamba, Bolivia COW ID Extra Income Cochabamba's Most Famous Landmark http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2009/06/10/in-defense-of-kiva-and-microfinance/ http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2009/06/10/in-defense-of-kiva-and-microfinance/#comments Wed, 10 Jun 2009 20:28:23 +0000 Ashley King-Bischof http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/?p=4784 ]]> Why is it that Kiva gets a bad rep for funding MFIs that give out loans to the people who otherwise would not receive them?! Recently, a blog was written on socialedge.org/blogs about a particular experience a “video journalist” had when she visited MFIs in Cambodia and Mozambique and spoke to “countless Kiva loan recipients” while there. The author’s article was based on the fact that “none of them had succeeded at pulling themselves out of poverty” because of these five reasons:

1) The High Interest Rates Being Charged
2) Inadequate Economic Opportunities
3) A Lack of Business Skills/Entrepreneurial Talent
4) Over-burdened Loan Officers
5) Lack of Sustainability

As most of you reading this are Kiva lenders, I want to refreshingly remind you of why the people she met (whom we do not learn much about in her article), were only a few of the 180,000 Kiva loan recipients to date, and do not necessarily represent the experiences of every Kiva loan. These few interviews can be seen in Episode 9 of her documentary series.

I want to use this blog post to layout, from a Kiva Fellow’s point-of-view, how challenging it is to lend to the poor, both fiscally and temporally. Let me share with you how Kiva (and microfinance) not only helps MFIs, and subsequently their borrowers/members, to stay afloat, but is also going to, overtime, help reduce poverty.

Kiva prides itself on transparency. Arguably, there could be more *asterisks on kiva.org where people are getting a little confused. I know that when Kiva says their loans charge 0% interest, it may feel a bit funny to learn that some MFIs charge a large interest rate to cover their expenses. The great thing about lending to Kiva is, however, that the influence of Kiva keeps costs down. By giving interest free loans, some MFIs will lower their interest rates, while others will use the extra money to give more loans. Without an interest-free donor, some of these organizations would cease to grow, or even begin.

GHAPE, a Kiva Partner in Cameroon, for example, has their borrowers receive loans in five progressing stages. Type I loans, starter loans, must be 40,000 CFA (about $80). They charge a flat-rate, annual interest rate of 15%. If you do the math, you simply cannot run a center of 40 new members on the interest alone. So, how does an MFI get off the ground? They either charge a lot of interest to first-time borrowers who can barely invest small loans, or they look for funders who are interest free and/or give money as a donation. The later is a common strategy.

At GHAPE, they are always looking for new ways to expand and open up new centers. Centers in rural areas can cost a lot in transport fees, which usually includes check-ups for first-time borrowers. Check-ups and first-time loans are how the poor get to establish a credit history, and it is not cheap. So, to start a new center, GHAPE has to get upfront costs from somewhere. That money is either taken from their portfolio (which means other members do not have access to credit as often) or they look to interest free lenders, like Kiva.

The most common critique of microfinance is that if it is not coupled with business or loan management training then it will have little impact. I agree. All MFIs should help their first-time borrowers receive this type of education. However, not all MFIs are created equal. Some started out as banks, and as a section of their portfolio, give loans to those in poverty. Others start fresh as poverty-alleviating organization. Again, the great thing about Kiva is their transparency. As a lender you can find out information about the MFI the loan is going through. Every “Field Partner” has its own page on kiva.org.

This is an excurpt from GHAPE’s Partner Page on kiva.org:

Program Design: The problems facing the poor, especially poor women and young people, are multiple and interrelated. Because of this, GHAPE has developed an innovative poverty alleviation package, Empowerment Credit (EC), which contains the fundamental empowerment resources required to fight abject poverty. Included in EC are trainings (business development service), credit and social education. To guarantee sustainability and maximize GHAPE’s scarce resources, this package is administered sequentially, and it simultaneously meets the current and emerging needs of borrowers.

When I read this, as it is linked to all of GHAPE’s borrowers, I know that GHAPE has a training package for all five stages of its membership. Having heard a lot of the these trainings and the reactions from GHAPE members, they clearly have an impact on these entrepreneurs. They note that the education is one of the main reasons they join GHAPE.

As for loan officer burden, they have to have large case loads in order to keep costs down. I can attest that each loan officer at GHAPE knows all of their center members. When it comes to getting personal attention, that’s where Center Chiefs come in. GHAPE Center Chiefs co-conduct each semi-monthly meeting and are the connect to their branch office, where they visit regularly. Center Chiefs are also trained and meet once a year to make improvements on GHAPE.

I cannot say enough about the work done at my MFI. It is hard to be impartial. The employees working there understand that GHAPE’s cause is to make a difference. I also know that GHAPE uses Kiva to fund a lot of their loans. Some borrowers say that without a loan from either GHAPE or Kiva, they would not have the income they have today.

For one example: a Center Chief at GHAPE, Christina Manka Ngwa, said to me that if it were not for the loans she had received from GHAPE, she would not have been able to sponsor her child to go to University in Cameroon.

To come full-circle, I will give my final point, one that I cannot know for sure, but I feel very confident about. If we continue to invest in Kiva borrowers, we may not get them out of poverty at first, but we will help feed, cloth and educate their children. I do see that when you send these children to school, they will “live a fine life,” and themselves, be lifted out of poverty. To me, that is why I loan and I hope that, at least with GHAPE, people can see that microfinance is working, even if it is non-obvious and slow to come.

As a Kiva Fellow with a new partner, my job is to document everything, verify clients, and bring this information to the Kiva team and to Kiva lenders. I am so excited to be able to bring Kiva’s first field visit with ASKI-MFI to you.

Welcome to "Kiva Country"!

Check-out current Kiva ASKI borrowers to lend to.

Kiva Fundraising loans at ASKI MFI

To learn more about ASKI Microfinance Institution and their holistic approach to alleviating poverty, please visit their website. http://www.aski.com.ph/

Teresa Dunbar just finished her Kiva Fellowship with ASKI MFI, Cabanatuan, Philippines. She’s been a Kiva Fellow since August 2008 with MFI’s in Cambodia and the Philippines. She previously worked for The Christensen Fund, promoting bio-cultural diversity resilience. She holds a BA in Cultural Anthropology and Spanish.

To all the Kiva lenders, “I thank them plenty!”

