By:  Tran Chau, KF13, Vietnam

At SEDA, there are 16 loan officers who are the heart of the organization. They are responsible for educating clients, dispersing loans, collecting repayments, completing paperwork, and handling any issues that could arise during the loan cycle. On any given week, from Monday to Thursday, loan officers begin their day somewhere between 7:30AM and 8:30AM when they arrive at the office. There, they get ready to go to the field. They speak to the branch manager and the regional manager, double-check the collection ledgers, and organize the tasks they need to complete for the day. Promptly at 9:00AM, they depart for the field.

In the field, there is no typical day for a loan officer. Instead, their time could be spent traveling between different village collection points to collect repayments, dispersing new loans to clients, soliciting feedback from current clients, sharing new policies and news from the MFI, or answering questions from prospective clients. Between 2:00PM and 3:00PM, they finish these duties and they either meet up with other loan officers to grab a late lunch, or they quickly eat alone before returning to the branch office. Back at the branch office, they record the repayments they collect, update the branch and regional managers with any pertinent information gleaned from the field, and prepare for the next day. The day ends around 5:00PM, but there is no sense of clock-watching, and they leave when their affairs are in order.

On Fridays, the loan officers do not make collections. Instead, the morning is spent checking ledgers and loan balances one last time and preparing for the following Monday. After that, loan officers and managers spend the rest of the day in the field. They educate prospective borrowers about SEDA and microfinance services, expectations for repayment, and solidarity group lending. They also visit clients throughout the villages to ensure an open line of communication is maintained between the MFI and the communities in which it operates.

The loan officers do this work for a salary of approximately $75/month. That may sound low, but the minimum wage in Vietnam is approximately $40/month, and I can eat lunch in Dong Anh for $0.75/day.

Thank you again for supporting Kiva’s microfinance initiative in Vietnam.  If you would like, please join SEDA’s lending team here and make a loan to an entrepreneur in Vietnam.

Tran Chau is a Kiva Fellow (KF13) currently based in Ha Noi, Viet Nam.

Want to volunteer with the Kiva Fellows Program?  Learn more here and apply to be a Fellow!

By:  Tran Chau, KF13, Viet Nam

Vietnam currently has 52 microfinance institutions offering microloans and other services to the impoverished.  Kiva is partnered with three, SEDA in Hanoi, TYM in Hanoi, and FPW in Thanh Hoa.  Of the 52 MFIs, only one, TYM, is officially licensed by the Vietnamese Government.

I attended the second annual microfinance conference hosted by Citigroup a couple weeks ago.  There, TYM was invited to give a presentation on the future of microfinance in Vietnam.  The MFI identified three external and internal challenges.  I think that these challenges provide insight into the current political landscape and the level microfinance has developed to in Vietnam.

EXTERNAL

Challenge #1 – There are no standards established to regulate financial statements

Challenge #2 – There is no established registration or licensing fee for an official MFI license, and there are neither established procedures to follow nor paperwork to fill out when trying to expand operations

Challenge #3 – The local government office requires that official MFIs file official reports, yet no reporting scheme has been issued

INTERNAL

Challenge #1 – Clearly define functions, roles, and responsibilities for each position within the organization, and develop a new salary scheme to ensure workers’ rights

Challenge #2 – Adjust software to align with current network structure and reporting scheme required by Microfinance Investment Vehicles

Challenge #3 – Adjust and create internal control regulations

As you can see, the regulations in Vietnam are a murky, and TYM (along with larger MFIs in Vietnam) is in the process of increasing visibility in its operations as it grows.

Thank you for supporting Kiva’s efforts in Vietnam.  With your help we can continue to help our partners grow and to extend liquidity to impoverished areas in Vietnam in 2011.  Happy new year from Vietnam!

Tran Chau is a Kiva Fellow (KF13) currently based in Ha Noi, Viet Nam.

Want to volunteer with the Kiva Fellows Program?  Learn more here and apply to be a Fellow!

Click here to make a loan on Kiva.

By:  Tran Chau, KF13, Viet Nam

Modern shopping centers and supermarkets are new to Vietnam.  They are frequented mostly by the small and powerful middle class, have western products, and carry western price tags.   For the rest of the nation and for those who favor the established ways of the east, traditional open air and partially enclosed markets are full of activity from morning until night.

