Posts filed under ‘KF9 (Kiva Fellows 9th Class)’
Microfinance in Costa Rica: A FUDECOSUR Story
By Karl Baumgarten, KF9, Costa Rica
Time Flies. I feel like I’ve been in Costa Rica for two weeks however my no-nonsense calendar tells an altogether different story. After nearly 12 weeks learning the ins and outs of FUDECOSUR, things are going smooth. With the Costa Rican summer in full swing, business casual has been replaced by the welcome alternative of jeans and polos. For the first time, I am experiencing the holiday season with 85-degree weather and sunshine. I have tried to start weaning myself off a healthy addiction of gallo pinto, the traditional Costa Rican breakfast of rice and beans, but with little luck. Co-workers have been promised my clothes, as I will probably need to stuff my bag with salsa lazano, the secret ingredient for making the delicious pinto.
Last week was my last with FUDECOSUR, a new pilot partner with Kiva who has managed to raise nearly $70,000 in their first few months with Kiva. Over the past year, FUDECOSUR has struggled to obtain funding as commercial lenders scaled back their lending during the liquidity crisis. Luckily, Kiva lenders are generous as ever and FUDECOSUR has been able to tap this generosity to reach more disadvantaged farmers in Southern Costa Rica. In the past, formal banks rarely reached these farmers so when business opportunities arose or emergency capital was required, profitable opportunities went unmet or productive farm assets had to be sold. Enter FUDECOSUR.
Foundation for the Development of Southern Communities
Holiday Greetings – KF9 on Christmas
By KF9, All Over The World
Merry Christmas! This holiday season Kiva Fellows are celebrating Christmas all over the world, in all sorts of different ways. Whether it be traveling, feasting, or working hard to bring you some additional Kiva magic over the holidays, it’s safe to say we’re all thankful to be serving as Kiva Fellows and glad to have found a wonderful community in Kiva.
We wanted to share what Christmas is like for KF9ers out in the field and around the world. So enjoy – and happy holidays!
In no particular order:
Nicki Goh, KF9 Senegal
This coming weekend, the Senegalese have a 4 day weekend with both Christian and Islamic holidays straddling the weekend. I will make the most of the time off work to visit the Sine-Saloum Delta on the Atlantic coast of Senegal – an area where my MFI SEM’s work is extremely important to ecovillagers. The delta is an area of immense natural beauty which is sadly at risk of desertification and where there is a high level of unemployment. This time I will be on vacation but I hope to return there at a later date to meet some of the borrowers for myself. Happy holidays to you all – whatever your religion!
My Blue Sweater Moment and Yours
by Jennifer Gong, KF9 Tanzania
The Blue Sweater is a book that recounts the experiences of Jacqueline Novogratz, social venturer and founder of the Acumen Fund. The book contains a string of stories, but the most poignant is the tale behind the title of the book. When she was young, her uncle gave her a blue sweater, which she eventually outgrew and donated away. It would turn out that the journeys of Novogratz and the blue sweater would eventually cross paths a decade later in Rwanda – She, jogging along the dusty roads of Rwanda and it, covering the small frame of an African boy.
A few weeks ago, I had my own “blue sweater” moment. 
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Do You Like Soup?
By Kelly McKinnon, KF9 Leon, Nicaragua
The question is posed casually, but as all heads in the room turn to await my response, I sense that this is not a simple question. Ummm, I stammer. Rapidly wracking my brain for cultural cues or anecdotes I’ve heard on the importance of soup in Nicaragua. Nothing, I’ve got nothing. So I stall a bit more, Soup? You are asking me if I like soup? (more…)
Kiva Lenders: Steps to Empowerment
By Kimia Raafat, KF9 Ecuador
With the holiday season upon us and Kiva Gift Certificates flowin like Cristal and Dom Perignon in a Diddy rap video, I figured it would be a good time to review with lenders (both old and new), the process of a Kiva Loan. Here is a link to the video me and my best friend, Emily Enberg made for the Tongal/Kiva Video Contest… Happy Holidays!
http://tongal.com/app/submissionDetail.action?id=640;EL1474
Kimia Raafat is a Kiva Fellow (KF9) at a new Kiva partner, D-MIRO in Guayaquil, Ecuador. If you would like to know more about D-MIRO please visit the Partner page or Lend!
