Posts filed under ‘Kenya’
Update from the Field: New Products in Microfinance, Over-Indebtedness + Transparency
Compiled by Kathrin Gerner, KF16, Rwanda
This week on the Kiva fellows blog, start out by learning about three new microfinance products – microinsurance in Indonesia, higher education loans in the Philippines and green and water loans in Kenya. Continue on to Nepal to admire the handiwork of artisan borrowers. Make your way to Ecuador to find out more about the risk of indebtedness. Share the fellows’ personal experiences with the recent elections in Nicaragua and rush hour traffic in Uganda. Finish by taking a critical look at transparency in microfinance and Kiva’s responsibility with regards to transparency.
Continue Reading 15 November 2011 at 06:44 Kathrin Gerner 3 comments
Going Green? Overcoming Cultural Barriers to Promote Green Loans (Part 2)
By Claire Markham, KF16, Kenya
In Kenya, the act of going green appears to be far less of a priority than it is in more developed green economies. In the first part of this blog series, I discussed the cultural barriers that exist in Kenya. In this second part, I attempt to answer the question of how an MFI can break through the obstacles identified in Part 1 to implement a successful green and water loan program. I certainly don’t have all of the answers, but I will describe certain strategies that can be used.
Continue Reading 14 November 2011 at 07:00 clairemarkham 5 comments
Update from the Field: Expanding the Reach of Microfinance, Downsizing Development + Why We Kiva
Compiled by Kathrin Gerner, KF16, Rwanda
This week, you have no fewer than 14 new articles to choose from on the Kiva fellows blog: Let the fellows take you along on borrower visits across the world. Learn how Kiva field partners expand the reach of microfinance in Rwanda, fill the microfinance donut hole in Sierra Leone and improve social performance in Uganda. Find out what poverty is like in urban Tajikistan and rural Burkina Faso. Get inspired by one of the creative ways to bring renewable energy to the developing world in the form of a soccer ball. And finally, watch a video of “Why We Kiva” to get a glimpse of why Kiva fellows jump at the opportunity to be thrown half way around the world to work with Kiva’s many local field partners.
Continue Reading 31 October 2011 at 02:49 Kathrin Gerner 5 comments
Downsizing Development: How a Soccer Ball Could Change the World
Lauren Barra, KF16 Kenya
As several of my colleagues have outlined here, here and here the power of simplicity is particularly evident in microfinance. These borrowers’ success makes me wonder – how else can “thinking small” translate to big changes in international development?
A few weeks ago I got my answer. My roommate Amy emailed with exciting news – “I got the internship!!” After weeks of cover letters, interviews, and language proficiency tests, Amy secured a marketing internship with sOccket, an innovative new social business focused on bringing renewable energy to the developing world. As one reporter noted,
Every great once in a while, you come across something that makes you slap your head and say, “That’s…just…brilliant.”
Continue Reading 26 October 2011 at 22:00 Lauren Barra 3 comments
Updates from the Field: Green Loans, Dark Alleys + On-the-Ground Footage of it All
Compiled by Kate Bennett, KF16, Peru
Want a fresh look at Kiva clients on-the-ground? This week fellows share stories and mixed-media that bring us directly into the cities, homes and pulperías of borrowers. From the marketplace in Bolivia, to the streets of Guayaquil, to the dumps of Kenya, we learn about the challenges of working in developing countries and the strategies loan officers and Fellows can use to mitigate them. Not to mention we can see the work of Kiva fellows and Kiva Field Partners in Cambodia, Honduras and Bolivia in living color. What’s even better than reading a post by a Kiva Fellow? Seeing what we see in the field for yourself!
Continue Reading 24 October 2011 at 02:00 Kate Bennett 2 comments
Going Green? Overcoming Cultural Barriers to Promote Green Loans (Part 1)
By Claire Markham, KF16, Kenya
In the developed world, the recent increased attention to global warming and the importance of environmental preservation and restoration efforts is something that’s hard to ignore. In Kenya, I have found this is not necessarily the case in my experiences so far. When the borrowers that we work with so often have to worry about ensuring there is enough food on the table or money for school fees, adding the responsibility of being conscious of their environmental impact can be a hard notion to sell. How can an MFI break through these obstacles and implement a successful green and water loan program when so much of the population, including our borrowers, aren’t environmentally aware? This two-part blog post will attempt to answer this question.