AMK Credit Officer (CO) ready to ride

A few things to point out:

• Being a CO is extremely hard work. AMK CO’s often drive their motorcycles 100+km a day through extremely hot weather to meet with clients. It is currently monsoon season in Cambodia but CO’s work rain or shine.
• CO’s can be responsible for managing 300+ clients (in some cases as many as 700 in areas that are dominated by village bank group loans) and these clients must be visited on a monthly basis in order for repayments to be collected
• Co’s are highly visible and typically well respected figures in the villages they represent. When I ask entrepreneurs what type of work they hope their children will pursue when they are older, I frequently get an answer along the lines of “I want them to work at a bank like AMK.”
• Microfinance is a cash business and the CO’s are responsible for transporting and accounting for large quantities of currency. Unfortunately this carries with it the risk of being robbed and conversely a potential temptation to commit fraud.

CO's in training observing a loan disbursement

So how does one become a CO? While I was out in the field visiting Kiva entrepreneurs in Kandal Province a few weeks ago I came across a group of AMK CO’s in training as they were observing loan disbursements and repayments. I was able to talk to the training instructor and ask a few of the trainees about the process.

• In order to apply for CO openings at any AMK branch, the candidate must first sit for an exam which tests quantitative abilities such as interest calculation and agriculture specific conversion formulas (most frequently to hectors).
• If the candidate passes the exam, they apply for a position in a training class. CO training lasts 10 days and while the majority of it takes place in a classroom, trainees spend 2 days doing field observations.
• Upon graduating from the course, the new CO’s will shadow a seasoned CO out in the field for several weeks.  A new CO must then build up their own portfolio of clients by visiting villages that AMK does not currently have a presence in.
• The new CO first builds a relationship with the village or commune leader who will give the CO permission to work in their village and help spread the word to the community.
• The CO will then host an information session to explain how to get a loan and what the requirements are, and then they will return to village a week or two later to collect loan applications from the villagers.
• Yet another village visit must take place for the actual loan disbursement to be made. It is sink or swim for many new CO’s in their first few months on the job.
• Some CO’s are fortunate to be able to take over the existing portfolio of clients from a CO who quits or is promoted to Area Manager.

Despite knowing all of this, I gained an even greater appreciation for CO’s last week while attempting to visit Kiva entrepreneurs in Kandal Province. AMK Kiva Coordinator extraordinaire, Sopanith Hay, and I decided that it might be more efficient to try and find some entrepreneurs on our own rather than tagging along with an AMK CO who was collecting repayments from non-Kiva AMK borrowers in the same area. Not the brightest idea we have ever had…

And that is 5 minutes of footage boiled down from our 3 hour mis-adventure.  A slightly humorous (I hope) reminder that the implementation of the “developed world’s” idea of microfinance really rests in the hands of the citizens of the villages, provinces, towns, and cities where microcredit is extended. I am just giving credit where credit is due (pun intended). Cheers to the CO’s!

Katie Davis has been working as a Kiva Fellow (KF7) at AMK in Cambodia for the past 4 months. Katie is wrapping up her role as a fellow and is staying on with AMK on an interim basis to help start an exciting new unit within the bank focused on serving vulnerable groups.

Oh you absolutely are, you say?

Well, you’re in luck. There is a BRAC Tanzania Lending Team on Kiva.org that you can join and be surrounded by fellow BRAC Tanzania enthusiasts! We only have 8 members right now, so you should really go to the site, join the lending team and help our BRAC Tanzania Lending Team grow to be as massive as BRAC itself!

Thanks to those 8 people who have joined and together already made 6 loans toTanzanian women!

A BRAC Tanzania borrower makes a loan repayment in Zanzibar

Sarah Forbes was a KF6 in Kenya with K-MET and is now serving her KF7/8 placements with BRAC Tanzania. She is clearly very excited about the new BRAC Tanzania Lending Team. You should join, so she’ll stop harassing you about it.

If Kiva had green microloans would you support one?  I am different from the “traditional” Kiva Fellow in the sense that I am spending my last semester of graduate school working full time as a fellow while researching the possibility of using microfinance to fund green or environmental microloans for my thesis.  Ideally, green microloans would work to improve income generation, health, and environmental conditions of the world’s poor.

The world’s poor interact on a daily basis with their natural surroundings, and depend on the natural resources their environment provides them for their livelihoods.  This places the poor at a higher risk for environmental changes such as pollution, and climate change.  Unfortunately, many developing countries lack the financial capital necessary to provide services that often times cost more to implement than the revenue they will produce from those services.

This is where green microloans enter.

Green microloans could include solar energy, water purification, improved cook stoves- the ideas limitless.  Kiva could partner with local NGOs and MFIs to create a similar person to person lending system that incorporates a strategy to provide clean technology for entrepreneurs in developing nations.  When microfinance merges with clean technology, internet lenders temporarily subsidize initial costs of these projects. Subsidizing this initial cost allows borrowers to participate in projects that are beneficial for their business, health, and the environment.  Borrowers would receive both technical training and financial planning education while they work to pay back their loans.

A recent article published by The New York Times estimates that “black carbon,  smoke,  soot,  and carbon emissions  from primitive cookstoves is responsible for 18 percent of the planet’s warming, compared with 40 percent for carbon dioxide (Rosenthal, 2009).”  A similar study estimated that black carbon might account for as much as half of Arctic warming!  Why not provide loans for improved cookstoves?  We would supporting the switch to clean technology that can decrease black carbon, improve respiratory health, and decrease deforestation.

Nicaragua- Firewood for a family of three for six months.

Environmental loans will not be for every entrepreneur, but for some Kiva entrepreneurs there is undoubtedly an overlooked opportunity.  One such instance is my former neighbor in the Dominican Republic who sells ice cream out of a cooler on the back of his motorcycle.  The DR, infamous for its power outages, left my neighbor several times with melting ice cream.  Could a solar panel or an inverter have protected his ice cream, his sole form of income generation?  I think so.

What do you think?  Could Kiva do green microloans?  Would you fund a green loan?

Help my thesis– leave me a comment- or come watch me present my findings the end of August 2009 at Monterey Institute of International Studies Monterey, CA.

Rosenthal, Elisabeth. By Degrees- Third-World Stove Soot Is Target in Climate Fight. The New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/science/earth/16degrees.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=black%20carbon&st=cse

April 16, 2009.

There is another kind of risk though; one that I think some of you may be familiar with. That’s right, it’s Risk, as in epic board game, world domination style Risk.