A third party logistics service infrastructure is recognizable in the mornings.  At the Dong Xuan Market in Hanoi, small trucks packed full of bulging polypropylene bags pull into a receiving area.  Motorbikes and people on foot swarm the truck and the bags are extracted and delivered to their rightful owners in what can be described as an orderly frenzy.

Inside the market are items which will be ruined if they get wet when rain falls from above.   Vendors selling shoes, socks, ties, hats, coats, wallets, bags, luggage, toys, accessories, etc. are packed in tightly.  There are no monopolies in this layout.   Tens to hundreds of competitors are seated next to one another in areas organized by the products that they sell; it is a delicate recipe which can produce best friends or mortal enemies.

On the outer edges of the market, vendors sell knick-knacks, preserved seafood, and a colorful array of fruits and vegetables.   Food vendors reside across the streets and also are scattered throughout the surrounding area.  They make lunchtime deliveries to their customers and return later to retrieve their dishes and utensils.

The photos below depict what I describe above.  Your loans have the potential to help Kiva entrepreneurs through liquidity constraints, allow for larger and cheaper purchases of inventory, and pave the way for greater overall flexibility and improved standards of living.

Tran Chau is a Kiva Fellow (KF13) currently based in Ha Noi, Viet Nam.

Want to volunteer with the Kiva Fellows Program?  Learn more here and apply to be a Fellow!

Click here to make a loan on Kiva.

This is less than $25!!

By:  Tran Chau, KF13, Viet Nam

I am a multi-millionaire, in Vietnamese Dong that is.  The Vietnamese Dong (“VND”) is the official currency of Vietnam.  The official exchange rate (a black market one also exists) hovers around $1 = 19,500 VND.  Therefore in nearly all business transactions in Vietnam, millions, billions, and even trillions of VND change hands.In 2009, Vietnamese GDP was estimated at $92.4 billion while the value of its imports exceeded the value of its exports by approximately $12.1 billion.  As a result of the trade deficit, the VND is quickly losing value relative to major currencies in the world.  For example, when I first arrived in Vietnam on October 23, the black market exchange rate was $1 = 20,005 VND.  Two weeks later on November 5, the VND had lost 0.3% of its value relative to the USD and the black market exchange rate was $1 = 20,065 VND.

To understand how this dynamic can affect an MFI let us take a look at currency depreciation and the result of not hedging against it.

Loan terms at MFI partners in Vietnam run anywhere from 2 months to 22 months.  When a loan is made, a principal value is locked-in from which interest payments are calculated.  At the end of the term the principal amount is repaid to the MFI.

To illustrate, let us pretend that in Tran-land, $1 = 1,000 units and that Kiva lends to the MFI and receives its repayments from the MFI in USD.  If a borrower took out a loan for 1,000 units at a 30% APR for a one year term with interest paid annually, then the MFI would receive a 300 unit interest payment at the end of the year along with the principal.  Next, let us pretend that at the end of year 1, the exchange rate is now $1 = 1,400 units.  The borrower will pay the MFI 300 units in interest + 1,000 units in principal for a total of 1,300 units.  The MFI now needs to deliver 1,400 units to its bank (ignoring F/X fees) in order to convert units into USD to repay the $1 loan from Kiva, resulting in a loss of 100 units.

The scenario above, although extreme, illustrates the risk an MFI faces if it operates in a nation with a volatile currency.   One can see that even with a high interest rate, currency depreciation has the ability to completely destroy profitability and decrease value by taking away retained earnings from the institution.

Financial institutions operating in the developed world use financial products to hedge this risk away, or to mitigate losses in the event of currency depreciation.  Most often, forward contracts are purchased from brokers to secure an exchange rate for a future date, taking risk (and gain) away from the institution.  Financial products are in their nascent stage in Vietnam, and I am curious to learn more about regulations, potential uses, and applications for our MFI Partners.

Tran Chau is a Kiva Fellow (KF13) currently based in Ha Noi, Viet Nam.  Want to volunteer with the Kiva Fellows Program?  Learn more here and apply to be a Fellow!

“What a woman! How much energy! Wow…” thoughts that have crossed my mind several times during the last two weeks. I was visiting Fund for Poor Women (FPW) in the Thanh Hoa province and got to know the people working there and could meet many of the Kiva borrowers. It wasn’t easy to arrange these meetings as most FPW clients work in agriculture and leave their houses when the sun rises and work until late at night. They can however be encountered at home during lunch break when they try to escape the sun during the hottest time of the day.