Hola, Kiva en Colombia! Do svidaniya, Kiva v Kyrgyzstane!
By Rob Packer, KF9 Kyrgyzstan
My fellowship in Kyrgyzstan has come to an end and now I’m writing this in London before starting as one of pair of Kiva Fellows in Colombia: a first for Kiva. During training, I heard on the Kiva rumour mill that Kiva would be starting in Colombia a few months after training and thought it would be an amazing placement. Three months later with flights booked for Colombia in the New Year, I can feel the excitement building up as years of Colombia Dreaming finally come true.
Even though Kyrgyzstan is not a country I chose and Central Asia is not a region I chose, I’m already missing the marshrutkas (minibuses) and mountain views of Bishkek. The reason I ended up in Kyrgyzstan is because I speak Russian; Kiva looks for “Language proficiency in […] Russian” and speaking Russian is a sure-fire way to be offered a Russian-speaking placement. I decided that the post-Soviet stories would be fodder for dinner parties for years and that I’d have a large selection of Central Asian hats. Rather than the detachment of funny stories and the materialism of hats (although I have both), I have come to love the region. And if you can love Central Asia in the winter without yurt stays, much horse-riding or hiking and no beach life on Issyk-Kul, it must be true love.
Mol Bulak staff at my (semi) surprise send-off.
Climate Change hits Kiva Borrowers in Bolivia
By Suzy Price Marinkovich, KF9 Bolivia
“In a world that is hot—a world that is more and more affected by global warming—guess who is going to suffer the most? It will be the people who caused it the least—the poorest people in the world, who have no electricity, no cars, no power plants, and virtually no factories to emit CO2 into the atmosphere. Many of the 2.4 billion people who live on $2 a day or less reside in rural areas and depend directly on the soil, forests, and plants in their immediate vicinity for subsistence.” –Thomas Friedman, “Hot, Flat, & Crowded” (Pg. 158)
What I have learned the most since I arrived in South America as a Kiva Fellow seven months ago is that, not only is climate change real – it is making the poor poorer faster than we can create infrastructure to accommodate it. Bolivia has been devastated by heightened temperatures melting glaciers around La Paz, for example, which have in turn dried up rivers that irrigated entire mountainous communities who are now going from poor to extremely poor—and dangerously fast. In Cochabamba, the drying up of rivers can not only be felt but it can be seen nearly everywhere, in old riverbeds now littered with trucks filling up with gravel. Even worse, these trucks are loading up gravel in the middle of “la epoca de lluvia,” or the rainy season, which now feels very much a misnomer for Cochabambinos.
Kiva’s newest partner in Bolivia, CIDRE, is by far most proud of its potable water and irrigation projects – and once you hear what they are up to, you will understand why.
CIDRE approaches agricultural communities with recently dried-up river beds or nonexistent irrigation systems and arranges a community-style loan at very low interest. I say “community” and not “group” loan because the loan is taken out for one purpose, to build a well, and then is repaid by each household as part of the larger sum. I had the opportunity to attend the 6-year anniversary party of a CIDRE-funded community well in the rural area and was astonished at the overwhelming pride the community had for the well. CIDRE’s veteran loan officer Juan and I were treated like the guests of honor; we were even asked to bless the well, give speeches, and shake hands with every single member of the community. It was extraordinarily humbling. I particularly loved Juan’s speech, as he introduced me by explaining Kiva to the community, and telling them how it will help CIDRE bring more wells to dry Cochabamba farming communities. Seeing the joy in their faces at the potential impact this could have for their neighbors was my absolute proudest moment as a Kiva Fellow and it brought tears to my eyes.