I have been thinking about this particular kind of Risk lately due to the fact that while working with the Kiva field partner BRAC, I cannot escape how much the organization makes me think of the game, with its trademark little army men taking control of continents and sweeping across the globe in the attempt to gain complete domination of the two dimensional board game-world.

Only in BRAC’s case, the army is not little plastic figures, but a human, benevolent BRAC army of Bangladeshis, Afghanis, Sri Lankans, Pakistanis, Southern Sudanese, Ugandans, and Tanzanians. And this is just the beginning – the army is growing, sweeping the globe, out to conquer the poverty of the world, one country at a time.

The figures in green represent BRAC, those in red...poverty.

Okay, my analogy may be getting out of hand at this point. “Out to conquer the poverty of the world” is definitely too melodramatic, but the quantity and quality of BRAC’s global work to improve the lives of those living in poverty is undeniably striking.

Created in 1972 as a small-scale relief and rehabilitation project that was designed as a response to the consequences of the liberation war in Bangladesh, BRAC has since evolved into the largest southern NGO in the world.

With its programs in Asia and Africa, BRAC provides services to more than 110 million people. These services include: microfinance, health, water and sanitation, education, adolescent education and life skills, agriculture, livestock, and other social development programs.

Poverty is a simple word for a complex beast – BRAC works to improve the quality of people’s lives using a holistic approach, with strategically linked programs that address the causes of poverty from multiple angles. This might mean that within a microfinance group, there will be a health worker providing medical supplies for her group members or that down the street from a microfinance meeting a client’s daughter will be learning about gender issues at an adolescent club.

BRAC focuses on empowering women through these development programs, viewing women as crucial agents of change who will be the ones to lead their families out of intergenerational poverty.

Two BRAC Tanzania loan officers head out in the early morning to meet their borrower groups

Not only are women the target population for these programs, but women are also the primary workforce behind them.  BRAC employs more than 120,000 people worldwide, the majority of whom are women. They are the real life Risk-style BRAC army. From microfinance area managers, branch managers, and loan officers to agricultural workers to health program coordinators to adolescent club mentors, women are the driving force behind BRAC’s work in underdeveloped countries.

There are also dedicated men involved. BRAC’s head management is staffed by development experts from Bangladesh, men who move to the targeted country for a period of 2 to 3 years in order to implement the programs and train staff to run them. Agriculture and livestock program staffs are also often men, and male guards at the offices provide valuable work to the security of BRAC’s operations.

Together, these hardworking BRAC employees spread out across countries, opening branch offices and providing valuable services to citizens who have, until now, lived outside of the reach of other means of assistance.

I served my KF6 Fellowship at K-MET in Kenya, now I am in Tanzania working with BRAC. Moving from a one (albeit super-) man operation to the 85 office strong (and growing) BRAC operation in Tanzania has definitely been an eye opener in terms of scale.

A borrower group sits in the BRAC required U-shape seating formation (with near military like precision) on a mat in rural Zanzibar. Borrower groups meet once a week to make loan repayments and apply for loans. The group (of 20-40 women) is subdivided into small groups of 5. Each small group member acts as a guarantor of her group members's loans - if one of the small group members fails to pay, the other four are responsible for the payment.

BRAC Tanzania employs more than 800 (77% of whom are women) Tanzanians and reaches over 750,000 citizens across the country. Starting in June 2006, BRAC has expanded from one office to approximately 85 (I say approximately because they seem to be multiplying overnight of their own accord – it’s hard to keep track), reaching people in poverty in 17 out of the 26 regions in Tanzania. Over 80,000 women borrowers attend group meetings each week.

As BRAC Tanzania continues to grow, its relationship with Kiva plays an increasingly important role. Though BRAC has an Africa Loan Fund that provides funding for many of their programs, and the microfinance program itself is largely self-sustaining, the organization continues to want to diversify their funding avenues. Kiva’s  loans are a great way to continue to scale up their programs, enabling them to provide even more Tanzanian women with access to credit.

It is in this way that, you, the lenders, can become a part of the great BRAC army. Welcome. Make a loan to a BRAC Tanzania borrower today. Be a part of opening the door to financial services to women across Tanzania. And with the borrower group guarantee, it’s not even a little bit risky.

Sarah Forbes worked as a KF6 with K-MET in Kenya. She is now serving her KF7 and KF8 terms with BRAC in Tanzania. Unfortunately, she has never actually played the game Risk.

Before many entrepreneurs can answer what their goals or dreams are for their future, I often have to translate the question using simpler terms.  Many women in the region of Puno, Peru, speak Aymara as their native language and although most are very comfortable conversing in Spanish, the word for goal, “meta”, and dream, “sueño”, are often not understood.  I believe this lack of knowledge is representative of the fact that goals and dreams are not topics that are often discussed.  Once I translate the question to, “What do you want for your future and for the future of your family?”, nine times out of ten, I receive the same two responses.  The first response is “salir adelante” (to progress and move forward), and the second response is “que mis hijos sean professionals”, (that my children will become professionals), meaning that their children will study in either a private institution or University and find work in their chosen field.  Sometimes the responses to this question are more specific, such as a woman stating she would like to own an artesian store in Puno or that she hopes the profits from her business will eventually provide her with enough funds to purchase a home, but I usually receive the same two, somewhat broad answers.

After my first month of conducting interviews where I would do my best to encourage the entrepreneurs to elaborate on these responses, but usually was not successful in this attempt, I began to feel a bit frustrated.  This prompted me to think about how I would respond to this question if I were in these women’s shoes.  I thought about the variety of responses I might provide: I want to go to business school and work for an organization whose mission in tied to international development, have a family that is safe and healthy, eventually own my own home in the Bay Area, become better at the guitar, complete a triathlon, and the list goes on.  The more I thought about my responses, the more I realized that in the core of these answers are two underlying themes.  The first is that I hope to always progress and move forward, both personally and professionally.  The second is that I want a healthy family and hope to eventually provide my children with a good education and the means to succeed. Embedded in all my goals and dreams for the future are the same desires of the women I have met who live in the countryside of rural Peru.