Continue Reading 20 October 2011 at 10:15 clairemarkham 4 comments
Stuff Kiva Fellows Like
Compiled by Jim Burke, KF16, Nicaragua
We are Kiva Fellows. This is the stuff we like. Here is an insider (often critical, or satirical but always true!) view of what it means to be a Kiva Fellow and promote access to financial services around the world. From alpaca fur to FSSs to ziplock bags, these are the things we like and thrive on.
#1 Being the first foreign person that somebody has ever seen in their life
Dave Weber, KF16, Cambodia
Few life experiences will measure up to the one where a Kiva Fellow is told that he or she is ‘the first foreigner that somebody has ever seen in their life’ (TFFPTSHESITL). This experience often comes with having ones hair and skin touched, which people in our home countries don’t find nearly as interesting. KFs know that their image will forever be bored into the mind of the Latino/African/Asian/MidEastern borrower since we assume they ‘never forget their first one.’
A Kiva Fellow will react to being TFFPTSHESITL in several ways. They will utilize social media to get the word out to 500 people in their friend list and possibly even engage the Stories from the Field blog to get the message out to potentially hundreds of thousands. It will also be the first story they tell supporters and people back home. Kiva Fellows will also often use the phrase, “I’m pretty sure I was the first foreign person to ever go there” when referring to locations, even if they’re talking about Machu Picchu or Angkor Wat or the running of the bulls or the Washington Monument.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to spend my holiday evening at a Cambodian air conditioned movie theater which I’m certain no foreign person has been to before and I will be TFFPTSHESITL to at least half of the moviegoers there to engage in the revelry entitled Cowboys vs. Aliens. (more…)
Take the Long Way Home: A Loan Officer’s Journey
By Claire Markham, KF16, Kenya
Before I arrived in Nairobi, I had heard on multiple occasions about the fundamental role loan officers play in making an MFI function. Loan officers are the backbone of the organization; they are intimately familiar with their clients and the challenges they face and they go to extraordinary measures to meet client needs. I was able to fully appreciate this on my recent borrower visits in Mombasa with two of SMEP’s loan officers: the one who supposedly travels the most, and the one who supposedly travels the least.
Continue Reading 29 September 2011 at 13:00 clairemarkham 6 comments
Lean on Me: The Impact of Responsive Loans in Coastal Kenya
Lauren Barra, KF16, Kenya
“A startling new statistic from the World Health Organization,” the BBC announcer sounded from my taxi’s radio. “There are only two registered medical professionals for every 1,000 Kenyans…” As I drove through the bustling, overcrowded streets of downtown Mombasa, I took a deep breath and was reminded once again – my work here is not going to be easy.
The BBC announcer continued to explain that this data is even more sobering for poor, uninsured Kenyans who rely on government-funded hospitals. A recent economic survey showed that only 19 public health officials and 18 doctors are available per 100,000 Kenyans. Public doctors are often overwhelmed with patients and it’s not uncommon for Kenyans to pass away waiting to receive essential care. Insured patients have the option to go to a private facility and have a much better chance of receiving quality care. Few Kenyans in this region can afford traditional health insurance plans and families suffer devastating setbacks if one member falls seriously ill.
Continue Reading 28 September 2011 at 13:44 Lauren Barra 6 comments
Observing Kiva’s Raison d’Etre in my First Field Visit
By Claire Markham, KF16, Kenya
Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to spend a day with a loan officer visiting three different Kiva borrower groups. Though these were fairly routine visits for the loan officer, they were far from ordinary from my perspective; they allowed me to observe real examples that confirm why Kiva does what it does.