“Thanh Hoa women are strong workers”, is a sentence that was often repeated to me. And seriously, I don’t doubt that. I met Mrs. Linh, who like many others is multitasking between several jobs and raises pigs, cultivates rice and has a food stand but also is the head of a large family with many children and grandchildren most of whom are still living in the family house. Also there was Mrs. Chin, who manages a bakery where she and her son produce 1’500 breads every night. After her husband deceased 15 years ago she first closed the bakery as she thought she could not handle it single handed. But with the help of a FPW credit and her younger son she found the courage to open it again she even managed to expand the bakery and employs two workers today.
“The credit gives the women confidence”, says Mrs. Xuong, the director of FPW. So it’s not only the direct financial support that enables the women to better care for their families but also the recognition of the important role they have. Interviewing the borrowers and entering there private spheres with a video camera I was afraid to be seen as an intruder in peoples life. But Mrs. Xuong sees that differently: “The fact that FPW and through Kiva even people from other countries care for them, that you even visit their house, makes them understand how important they are.”

Join the Thanh Hoa Lending Team!

Viet nam is a country bursting of energy, activity and a continuous striving of the people to improve their living standards and enable their children to lead a better life. To achieve this people are willing to work incredibly hard. That makes Vietnam a great place for microfinance activities. And not only are the people ready to take on hard work, there is also a financial growth that rewards the effort. In this atmosphere of growth microfinance provides poor families in this country with the means to participate in this growth.

I have started my Kiva Fellowship 3 weeks ago and have already visited 3 of the Kiva field partners and many Kiva borrowers. What impressed me most when talking to the people and discussing their living situation, the loan impact and their future hopes is the fact that they constantly point towards their children and grandchildren. When I ask how the loan has improved their lives, I hear stories about how they were able to send their children to school for longer and provide them with better means to be successful in life.

The Vietnamese family plan foresees only 2 children for each couple, people with more children face a fee that can be a great burden to poor families. So many people comply with this rule. This makes the focus, and, I imagine, also the pressure on the young generation even higher. But with providing their children with a good education a family in Vietnam actually has a very realistic chance to lift themselves from the very bottom of society into a middle class position.

Alex is the first Kiva Fellow (KF9) working with TYM Fund in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Interested in becoming a Kiva fellow?  Click here.
Join the Vietnam lending team here.

The above scene has been painted many times before.  And those looking to help often become discouraged when data starts pouring in.  However, each small action collectively creates that dent a half-century later.  And that dent is the worst case scenario implying plenty of upside potential to accomplish more.

As one contributor to the dent, microfinance assists those living on the margin of society.  Another group focusing on similar efforts is White Cloud Restaurant in Hanoi, Vietnam.  A quaint restaurant with consistently delicious set menus, one is always greeted with a smile.  What few realize, however, is that the workers (all female) have all suffered from severe family issues and/or domestic violence.  After coming together for strength, cooking became a way to lighten the burden and start anew.  With a little help, the women opened White Cloud as a way for reaching self-sufficiency.

Your friendly hostesses, waitresses, and cooks at White Cloud Restaurant

So why bring this up on the Kiva blog?  The amazing achievement of this small group deserves mentioning.  In addition, I introduced the women to microfinance and am hopeful that they will qualify for a loan.  You never know who you may meet next if you don’t try.  So go ahead and take that first step to do what feels right.  Someone around the corner is bound to need a hand.

If you find yourself in Hanoi, stop by White Cloud to try my favorite egg rolls in town (they’re vegan too)!  Otherwise click here to lend to a Kiva entrepreneur!

Alex Duong is the first Kiva Fellow (KF9) working with TYM Fund in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Interested in becoming a Kiva fellow?  Click here.
Join the Vietnam lending team here.

“That’s my philosophy.  The key is to get up in that batter’s box and take a swing.  And all you have to do is hit one single, a couple of doubles, and an occasional home run out of every 10 at-bats, and you’re going to be the best hitter or the best business leader around.  You can’t play in the major leagues without having a lot of failures.
- John Donahoe, eBay CEO

Substitute “hitter” and “business leader” for microfinance institution and the quote is absolutely relevant.  Microfinance is still in its infancy and far from perfect.  So long as more players enter the batter’s box, exciting innovations will appear on the horizon.  And interest rates are likely to come down assuming healthy competition takes place.  Until that time, however, the following is one rationale for current interest rates from the perspective of interest rate spread (click “more” below).