So why am I able to define my dreams with specific actions that I will take in order to achieve them?  Opportunity.  Going to University and graduate school to study a field I am interested in, advancing in a successful career in the profession of my choice, and developing personal hobbies are all luxuries that are readily accessible to me because of the economic situation I enjoy simply because I was born into it.  My parents and the social infrastructure of the society in which I live have provided me with the opportunity to clearly formulate a plan to achieve my goals and the means to go after these dreams. In the rural regions of Puno, Peru, these types of opportunities are almost non-existent, as is the education that teaches women to develop defined goals for their future.  The immediate necessities of life: clothing and feeding their families cause the majority of these women to pursue businesses that will provide them and their families with profits that are small, but just large enough to meet basic needs.  Although I believe most humans across the globe share the same intrinsic aspirations to want to progress and help their children progress, much of the world’s people, particularly in developing countries, lack accessibility to the necessary education and economic resources to define this progress in their own terms.

So is microfiance helping to develop the educational and economical framework that is needed?  Yes, it is definitely playing a part.  Although one $200 loan from Maneula Ramos and Kiva will not transform the business and life of every single entrepreneur, one thousand $200 loans can help provide a solid foundation of a society that has the economic means to slowly develop.  Because of microloans and the education and self-esteem building that comes along with these loans, perhaps five of these one thousand women will develop ingenious business ideas and implement them, therefore providing new businesses and new hope to the society around them.  Perhaps fifty of these one thousand women will save enough funds to help send their children to University, eventually altering the course of the future for the next generation.  Although many women who receive microloans will not drastically change, most of these women will be able to start or continue with their small business, generating enough income for their families to survive.  This may be a far cry from how most people from developed nations would define their goals and dreams, but for most borrowers who secure microloans and live in a poor part of our world, this is progress.

Emily Sweeney is part of KF7 and is finishing her three and a half month placement with Manuela Ramos in Puno, Peru at the end of May.

While an estimated half of Kenyans with AIDS are receiving anti-retroviral treatment, only about a third of Kenyan children are. In a Feb. 5th 2009 report issued by Human Rights Watch, the authors listed two primary reasons for the gap in care. The first, familiar to those in micro finance, is the lack of access to major health centers. Like banks, the best hospitals are located in major urban centers and cater to the slim minority that can afford steep hospital bills.

Second, many caregivers do not take their children for testing because of “stigma attached to the illness, misinformation, neglect or lack of resources.” At K-MET, Executive Director Monica Oguttu is familiar with these problems.

A third problem stems from something not listed in the HRW report. Many of the nurse or midwife run clinics that serve as many as 400 clients a week, do not offer child welfare services. With limited resources, clinicians often focus on serving adults because they are more likely to come in for treatment and more likely to pay. K-MET, fortunately, has an answer for this:

As mentioned in the video, Monica, Asuke and other members of K-MET staff encourage (but do not require) clinicians to use part of their loans to develop child welfare services with a simple argument. “If you serve the children, their mothers will come and you will have a new client.” It works.

A few weeks ago, I spent three days traveling the central provinces of Kenya with Asuke and Monica to both sign up new clinics (run by nurses, midwives, also known as Primary Providers or PP’s) and witnessed the marked differences between clinics that received our loans (and began child welfare services) and those that didn’t. Clinics that I had seen months earlier without sterilization equipment, private rooms or labs were outfitted with all three. Clinics that refused remained cramped, dirty and had fewer clients.

Below, is a video of Rose Otieno, one of the first clinicians who received a K-MET loan and who has grown her business while offering more services. She also acts as an advocate in Central Kenya and has visited scores of clinicians in her region, encouraging them to take K-MET loans and start child welfare services.

Brett Dobbs is in his 14th (ish) week of his posting as a Kiva Fellow with K-MET in Kisumu, Kenya. Check out the K-MET Lending Team here! If you’re interested in becoming a Kiva Fellow, click here!

As I finish my fellowship, it is time for a new cohort of fellows to take on the challenge. To the new KF8 class, I hope this video helps illustrate some of the challenges you will face. But before I sign off, one more word of advice: when you feel like pulling your hair out/crying/sighing loudly/giving up in frustration because you can’t find a borrower, just go to your happy place. And don’t pay attention to your wet socks.

Sending a shout out to the MFI staff who does this every day. From Tarapoto, Peru good bye and good luck!

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Hi, my name is Diana Rodriguez Wong reporting from Tarapoto, Peru.
To support Peruvian women entrepreneurs please visit the Manuela Ramos/CrediMUJER loan page or join the new Manuela Ramos lending team.

Watching Obama's Inauguration Speech on the Togolese Roadside

I have tested my sense of self against new backgrounds, ripped away the familiar context of home to hold my idea of “Abby” up to bright new lights.  I have sometimes been ashamed of my reactions to new stimuli, and sometimes proud.  Catching myself swearing under my breath at street children who asked a little too aggressively for money was not my finest moment; insisting that the Kiva Coordinator not fudge the dates to make loans eligible for Kiva’s website redeemed me.

I have learned about how microfinance operates on a day-to-day basis and about the difficulty of managing work and relationships across distances and cultures.  Telling an MFI employee she did not have the IT competency necessary to be the Kiva Coordinator and watching her eyes tear up was my first real introduction to the uncomfortable realities of managing people.  These challenges of human nature, of judgment, failure and success, cross all cultural boundaries.

Sunset Behind a Baobab, the National Symbol of Senegal

I have changed in many ways.  After struggling for months with my pocket French dictionary, and then, this morning, listening to myself rattle off yet another training in French on sending journal updates to Kiva lenders, I felt like I had tangible proof of how I’ve grown since September.  Other ways I’ve grown are less easy to put a finger on, and most will continue to be elusive for many months to come.

Throughout all these things, the most wonderful surprise was not something that came from my own growth or self-examination.  It was the overwhelming kindness I have been blessed with along the way.  As a young white girl traveling alone, navigating nine countries in eight months, flinging my 25-year old self into the unknown, I have had to rely on others who are more established, more experienced, and more knowledgeable at almost every step along the way.

Before I left, my friends and family pitched in generously to help bear the cost of my trip, and my ever-supportive, unconditionally loving mother accompanied me on endless CVS and Walmart trips in preparation. Then, selflessly, she let her daughter climb onto a plane.

In Togo:

Christmas Eve Turkey with my Togolese Family

The family of a Togolese acquaintance from New York welcomed me wholeheartedly into their home, calling me “Ta-Ta” and fixing me a separate dinner every night because I didn’t like their gooey okra sauce.  A South African friend cooked an entire turkey so that my Togolese family would have a special Christmas.  My American compatriots welcomed me into their fold with beaches and Trivial Pursuit, movie nights and fresh, delicious salads.  Jacques, the Kiva Coordinator, drove his motorcycle sooooooooo slowly over the potholes because he knew I was a little scared, and ate spaghetti with me for lunch whenever I wanted it even though he preferred the Togolese specialty of cow skin and pounded yams.