Rigoberto, the president of the community’s agricultural cooperative, took me on a tour to tell me why exactly they were so proud about this well. (more…)
All I want for Christmas is: More Journaling
by Jed Goldstein (KF9)
This picture has absolutely nothing to do with the post, but is "Christmasy"
Here at Pearl Microfinance we have a pretty tough task ahead of us: JOURNALING, JOURNALING and more JOURNALING. Don’t get me wrong, I love journaling just as much as the next guy, but when you are dealing with a microfinance vehicle that disburses 275,000$ per month in Kiva loans, that is a lot of loans to keep track of and a lot of loans to follow up on after the clients have fully repaid. Nonetheless, we remain committed.
The Mayors of Microfinance
By Brian Kelly, KF9, Armenia
After making several visits to various borrower communities in the rural villages throughout Armenia, I started to notice a familiar figure emerge. Each village seemed to have a mayor. Not a mayor in the traditional, sash-wearing, top-hat donning, political scandal-causing sense, but a mayor of microfinance.
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Falso! A Musing on Fake Money in Peru
By Sheethal Shobowale, KF9, Peru
Counterfeit money is a very serious topic in Peru. There is so much false money floating around that it is extremely possible that at some point or another, you will try to buy some fruit from the woman selling fruit on the corner and she will return your bill or coin exclaiming, “falso!” (false!)
Taro: The Story of A Starchy Potato
Cooked taro (from polynesiankitchen.blogspot.com)
By Agnes Chu, KF9, Samoa
They say that one of the best ways to learn about a culture is through its food. If that is true, then Samoa should be investigated through taro. Taro is king in Samoa and in Polynesia. It is to Samoans what the potato is to the Irish, what rice is to Asians, what pork is to Puerto Ricans; it is loved, revered, and consumed en mass. The Samoan word for taro (talo) is remarkably similar to the Samoan word for money (tala). You may have noticed that most of SPBD’s businesses listed on Kiva are in the agriculture sector and almost every one of those grows taro. One woman laughed when I asked her about competition, “Every one may grow taro but every one eats taro! Good thing!”
What is unique about taro as a staple is that, unlike rice or potatoes, there really is no variation on it in the Samoan diet. There is no creamed taro, no mashed taro and gravy, no taro fries (odd considering the love of fried food in Samoa). It is served usually in two ways: boiled or baked in an umu (earth oven). But most Samoans will say that their favourite food is taro—a plain, boiled taro. This causes confusion among palagi (foreigners or “from heaven”, literally translated) who try taro for the first time. To the unaccustomed tongue, it is ultra-starchy, thick, and seemingly tasteless. You stare at the light purple block in dismay and think I just ate a chunk, which will probably take forever to digest, and now I have to eat the whole brick. Ironically, this quality is also what Samoans love about taro. Jack, a staff member at SPBD, says “You can eat a taro and feel full. It is a meal.”
Childbearing at a Young Age in Nicaragua–At What Price?
By Victoria Kabak, KF9, Nicaragua
I try not to play favorites, but this week I met my favorite borrower. The borrowers I’ve liked the most so far have been those who are particularly friendly, have particularly interesting things to say, or give me food. Kenia fell into that first category, and I really enjoyed talking both to her and her younger sister-in-law, who helps Kenia make the 60 lunches she puts together every day for a nearby business. Not only did the rest of her family not look at me as if I’m an alien – which I’ve actually almost gotten used to by now! – but they were very friendly as well.
Kenia and I are the same age, and I felt like we connected. I was sad to say goodbye to her and to think about the fact that I will most likely never see her again. I promised I’d make a print of the photo I took of her and her sister-in-law and get it to her loan officer to bring it to her. But there was one thing (well, probably many things but one most obvious thing) that we didn’t have in common. At 22 years old, Kenia has a 2.5-year-old son. James is adorable and smiley and lively, and he definitely added to the positive experience I had meeting Kenia for the journal entry I wrote. But I found myself thinking back to 2.5 years ago. At the end of my sophomore year of college, when Kenia and I were both 20, Kenia was having a baby. If I had had a child when Kenia did, I would have had a baby to care for all throughout my junior and senior years.
