Posts filed under ‘All’
Watership Down and the World Happiness Report
Michael Slattery | KF17 | Togo
“The does, who had never dug in their lives before, enjoyed the work. Both Hyzenthlay and Thethuthinnang told Hazel that they had no idea how much of their frustration and unhappiness in Efrafa had been due simply to not being allowed to dig.” (Watership Down, Chapter 41)
This past week, a paper called the World Happiness Report came out. According to the report, Togo came in dead last in happiness among all the countries of the world. By no means a wealthy country, the Togolese seem for all intents and purposes like an outwardly happy people, much more if not more so than the average Canadian. Perhaps it’s because I hail from Toronto, whose denizens purportedly live only to work, that makes me say that the Togolese I’ve met and see day to day are happier. Despite anecdotal evidence, Canadians have it far better than those here in Togo according to accepted economic indicators.
The Happiness Report isn’t about happiness per se; rather, it’s about including factors beyond the usual economic measures to evaluate a nation’s relative progress.
Here indeed people smile and laugh through the best of times and the worst of times, which may have to do with the tropical climate, and certainly there is little to commend supposedly smile-inducing Canadian winters by comparison. But like the sad clown, smiling doesn’t always reflect happiness; it may just be the surface expression of a cultural trait. Likewise, happiness in the Report is just a way of saying social-economic indicator. (more…)
Update from the Field: Group Loans, Barriers to Microfinance + How to Visit a Borrower
Compiled by Chris Paci | KF16 & KF17 | Ukraine
A Kiva borrower in Barranquilla with his family - Alex Connelly, Colombia
As regular readers of Kiva Stories from the Field will know, it’s not always easy to extend microfinance services to the people who need them most. Aside from the usual barriers - poor infrastructure that makes it difficult to connect borrowers with an MFI, the difficulty of disseminating information about available services, and the danger of over-indebtedness among those in greatest need - there are sometimes even more intractable political and regulatory challenges that make it very difficult for microfinance to be viable. This week, our fellows have investigated a few of these problems. Read on to learn about the unique challenges that come with owning a farm in the West Bank and the barriers that Turkish microfinance institutions face in trying to expand their services; then, get another window into the Kiva borrower verification process and learn how Kiva Fellows forge connections with the entrepreneurs they visit. (more…)
Barrier + Solution = Groups loans for Maya! + Challenges Remain.
By Kimberly Strathearn, KF 16/17, Turkey
No water = barrier for fish
(ran across this advertisement for a new aquarium one morning in Taksim Square on the way to work)
Maya has been a Kiva Field partner for 8 months. Maya is a small program that was established under the Foundation for the Support of Women’s Work in 2002. Maya’s target clients are low-income women with a primary school education that have limited chances of finding a job in the formal economy. Turkey has a large informal economy, so most of Maya’s clients want to set up a small-scale business or enhance their existing small-scale business. Many of their clients work from home but some have small shops, or work in market stalls. Most of these businesses are in the trade sector but some are in the manufacturing and service sectors. Since most of the businesses are unregistered, the women are unable to access regular financial services.
Have you been wondering why Maya has only posted 35 entrepreneur profiles on the Kiva website? And that they all have been individuals? You may know from my first post about Maya or Maya Field Partner Page, that Maya offers group loans—so why isn’t Maya posting any?
The ABCs of West Bank Agriculture
Philip Issa | KF17 | Palestine
(Update: Photo links fixed)
Now that Spring time is in full bloom here in Palestine, the truths about a pair misconceptions I held before arriving have become unavoidable. First, that the ecology here is actually quite conducive to agriculture, and second, that most of the West Bank is in fact not under the jurisdiction of Palestinians.
I had originally intended to write only about my surprise about how green the land can be in Spring, but I believe that such a post would be dishonest. It would be misleading on a microfinance blog to show images of agricultural land and let readers think that they could lend to farmers to help them improve their lot. Such loans are common and fruitful in other Kiva countries, but, as I will explain below, they are much less likely to be effective here.
Borrower Visits: Uncle Alex’s Tips from the Field
By Alex Connelly | KF17 | Colombia
(Bogota Graffiti Wall)
After 2 months in the field I have finally landed in Bogota, Colombia’s decidedly hip capital city and the location for the rest of my fellowship. Up until know I’ve been bouncing around the country visiting borrowers, living mostly out of a (admittedly very large) backpack and becoming a discerning connoisseur of Colombia’s budget-hotel system. Before shifting my focus to my work here in Bogota, I’ve decided to pass on some tips picked up from my 25 Borrower Visits, both for future Kiva Fellows and for anyone else interested in the process of verifying those profiles on your computer screen.