Imagine being offered 10% to open a savings account.  Though too good to be true in the US, it is a reality in Vietnam.  The table below was obtained from Vietnam News, a local Vietnam newspaper (Feb 27, 2010 edition).  Savings rates offered at some of the largest banks in Vietnam hover just under 10.5%.  From a US perspective the rates are hard to believe.  Consequently it can be important to step into the shoes of others; only then might we make sense of the situation.

Savings rates offered by banks in Vietnam

Consider that MFIs are essentially banks serving the poor.  When it comes to lending, banks make money by borrowing at a low rate (e.g. taking in money via savings accounts) and lending at a high rate.  In the US, a one-year CD is offering around 1%.  Currently, someone with good credit might get 5.5% on a fixed mortgage or 6.5% on an auto loan.  Lets assume a US person with good credit could get 6% on a personal loan overall.  That means a US bank has an interest rate spread of 5% (obtains funds at 1% and lends out at 6%).

MFIs receive grants, offer savings accounts, and borrow from major banks (think Citigroup or Oxfam) to obtain financing.  Sometimes MFIs obtain a large amount of financing from major banks; as much as 70% of an MFI’s portfolio could have been financed by major banks.  Informal surveys and discussions with MFIs and Kiva fellows show the major banks charge between 8-14% interest.  Assume the average is approximately 11%.

Now we have some numbers to apply.  If MFIs borrow at 11%, it implies they must lend at 16% interest to have a 5% interest rate spread like US banks.  However, lending to the poor who have no collateral or credit history is often seen as more risky.  So lets tack on another 2% to address the extra risk.  In addition, US banks have other means of generating revenue to cover fixed and operational costs (ATM fees, credit card balances, etc.).  MFIs on the other hand generate nearly all revenues through lending.  Lets add another conservative 5% to cover these costs given Kiva fellows’ stories on the topic here and here.  The minimum interest rate MFIs must charge on average has suddenly become 16% + 2% + 5% = 23%.

In specifically looking at Vietnam, it has been shown that savings accounts offer nearly 10.5%.  A Vietnam bank wanting a 5% spread would therefore charge a Vietnam MFI 15.5%.  Again, the Vietnam MFI would in turn have to charge borrowers 15.5% + 2% + 5% = 22.5%.  This comes close to the portfolio yield for Vietnam MFIs listed on Kiva’s website.

Of course country-specific complexities have not yet been considered.  Local regulations described by Kiva fellows here and here can increase operational and regulatory compliance costs beyond that of a US bank.  Countries suffering constant currency devaluation must still repay Kiva loans (and ultimately you Kiva lenders) in US dollars.  A linear regression of quarterly Vietnam exchange rate data for the past 10 years shows an annual currency devaluation of 3.25%.  Not counting interest, a five-year loan would require an extra 16.25% just to repay the principal amount!  If borrowing in non-local currency is the only option, devaluation becomes a heavy burden in helping the poor.  And of course people, process, and technology inefficiencies necessitate higher interest rates to cover additional time and money.

Kiva fellows present observations from ground zero.  Whether we personally support the interest rates or not is irrelevant.  We merely attempt to rationalize what our own eyes see for the Kiva community.  Although an approximation, the above calculations provide another perspective on what are seemingly high interest rates.  Perhaps the bigger question, however, is why the major banks charge MFIs so much more.  One single US individual qualifies for 6% on a personal loan.  He could at any moment lose his job or run into tragic events.  However, tens of thousands of borrowers (e.g. an MFI’s customers) collectively don’t qualify for the same rate.  Statistics around the web show that the MFI industry successfully pays back nearly 98% of all loans.  So perhaps there is more misunderstanding as a whole to sort out before interest rates truly reflect the amount of risk involved in serving the poor.

Hopefully this has shown current interest rates are at least plausible and sometimes necessary just for an MFI to survive.  So keep doing what you do best Kiva community and click here to lend!

For the quant jockeys out there, consider the additional following:
- Ideally, one should begin with the lending rate charged to businesses.  However, it would have meant considering market capitalization and financial statements.  The intent was to keep the above analysis rather straightforward.  Most everyone is familiar with mortgage and auto loan interest rates.
- The interest rate is based on how risky the bank perceives the customer to be.  It is a rate that covers default risk and provides reasonable profit for the amount of risk taken.  I assume MFIs act in a similar manner.  However, because an MFI’s customers are generally more risky, I believe MFIs charge a spread equal to or greater than what a major bank would charge.  Kiva fellow Dennis Espinoza presents an interesting and slightly different view here.
- Notice the near absence of change between 3-month and one year rates for Vietnam savings accounts.  This alone could be an interesting area to explore and recount as a blog post.
- Kiva fellow Josh Weinstein presents another layer to the equation here.  Josh states there are subgroups amongst microfinance borrowers that have different needs.  This could possibly sustain different interest rate charges.