Kenia, left, and her sister-in-law standing in front of the area in their home where they make the lunches they sell
Kenia is by no means the first borrower I’ve met who had one or more children at a young age. Whether it was five years ago or 20 years ago, many women borrowers I’ve been fortunate to meet here in Nicaragua began having children when they were in their very early 20s or younger. Meeting borrowers, I have also encountered a couple of pregnant teenage girls. One was a borrower’s daughter; another, a friend of the borrower’s son. (more…)
Happy Birthday Balloons at a Christmas Party? Whose Birthday is it?
By Prem Thomas, KF9, Philippines
I thought my coworkers at the Center for Community Transformation (CCT) were just recycling balloons from the last birthday party to save money, but a coworker told me that “It’s Jesus’s birthday.”
As I prepare to celebrate my first Christmas away from family, the Christmas spirit has become overwhelming with carols being played since I arrived in Manila in early October. People say the Philippines starts celebrating in months that end in “ber,” so Christmas is really a four-month event here. (more…)
The Human Factor: Relationships Are What Make Microfinance Go
By Brian Kelly, KF9, Armenia
I have alluded to it several times in the past in some of my posts. While maybe writing a sentence or mentioning a few words here or there, I think it deserves its own post because it’s turning out to be one of the central themes of what I have learned here about microfinance in Armenia. The Human Factor. (more…)
A Small Fish in a Small Pond
Women and Associations for Gain both Economic and Social (WAGES). My host MFI for the next 4 months.
By Taylor Akin, KF9, Togo
As I sat in Charles de Gaulle airport waiting for my flight to Lomé, I had already begun to feel out of place. My hair was carelessly sitting around my shoulders, I was wearing old yoga pants and a new pair of Converse, and I was munching on my mother’s half-squished Christmas cake. I looked around me at the crowd gathering to board the plane. Everyone was impeccably dressed. Among the women, there was not a single natural hairstyle in sight. Instead, my eyes were met with a wide array of weaves, wigs, and complex braids. They were primarily wearing dresses or skirts with stylish high heel shoes. The men were almost all wearing nicely pressed collared shirts, dress pants, and shiny dress shoes. The men greeted each other with a hand shake and a quick finger snap, and they all spoke in such quick French, I could hardly understand them. I suddenly felt very small.
Togo is an extremely small country with an area of just under 57,000 sq km. Despite its tiny size, Togo is home to 5.1 million people who speak 4 different languages, belong to 3 different religions and variety of ethnic backgrounds. The streets are packed with people selling cell phones, bags of water, cosmetics, and fruit. Motorcycles and cars compete for spots on the road and the honking never stops. Men “psssst” at women and cell phones ring endlessly. It may be a small pond, but it’s definitely an intimidating one.
As I sat in the terminal eating my cake, my insecurity was interrupted with a “Bon Appétit!” I looked up to see a kind-looking man with a smile stretched across his face. Even from that small gesture, I suddenly felt more at ease. (more…)
A day in the life of a loan officer
Jeremy Lapedis, KF9, Guatemala
On Wednesday I traveled with Aura, a loan officer. My main goal was to get some signatures from Kiva borrowers so that we could use their photos in a press release. What I ended up getting, along with the signatures, was a glimpse into Aura’s life
Since getting the signatures required us to go a little village called Cruz Blanca (White Cross), where Aura’s lives, I asked if I could see her house. She in turn suggested that we just eat lunch there. Her house had several rooms, but the floor was a base of concrete. Aura shared her cluttered house with her mother, her two brothers, and her daughter. Comparing this to the clean and comfortable casa where I have been staying, with the director of my MFI, showed the disparity that exists within people who work for the same organization. It seemed the loan officer lived in the same conditions as Kiva entrepreneurs. And sure enough, this is how Aura became a loan officer: She got a loan from FAPE, paid it back, and they were looking for someone to work in her area, so she took the job.
Her mother happened to be a Kiva entrepreneur. So I did a journal update on her, taking a video of her explaining to me how she made the very colorful, very beautiful artisanal cloths. While filming, Aura’s four-year-old daughter, and four-year-old niece looked in awe.