Update from the Field: Non-Financial Services, Employment Discrimination + The Dark Side of Sustainable Tourism
Compiled by Chris Paci | KF16 & KF17 | Ukraine
The Quirimbas Archipelago from above - Micaela Browning, Mozambique
It’s been a busy week here on Kiva Stories from the Field! Most of our KF17 fellows have been in the field for two months by this point, and they’ve been drawing on their wealth of on-the-ground experience to unpack some of the more complex and troubling aspects of life in their host societies. In a series of fascinating posts, our fellows tackle employment discrimination in Indonesia, the dark side of sustainable tourism in Mozambique, and the difficulty all Kiva Fellows face in keeping sight of our end goal of poverty alleviation – not to mention our most harrowing borrower verification story yet. But there’s plenty of lighter fare this week too. Tag along with our fellows as they join a football club in Togo, help a new partner post its first Kiva profiles in Cameroon, and teach us about the inspirational non-financial services that Kiva’s field partners provide. (more…)
We have Liftoff!
Natalie Sherman | KF17 | Cameroon
This week has been one of many firsts here at ACEP Cameroun. Not only has the MFI’s partner page officially gone live, but the bank’s inaugural Kiva borrower, Nathalie, has just received her loan. I watched with pride as ACEP’s Kiva Coordinator reviewed with Nathalie her disbursement paperwork and then walked her over to the cashier’s station. It’s a sensation I’d liken to how one must feel when sending a son or daughter off to the first day of school- a mixture of joy, reassurance and perhaps just the tiniest bit of apprehension as to what lies ahead.
ACEP's first Kiva borrower, signing her disbursement paperwork.
The Bridge: Between Life and Dead
A long time has passed between my first post (An ordinary borrowers visit: The reality of microfinance) and this one — partially because I have been working very long hours and spending a lot of time on the road, but mainly because my laptop died. Those who have worked in the field know what a huge problem this is, especially when you need the Internet to do your job. I can’t believe I’ve lived without a computer for three weeks!
But I’m not here to talk about my problems. Instead, I’d like to tell you a story.
Right now, I’m living in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. It’s where ODEF, the microfinance institution I’m working with, is based — otherwise known as the most dangerous and violent city in the world (ranked No. 1 in 2011, beating out Ciudad Juarez, Mexico).
I recently set out to visit a borrower that lives a four-hour drive away. At 8 a.m. we — ODEF’s Kiva coordinator and I — left the city and headed toward Honduras’ border with Guatemala. Finally, we arrived at the MFI’s branch in Las Flores, Lempira.
The route we took to get there
“Sustainable” Tourism in the Quirimbas Archipelago: Sustainable for Whom, Exactly?
Micaela Browning | KF17 | Mozambique
The Quirimbas Archipelago in Northern Mozambique is a paradisiacal chain of 24 verdant islets blessed with the tropical vacationer’s holy trinity: ivory sands, ubiquitous royal palms, and resplendent turquoise waters . Last weekend, I was fortunate enough to have the privilege of visiting Quirimbas, which – I figured – would be a pleasant respite from the toils of city life.
From what I was able to gauge from my guidebooks and conversations with previous visitors, the economic landscape of the Quirimbas is rapidly evolving. Prior to 2006, the islands were largely neglected. There was no electricity, scant provision of other public goods, zero transportation, and little commercial activity beyond small-scale fishing and agriculture. Now that the archipelago has been “discovered” by the “sustainable” tourism industry, foreigners are buying up property, streets buzz underneath the newly installed power lines, and charter airlines and boats are travelling several times daily to the main island.
Continue Reading 30 March 2012 at 02:00 gringacarioca 16 comments
The Many Services Provided by an MFI
David Gorgani | KF 17 | Dominican Republic
Just like any form of international development, microfinance has its flaws. However, if you choose where to lend wisely (which Kiva makes it easy to do) you’re not only supporting the clients receiving your loans, you’re also supporting institutions that strive to improve the quality of life of their clients with many services in addition to loans.
This Sporting Life
Michael Slattery | KF17 | Togo
Football: what more needs to be said?
For the past number of weeks I’ve been training with my microfinance institution’s football club, WAGES FC. Early on in my stay, I found out that most of the male loan officers I was spending my days with were members of the team. This didn’t surprise me after a certain point: the MFI was interested in placing me with their best agents. Well-rounded people are generally active in various areas of their lives, and this includes sports. When I expressed some interest in the team, I was invited out to train with them, for fun, as they said, at 6:30 am, every Saturday.
