Posts filed under ‘Tanzania’
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
“Fundación Paraguaya al Mundo”: 5K to Tanzania
By Alba Castillo, KF 16, Paraguay
Before this month, I had never ran an organized race. But when I heard of Fundación Paraguaya’s 5K to celebrate their new initiative in Tanzania, I was in! Yes, I said Tanzania – over 6,000 miles away from FP’s headquarters in Asunción.
New Orleans: A Developing Country in America?
by Rebecca Corey, KF 9 & 16, New Orleans, USA
“This isn’t America. New Orleans is like a developing country.”
In the four weeks I’ve lived in New Orleans, I’ve heard this statement from nearly ten different people.
(…)
So if the United States is a developed country, then why does Kiva have a presence here? Once a country is considered “developed” (modernized, industrialized, democratized, capitalized), then people want to wipe their hands, pat each other on the back, and say the work is done. Institutionalized greed and inequality are given the leeway to exist, because we become convinced we have achieved development and reached an endpoint. The action is completed. Stasis reached. Shouldn’t we be satisfied? By bringing Kiva City to the United States, Kiva has made a brave statement about what development means and who can benefit from it.
Continue Reading 14 October 2011 at 15:42 Rebecca Corey 6 comments
A New Look at Need: Microfinance From Tanzania to New Orleans
by Rebecca Corey, KF16, New Orleans, USA
In 2009 when I told friends and family I was moving to Tanzania to study international development and to work for Kiva in the field of microfinance, or the furnishing of small loans to the working poor, we all had certain pre-formed ideas about how impactful and necessary my work was sure to be. We understood that in terms of GDP, literacy, infant mortality, and other common measures, Tanzania is a “developing” country, Third World, periphery. In another word: poor. As a recent college graduate, I had established ideas about poverty. It is there as opposed to here, it happens to the Other or them, not to me or mine, and so on. Therefore, a $200 loan for the purchase of a few goats to a thin, ebony-skinned woman with a brightly patterned cloth turbaned around her head made sense; it fit into my worldview, my idea of the face of poverty. The same held true for the fishmongers, the roadside bicycle repair men, and the juice vendors whose loans I helped process and post to the Kiva website. Oh yes, I knew there was poverty in the United States, but a part of me believed that for Americans, it was different. Better. Safer. More comfortable. And who in the U.S. didn’t have access to credit? I was sure that an entrepreneur with a solid business plan would find it relatively easy to acquire working capital.
But already, Kiva was challenging preconceived notions about poverty and microfinance. At training in San Francisco in 2009, I learned that the leaders of the young organization had decided to start funding loans in the United States. There was immediate backlash. A lending group was formed protesting the decision. Articles were written denouncing the move. But Kiva posted the first U.S. loans, and they were funded almost immediately.
Continue Reading 1 October 2011 at 08:00 Rebecca Corey 5 comments
The Most Boring Election in East Africa
By Ann Hingst, KF12 Tanzania
While many Americans will spend next Sunday, October 31, trick-or-treating, Tanzanians will be headed to the polls. October 31, 2010 marks a general election for Tanzania, and voters will choose their President for the next five-year term.
Continue Reading 26 October 2010 at 07:00 annhingst 6 comments
Portfolio Teams to the Rescue!
By Ann Hingst, KF12 Tanzania
Every Kiva Fellow attends a weeklong training at Kiva Headquarters in San Francisco. The training we received is top notch. But what happens once a fellow is in the field, and all of a sudden forgets the procedure for reporting loan repayments in Kiva’s system or has trouble navigating the politics of the microfinance institution (MFI) that he or she is visiting? That’s where the portfolio team comes to the rescue.