Where to find Happiness
Sharing snack with the Galvez family
I
have just spent the last three days sweating, bumping, and meeting new borrowers out in the field. My butt is exhausted from sitting on endless metal seats transporting me from one borrower interview to the next. I have met some incredible women along the way, but I have reached a point at the end of the third day, when I am exhausted and think I can take no more. Then I meet one of the most amazing families. (more…)
Jua Kali: Running a blanket-based business
Jua Kali translates as under the hot sun in Kiswahili but in Kenya it’s a term meant to describe businesses in the “informal sector.” Jua Kali businesses have slightly less infrastructure than your typical lemonade stand. Often times they are just a blanket or some plastic sheeting on the ground, secured with rocks and displaying some limited inventory. The business location is the side of the road or a front stoop (though it still requires a permit).
Sicily has had a used clothing store for the last three years.
The upside of a Jua Kali business is the small amount of capital required to start up but the downsides are rain and wind and dust, theft, lack of storage, and unpredictable fees from police and other officials. But these business people are most concerned with the limited profit margin of an outdoor, blanket-based business because these lemonade stands must support whole families. A small profit also makes it almost impossible to expand, like buying more or different inventory or building a business premises.
Take a look at some other Jua Kali entrepreneurs in Nairobi that Kiva lenders have funded through Faulu Kenya, helping them begin to expand. (more…)
¿Quién Causa Tanta Alegría?
By Kelly McKinnon, KF9 Leon Nicaragua
¿Quién Causa Tanta Alegría?
¡La Concepción de María!
An exuberant young man, who I was to later understand is the Priest who hosts a Grand Purísima celebration (attended by former presidents, the bishop, the mayor and a five piece brass band), rattled off the schedule of events of the day’s celebration of La Purísima: (more…)
A Lesson in Pottery
By Edward O. Coambs Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation, Philippines
Please give the video a few minutes to load, it is well worth the watch.
Lorna Sagario has just shared her business with you. She makes clay pots for a living. When I came to center 35 to observe their weekly repayment meeting I was met with a lot of excitement and enthusiasm. Of all the centers that I have visited center 35 was particularly welcoming and it was a real pleasure to learn about their craft of clay oven making. The clay pots not only represent (more…)
Women, Microfinance and the Middle East
By Mohammed Al-Shawaf, KF9 Palestine
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton states that “microenterpise is uniquely designed to empower women…” The New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof calls the oppression of women worldwide the “human rights cause of our time” and encourages people who want to get involved to (among other things) lend to a woman entrepreneur on Kiva.
These are weighty observations from important people. But how do these bold statements translate in a region of the world historically disparaged for the role of women in its society?
Signing off from the Philippines
By Adam Preston, KF9, Philippines
ASKI client performs beachside karaoke before annual client meeting
I was perusing through my IPhoto gallery when it occurred to me, I am almost done here. Since October, I have been working at the head office of Alalay sa Kaumlarun or ASKI. I have been on two week long field visits, a day trip to deliver relief goods to typhoons victims, 4 ASKI client annual meetings, and even day of team building through sports and exercise, where I participated in a cheer competition. Needless to say, it has been a very full three months.