Hitting the Help Wanteds in Jakarta
Heather Sullivan | KF17 | Indonesia
Weekends as a Kiva Fellow can be slow. How slow? So slow that after an afternoon of quality time with my Kindle, I recently found myself reading the ”help wanted” section of a local newspaper.
The listings were almost all in Bahasa, and it is safe to say that I haven’t exactly mastered the language in a period of six weeks. Still, it was hard not to notice certain consistencies, and the few postings in English confirmed the pattern: Indonesian firms are unapologetic in specifying the sex and maximum age of prospective hires. Man or woman? Maximum age? Single or married? I even came across one design firm that included ”not colour blind” for all of its postings. (Presumably this refers to visual acuity, as opposed to the firm’s hiring practices.)
Job postings aside, the corporate culture (and sartorial habits) of modern Indonesian firms bear little resemblance to the decadent halls of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce.
My mid-fellowship crisis: What am I doing here?
Jon Hiebert | KF 17 | Mongolia
I woke up on Friday morning just like every other morning. Slightly pleased with the late start of 9:00 a.m., I still felt awkward getting dressed in my business suit. Then I enjoyed my Choco Chips cereal with milk in bed while getting mentally prepared for another day of laptop projects.
Lookin’ good but a little anxious in my suit.
To get to the office, I walked the tiled sidewalks only recently freed from a four-month coat of ice. I went upstairs, set up my Macbook in Transcapital‘s clean, newly-renovated office in the city center, and continued with my work. I was excited to be working on a report that will help transition another microfinance institution (MFI) from pilot program to full-fledged field partner. It’s still being assessed by Kiva Headquarters. This is just one of a number of projects I’m working on for Kiva, in addition to projects I’ve been asked to complete by the MFIs here. Today will be a productive day, I thought to myself.
But other thoughts started crowding my head. I really need a haircut, I haven’t shined my shoes in four days, I should really get another winter hat so I don’t have to wear my old blond fox one every single day. I also found myself being more and more affected — and even disillusioned — by the city’s office culture. Of course, I work with wonderful people here — but I found myself losing track of why I’m in Mongolia in the first place. (more…)
Update from the Field: Tropical Business Trips, Less Exhilarating Fellow Roles + Education Inspiration
Compiled by Allison Moomey | KF16 & KF17 | Bénin
Kiva Fellows have been busy checking items off their workplans. From borrower verifications to loan officer trainings to collecting borrower stories, each fellow’s workplan is a diverse set of tasks dealing with both the glamorous and less-exciting aspects of a Kiva-partner relationship. This week’s blog posts give you an inside view into how fellows are spending their time to maximize the potential of that relationship for you, the lender. Nessa shares inspiration from students at Kiva’s first university partner in Kenya, David shares one of the crucial but rarely blogged about tasks of a Kiva fellow from his post in the Dominican Republic, and Jamie cures “lack of human contactitis” with his first borrower visits in the Philippines.
Continue Reading 26 March 2012 at 05:00 Allison Moomey 4 comments
The Best Business Trip Ever – Part I: Tagbilaran City to San Roque
By Jamie Greenthal | KF 17 | Philippines
In today’s office culture, many of us eat breakfast, lunch, and even dinner at our desks, IM colleagues who sit a few feet away, and spend hours on conference calls. The reality is that a lot of human interaction in the workplace has been replaced by technology and we’re more efficient because of it. But sometimes don’t you just miss sitting down in person and having a conversation? I know I do. Well folks, there is hope for us old-fashioned types. I found the antidote for an affliction that I like to call “lack of human contactitis”: visiting microfinance clients in San Roque, Philippines.
Continue Reading 25 March 2012 at 06:00 jlgreenthal 8 comments
Training Kiva’s MFI Field Partners
David Gorgani | KF 17 | Dominican Republic
I hate to burst all of your bubbles, but despite their significance there’s a lot more to a Kiva Fellowship than Borrower Verifications, and this post is to tell you about another deliverable: the almost-as-sexy Loan Officer Training!
Campus Kiva Students Provide Inspiration and Rejuvenation!
Nessa E. French | KF 17 | Kenya
“An adventure!”
“…Efficient- it gave me an easy time to study.”
“…giving me a chance to complete my studies…”
“…it gave me hope to know that people were believing in me…”
“…made our dreams grow further…”
“Thank You”
These are just a few of the responses that the students at the Campus Kiva meeting gave when I asked them what they thought about Kiva so far. These were 7 of the first 19 Strathmore students to receive funding for a partial tuition or laptop loan through Kiva. Many of the students who had received partial tuition loans expressed great relief for now being able to continue and complete their educations at Strathmore. The students who received laptop loans expressed excitement at how fast they were working and how much easier it was for them to study for their exams and write their papers. (more…)
Update From The Field: Finding Epiphanies, Sharing Wisdom + Standing Up to Sassy Nigerian Mamas
Compiled by Chris Paci | KF16 & KF17 | Azerbaijan
Alex Connelly offers us a typically "light" Colombian "snack."