Continue Reading 20 August 2010 at 09:03 annhingst 2 comments
Kiva Lending from a Kiva Fellow’s Point of View
Rebecca Corey, KF9 and KF10 Tanzania
I’ve now been in the field as a Kiva Fellow for almost four months! It’s hard to believe all that has happened in this short time. I’ve battled malaria, ridden the local daladalas ‘til I know their paths like a local, developed a healthy taste for “chipsi mayai” (an egg and french fry omelette–the most popular Tanzanian street food), learned every Kiswahili greeting around (and there seem to be hundreds!), and settled into life with my beautiful homestay family. I’ve also conducted a borrower verification of SELFINA (a Kiva partner in Dar), and spent hours interviewing, photographing, and writing for borrower profiles and journal updates for Kiva clients at my host MFI, Tujijenge Tanzania, Ltd. I’ve collaborated with RockhopperTV and the BBC World News on a short documentary series that will feature Kiva as one of the world’s most innovative social businesses, and created templates and training materials for Tujijenge as well. Last but not least, I’ve enrolled in the Masters in Development Studies program at the University of Dar es Salaam, which has allowed me to explore the theoretical background and debates surrounding the development practices I’m witnessing on the ground. Most of my days are spent at in the field with clients, at local branch offices, and on Partner Administration (or PA2 as the Kiva Fellows call it), the website that allows Kiva’s partner microfinance institutions to post business descriptions, upload borrower profile pictures and journal updates, keep track of repayments and account details, and otherwise manage their interactions with Kiva headquarters. (more…)
You Know You are in Tanzania When…. (Volume V)
Five months after boarding a plane to San Francisco, it’s time to wrap up my Kiva Fellowship. For my final post, I’d like to honour a tradition set by past Tanzanian Kiva Fellows and share a few of my observations from this crazy and charming country. Hope you enjoy!
You know you are in Tanzania when…
Why Lend to a Charcoal Seller?
That’s a question I’d never considered before serving as a Kiva Fellow. I figured that charcoal is a dirty and unsustainable source of fuel, and not one that I want to support. Charcoal production causes massive deforestation and produces considerable emissions of carbon dioxide. So when presented with the option of lending to a charcoal seller on Kiva’s website, I always selected an entrepreneur in a different sector to support.
Flash forward a few months – I have now enjoyed hundreds of meals cooked on charcoal stoves and grills, first in Rwanda and now in Tanzania. I’ve also met about a dozen Kiva clients who make their living producing and selling charcoal. These experiences haven’t made me a full advocate for continued use of charcoal fuel. They have, however, made me realize that the issues surrounding sustainable energy are not white and black, but closer to charcoal grey. So here’s why I would now consider lending to a charcoal seller and supporting them through Kiva…
Sugar Daddy Syndrome
Yesterday I spent about 12 hours on hot, crowded and bumpy buses in Dar Es Salaam. At least half of that time was spent idling in traffic jams, an inevitable experience whenever one travels to the far-flung corners of this sprawling city. I was trying to reach a couple of Tujijenge Tanzania clients and interview them as part of Kiva’s borrower verification process. I found one of the two clients I was hoping to meet, so the day was partially successful. By the time I got home it was close to 9pm, and after cleaning up and a quick meal (rice and beans in coconut sauce – delightful!), I was ready to relax. Allowing myself a short reprieve from noisy, dusty Dar, a movie was in order. Figuring a British film set in 1960s London should do the trick, I settled on the film An Education; however, as the story of a schoolgirl’s doomed relationship with an older man unfolded, I couldn’t help but recognize that the movie holds significant parallels with modern Tanzania.
Sweet Memories at Home and Abroad
The Rideau Canal in my hometown of Ottawa, Canada is the world’s largest skating rink. Each winter, the canal freezes into a winter wonderland, and I love skating along its 7.8 kilometres of ice. No skate would be complete without a taste of beavertail at the end. Despite what it’s name might imply, beavertails are actually a delightfully deep-fried pastry, covered in cinnamon and sugar. They are available at huts along the ice, and in my mind, beavertails are as much part of winter as skating, cold feet and hot chocolate.
That’s why it took me a moment to place the distinct beavertail scent while wandering the hot, congested and sandy streets of Dar Es Salaam…
You Know You Are In Tanzania When… (Vol IV)
By Jennifer Gong, KF9 Tanzania
As my fellowship draws to a close, I would like to contribute my last post to a tradition set by past Tanzanian Kiva Fellows. There is something unique about the country that fellows have been compelled to share. Alec Lovett (a KF4 and my interviewer!) first started the series “You know you are in Tanzania when…” back in 2008 and later added a Vol 2. Jara Small (KF5) brilliantly added her observations and wrote Vol 3. In my 90 days here, I’ve been privy to witness some of the unique characteristics of Tanzania and its inhabitants. So here goes Vol 4… Enjoy! (more…)
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. 
(more…)
The Local Local Lifestyle
Rebecca Corey, KF9 Tanzania
The first time I got shoved 
out of the way in a mad rush to the dala-dala bus, my friend Victor said to me, “This is the local local lifestyle, pole sana–I’m very sorry.” The next time he said it was when the electricity went out and I was reading in the living room. “This is the local local, pole dada–sorry sister.” Then again when I had Malaria: “The Tanzania local local, pole sana, pole sana.” In the streets, when Tanzanians are shouting to me, “Mchina, mchina!” Chinese person, chinese person! : “They are local local, they cannot tell you are Korean. Pole.” And every time, he smiles his big smile, apologetic, almost wistful, partly amused, always sincere.