As I page through the photos and videos of borrower visits, I feel that I should have a resounding conclusion on microfinance or at least of P2P banking or at least of of Kiva. But I don’t. I have traveled throughout northern Luzon and meet with over 80 ASKI clients. I have found that the Filipinos are proud, hardworking people not looking for handouts, but rather for opportunity. There were the visits to people, like Jelly, who is not renewing her loan. She is taking a break from selling banana chips to focus on caring for her newborn baby. She has no plans to renew. Others, like Lourinda, a smart, strong center chief women, is a pillar in her community. She has renewed her loan multiple times and was recently recognized for her achievements as a business woman in the 2009 annual client meeting. Still others like, Jose who is not renewing his loan due to an farming accident earlier this year. Right now, he can’t work. He said that once he recovers, he might renew. While I have not made any startling discoveries, I have made a few observations:
Microfinance Requires a Team Effort
One thing I came into the Kiva Fellowship with is this idea that Kiva helps regular people make a direct impact in the life a poor person. In my mind I envisioned a women living in a grass hut only needing my $25 loan to start a business to finally lift herself out of poverty. After reading A Banker to the Poor, can you blame me? You as a lender are making a difference, but when you hit that lend now button you not acting alone to help this borrower out, you’re joining a team. What I have learned since being here is that it takes a finely tuned machine to lift communities out of poverty – and that finely tuned machine is the MFI. Just at ASKI, there are the loan officers (or project officers as they are called here), who routinely risk their safety to visit borrowers to collect the payments. There are the documentation officers, who reside in the branches and transfer and translate the loan applications to posted loans on Kiva. There are the communications officers who reside in the head office who oversee and coordinate documentation officer’s work. And this is just the tip of the iceberg of the MFI. There is a team of people working tireless behind the scenes to produce that one photo and the borrower profiles. And this isn’t even counting the Kiva staff responsible for keeping the Kiva platform humming. To achieve this this noble goal of alleviating poverty it requires a sustained, team effort.
It’s the Percentages, Stupid
We hear a lot about how Kiva isn’t perfect or that microfinance isn’t perfect. You don’t have to go very far on the internet to find criticism of microfinance in general or even Kiva in particular . One thing that I have learned since being here is that you can not judge the effectiveness of microfinance based on success of single MFI client (or even a single MFI for that matter) anymore than you can judge the effectiveness of baseball player by a single at bat. I do not have to go far to find examples where additional credit did not result in a prosperous business. But a simple fact remains; access to credit is essential for any business to function. As ASKI Executive Director Roland Victoria once said credit is the lifeblood of an economy. By supplying life to even the road side sari-sari store, gives the small business owner the best chance and climbing to that next rung. Over time, making credit more accessible will result in a higher percentage of stronger, healthier businesses.
Poverty Alleviation Requires More than Microcredit
One reoccurring message I have heard here is how ASKI is “Going beyond microfinance.” To truly lift an individual from poverty, credit is important, but so are other services such as insurance, savings programs, vocational training, community development, and disaster relief. Last week, along with the ASKI management team, I attended 4 ASKI client general assembly meetings. These meetings attended by up to 1500 ASKI clients are usually held around Christmas and serve as an opportunity to update the ASKI clients on the various ASKI programs. Local government officials are also there detailing government run social programs and also educating the audience on a variety of topics such consumer rights . These meetings require a considerable amount of work to plan and run, but are a great example of how ASKI is going beyond microfinance.
Mature Microfinance Institutions, such as ASKI, offer their clients an array of services that previously were not available to this segment of the population and these services are not purely financial in nature. I think mistakenly many of the academic studies are out to find a silver bullet. What I have learned in my short three month Kiva fellowship is that there is no silver bullet. However this should not dissuade us from participating. This is a very interesting time in our history where we finally have the technology to harness the collective power ordinary people for social good, and Kiva is leading the charge.
Adam Preston is a Kiva Fellow who proudly served at Alalay sa Kaunlaran, Inc (ASKI), Philippines.
So, what is discussed in these repayment meetings?
By Thomas Gold, KF9, Dominican Republic
I am quite a picky person when it comes about writing. I really make it a point to write as properly as possible, even in a non-native language. Therefore, when I am writing an entry for the Kivafellows blog, I use to plan it, prepare a draft, then write it in French (my native language), spend a lot of time trying to translate it in English, and then I hand it to Gemma, another Kiva Fellow, who corrects my English text and make it look like if it had been written by a native speaker. However, this time I felt like I would try to write in English directly, without taking too many looks at dictionaries and losing some spontaneity in the writing and translating process (I hope it won’t hurt the language purists in my kind!). I must say that I was also incited to do so as I read the articles of Kanae, Kiva Fellow alumni, who wasn’t a native English speaker either and wrote excellent blogs.