In Senegal:

Eating the Dinner I Cooked for my Senegalese Family (with Liz, another Kiva Fellow!)

In Thies, the MFI’s chauffeur came to pick me up every single morning, and when asked me every single time how I was doing and if I had slept well, he really, truly, wanted to know the answer. In Mbour, the Director of my hotel was there to greet me, small, round and jovial, and overflowing with love and smiles, every single time I came home.  In Dakar, my new friends welcomed me unquestioningly into their lives with endless generosity and laughter, a safe and happy way to end my great adventure.

If I’ve realized one thing about international development, that elusive struggle that all Kiva Fellows believe in, it’s that nothing truly significant in the world can be changed alone.  As I struggled to accomplish my mission as a Fellow, even the smallest acts of kindness gave me safe places to catch my breath in between the scary jumps into the unknown.  Countless hotel employees, waiters, and taxi drivers gave directions, led me places, smiled,

Me with the Employees of IMCEC Senegal

and asked how I was doing.  Every time someone went out of their way to help me, I gave thanks to the universe and pledged to repay the kindness.

Thank you to all the good Samaritans who have helped me along the way, including my friends and family, my MFIs and their clients, the Kiva Fellows, the Kiva staff, and, last but not least, the Kiva lenders, whose generosity and initiative make Kiva’s vision a sustained, energetic, and hope-filled reality.

***

Conquering the Senegalese Desert!

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I am a Kiva Fellow, Class of KF6/7, serving three months in Lome, Togo, and three more in Thies, Senegal. Please check out my current MFI, IMCEC, and see all of their fundraising loans here!

They both play important roles in checking the status quo. Both institutions are often the only places that can bring powerful people and institutions to account for their deeds. Courts, with their sacrosanct independence from politics and private interests, are able to bring down decisions punishing anyone that violates the law or does not honor a contract. Stock markets, for their part, can punish companies that are not fully dedicated to implementing the strategy they promised their shareholders they would adhere to and implement successfully.

Less dramatically, they both play a decentralized governing role, ensuring among other things that companies are well run, contracts are upheld, rights are not flaunted and corporate investments are allocated efficiently. They may not be perfect in doing this, but at least they give us some chance to make power accountable. Most importantly, their role is independent of the executives and management.

One cannot help but notice the relative absence of either of these two powerful institutions at work in the development aid community. The obvious questions is, how are aid institutions and decision made accountable? Who or what makes sure our aid dollars are not being spent inefficiently in helping third world countries develop or deal with a crisis? Who makes sure the allocation of aid dollars is done according to certain high level priorities? How do we make sure our aid dollars are not used to achieve unstated aims, such as distorting the political systems of supposed beneficiary countries or supporting unnecessary agencies and government bodies?

The short answer to that of course is politicians and our government bureaucracy; but they are far from independent. How are they accountable? Sure, if it gets bad enough elections can do the job, but that seems far from effective in most cases. When we give money for aid, the idea is to achieve certain developmental goals, and for temporary assistance. Are our politicians motivated to achieve those goals and makes sure that they do so in the interests of all stakeholders, including beneficiary communities?

Viewed from the field, it often seems like there is a lot of waste in the development aid industry. SUVs and large salaries support a lifestyle often at odds with the lives of those we are trying to help. Accountability and oversight are often shortchanged for control and expediency. Results may often look good on paper, but how do they look in reality and who is checking?

Though this impression was obtained during my time as a Kiva Fellow, it was not due to anything I saw directly in my work with Kiva or its field partners. Rather, it is something I gained from being exposed to people involved in development aid activity funded with official grants from governments. In this respect, Kiva is a refreshing antidote to this status quo, where individuals and a private NGO are facilitating development outside the realm of governments and official aid. Thumbs up to Kiva!

—
Nemr is a KF7 spending 12 weeks at Ameen. You can also check out his personal blog. Check out some of Ameen’s borrowers and make a loan today by clicking here.

Upon hearing the news, Brett Dobbs (KF7, Kenya) and I were overwhelmed with all sorts of emotions.  What if everyone likes KF8 better?  What if they write more journals than we did?  What if they have stronger stomachs or figure out how to talk to a borrower without falling off a chair into the dirt?   What are we, a group of rugged, field tested KF7’s, supposed to do when our Kiva-ness is threatened by some newly minted, probably-smarter-than-us KF8’s?

And…

Looks like even though I’m not taking the news well, Brett’s pretty confident that we’re the best ever.  So I guess until KF8 starts out-journal posting, out-blogging, and out-awesome-ing us, I’ll hold off on finding a way to get rid of the KF7 Para Siempre tattoo I got last week.

Welcome, congratulations, and good luck KF8!

It is unusual for multiple Kiva Fellows to be located in the same city, but Phnom Penh is a unique place in the development world and the Cambodian Microfinance landscape is highly active – creating a phenomenal opportunity for us to share our experiences and learn from each other as we entrenched ourselves at our respective MFI field partners: HKL, AMK, Credit and MAXIMA.

While this is the end of our time together each of us will be moving on to new and exciting things. Julie will be attending law school in the fall (law school TBD ), Jeff will be begin studying for his MBA at MIT, Katie will be working with Microfinance in Cambodia in a new capacity, and Drew will be going to Kiva’s partner ASKI, in the Philippines.

We would like to thank all of our great coworkers, especially our Kiva Coordinators for all of their hard work and help. Also, a special thanks to all of the Kiva Lenders who make Kiva and all of our great experiences as fellows possible. We feel privileged to have been able to serve as Kiva Fellows in Cambodia and would love to see interest in Kiva and the Kiva Fellows program continue to grow. If you have enjoyed reading Kiva Stories from the Field please help spread the word and share the link with a friend!

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The idea of the Community Bank originated with the development of the first MFI, the Grameen Bank, in the early 1980s.  Muhammad Yunus, and economists from Bangladesh, saw a great need for small loans to become available for the working poor in his country.  Like any bank that provides loans, this bank needed a guarantee from the borrowers that the loans would be repaid.  This guarantee could not come in the form of collateral, such as a house or automobile, because the borrowers, for the most part, had no collateral to offer.  Therefore, in order to ensure the bankers that the loans would be repaid, Muhammad Yunus developed the concept of the Village, or Community, Bank, where groups of people from the same village would come together and take out a group loan to be used for individual businesses.  In this way, the group members support each other in the development of their individual businesses and guarantee that each member will repay his or her loan. Over the last 30 years as MFIs have started in much of the developing world, the practice of Community Banking has spread and been adapted to fit the needs of the specific MFIs.