Alex Duong is the first Kiva Fellow (KF9) working with TYM Fund in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Interested in becoming a Kiva fellow?  Click here.
Join the Vietnam lending team here.

It’s funny how death makes a person keenly aware of their responsibilities. You think about all the wrongs you  need to right, the people with whom you need to make amends, and the debts you need to repay. You’re lucky if you’ve never faced death. If you live in a developed country like the United States, things like tuberculosis, diarrhoeal diseases and stomach cancer don’t make it on the list of top 10 leading causes of death in your country.  But if you live in a developing country like Vietnam, your fate is different. I recently met a Kiva borrower who was diagnosed with stomach cancer. The 6-month survival rate of stomach cancer patients diagnosed in its later stages is less than 15%.

Despite her recent surgery, Pham Thi Dieu, continues her daily life in Dong Anh Province, just outside of Hanoi, Vietnam in defiance of her stomach cancer. Dieu and her husband continue to work in a family member’s construction business. Her husband does the labor, and she resells construction materials and handles the books.  The women in Dieu’s village support her and surround her with love and encouragement.  Because health is risky business in Vietnam, Dieu is realistic about her chances of survival, but “I still have to work to help my family, take care of my two boys…and besides, I still have 6 more months of repayment on my loan,” she states rather matter-of-factly.  I showed Dieu the photos of the 12 lender profiles on Kiva who were supporting her loan.  “Well, I have to get better now, don’t I? I owe a responsibility to these people as well.”

With Dieu’s permission, I share her story and the attached video as a reminder of the hope and connection you Kiva lenders give when you honor the lives and businesses of borrowers through the loans you make. You can also watch videos of the loan process in Vietnam and meet the different credit officers who make it happen by following these links.

Dear Lender,

If you’re tuning in for the first time, you’re in for a treat!  Watch as a group of women in a remote province of northern Vietnam receive access to credit for the very first time.  Feel their hope, hear their fears, and share in the laughter =)

This is the last of a 3-part video blogging series in which I attempt to give you a snapshot of the person-to-person experience you would have if you were to follow your $25 Kiva loan to Vietnam.  I hope you enjoy!

However, growth is being achieved through volume via mass recruitment and market penetration.  But like all great strategies, it must one day adapt to a new environment and reality.  In places such as India and Cambodia, there are rumors of oversaturation, causing infighting amongst MFIs and NGOs to help the same clients (check this out).  Although likely over-hyped, how could such a rumor even surface?

A focus on quantity over quality may also lead to tunnel vision focus, silo efforts, and in the worse case deviation from social mission/impact.  Not to say that focusing on quality doesn’t come without its own criticisms.  Instead, a balance between the two is necessary.  Luckily, some are beginning to recognize that volume alone isn’t going to cut it seven years from now.  Though at times difficult to find info, I am happy to communicate that reflection, research, and refinement are all occurring in the field.  Previously, I had concerns that microfinance would hit a wall once the current strategy dried up.  The items below are on the fringe of potentially great endeavors and worth sharing:

Kiva green loans – Kiva is now offering the world a chance not only to lend but change consumer consumption behavior for the better.  Click here.

Vittana education loans – The notion of higher education loans doesn’t exist in most countries.  Vittana helps fund students through their last years of college which ultimately increases the chances of escaping poverty.  Click here.

Intra-Country Collaboration – MFIs in Vietnam have an informal forum to share their experience, collaborate on initiatives, and present a unified voice for the advancement of microfinance.  Click here.

Currency hedging – Currency rates can be highly variable in some countries.  With the ability to lend in any currency through hedging, the pool of funds available to MFIs should increase.  Click here.

Equity and technical aid duo – Insitor Fund looks for businesses having a social impact component.  In some cases it provides both seed capital and capacity building.  And in other instances, they work directly with locals to identify the needs and subsequently help start a business to address those needs.  Click here.