For the last four days, I couldn’t help but thinking that the group meeting I had attended last Friday was a perfect example of all that I have learned about microfinance, since I started my fellowship with the MFI Esperanza, and thus I would have to share it. Here is a short video shot during this meeting and sent as a journal update.
Welcome to Senegal – the land of ‘Teranga’
By Nicki Goh, KF9 Senegal
After more than 2 months of waiting, the time has finally come for me to put into practice all that I learned back at the KF9 training week in San Francisco. As I sit here at the beginning of my second week working at Senegal Ecovillage Microfinance (SEM) I remember the nervous anticipation and excitement that I felt back in September when I embarked upon this Kiva journey – a journey which has so far included two flights and 3000 miles in a converted Army truck.
During the past 5 weeks that I have spent travelling through West Africa prior to this Fellowship, I have watched the landscape slowly evolve from Marrakech’s Atlas Mountains, through the sand dunes of the Mauritanian Sahara, on into the rolling plains of the Sahel in Mali and Burkina Faso and ending in the lush, tropical forests of Ghana’s southern regions. Quite a journey. And along the way I had small insights into the culture of my final destination – Paris-Dakar rally cars racing through the West Saharan desert; Senegal’s national dish of ceeb u jen being served everywhere in Mauritania’s capital Nouakchott; snippets of Senegalese rap in the bars of Ouagadougou and the traditions of Mali’s Bambara population whose shared heritage with the Senegalese Malinke transcends the somewhat arbitrary national border dividing them. Overall, plenty to maintain the buzz from Kiva training and to give me plenty to look forward to!
And so, in Ghana I bid farewell to my English-speaking travel companions to immerse myself once again in a Francophone culture without the comfort and reassurance that fellow travellers tend to provide. I abandoned the truck, the tent and the travelling in favour of a place to settle into for a while. And what better place to call home than Senegal – the land of teranga (hospitality).
13 December 2009 at 09:00 nickigoh, KF9, Senegal 10 comments
A day in the life of a Kiva Roamer Fellow
By Adam Kemmis Betty, KF9, Bolivia
With this latest batch of volunteers, Kiva thought they’d try out something new: dedicate two Kiva Fellows to borrower verification (checking that the information posted on Kiva is correct for a random sample of borrowers) at a handful of different institutions. While my fellow roamer Bryan Goldfinger has been charging around Peru, eating guinea pigs and tearing up the dance floor wherever he goes, I’ve been making my way (in a far more understated manner) across central Bolivia.
To give you a taste of this glamorous lifestyle, I thought I would share my latest bus journey, from bustling, tropical lowland Santa Cruz to the laid back and refreshingly temperate city of Cochabamba. (more…)
Kiva Lending Team in the Spotlight: Para México
by Julie Pachico, KF9 Mexico
Lending teams (in case you aren’t already aware) are one of the funner features on Kiva. The idea behind lending teams is to create a community of Kiva lenders rallying behind a common cause. Teams rang from the commonplace, such as those based on countries and universities, to the more quirky, such as Beer Goggles Never Lie and the Flying Spagehtti Monster. After joining your lending team of choice (you can belong to as many as you want!), you can choose to have the next loan you make on Kiva “count” towards the lending team, so that the loan will show up in the team’s collective portfolio. It’s a fun way to create a little friendly competition while doing some good, as demonstrated by the recent “Kiva Smackdown” challenge. Basically, Josh and Chuck of “Stuff You Should Know” podcast fame recently challenged Stephen Colbert to see whose lending team could raise over $100k on Kiva first (you can visit the the Colbert Nation and HowStuffWorks.com Kiva Lending Team pages to see who’s currently winning!).
I was interested in learning more about lending teams and how to best utilize them in recruiting Kiva lenders around common interests and causes. I recently had the chance to interview Kiva user and lender M+M, captain and creator of the popular lending team Para México. He’s done a really stellar job at creating an active and involved lending team that has had a great impact on Kiva entrepeneurs! Para México currently has a total amount of $46,75 loaned and is still growing with 204 members and an active message board. Our interview was as follows:
1- How did you hear of Kiva?