I have also started to think to myself, “local local,” several times each day. We haven’t had water for the past eight days because of a broken water pump, so we fetch bucketfuls from next door. Tanzania is suffering from a major power crisis, so electricity is rationed. Ours goes out for a full day once every three days. I get up at five every morning to catch the dala-dala before the major traffic jams so I can get to work by eight. I see one bus that says on the back, “Don’t Hide, Just Pay,” another claims “Jesus is Power,” and a third “Blootooth On.” “Local local,” I think. (more…)
YOSEFO Day 2009
By Jennifer Gong, KF9 Tanzania
YOSEFO has come a long way. In 1997, it humbly opened its doors to 50 clients, for a total loan portfolio size of $5000. However, with unwavering determination, it has succesfully expanded into 14 different communities around Dar es Salaam and has opened offices in Ifakara, Zanzibar, Kilwa and Tanga. Today, YOSEFO can proudly claim to serve over 11,000 active clients and has seen its loan portfolio increase to $1.5m. This is definitely something to celebrate about, and celebrate we did! To mark 12 successful years of serving Tanzania, my MFI decided to organize YOSEFO Day 2009.
The purpose of the celebration was not only about rejoicing, it was also about recognition. It was about acknowledging the outstanding clients and staff members that have played a significant role in making the past dozen years successful. Recognition is important because the sweat and tears of both clients and staff often go unnoticed. Furthermore, the showcasing of successful stories will hopefully create a competitive spirit that will drive everyone to strive for more.
Here are some highlights of YOSEFO Day 2009… (more…)
Dreaming of Dar
By Jennifer Gong, KF9 Tanzania
My name is Jen Gong and I will be spending a few months at YOSEFO, a Kiva field partner in Tanzania. I arrived in Dar Es Salaam about 2 weeks ago and here is my first entry…
the YOSEFO CREW!
There is something enchanting about Tanzania. Most travelers would say the charm is in landscape. And without a doubt there is much to behold here. I have not yet wadded in the turquoise waters of Zanzibar, climbed to the top of Kilimanjaro or spotted the exotic creatures of the Serengeti, but flying into Dar Es Salaam itself was a treat. I wish I took a photo of how the tin roofs sparkled like stars against the blue Indian Ocean.
But for those who have spent a little more time here and immersed themselves in the local culture, they will claim the charm is in the people. Tanzanians are colorful, diverse and warm. When my coworkers held a meeting to discuss about the upcoming marriage celebration of one of the credit officers, I was asked to be involved because they said “<I am> now a part of the YOSEFO family”. My host family of three sisters, treat me like their own dada (sister in Swahili), and have been generously teaching me Swahili and Tanzanian cooking.
A Rough Start
By Rebecca Corey, KF9 Tanzania
After my first day interacting with Kiva borrowers I was exhausted but exhilarated. It was slow work, waiting while the money for the loans was counted out and matched with each client’s loan record booklet, paperwork was filled out, treasurer and secretary books were gathered. Outside the Tujijenge branch office in the heart of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, members of loan groups languished in the sun, clothes bright against the dusty ground. I glanced out of the window from time to time to watch them and try to guess what each group had named itself.
At Tujijenge Tanzania, most of the loans are given to groups. Each group consists of 15-40 members, who are split into sub-groups of 5-7, whose members act as guarantors of each others loans. For many poor borrowers, the group’s guarantee is the only collateral they can offer. The social pressure from the group is a major deterrent to delinquency and default, along with the hope for future loans. After a group is approved by Tujijenge, they have one month of business and microfinance training by loan officers. At this time, their information and photos are collected, they elect group leaders, a secretary, and treasurer, and they get to choose a name. Many of them convey a sense of national pride (like “Kilimanjaro” or “Mungu Ibariki Tanzania”–God bless Tanzania), but as you can imagine, these names go fast. So there are also groups like “red rose,” “lion,” and “peace.” Soon, even names like these are gone. So groups pop up named “flag” or “Bob Marley” or “Ferarri”. One of my favorite groups was called “Parachichi,” which means “avocado” in Kiswahili. I loved this little bit of trivia so much that I included it in the business profile for the group on Kiva.org. The other group we worked with that day called itself “Sigara.” I didn’t have time to ask what this meant, but leaving work that day I asked a friend. “Ah, yes, sigara! It means ‘cigarette.’” I recalled my interview with the elected leader of Sigara group, a tall and slender woman with large eyes who held her child in the lap of her green dress as she told me about her shop, her monthly profits, her hours, and saving for her children’s education. I wondered if it was her idea to name the group ‘Cigarette.’