Continue Reading 7 September 2011 at 14:00 clairemarkham 6 comments
Update from the Field: Unsung Heroes, Community Alliances + and Mission Statements Made Reality
Compiled by Kate Bennett, KF15, Ecuador
The Pros and Cons of Microfinance – A View From The Field: Fixing the chain on the way to a repayment meeting in Haiti. Poor roads thwart borrowers and MFI loan officers alike.
This week in the field fellows across the world explore the factors that make microfinance and its successes a reality. In Kenya, we meet the actors who reach out to borrowers everyday, at any and all degrees of their own discomfort. In Nicaragua, we discover that high aspirations can be met with equally powerful results. In Senegal, a series of well-dressed strangers introduce us to the rest of the community, and the lesson that any organization seeking to serve the community must truly know the community. Between Colombia, Haiti and the Dominican Republic we gain insight about the pros, cons, and the conditions for success in microfinance. Throughout these stories, we’re led into homes, gardens and local festivals; down roads, rivers, and a few wrong turns; and we ultimately reach our destination: a deeper understanding of how- or really, through who and what- this work is made possible.
Nathan’s Office
Country: Kenya / Fellow: Nila Uthayakumar (KF15)
“It takes humility and tremendous patience to do the work that they do. A sense of humor is essential.” Nila sings the praise of the unsung heroes of microfinance: the loan officers.
A Rainy Day in Masaya
Country: Nicaragua / Fellow: Jason Jones (KF15)
How often does an organization’s mission statement really meet reality? Jason Jones finds that for his partner in Nicaragua and borrowers like Maura, Gloria, and Adelfa, lofty goals are realized everyday.
Kiva in the Community
Country: Senegal / Fellow: Tim Young (KF15)
As Tim Young begins to settle himself within his community, he learns that an microfinance institution’s presence in the local community must be deeply embedded as well.
The Pros and Cons of Microfinance – A View From The Field (A Three-Part Series)
Country: Colombia / Fellow: Nick Hamilton (KF14)
Part One of this through three-part series considers the strengths and benefits of microfinance. Part Two part two weighs its drawbacks and weaknesses. Part Three proposes a set of institutional and environmental factors that contribute to the success of microfinance.
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Updates from the past month:
Personal Connections, Supply and Demand + A Culinary Excursion
Farewells, Mistaken Identities + Micro-Microfinance
Earth Day, Celebrations + Exceeding Expectations
Trash, Delicious Treats + Community Outreach
Cute Pigs, New Toilets + Everything is Relative
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Plus more pictures from the past week:
Colombia, by Nick Hamilton
Senegal, by Tim Young
Nicaragua, by Jason Jones
Kenya, by Nila Uthayakumar
Nathan’s Office
Nathan at work visiting borrowers of Juhudi Kilimo
By Nila Uthayakumar, KF14 Uganda and KF15 Kenya
“It was my first day on the job,” Nathan says with a wide grin.
“I wore a coat and tie, I looked very smart! I was going to work for a bank, sit in a swiveling chair, and swing my legs!”
Nathan and I are standing on the side of a road. The occasional share-taxi barrels past us, but mostly we are surrounded by the hush of farmland that stretches as far as the eye can see. We’re in the Southern Rift Valley of Western Kenya. Nathan is neither sitting, nor swinging his legs. We cross the road. The mid-morning sun casts our shadows long across the hot asphalt. (more…)
A Kiva Fellow’s Photo Album: Six Months Along The Equator
By Tara Capsuto, KF12 Ecuador / KF13 Kenya
I recently concluded my Kiva Fellowship that has spanned 6.5 months, 5 of Kiva’s MFI field partners, 2 continents, countless long haul buses, and roughly 12,000 miles of travel. As a member of Kiva Fellow’s 12th class (KF12) I headed to Ecuador in July, 2010 to work with two of Kiva’s field partners, Fundación Espoir and Fundación D-MIRO. I never would have guessed that when December rolled around I’d be summitting Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and trying to pick up Swahili. That’s because KF13 landed me in Nairobi, Kenya to work with Faulu Kenya, Juhudi Kilimo, and Kenya Agency for Development of Enterprise and Technology (KADET).