Manuela Ramos, the MFI with which I have been volunteering as a Kiva Fellow for the last three months, originated in 1978 as an organization to fight for women’s rights throughout Peru. Twelve years ago, Manuela Ramos started a microfinance program, CrediMujer, and has since expanded this program to seven of their offices.  The foundation of this program and much of its success rests in the implementation of the idea of the Community Bank.  A community bank of Manuela Ramos can begin with as little as five women who decide they would like to create a group and begin taking out loans together.  In order to start the community bank, the women must assign a president, secretary and treasure and each put 25 soles (approximately $8 USD) into the banks internal savings account.  As the women invite more members to their group, their internal savings account grows, as does the amount each individual is allowed to borrow.  Since a woman can join the community bank only with an invitation from an existing member and the approval of the entire community bank, the women assume the responsibility that each community bank member will repay their loan.

There are many advantages embedded in operating with community banks, the most obvious being the security this system offers Manuela Ramos.  Although Manuela Ramos requires that each woman provide 25 soles and a copy of a photo ID of the woman or her husband in order to become a community bank member, Manuela Ramos does not require any other form of collateral.  The liability of default is passed along to the community bank members and if one woman defaults on her loan, the entire community bank cannot take out additional loans until the defaulted woman has repaid.  Because the members of the community bank come from the same town and are, for the most part, friends, most women do not default on their loans.  If a woman does default, it is usually for personal or family reasons that were unforeseen and the other members of the community bank are willing to help. In the case that the community bank members pay back another woman’s loan, the bank members use their individual savings, which are kept in the bank’s internal savings account, to cover the repayment.  However, the woman who has defaulted is then in debt to her entire community bank, and the other community bank members usually require the defaulted woman to provide them with a form of collateral, which is generally a television set or livestock, that can easily be kept at a community bank member’s home.  The loan officers keep track of women who have defaulted on their loans and, if these women do not eventually repay their fellow community bank members, these women are considered credit risks and are not permitted to take out loans with Manuela Ramos, or any other bank in Peru.  Therefore, the incentive to repay the loans is high, and Manuela Ramos’s CrediMujer program currently operates with a 98.5% loan repayment rate.

Another positive aspect of the community banking system of Manuela Ramos is that the banks bring women together and the women learn from each other, benefit from the training and information sessions offered by Manuela Ramos’s loan officers, and save a portion of their earnings in the community bank’s internal savings account.  When a community bank is started with Maneula Ramos, the loan officers give an initial training session with the bank members, where the loan officers teach the entrepreneurs some business tips. As a group, the loan officers and the entrepreneurs discuss successes and failures in their past businesses, appropriate times of the year to buy and sell specific products, and the loan officers hand out calendars that provide details about the markets of the surrounding towns.  As the community bank grows, the loan officers educate new members and give presentations about business, savings, and women’s rights at about half of the community bank meetings, which happen once a month.  In addition to education surrounding business and women’s rights, the entrepreneurs are taught about the importance of savings and are required to save a portion of their earnings in the community banks internal savings account.  If an entrepreneur decides to leave the bank, she may take out her savings at any time.

Many microfinance experts argue that the education that is provided to entrepreneurs with their loans is a vital component to the success of these entrepreneurs businesses and therefore to the success of the MFI.  However, others might argue that the education sessions are too specific and that, in providing finite details about how to operate a certain business in a specific region, ingenuity in business development is not encouraged.  While there may be some truth to the latter argument, my experience in working with Manuela Ramos entrepreneurs has made me believe that the education provided with the loans is more of a benefit than a detriment in helping these women start and sometimes expand their businesses.  My belief stems from the conversations that I’ve had with the entrepreneurs surrounding this topic and the fact that fresh business ideas thrive in environments where business and education opportunities are prevalent, which is unfortunately not the case in the Andes of Peru.

Emily Sweeney trained with KF7 Kiva Fellows and is currently finishing her 3 1/2 month placement with Manuela Ramos in Puno, Peru.

Prior to becoming a Kiva Fellow I decided that I wanted to go back to graduate school and study economic development with an emphasis in microfinance, if at all possible. Because I discovered the lack of scholarly attention towards microfinance and its impact towards other development issues I decided that I wanted to study what impact microfinance has on all aspects to the UN’s Millennium Development Goals besides just poverty reduction.

The Millennium Development Goals are eight international development goals that 192 United Nations member states have agreed to achieve by the year 2015. While it is very debatable that the goals can be achieved by that date, they are nonetheless goals worth fighting towards for a long time to come. The eight goals (which have more specifics than shown below) are as follows:

1)      Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.                                                                                                                                                2)      Achieve universal primary education.                                                                                                                                                   3)      Promote gender equality and empower women.                                                                                                                                    4)      Reduce child mortality.                                                                                                                                                                                  5)      Improve maternal health.                                                                                                                                                                            6)      Combat HIV/Aids, malaria, and other diseases.                                                                                                                                7)      Ensure environmental sustainability.                                                                                                                                                     8)      Develop a global partnership for development.

My question for these goals is simple: does microfinance have a significant impact on any of these goals besides poverty reduction? My theory, as of now, is that yes it does impact at least five, maybe even seven of these goals; however I need to run statistical models to test the significance. In short I believe that since most clients are women, goal 3 has a major impact and since a goal of microfinance is increasing credit to hopefully increase family income, the other goals will be affected as well. Think about it like this: extra money means maybe another child will get to continue their education, or there is now money available to afford the medicines required to fight a child’s malaria bout to keep them alive past the age of five (goals 4 and 6), etc., etc…

As an anecdotal case, here in Vietnam with my MFI SEDA, I know that the vast majority of borrowers are female. According to the women I have interviewed, the majority have seen an increase in their standard of living and income (whether this is due to a real increase in income or income simply mirroring inflation is another topic that needs to be studied) and many who still have school age children use their extra income to pay for their kids tuition fees and hope that their children will be able to go to university and further increase their standards of living, especially for eldest sons (who take care of the parents when they get older!). Furthermore, many of the women now have extra income to also buy medicines if their children become sick. Just from my interactions with the borrowers here, I see a potential impact going beyond just poverty reduction…I see Millennium Goals 1-6 being affected. Thus there is reason for further study into this impact!