Tanzania bound
By Rebecca Corey, KF9 Tanzania
I’m sitting in terminal three at 
Dubai’s International Airport. The moving sidewalk beside me sounds like horses trotting on a packed dirt road. Since my 14-hour layover began a several hours ago, I’ve heard the Islamic call-to-prayer twice over the airport intercom system, followed soon after with enticing invitations to browse the duty-free shops that run down the center of the terminal. I should be sleeping, re-setting my internal clock, but the fluorescent lights and ribbons of Arabic that stream from the ceiling won’t let me rest.
Hi, my name is Rebecca Elizabeth Yeong Ae Corey, and I am a member of the Kiva Fellows Program’s 9th class. I trained for a week in San Francisco, had two days to pack up my bags and say my goodbyes in my hometown of Athens, Georgia, and now I am headed for Tanzania. Once I get to Dar es Salaam, I will settle into a homestay and begin work at Tujijenge Tanzania, Ltd., one of Kiva’s field partner MFI’s. I’m en route. I am Tanzania bound. (more…)
BRAC Tanzania Lending Team!
After reading my post about BRAC Tanzania a few days ago, I imagine that many of you are just chomping at the bit to get more involved with the organization.
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.
BRAC – like Risk, but without the risk
The concept of risk has been discussed by many, and often, over the past year, as citizens around the world voice their concerns about the global recession. Mortgage risk, loan risk, credit risk, bailout risk, risk assessment, risk of spending too much, risk of spending too little, and on and on. A lot of risky business (and not the underwear dance kind) has been going on and we are paying for it now in all too literal a way.
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.
Kiva Fellows: My Virtual Family
Not every day as a Kiva Fellow is a good one. There are days when I wait for seven hours for a credit officer to be available to take me to the field to collect journal updates for only two clients. There are hours of intermittent internet in which I am able to load less than one page. There are the clients I meet about whom I would be inspired except that after doing the math I’m not convinced they’ve found a way to run their businesses with a net profit. Luckily, after more than 7 months of victories and setbacks, I think I’m in the black.
Small moments compensate for unpleasant hours. A coworker’s delight at a weak attempt at their local language can be contagious. The look of recognition on the faces of loan officers to whom I just presented a new template keeps me going for days. And the shy request by a client to have a picture taken with me makes me feel that my presence is appreciated.
On top of the ups and downs of the day-to-day, though, there is another secret to my contentment: the Kiva Fellows. In ways both tiny and massive, unexpected and enormously appreciated, having a virtual community of fellows makes my life infinitely better. During training in June, I left four days at Kiva HQ disappointed that after meeting so many fascinating and fun people I would ultimately embark on this fellowship solo. I only wished we could all be placed at the same MFI. Kiva said no—that would sort of defeat the purpose. Time and again, however, I’ve been able to turn to them for all manner of support despite great distances between us.
Three Fellows (Zack, Nabomita, and me) in Mombasa, Kenya--brainstorming about Kiva and how to save the world
Not sure how to shrink a photo? Wondering if anyone has an effective training Power Point presentation? Curious about coping mechanisms for language barriers? For all manner of information—from the recreational to the professional—fellows have proven to be an essential resource.
And as it turns out, Kiva has good judgment. As my Fellows class, KF5, has gradually finished up in the field, I despaired that I’d be left alone without my network of compatriots. I was entirely wrong. When I risked deportation from Tanzania, I was able to call on a KF6 and stay with her in Kenya for a week—all arranged having never met. From there I went on to intrude on another Kiva Fellow whose acquaintance I had never made but who quickly became an indispensable friend. The prospect of Christmas and New Years alone in Africa was depressing so three KF6ers and I ignored the fact that we did not know each other and made plans to travel Africa together to be in the company of people whom we knew would soon be friends.
On the job in Kisumu, Kenya--I met and stayed with Sarah
New Year's in Kigali, Rwanda--in the good company of Fellows Ankush and Sarah
Whether it’s crossing African borders to see one another or participating in email chains that gain momentum and garner nearly 50 responses from fellows in the same boat, I couldn’t live without the other fellows. It’s possible that I’ll never actually be in the same room as some of the fellows with whom I’ve been in frequent correspondence. Others I’m quite sure will persuade me to cross one or more countries just to see them again. Whether in Cameroon or Cambodia, Bolivia or Tanzania the fellows play a significant role both in helping me to get through the day and in helping me to add the most possible value to Kiva and my microfinance institution placement. There’s nothing like a real, live human resource to advise, commiserate, support, and amuse. Thanks for keeping me sane, fellows!