From witnessing political turmoil in Ecuador to surviving a matatu crash in rural Kenya, there were definitely some harrowing moments but it’s been a truly amazing journey, a journey, that like Kiva itself, has been all about people. I’ve been out of the field for several weeks and I haven’t come up with a great way to summarize my experiences as a Kiva Fellow. Each time someone asks, “So, how was it?!” I kind of stammer, generally respond that it was fantastic (it really was), and share an anecdote or two. The truth is, it was a life-changing experience, or rather, a series of experiences, and it’s hard to know where to begin. In lieu of even attempting to be exhaustive, here are some of my favorite images from my Kiva Fellowship.
Giant bunny rabbits, small loans
By Tara Capsuto, KF13, Kenya
This blog really is about giant bunnies. It’s also about asset financing and how loan groups are working together, with the help of Juhudi Kilimo (one of Kiva’s field partners) to raise rabbits and boost their incomes. Juhudi provides an innovative, agriculture-based, micro-asset financing loan product to assist smallholder farmers in acquiring productive assets such as dairy cows, chickens, irrigation equipment, and most recently, giant Flemish rabbits.
Mobile Payments: the Devil is in the Details
By: Tara Capsuto, KF 13, Kenya
Only 4 million Kenyans have bank accounts. Over 10 million people – approximately 40% of the adult population — in the country now use the M-PESA money transfer service. The rapid growth of mobile payments in Kenya in recent years has been hailed as the key to unlocking financial access for millions of unbanked individuals. While mobile payments are transforming the financial landscape in Kenya, especially for the unbanked, experience at KADET (Kenya Agency for Development of Enterprise and Technology), one of Kiva’s MFI partners in Kenya, highlights that there are also real challenges to making mobile money transfers work for an MFI and their clients. Illiteracy, human error, and fraud are all factors that make mobile payments more complicated than they sound initially.
Southern Sudan: Africa’s Newest Country?
by Jennifer Coronel, KF13, Kenya
In the past decade, the African nation of Sudan was in the news because of massive violence in the region of Darfur. Today, the world is watching as the country takes part in a referendum on the south’s potential secession from the north. Voting has gone on for one week and finished this past Sunday. In some areas of the south, over 80% of registered voters took part, and the stringent requirement of 60% total turnout needed for validity of the vote has already been surpassed.
Continue Reading 18 January 2011 at 15:00 jennifermarie88 1 comment
Kiva Fellows: Kicking off 2011 Around the World
By Kiva Fellows, Various corners of the globe
Around the world, Kiva Fellows are kicking off 2011 in all sorts of different ways. Here’s what a handful of KF13-ers are doing to ring in the New Year. Enjoy and Happy 2011!
From Rwanda to Kenya: Why Lend Through Kiva
By Jennifer Coronel, KF13, Kenya
In the summer of 2009, I spent a few weeks in the small East African nation of Rwanda. I was there as a student as well as an observer, one who could testify to others about conditions in Rwanda today. Like in any country, various standards of living could be found, from upper-class mansions to poverty-stricken slums. However, never before had I seen these extremes exist so closely together.
More often than not, poverty is the result of circumstances difficult to change. Although people can be very resourceful in making the best of what they have, the trap of poverty is difficult to escape. On numerous occasions in Rwanda I met a young person with the desire and intellect to attend school. Yet he or she simply did not have the resources to pay for it. Alongside poverty, tremendous amounts of potential exist. This potential can and must be harnessed.
Continue Reading 22 December 2010 at 10:00 jennifermarie88 Leave a comment
Voices from Nairobi: Justice for Kenya?
By Tara Capsuto, KF 13, Kenya
Kenyans breathed a collective sigh of relief on Dec 15th when the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced the much anticipated list of Kenyan leaders suspected of organizing the violence following the disputed 2007 election that left 1,200 Kenyans dead and an estimated 500,000 more displaced from their homes. The list of 6 includes senior public officials like the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Minister of Higher Education, and the Head of Civil Service. Many questions remain as to whether this particular course of justice is the right one, but here’s what 8 Kenyans had to say about it.