To learn more about the Millennium Development Goals, please check out the MDG Wikipedia page. If you’re interested in lending to SEDA borrowers to help them have an impact on the Millennium Development Goals, please check out SEDA’s fundraising page!

Neni started selling food when she was 20 years-old, after finding out she was pregnant. One day, she heard about Manuela Ramos/CrediMujer and she thought she could benefit from the small loans to get some of her business ideas off the ground. Because Manuela Ramos uses the community bank methodology, Neni had to be invited by a member of an existing community bank. Without an invitation and the approval of all the community bank members, Neni wouldn’t be able to join. Hoping she would be invited, Neni stood at the door of each bank meeting, watching and learning how things worked. However, none of the women in the bank knew her well enough to invite her and she wasn’t able to join. Not one to give up easily, Neni spoke with a loan officer and found out that if she could assemble a group of five more women interested in taking out small loans, she could start a “Grupo Mientras Tanto” (In the Meantime Group). With this group, they would only be able to borrow small sums, but if they managed to make their group grow to 20 -22 members, they could become a fully-fledged community bank with access to higher amounts of credit.

Excited by the possibility, Neni convinced five of her friends to join and start the group. They called themselves “Luz y Esperanza” (Light and Hope). Determined to make her group grow to a community bank, Neni would bring new members to every monthly meeting. In a few months, the group grew enough and became the Luz y Esperanza community bank. As the group organizer, Neni became its president, a position that she proudly holds until this day.

“I don’t stop” says Neni when she describes the variety of businesses she has undertaken. These days Neni sells beauty products, local dishes such as picarones and ceviche, and sweets like jell-o and popsicles. Listening to her speak so passionately and energetically about what she’s done, I ask about her hopes for the future. For a minute she thinks about it. She tells me that she had wanted to study business administration but because she had her daughter she couldn’t afford to pursue that dream.

I will never know what her life path could have been if Neni had been born in a country where she could have coupled her talent and energy with more education and opportunities. However, I believe that microfinance allows women like Neni not only to earn income to feed their children, but also to put some of their ideas, leadership and creative energy into action. After meeting Neni, and hundreds of other women entrepreneurs, I believe that Light and Hope seems like the most fitting name for a community bank.

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Hi, my name is Diana Rodriguez Wong reporting from Tarapoto, Peru.
To support Peruvian women entrepreneurs like Neni please visit the Manuela Ramos/CrediMUJER loan page or join the new Manuela Ramos lending team.

Kiva’s field partner in Costa Rica, EDESA, provides credit services to a network of “Empresas de Crédito Comunal” (Community Credit Enterprises), or ECCs,  established by FINCA Costa Rica.  The ECCs are small, grassroots microfinance organizations formed by rural community members.  The objective of each ECC is to provide financial services to individuals within the community for the development of economic activities that allow them to move out of poverty.  FINCA Costa Rica works to establish ECCs to serve as the financial engines of the neediest communities across the country.  To form the ECCs, FINCA provides comprehensive training to rural community members that includes financial and business elements and culminates in the formal establishment of the ECC as a legal autonomous business.

The capital of each ECC is generated by the investment of its members through the sale and purchase of shares in the organization.  These purchases provide the loan capital that the ECCs then use to issue loans to their members and to invest in other community development projects.  As shareholders, individuals in the community become owners of the ECC, earning dividends on the shares when the business is profitable and fully determining the rules, policies, and projects of the organization. Not only do ECCs provide financial benefits, but many of them also work with other organizations in sectors such as health, education, and sports and often provide other programs such as investment education for children and youth. While each ECC governs its own policies, the average price for a share across the network of ECCs is 2,000 Costa Rica Colones (approximately US$3.50) so becoming a partial owner of the business is fairly accessible, even in the poorest of communities.

Over the years, as the ECCs grew and their members’ businesses expanded, some members began requesting loans that exceeded the ECCs’ lending capacity.  The ECCs started looking for other sources of financing. EDESA was established by FINCA Costa Rica, the ECCs and some individual investors in February of 2005 in response to the ECCs’ growing need for external financing.  EDESA serves as the ECCs’ national financing institution, with the mission of bringing credit services to the ECCs.  EDESA is a firm operated just like an ECC, but on a national level.  The ECCs are the shareholders and receive profits (dividends) if positive financial results are achieved.

This model of community members becoming partial owners of the ECCs and the ECCs being partial owners of EDESA has proven remarkably effective.  Not only does the sale and purchase of shares at the grassroots level facilitate the capital needed to run these organizations, but the fact that the borrowers are receiving loans from an enterprise they partially own creates an additional vested interest in paying back the loans and ensuring future success of the organizations.  As evidence of how effective this strategy is, EDESA maintained a zero percent (0%) delinquency rate in its first four years of lending!  In addition to being effective in terms of loan repayment, this model is also extremely empowering to the individuals and the communities investing in the ECCs and EDESA.  By being participants and owners of these organizations, the beneficiaries also educate themselves on financial and business issues and shape how the businesses grow and what they do within their own communities.

offices of one of the oldest and most developed ECCs, El Sauce

ECC El Sauce sign

ECC El Sauce even has internet and bike rental services

To lend to EDESA’s borrowers, please click here.

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Megan Tatman Montgomery is in her fourth and final placement as a Kiva Fellow.  Prior to EDESA, she served at Friendship Bridge and FAPE in Guatemala and ADEPHCA in Nicaragua.  Please feel free to contact her at megan.montgomery@fellows.kiva.org with any questions, comments, or requests for future blog posts.

Do you think you could you start a thriving general store from a single 25 pound sack of sugar?  Gloria María Ramírez Herrera did and recently told me how. Unwilling to sign her house as collateral for a traditional bank loan, she knew she would have to start her business on her own, and start small. Gloria saved up little by little and purchased a single 25 pound sack of sugar and began selling it out of the front window of her house. That’s where the MFI Asociación Alternativa Para el Desarrollo Integral de las Mujeres (ADIM) stepped in to assist. Gloria used her first ADIM loan to purchase rice, cooking oil, coffee, and yes- more sugar.