The 17th class of Kiva Fellows was turned loose into the field on January 27th, nearly two months ago – and how long ago it seems! By this point, our intrepid fellows are really starting to get the hang of their placements, forming routines, powering through their workplans, and learning the ins and outs of the national cuisine. But a few members of KF17 have been living in their host countries for even longer, collecting wisdom and digging deeply into local life, and this week we’ve heard from several of them. Read on to gain insight into microfinance, poverty, and everyday life from our fellows in Colombia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey. Once you’re back, come sail around Samoa to discover the difficulties of life in the South Pacific, then jump on the back of a Togolese motorbike to learn about the complexities and challenges that loan officers deal with every day. (more…)
A Poverty of Opportunity: Different Ways to be Poor
By Adria Orr | KF17 | Samoa
Anyone coming to Samoa must have conflicting expectations in their mind–I know I did. After all, developing country or not, isn’t it a tropical island paradise? Upon receiving my placement from the Kiva Fellows program, an initial googling revealed tourism websites touting beautiful beaches, blue skies, and resorts. As I peered anxiously at the pictures, I thought to myself, “While other fellows are dodging motos in Southeast Asia or battling blackouts in Africa, I’m going to be living in…Hawaii?” I’ll admit a kernel of disappoinment–so much for my 4 months roughing it ‘in the field,’ I was going to be jet-skiing to work!
Ok, so my imagining of the commute to work wasn't SO off..
Who are these handsome devils?
Loan officer AMETEPE Kafui, who waited patiently for the foreigner while he made pretenses to know what he was doing with the camera.
Previous to the Kiva Fellowship, I worked for the Canada Revenue Agency, Canada’s federal tax department. It was the only job I’ve ever had where I was reluctant to tell people what I did for a living. While working for the Agency carries with it a certain stigma, the job itself can be described as people management; you learn to understand and quickly read your fellow citizen and how best to communicate with them, all the while recalling that you’re there to serve their best interests.
If it is Wednesday, it must be Eskişehir + Eskişehir Entrepreneurs
By Kimberly Strathearn | KF 16/17 | Turkey
In previous blog posts, I have introduced the Maya Istanbul office, the Sakarya branch office, and the Izmit branch office. This blog will highlight the Eskişehir branch office, introduce Nermin Akar and Serpil Altıntaş and provide an update on three entrepreneurs.
From left to right: Nermin Akar and Serpil Altıntaş
Glitz and Glamour, Oil Wealth, and the Left-Behind of Baku
Chris Paci | KF16 & KF17 | Azerbaijan
We Kiva Fellows are a lucky bunch. Not only do we do truly consequential work in the field to turn Kiva’s social mission into reality – we also get to travel to places we never could have imagined, experience brilliant flashes of cross-cultural connection, and come back with stories our friends in the developed world can’t match. But here in Baku, Azerbaijan, I’m having an experience few other Kiva Fellows have: I am working to alleviate poverty while surrounded by wealth as far as the eye can see.
Update From The Field: a New Perspective from Mexico, Second Chances for Borrowers + a Microfinance Medical Mission
Compiled by Allison Moomey | KF16 & KF17 | Bénin
Deep into the world of profile posting, repayment reporting, and borrower verifications, Kiva Fellows have been reflecting on the contrasts between their previous lives and their lives in the field. Kiyomi discovers a new side to neighboring Mexico, Micaela humorously presents the her differing reactions to office problems in Mozambique vs. New York, and Allison learns that directions are not the same where streets have no names. Jamie discovers that medical missions don’t look quite like Grey’s anatomy, and DJ discusses the more limited options for rejected borrowers in Georgia.
Continue Reading 12 March 2012 at 09:00 Allison Moomey 4 comments
(VIDEO BLOG) This is Definitely Not “Grey’s Anatomy”: Microfinance Medical Mission on Pitogo Island
By Jamie Greenthal | KF 17 | Philippines
While watching TV medical dramas over the years, I often fantasized about being a perfectly coiffed doctor who miraculously cures patients in under an hour (including commercial breaks) without breaking a sweat, and always remembers to flash a pearly white smile before the credits roll. While it seemed glamorous on TV, I knew, from being a patient myself, that the TV doctor exists only in Hollywood.