Jara and I did a joint staff training when we were both placed in Tanzania
Fellows recovering from a hard day's work in Dar es Salaam
To see all of Vision Finance Company’s currently fundraising loans, click here or join the Vision Finance Company lending team.
Julie Ross is currently serving as a Kiva Fellow at Vision Finance Company in Rwanda. In December she completed her first placement with BRAC Tanzania.
Last Impressions
My life has turned into a bunch of “lasts.” My last time seeing friends I have made here, my last time gathering around the table with what has become my family, my last time going to my favorite market where they know me by name, my last time swimming in the warm and oh-so-blue Indian Ocean, my last time laughing with others about my attempt to speak and understand kiswahili, my last time holding on for dear life on a daladala (city bus), my last time climbing those 3 flights of stairs to the whitewashed office that is SELFINA (the partner Mico-Finance Institution I am assigned to), my last night sleeping under a mosquito net, my last Monday, my last Tuesday, my last Wednesday….the list goes on…
If I had to sum up what I have learned in this experience, it is to be patient and flexible (well, as much as my Type A personality will allow!). Working on an internet based system when internet is haphazard and sometimes non-existent for periods of up to 2 weeks, one has to be patient and flexible. Having malaria far from one’s home base and still having to achieve certain goals in a short period of time, one has to be patient and flexible. Driving for up to 2 hours, swerving through traffic on the main roads and then trying not to smash one’s head on the roof top on some of the bumpiest dirt roads I have ever seen only to arrive to a location to find the client you are looking for not there, one has to be patient and flexible. Trying to make sure when journaling that information does not get lost in translation (sometimes the client will talk very expressively for 10 minutes and the Kiva Coordinator will simply tell me the client is doing well), one has to be patient and flexible. Understanding SELFINA’s capabilities and the Kiva requirements and making that relationship sustainable, one has to be patient and flexible.
Without a doubt, this experience has been very unique and inspiring. Being invited to these women’s (SELFINA makes loans only to women in order to empower them in society) business and homes and learning about their struggles and their future dreams and plans has given me a peek at the strength and potential Tanzania possesses.
It has truly been an honor.
Anti-malaria pills + deet ≠ invincibility against malaria
I had been looking forward to going to the southern city of Mbeya even before I arrived in Tanzania. Mbeya is known for it’s cooler climate and lush vegetation. So when it turned out that SELFINA had branches in Mbeya and the surrounding areas and that journaling needed to implemented in those branches I enthusiastically bought my ticket for a 12 hour bus ride that would take me there.
The first few days were great! I was teaching them how to conduct, write and post journals and everything was rolling according to plan. Then, one morning I woke up with a mind splitting headache, severe eye pain, and flashes of fever and chills. I had no idea what was wrong with me. I honestly thought it was from being surrounded by electronic devices too much. I was thinking to myself, I should have listened to my mother and not have sat at so close to the tv screen all those year, should have taken more breaks to rest my eyes at work, etc. The pain was so severe that I broke down in tears just climbing the stairs to my room …
But as I had no idea what was wrong with me, I proceeded to go to work like it was any other day. I had mentioned to a couple of people at the office I had a huge headache but did not make a big deal about it. I proceeded with my day and taught one of the branch managers from a nearby region the process of conducting journal surveys. After completing the training I had to excuse myself, as the pain was too much bear. I had contacted some friends who advised me that it may be malaria, which I thought would be impossible for me to get as I was taking anti-malarial dugs and spraying myself with deet every day. I found myself walking to a nearby dispensary down the road from where I was staying to get tested for malaria, in my mind, to cross that off the list of things I did not have.
In the front was a pharmacy and they escorted me to a room in the back where there was a doctor sitting at a desk in a bare off-white room texting on his phone. I sat down next to him and told him my symptoms, he took my blood pressure, and he advised me it was probably malaria, however, they would need to test my blood to confirm. I thought that was a very good sign and a vote for confidence for this place. He then proceeded to inform me that the blood test would not be performed until later that evening or the next day as there was no electricity to run the test. Mbeya and the surrounding region was in its second week of no electricity due to a transformer room blowing up at the one and only electricity provider in the country (in the SELFINA Mbeya office, we were lucky to have a generator to use during the day).