Diversified service offering – An mutually reinforcing institution (MRI) in the Philippines, CARD MRI, has built multiple business lines to provide a range of services.  CARD consists of an MFI, a bank that lends to small/medium enterprises (SMEs), an NGO, a microinsurance fund, and a center offering training and best practices to support other MFIs.  With so many offerings, it is fully scalable and should be self-sustainable across different economic environments.   Click here.

Direct retailing – A clothing label with factories in a developing country is looking to sell its clothing directly to the country’s citizens.  A feasibility study is currently being conducted with assistance from MFIs.  So how would it work?  Entrepreneurs with a clothing store would take a loan to buy inventory and be exclusive carriers of the label.  The clothing would be sold at local prices since they are locally produced.  Essentially these entrepreneurs would serve as retail stores for the label without the fixed, overhead, or startup costs of building a store.  No links as I can’t give away who this is at the moment.

And with that I sleep just a tad better each night.

By Alex Duong, KF9, Vietnam

Interested in becoming a Kiva fellow?  Click here.
Join the Vietnam lending team here.
Alex Duong is the first Kiva Fellow (KF9) working with TYM Fund in Hanoi, Vietnam. Click here for info on TYM Fund.

Here are several Kiva Fellow animal stories in photos -

Below are stories of Kiva Fellow animal encounters from around the world.  If you enjoyed Kiva’s Animal Kingdom, please consider making a loan to a Kiva entrepreneur who works in agriculture and with animals.

Sheethal Shobowale, KF9, Peru, KF10, Bolivia
Here are some of my favorite animal encounters so far in Peru and Bolivia (see photos above) -

• Meet Mariano, a Kiva/Arariwa entrepreneur who raises 600 cuy (guinea pig)!

• Meet Martha, a Kiva/Emprender entrepreneur who sells lechon (suckling pig) and pollo a la espiada (roasted chicken).  She is all smiles!

• One of Asociacion Arariwa´s group quota (loan payment) meetings in Huayllabamba, a very small, rural town in Peru, took place in the courtyard of one group member´s homes. There were no less than a 75 pound pig, two enormous sheep, a lamb, a rooster and several chickens roaming around during the meeting. I was wondering if they had made their loan payments on time!
• A majestic llama and alpaca at Huchuy Cusco (Huchuy Qosqo), Incan archeological site in Peru
• Flocks of ovejas (sheep) blocking traffic at Tipón, Incan archeological site in Peru

• Gallinas (chicken) crossing the road (to get to the other side?) in Machacancha, a small town in the department of Cusco
• A whole slew of tropical animals, (including caymans and giant otters) in Manu, one of Peru’s spectacular national parks.  Our tour guide actually coaxed a tarantula out of its home and held it in his hand.  Not what I would call fun…
• Peruvian girls dressed in traditional dress holding ovejitas (lambs) for pictures with tourists in Cusco
• Herds of grazing horses, llamas and alpacas while motorcycling through the Lares Valley, Peru

****

Julie Pachico, KF9, Mexico
Nuevo Laredo isn’t really a prime place for animal sightseeing, with the exception of this photo (not high quality, sorry!) I took of a donkey in the back of a truck. I was REALLY excited to see it because I LOVE donkeys. When I used to work in Tijuana, you always see them in the tourist districts painted as zebras and wearing big sombreros (like here: http://www.deseretnews.com/photos/midres/5763666.jpg). Tourists like to get their pictures taken with them. Anyway, so the “burro” definitely has a place in Mexican culture and imagery.When I took the photo of this guy it was really funny, the guy in the truck saw me with my camera and shouted out “Se vende!” (“It’s for sale!”) as the loan officer and I pulled away. So I guess the livestock-salesman entrepreneurial spirit is still alive and well, even here in ultra-urban Nuevo Laredo…

Donkey in Nuevo Laredo

****

Julia Kastner, KF9, Mexico
My only animal pictures are of a loan officer with a borrego, a cross between a goat and a sheep, which clients raise as meat for tacos. I have a blog about them here: http://juliakastnerfellow.com/2009/10/29/baaa-and-other-culinary-adventures/

Loan Officer in Mexico with a Borrega - cross between a goat and a sheep

****

Suzy Marinkovich, KF8, KF9, Chile
Here are 2 videos of the monkeys my husband Matt took care of in Bolivia.  Both are of the same capuchin monkey – Liarona. She likes cleaning so in one video she is scrubbing the floor. In the other one, she was in heat, and was hitting on Matt! It’s super funny and cute because she was smiling and “flirting ” with him… I was sooo jealous. Haha