Continue Reading 11 March 2012 at 08:00 jlgreenthal 17 comments
Second Chances (Part 2)
Due to the threat and risk of rejected loan applicant’s falling prey to predatory lenders, Credo is launching an innovative new program to bring Kiva Loans to these most vulnerable borrowers. With the development of Credo’s Poverty Score Card, a complex matrix of variables are measured to define an individual client. If it is determined the client’s application was recently rejected primarily due to an absence or lack of business income and their repayment capacity; they may yet qualify for a loan with Credo.
My Favorite Kind of Scavenger Hunt… The Borrower Verification
Allison Moomey | KF16 & KF17 | Bénin
Remember those scavenger hunts with friends in middle school? I have fond memories of running around the mall following cyptic directions and taking crazy pictures at each newfound location. The goal was to visit all of the locations as quickly as possible while earning points for the most exciting polaroid shots. Oh polaroids, that’s a nostalgic post for another time.
I spent the past Monday and Tuesday feeling like I was back to my 12 year old self, except I’ve aged quite a few years, the mall is now a West African city, and the destination is a client’s grain storage shed instead of American Eagle. I met Finadev’s driver Monday morning to start my borrower verification (BV), the process of meeting borrowers and documenting field data to ensure that profiles posted on kiva.org are entirely accurate. I really enjoyed my first BV with Micro Start, so I was excited to start the second with Finadev. We learned just before leaving that the driver and I would be searching for clients using the directions written in each client’s folder at headquarters, as the employee who was familiar with the route was unable to come. Let the adventure begin.
Continue Reading 7 March 2012 at 09:00 Allison Moomey 4 comments
Getting to Know The Real Mexico
Kiyomi Beach | KF17 | Mexico
When I found out I was being placed in Mexico, I was not exactly thrilled. I wanted to go someplace exotic, and far from home. Living in California, I’ve had lots of exposure to Mexican culture, so I thought that I wasn’t going to feel that I really got away.
The truth is, however, that I had never been to Mexico, outside of visiting a few resorts with my family, and I (not surprisingly) discovered that the mission district in San Francisco, where I live, and beach resorts are not proper representations for the “real” Mexico.
I want to share my experience travelling around the country meeting with borrowers of Fundacion Realidad, A.C. (FRAC).
Continue Reading 6 March 2012 at 08:45 kiyomibeach 12 comments
Update From The Field: Inspiring Field Partners, Cultural Adjustments + Girl Scout Cookies (No Wait, That’s Not Right)
Compiled by Chris Paci, KF16 & KF17, Azerbaijan
It’s the beginning of March, and by now, most of KF17 has been out in the field for several weeks. We’ve settled in at our field partners, gotten to know some of our new coworkers, and started to dig a little deeper into the societies of the countries we now call home. Many of us have already traveled out into the field to visit the borrowers at the heart of the Kiva model. Check out this week’s posts and join the fellows of KF17 as they discover the quirks of Samoa, reflect on Benin’s distinctive culture, and observe extreme poverty in the Dominican Republic. Then keep on reading to learn about a devoted loan officer in Ecuador, the money management techniques of microfinance clients in Togo, and the surprising opportunities that Liberian microfinance institutions can create.
Micro-Credit’s Dirty Little Secret
Ryan Cummings | KF 17 | Liberia
Cynthia and Maroline with their Bangladeshi host
All too often, when people talk about the positive impact of micro-credit, they focus exclusively on borrowers. While they are obviously a significant beneficiary of micro-credit, I have a dirty little secret for you: many other people benefit from micro-credit too.
There is an entirely different group of people who are having their lives changed for the better by the micro-credit movement. Who am I talking about? (more…)
The Sums of a Social Performance Certificate
Michael Slattery | KF 17 | Togo
Early on in my stay in Lomé I presented the Social Performance badge certificate awarded by Kiva to my microfinance institution WAGES. I made enquiries and had a gilded frame made for the certificate at a local photography shop, and presented it to the Director of Women and Associations for Gains for Economic and Social (WAGES), Monsieur NASSIROU Ramanou.
Here we are at WAGES' headquarters in central Lomé. From left to right is M. AFO Kossi, Program Director, then M. NASSIROU Ramanou, Director General of WAGES, M. HOFFER Carine, Kiva Coordinator, the author with Canadian winter tan, and M. ASSANI-BENTHO Nasser, Projects Manager.
The certificate reflects two badges awarded earlier this year, Entrepreneurial Support and Facilitation of Savings, which recognize the services provided to WAGES’ clients that have specific social-economic impact.