As I have no medical background, I of course had my concerns. I probably asked this man 50 times in 50 different ways if my blood specimen would last that long without refrigeration. He reassured me several times that it would be okay and just as they were about to draw blood, the Mbeya SELFINA branch manager, Mr. Kibassa, a bear of a man, barges through the door and tells them to stop.
He apparently learned I went home after not feeling well and went to check up on me at the place I was staying where they informed I had come here to be tested. He basically whisked me away and we arrived at this other clinic, one that happens to have a SELFINA client running the pharmacy, but more importantly to me at the time, solar panels which enable them to run my test now. I go into the cluttered office of the doctor, describe my symptoms again, get my blood pressure taken again, and get sent to a lab of sorts where they try to distract me as they draw my blood (I get quite queasy with needles). 30 minutes later, malaria positive test results in one hand and malaria fighting medicine in the other hand, I leave the clinic happy to know my illness isn’t from an overdose of staring at screens all of my life but something supposedly curable in 3 days.
I wish I could tell you that it was a painless and speedy recovery in 3 days, but it hasn’t been. I still have pain in my head and eye a week later. But I’m trying to take it as easy as possible and think of the positive side of things such as now I can relate a bit more with people here, most of whom have had malaria at least once in their life.
Note: I later learned that the incubation period is about 14 days, so I must have been bitten when I was back in Dar es Salaam
36 and single
Rebeca walks into the SELFINA Mbeya branch with an air and a flair that is hard to describe. She is here to make one of her monthly repayments. As this is her third loan, so she knows the routine quite well.
As she settles herself into the chair and rewraps herself in her colorful khangas (traditional Tanzanian cloth with bold and vibrant colors and patterns) we explain that we are would like to spend a few minutes learning how her loans have impacted her life.
At SELFINA there are a total of 20 questions in total in which we ask every client when we journal, ranging from how much was your loan, to what are your future dreams for your family, to what are your recommendations for SELFINA. Each journal we conduct lasts about 30 minutes as we take the time to verify the information with the clients file and try to get to know a bit more about these clients.
When we reached to the question, are you married? She said, “nope, single!” As I too am single I give her a high-five! We exchanged a bunch of laughter and she then informed me that she is actually getting married soon and invited me to wedding.
But it wasn’t her being single that I decided to write about her (although her being 36 and still single is something that is a bit out of the Tanzania norm), it was about her story, her entrepreneurship that touched me.
Rebeca had first heard about SELFINA in the market place a few years back and she had encouraged her friends to go and take out a loan. After 5 of her friends successfully took out loans, she decided it was now her turn. Rebeca used her first loan to pay for classes on how to make cakes. Prior to the loan she knew how to make a standard type of cake, but nothing special. After, she knew how to make a wide variety of cakes, how to decorate them, and how to market them. Her cake business took off!
But was Rebeca satisfied with just making cakes for the rest of her life? Nope. She took the extra profits she earned and sent herself to nursing school. Now her future plan, after her wedding festivities are over, is to open a pharmacy where she can apply her newly gained knowledge yet again to another business. I am sure this business will do at least as equally as well and I’m interested into what she’ll use her pharmacy profits for. The sky is really the limit for Rebeca.
But what about her cake business you may ask? She plans on hiring employees and teaching them how to run that business. Rebeca is someone to keep your eye on. She’s definite a mover and a shaker.
A Match Made in Heaven
After working at FINCA for six years and then earning a Masters degree in the United States, Winnie Terry was well prepared to start a new microfinance organization (MFI). Together with some former colleagues, she opened an MFI in Dar es Salaam known as Tujijenge Tanzania (meaning “build together” in KiSwahili). With Winnie as the managing director, they kicked off in July 2006 and were giving loans to their first groups that November.
When Winnie first learned about microfinance in 1998, her initial reaction was, “that will never work!” But after she started working at FINCA, she found she related well to the women receiving loans and liked this systematic method of offering credit. When opening Tujijenge Tanzania, her and her colleagues were looking to fine-tune the process of offering credit. Even today, Tujijenge isn’t trying to be the largest MFI in Dar es Salaam in terms of clients or portfolio size. Rather, they want to be an MFI of best practices. They work hard to determine the needs of their clients and meet those needs through innovative products. For example, Tujijenge administers debit cards when disbursing a loan instead of handing a client a wad of cash. They believe this hinders the urge to quickly spend the cash on hand, and is safer for the clients and loan officers than carrying cash.