Matt also volunteered at Parque Machia in Villa Tunari (Chapare, Cochabamba, Bolivia) which is pretty much jungle. The refuge houses animals rescued or confiscated from homes. One little monkey, Lolita, was rescued from a market in El Alto where they dressed her in dresses and makeup and beat her to perform. Needless to say she is living a much happier typical monkey life in Parque Machia =)

In Cochabamba, Matt also worked for 2 months with APLEVACC, which is a group of livestock veterinarians that work with CIDRE dairy cow farmer clients. They work with certain dairy cooperatives. Thus, Matt spent more time on our borrowers’ farms than I would have ever been able to. He helped deliver a baby calf on his first day. He also helped in the castration of pigs, and as the farmers are too poor to afford local anesthesia, they had to do it a very basic way (with a rope). While this was quite normal for the farmers and veterinarians, it was definitely a new area of vet medicine for Matt. It really showed us what it means to be financially dependent on your animals, and have to make a choice between their well-being and your child’s. Obviously, when it comes down to it, there is no choice to be made there – so the animal has to be taken care of the best it can be with the least amount of resources available to the veterinarian. Another time, a cow ate a metal nail, and Matt and the vet used magnets and a pvc pipe to coax it out!

In Ayacucho, Peru, Matt volunteered at a local cat/dog vet clinic with the occasional livestock. He did operate on the winning rooster of a cockfight. Obviously that is another ethical predicament for veterinarians in that area – as cockfighting is a deep seeded tradition, and even if you do treat the rooster – the couple may very well use it in another fight.

****

Kelly McKinnon, KF9, Nicaragua

An Hípica is a party on horseback, less organized than a parade and more liquor than a trail ride. From what I could gather, a typical Hípica involves decking out horses and riders in the finest tack and Western wear, riding through the city while the horses “dance” with a beautiful footwork that clicks against the pavement, adding percussion to the music being blared through giant speakers or on the floats sponsored by liquor companies. Riders and horses crowd each other while the crowd of on lookers fill in the edges and vendors make their way through whatever space is left selling water and beer and rum and soda, other sell sunglasses and peanuts and candy and quesillo. I was lucky enough to witness one in Leon, Nicaragua. I am told that the hundreds of horses that filled the streets was a small version of the celebrations that more commonly take place in the more agrarian cities of Estelí or Matagalpa. This picture is one of the youngest riders decked out in a gorgeous pink dress, other riders celebrated by dancing on top of their horses, pulling Kiva Fellows up for a ride and having another drink.

Hipica_Leon Nicaragua

Adam Kemmis Betty, KF9, Bolivia
A “zebra” directing traffic on the streets of La Paz…

"Zebra" directing traffic on the streets of La Paz

In their work as Kiva Fellows, Alex Duong, Adam Kemmis Betty, Julie Pachico, Julia Kastner, Suzy Marinkovich, Kelly McKinnon and Sheethal Shobowale have encountered animals around the world .

If you enjoyed Kiva’s Animal Kingdom, please consider making a loan to a Kiva entrepreneur who works in agriculture and with animals.

- Sheethal Shobowale, KF9, Peru and KF10, Bolivia

A recent interview with John Hagel of my employer Deloitte sparked the idea for this blog entry (article here).  According to Hagel, the US market is maturing to the point where solely focusing on product and process innovation have decreasing marginal returns.  A good example is Microsoft Office or the iPod.  At first, new products came out every 4-5 years.  Now it seems the product line must be refreshed every 2-3 years.  So what could serving the poor have in common with profit oriented businesses?  It turns out there are plenty of parallels.

A few staff members of my MFI, TYM Fund

For developed markets, Hagel advocates creating work environments that allow for greater communication and interaction.  The innovation will take care of itself if everyone feels involved and can collaborate in the process.  Developing countries, on the other hand, are right on the heels of mature markets.  While mature markets work to achieve the next latest and greatest, developing countries are looking to gain economies of scale.  Both, however, are earmarking expansion.  It is my personal belief that there is no sense in charging ahead if others aren’t there beside you to enjoy the achievements.  This is why passing on lessons learned is critical.  Players like Kiva provide valuable assets including Kiva fellows and capital to assist developing countries.