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4,107 Beans: A Kiva Fellowship in Numbers
By Katie Morton, KF12, Yehu Microfinance Trust, Kenya
When I landed at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in July, I was determined to learn, absorb, and live like a Kenyan. It turns out this wasn’t the most realistic goal given barriers like the timeframe of 90 days and the whole mzungu factor. But I tried anyway (which entailed a whole lot of beans).
Continue Reading 8 December 2010 at 08:00 Katie Morton 3 comments
How Faulu Kenya learns from its clients and clients learn from each other
By Tara Capsuto, KF13, Kenya
Nestled in the hills of Kikuyu farmland, 500 of Faulu Kenya’s dairy farming, matatu driving, and kiosk-owning clients gathered for a half day of telling their microfinance institution (MFI) what they really think. Faulu Kenya’s mission statement is, “To listen and empower Kenyans by providing relevant financial solutions.” Faulu, whose name means “success” in Swahili, is one of Kenya’s largest microfinance organizations, serving over 230,000 clients. How do they make sense of the cacophony of 230,000 voices? I got to see it in action at one of Faulu’s “open forums” held annually at each of their 29 major branches.
Deciphering a Treasure Map: How to Find a Kiva Borrower
By Katie Morton, KF12, Yehu Microfinance Trust, Kenya
Stepping outside of the office and into the nooks and crannies of an unfamiliar land is fun and exciting…at first. But a simple day out and about can very quickly turn into a character-building experience, especially when faced with obstacles like the nonexistence of posted street signs or printed maps, fickle mobiles, and language barriers—all underneath the equatorial sun’s 90 degree rays.
Continue Reading 27 November 2010 at 08:00 Katie Morton 2 comments
Adventures in East Africa
By Katie Morton, KF12, Yehu Microfinance Trust, Kenya
A perk of the Kiva Fellowship is having friends who live and work in diverse locations around the globe. This is the story of some KF12s that met up and the ridiculous adventure that ensued.
Continue Reading 1 November 2010 at 12:00 Katie Morton 3 comments
The Mombasa Matatu: A “How To” Guide from a Daily Commuter
By Katie Morton, KF12, Yehu Microfinance Trust, Kenya
It’s 6:45 am, Lil Wayne is blasting in my ears and Tupac is staring me in the face. Welcome to my daily commute. Here’s how to navigate the Mombasa matatu.
Continue Reading 8 October 2010 at 09:00 Katie Morton 8 comments
A Special Thank You To One Of Our Lenders- Brian!
Today we’d like to give a very special thank you to one of our top individual lenders, Brian!
Brian is a University Chancellor in Fairbanks, Alaska, and has been lending on Kiva for nearly 5 years. With 3,046 loans, Brian has literally uplifted thousands of lives all over the world through micro-finance. Having a personal connection is crucial to our mission at Kiva, and so in thanks for his continuous support, one of the borrowers he has lended to has a very special video message for Brian.
Thanks for your ongoing support Brian! We think you are awesome.
Kiva love,
Brittany Boroian, KF12 with Faulu Kenya
Uh, Oh. No Triple AAA?: Rescued by a Kiva Borrower
By Katie Morton, KF12, Yehu Microfinance Trust, Kenya
Yehu Microfinance Trust’s tagline is “serving rural Kenya.” So when my motorbike broke down en route to visit a Kiva borrower 25 kilometers away from the already remote town of Samburu, I was a little concerned. Luckily enough, we were on our way to meet Gilbert, a Kiva Borrower who owns the only motorbike hardware and repair shop in the area.
Continue Reading 9 September 2010 at 17:00 Katie Morton 3 comments
Hi, I’m Katie: I’m a Kiva Fellow and Here’s Why
By Katie Morton, KF12, Yehu Microfinance Trust, Kenya
The Internet is out, so I’m writing my first blog post—one of the few things a Kiva Fellow can accomplish without access to the “series of tubes.” I’d like to introduce myself and explain a little about why exactly I wanted to move across the globe, give up access to reliable water pressure, and work for 12 weeks for free.
Continue Reading 1 September 2010 at 10:00 Katie Morton 11 comments