In the next few years, Tujijenge is hoping to expand its outreach and grow its portfolio – but at a sustainable pace. In 2009, Tujijenge intends to open a second branch in Mtwara. Just north of the Mozambican border, Mtwara is a rural area where there is little or no access to credit.
When speaking with her, Winnie stressed the importance of being a transparent and honest MFI. To Winnie, working for a transparent and honest organization is more important than anything else. When I heard this, I immediately thought about the importance Kiva places on transparency. Perhaps this underlying principal of transparency is why Kiva and Tujijenge Tanzania are such great partners!
To see loans currently being fundraised by Tujijenge Tanzania, click here.
Victory is Mine! . . . or is it?
I’m going to make a bold statement: microfinance is the land of minute incremental change, and joy resulting from massive professional achievement is rare here. Afterall, one loan of $125 does not take a family from impoverished to middle-class, and three months in the field does not illuminate the solution to eradicating global poverty. As a result, any goal achieved feels like an immense victory, and yesterday, victory was mine.
Several weeks ago I spent three weeks traveling north to train 7 of BRAC Tanzania’s branches on how to implement Kiva (for a synopsis, see summaries, part 1 and part 2). Yesterday, I finally saw the fruits of my labor. Allow me to give you some background:
BRAC Tanzania has more than 65 branches throughout the country, and that number is constantly growing. Right now, only a handful of those branches actually “do” Kiva. What that means is that only a select number of the branches have been trained on what Kiva is and how to produce the business profiles that are found on the Kiva website. When I travelled to 7 of the branches in September, I did so to train the Community Organizers and Branch Managers at those branches so that they could begin to produce Kiva business profiles. The goal was that after I left, they would be self-sufficient in the Kiva process and able to complete business profile templates with their groups and take the accompanying photo. An added bonus would be if the pictures were interesting and the forms contained more detail.
For those of you unfamiliar with BRAC on Kiva, a picture like this has been the norm:
Typcal BRAC Kiva Business Profile Picture
In addition, the descriptions are historically brief and lacking in colorful details. After arriving here I realized there’s very good reason for that: BRAC has more than 100,000 clients throughout the country, and more than 2,300 groups on Kiva. The staff is extremely busy and has a lot of paper work to fill out, of which the Kiva Business Profile Template is just one piece. When I first arrived here, I spent quite a bit of time ascertaining how l could create a template that produced more interesting profiles for Kiva lenders without demanding more time from the BRAC staff.
What I came up with were a few multiple choice questions and a bit of clarification on existing questions. I tested the forms in the field to see where the staff got confused (the forms are in English but the level of English spoken by each CO varies), which questions clients had difficulty answering (for example, listing the ages of their children is no easy task), and which blanks were likely to be filled by something generic (i.e. the loan will be used “to expand her business”). I revised the BRAC-Kiva template based on all of these observations, and I still consider it a work in progress.
Waiting to receive the first batch of profiles from the branches I trained has been like waiting to receive exam results; I was dying to know how I’d done. To see their finished forms and photos would be my only guage of success or failure. Yesterday, my waiting finally came to an end as I received profiles from 2 of the 7 branches. The elation I felt at seeing pictures like this made those three weeks on the road fully worthwhile:
A new-and-improved Kiva Business Profile picture from BRAC Tanzania
Look at the depth, color, and action!
As I hurriedly looked over the forms they completed I was happy to see very few questions left blank (possible if the staff forgets what the question means) and a lot of great, thorough information. I left the office eagerly looking forward to coming in this morning to begin adding them to the Kiva website.
Unfortunately, the pictures above will never make it to the Kiva website. What I viewed as a major professional accomplishment turned into a disappointment as I made a frustrating discovery: many of the pictures were not correctly matched with their accompanying form. During training I tried to convey to the branch offices how important it was that we know which picture goes with which form, but it remained a difficult task. I explained how to find the picture number on the camera and there were nods of understanding all around, and even demonstrated understanding as I stepped back and watched the staff complete the Kiva process on their own. But alas, I now have brilliant photos and thorough templates that will never see the light of day.
For an evening, I thought victory was mine, but it seems I did miss something afterall. This is not a fatal error nor is it irreconcilable. After a few hours of trying to make sense of the picture numbers, I admitted that I’d have to chalk these ones up to a loss. I got on the phone with the branch and tried to re-explain the picture number concept, and this time I think I got some traction. Happily, not every business profile had this issue and I’m hopeful that the next batch I receive will not have this same problem. To see if my optimism paid off, check out Kiva’s currently fundraising BRAC Tanzania loans. Now, if I could just find out what happened at those other five branches . . .