I heard of Kiva from an article I read at my favorite online magazine, Slate.com about two years ago. It was an article where the author (Jude Stewart) wondered what charity organization could get the most done with small donations. He concluded that microcredit organizations could deliver the most good, and he ranked Kiva as the top choice.
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Nyanya (The Grandmother)
By Anne Hector, KF9, Kenya
At two months into my Kiva fellowship (and woefully late on my blogs…), I have now interviewed more than 50 micro-borrowers. The individuals I have met are always moving and impressive, but Jeska Silivano Mlanya truly stands out for her strength, warmth, and resourcefulness. Just take a moment and look at that face…!
Pedestrian in Nairobi
By Hanna Azemati, KF9 Kenya
Nairobi is dangerous, polluted and sinister. Nairobi is generous, beautiful and lively.
I woke up on my third morning in Nairobi to the twittering of a myriad of birds intermingled with roosters crowing, the occasional neighbors greeting one another in Swahili and finally the church bells announcing that I could go back to sleep as it was only 6 am.
Three Interesting Borrowers
By Victoria Kabak, KF9, Nicaragua
Last week I met three borrowers who struck me as particularly interesting, each for a different reason. All three have been thought-provoking and have stuck with me over the course of the week. In their own way, each of the three represented a unique experience for me. Even though I’d been here for over eight weeks, Gregoria, Gloria, and Maria each presented something new, so I want to introduce you to these three women, whose loans are disbursed through the microfinance institution where I’m a Kiva Fellow, Kiva’s field partner AFODENIC.
Gregoria
Each time I talk with a client in order to write a journal update to send to his or her lenders, I ask toward the end of the conversation, “What are your goals or dreams for the future?” I think this question reflects somewhat western notions, and I don’t always get the most exciting answers, even if they’re still very valid goals (and sometimes I get blank stares). Many borrowers say simply “seguir adelante,” to carry on or to move forward (as Julie discussed in an earlier post). Another response I frequently get is to grow or to improve their business in general.
Last week I met Gregoria, who sells a range of goods from her home, including clothes, soda, fresh fruit juices, nacatamales, ice cream, and soup. As always, I asked her the question about her long-term goals. Gregoria told me she would like to “llegar a trabajar con mi mismo dinero”–to be able to work with her own money, rather than borrowing money. She was the first borrower to express this aim to me, and to be honest I was thrilled by it. I have felt frustrated at times when I ask borrowers if they’re going to take out another loan after their current one and both borrowers and loan officers have responded as though it is the most obvious and inevitable thing in the world–of course they will take out another loan. Isn’t a big part of the point of microfinance to break the cycle of poverty, to make these borrowers’ businesses and lives sustainable on their own? Gregoria reminded me that yes, this is the point, and the fact that she had this drive made me believe it’s possible. I don’t think I’m quite ready to move from idealist to pragmatist. (more…)
Microfinance and Education
The road to the home of a Kiva borrower
by Josh Weinstein, KF9 Philippines
I spent the last three days in “the field,” a term used to describe the front lines of microfinance where the money is distributed to the clients of the MFI. Beginning early Tuesday morning, I set out for the town of Valladolid, a rural municipality about 50 km from Bacolod City. The road snakes along the coast through increasingly less urban communities, until reaching Pontevedra, where the NWTF (Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation) Valladolid branch is located. The branch manager, Linda Saraet, took me to see the first of 15 borrowers we would try to track down over the course of the three-day trip (with a 67% success rate). Riding in the metal grates on the back of a tricycle, where I’d spend most of my trip, we rode to a small village called a barangay to interview several women about their business and loan. The community here is small, and stopping for directions usually produced a friendly guide that brought us directly to the home of the borrower. Home constructions vary from 2-3 room nipa huts – bamboo structures with thatched roofs and dirt floors – to cement frames with roofs of corrugated aluminum. Sometimes the house has electricity and running water, sometimes not. Over the course of the week, I’d see all types represented. Housing loans are popular among borrowers, and many homes have been built with loans from NWTF. (more…)