Today after 4 loans with ADIM, Gloria has the busiest store in her neighborhood and sells so many things I stopped writing down the items after: ice, drinks, oil, rice, sugar, cooking oil, cookies, toilet paper, soup, candy, chips, soda, popsicles, fruits, vegetables, hair ties, gel, combs, shoe polish, electrical tape, coffee, make-up, socks, medicine, pens, pencils, and notebooks- hand cramp. Surprisingly, there is nothing too unique about Gloria’s business story, in fact all the entrepreneur’s I have interviewed as a Kiva Fellow in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Nicaragua always started the same- saving to purchase one particular item in bulk.

Despite entrepreneurial skills, and dedicated work ethic many entrepreneurs are a single business mistake, illness, or natural disaster away from starting at square one. ADIM/Kiva assists clients by what I like to describe as giving ‘oomph’ to these entrepreneurs. With their loan (oomph) they are able to quickly expand their business, increase savings, and diversify their merchandise. These factors assist in the sustainability of their business, as well as rebound from a business problem.

Gloria for the first time in her life has savings, and has plans to make constructional improvements to her store in the future.

Gloria in her store. Rivas, Nicaragua

Long story short, M stands for mobile and Pesa is Kiswahili for money. It’s a service that Safaricom, the most popular cell phone service in Kenya, offers (Zain, its largest competitor offers a similar service). Touted as a “branchless banking service”  M-PESA users can deposit and withdraw money on their phone by utilizing a network of agents stationed throughout the country – mostly airtime vendors and phone salesman. Why might this be helpful?

Pretend you are John Asuke, the lone loan officer (I’ve been waiting months to write that) here at K-MET‘s Revolving Loan Fund. You’ve got a borrower base that stretches from the shores of Lake Victoria to the Indian Ocean (the whole country), a staff of one Kiva Fellow (that’s me!), large loads of small loans to process and businesses in communities that lack the infrastructure that encourages efficiency. Challenging conditions, but K-MET does a pretty good job of keeping costs down given these constraints. One strategy in particular, weekly group repayment and disbursal meetings instead of home visits, decreases costs significantly. Of course, group meetings are also  inefficient. Watch this video (with sound if you have it) and you’ll see what I mean.

You may have noticed a few hundred borrowers sitting in a very hot church waiting to receive or pay back their loans. As I mentioned earlier, they must do this once a week – often walking many miles (sometimes through the rain) or spending as much as half a day’s wages on their transport. This is inefficient, dangerous, and frustrating. It is pretty easy to understand why having these borrowers repay their loans via mobile might vastly improve efficiency. And it is really easy to use. Watch my two colleagues, Nick and Debra exchange 10 shillings worth of air-time via mobile.

There are, of course obstacles for MFI’s that want to use mobile banking. Many loan officers (including Asuke) fear that borrowers will be less diligent in repaying their loans, groups lose their community aspect, in K-MET’s case, it would take away face time with the community health workers who make up the bulk of our borrowers  — and because it’s a new service that utilizes both humans and technology – there’s going to be a bevy of issues. In addition, while some of the borrowers I talked to were thrilled with the idea, many do not own cell-phones and there was concern about borrowing phones to pay money. Still, Safaricom and the Small and Micro Enterprise Program just announced a new partnership that will allow customers of SMEP to use M-Pesa.

Now, beyond micro-finance, if there are any super-awesome-rich-entrepreneur types reading this (besides Peter Thiel, he’s already all over this…sort of), this better have your wheels churning. As far as I know, there are only a few other countries/companies that offer this service: Afghanistan, Tanzania, South Africa, a pilot program in Uganda and two very successful services in the Philippines. I read recently (on the BBC) that just a few years ago, there were $93 billion in remittances transferred from abroad to Africa every year. Think if you could tap into that market…while at the same time providing a much needed service!

In any case, if you want to read more about M-Banking, check out these articles and links (thanks to fellow Fellow Sarah Forbes for these!):
www.triplejump.eu/making-microfinance-mobile.html
www.mobile-money-transfer.com/africa/
www.valuablebits.com
http://mbanking.blogspot.com/

Brett Dobbs is in his 12th week of his posting as a Kiva Fellow with K-MET in Kisumu, Kenya. Check out the K-MET Lending Team here! If you’re interested in becoming a Kiva Fellow, click here!

Matilde, who is a spry 75 years of age, has been a member of ASHI for 13 years. She loves to sing, and also loves what ASHI has done for her and the women in her community. Faced with this fortunate predicament, she did what any Filipino would do: she sang about it.

Some years ago Matilde composed a song of gratitude for ASHI, one which she usually delivers a capella. ASHI, a Grameen-style, non-profit microcredit institution that provides financial and social services to its more than 22,000 Filipina members, has been operating in Antique Province, where Matilde lives, since 1996.

Matilde has charmed generations of ASHI personnel and members with her song and wit. Legend has it that she sings her song to any new visitors from ASHI when she first meets them, and legend didn’t disappoint on the day I met Matilde.

In late April, I visited her center hall in Malandog Barangay, Hamtic, along with members of ASHI’s board of trustees and other ASHI personnel. After everyone had eaten a particularly delicious meal prepared by ASHI members, Matilde stepped up and sang us her song.

Matilde sings in Kinaray-a, the language spoken by most people in Antique Province. The video is subtitled in English, thanks to ASHI staff from Antique who doubled as interpreters. Enjoy!

Some unfamiliar terms you may encounter in the video:

Field credit officers: ASHI development officers — personnel that visit ASHI members in the field.

Group: ASHI members form groups of five to build solidarity, and to guarantee each other’s loans.

Center: A number of groups — usually six — form a center. A centers is a small, freestanding structure built and maintained by the women who form its member groups. All business is transacted in weekly meetings at the center.

Sir Jesse: The first field credit officer assigned to Matilde’s center; Jesse is now in charge of Grameen operations for ASHI, and is based in Manila. Jesse is the handsome gentleman in Matilde’s song.

Ma’am Hermie: The ASHI first regional manager for Antique Province, who oversaw operations at the time Jesse was a field credit officer.

John Briggs is a Kiva Fellow serving with Ahon Sa Hirap, Inc. (ASHI) in the Philippines. This is his second of three placements. Before his post at ASHI, John worked with Maxima Mikroheranvatho in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. John’s third placement as a Kiva Fellow will be with the Kenya Agency for the Development of Enterprise and Technology (KADET), starting in June. If you haven’t already, consider becoming a Kiva Fellow, too!