First Impressions
8 days and 4 continents later I find myself in Tanzania as Kiva’s newest fellow in the field. Previously I was doing a 3.5 month work rotation in Australia, followed by a 1 week long whirlwind trip home to North America prior to disembarking to Africa via Europe.
I am here in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania to be one of the fellows working at SELFINA (Sero Lease and Finance Ltd.) which was founded by Dr. Victoria Kisyombe in 2002 with the goal of providing Tanzanian women, many of whom are excluded from land and asset ownership due to local customs and traditions, with access to micro-credit.
After a 24 hour journey from San Francisco to Heathrow to Nairobi to Dar Es Salaam, I am greeted by an unfamiliar humidity, but more importantly the also unfamliar but friendly face of Daudi, SELFINA’s driver. I am actually pleasantly surprised to be met by a neatly dressed man wearing a collared polo and a warm smile with a computer printed sign with my name on it who greets me and guides me to a nice 4wd vehicle. In all honesty if Freddy Kreuger was waiting for me with a scribbled sign and a broken down car I would have more than happily jumped in after such a long journey. But I discovered later that the “Freddy greeting” was how it used to be just 2 months ago (minus Daudi looking anything like Freddy Kreuger!). It is with the help of another volunteer, Claude, that SELFINA is going through some change management to make SELFINA a more welcoming place for customers and visitors. This is just one of the many changes that SELFINA is working on and I am hoping to learn more about these changes/goals and help in any way I can.
After my bags were placed in the car, we drove through what is to be my new home for the next few months. Dust, dirt, and dilapitation are prevalent but more surprisingly are the people. People are everywhere!! From men seeking refuge under the shade of the trees to brightly dressed women carrying baskets of bananas on their heads alongside the road to children patiently waiting by the corregated metal bus stops to women sweeping the dust on the road with no more protection than the bright orange vests they wear to boys selling everything from water to newspaper to machetes at every intersection to seeing daladalas (mini buses) shoved to the brim with people. Like I said…people everywhere!
During the “drive,” which really seemed to be a dodging game of sorts from potholes to the crazy daladalas that cut every which way in traffic, I kept mostly quiet as I was transfixed with my new surroundings. Daudi would interrupt the silence every so often to point and teach me a new word in Swahili. Our communication was a bit limited as he knows only a little bit of English and I basically only know hello, thank you, and goodbye. But my favorite interuption was when he asked me if I liked music. After I replied yes, he more eagerly asked if I liked Ken Rodgers. After I replied sure, he excitedly popped in a Kenny Rodgers cd and started to sing along to it. I couldn’t help but smile as I listened to Kenny Rodgers and Daudi as I gathered my first glances of Tanzania, my new home.
Happy New Year!
Hello Kiva Fans,
A little more than a week ago I was sitting on the plane for the last hour of what had been a 36 hour journey – Boston, New York, Zurich, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam. I watched as the computer generated plane tracker moved across the Kenya/Tanzania border and tried to steady myself for the new circumstances I was about to enter.
This week, I want to share some of the pleasant surprises – of which there are many. One of the unfortunate unintended consequences of the dogged, and at times heroic, efforts of many to highlight to suffering on this continent is that it has come to define the African brand. This is not in any way to minimize the hardships of many, indeed witnessing and hopefully beginning to understand their struggles is in large part why I am here.
The first surprise has been how safe I have felt. Considering I was dropped quite literally half way around the world, with no arranged ride and only the address of a hotel from a guidebook – this was a welcome discovery!
You Know You’re in Tanzania When…(Vol III)
A past fellow to Tanzania, Alec Lovett, posted two blogs on “You Know You’re in Tanzania When…” I’ve posted the links to his blogs and added volume III with my own observations. Enjoy!
http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2008/03/21/you-know-you-are-in-tanzania-when…/
http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2008/03/24/you-know-you-are-in-tanzania-when…-vol-ii/
Volume III
1. They say “Hakuna Matata,” which is actually Swahili but it’s still funny.
2. The water stops running in the middle of your shower. (This only applies if you are lucky enough to have running water).
3. You meet someone with a pet monkey.
4. You spend 10 minutes just with greetings.
5. The children point at you and yell “mzungu”.
6. Someone passes you his or her baby to hold in the dala-dala.
7. The dala-dala won’t leave until its full, which means the person on your lap has someone on his or her lap.
8. Half the channels play Bollywood films, which are actually addicting.
9. Women wear crazy colored kangas (traditional fabrics) that don’t match at all.
10. People order beer warm.