Discussing expansion plans over lunch

Similar to US companies hoping for annual growth, Kiva partners look to become self-sustainable. Self-sustainability implies funding for everyday operations no longer come from grants or subsidies.  Here in Vietnam, Kiva’s partner TYM Fund is dedicated and bright.  Employee turnover is almost nonexistent and the size of their operations have doubled in the last two years.  However, it is unlikely to reach full self-sustainability without appropriate forecasting tools, analytical frameworks, continuous employee training, and planning for overall capacity building.  Many US companies have these foundational pieces in place.  Due to lack of exposure to the aforementioned concepts, developing country organizations have room to grow.  Yet this also implies those willing to assist can have immediate positive effects.  Kiva fellows, for example, range from a tech CEO to a new college graduate but everyone finds a way to contribute.  This is what I find most amazing about the fellowship.

Training TYM's newest batch of loan officers

Personally, it is rewarding to apply thought processes and methodologies I used in consulting to assisting poverty alleviation.  The smiles that appear and mental lightbulbs that turn on when making the organization’s job easier or more efficient is priceless.  And I have to admit providing this incremental amount of knowledge and value is addicting.  If anyone reading this has ever wanted to lend a helping hand, it is easier than you think and the gratitude is more rewarding than you can imagine.

As one can see, despite global coporations’ focus on income and microfinance institutions’ focus on self-sustainability, the means to achieving both are similar.  Planning ahead, market research, product development, recruitment, and client base are all things organizations focus on whether in a developing country or not.  What I have seen are unlimited possibilities for assisting Kiva’s microfinance partners.  Rest assured that the partners are taking measurable steps to improve and expand their reach.  Kiva lenders are the stakeholders and can continue contributing to the cause through interest free loans.  As a Kiva fellow, I just get the added bonus of sharing my thoughts and viewpoints from ground zero.

Interested in becoming a Kiva fellow?  Click here.

Join the Vietnam lending team here.

Alex Duong is the first Kiva Fellow (KF9) working with TYM Fund in Hanoi, Vietnam. Click the links for info on TYM Fund & his personal blog.

Before continuing, please take time to read colleague Victoria Kabak’s post on Nicaragua. I’d like her courageous efforts to be recognized. And if you are out to make a loan today, rather than Vietnam, please consider funding someone in Nicaragua here, particularly a borrower with AFODENIC.

Victoria, I don’t have an answer either. Perhaps build a regression model? But that is probably skewed by my swimming in a quantitative pool these last few days with friends cash flow and NPV.
***

Ok, on to this post about ancillary effects. A recent trend in microfinance (MF) has been to incorporate social performance indicators. The concept involves measuring poverty alleviation actually induced through loans and other MF efforts. Metrics or not, what I can tell you is that Madame Lien would put those statistics to shame. Check out her preschool students below.

Madame Lien has been receiving loans from TYM Fund for over ten years. Her latest and most successful endeavor is opening, owning, and operating Bông Sen (translated White Lotus) preschool in her hometown Phúc Yên. Madame Lien employs four teachers who both educate and provide meals to approximately 50 students while parents are off working.

Prior to opening the preschool, Madame Linh had been a teacher herself for 14 years. In 2002, she retired from teaching and took to selling children’s clothes at the local market for income. At first business was healthy but eventually it became saturated with numerous vendors. It was at this point she realized her town had no preschool. Determined this was, in her words, the “right thing to do for my country,” she set out to charter a school. TYM Fund was there from the beginning to provide funding.

According to Madame Linh, the hardest part was putting together appropriate lesson plans and finding qualified teachers. Once up and running, however, it didn’t take long for the children to show up. Her most recent loans were used to purchase toys and supplies for the children. TYM Fund has helped Madame Linh’s operations grow to the point where traditional banks have started serving her. This implies that she has graduated above the socioeconomic poverty line!

Madame Linh proud and joyful thanks to MF

So why is Madame Linh’s story important? The business is sustainable and should help her maintain the newfound socioeconomic status. More importantly, however, she has created local teaching jobs, developed a safe learning environment for young children, and provided for her family. The creation of good jobs and providing solid educational foundations are valuable assets in a developing nation. However, Madame Linh is one of the few borrowers whose life was immediately impacted by her endeavor. Since arriving in Vietnam, what I have noticed is that MF needs time to take effect. At the very least, it gives the next generation (borrowers’ children) a better fighting chance to escape the cruel hands of poverty.

Based on general field observations, current studies on the impact of MF seem to leave out ancillary effects such as those described above. In addition, they have too short of a time span. Consider that the concept of people’s banks and credit/savings cooperatives have been around since the 1800s. The 1950s saw a wave of governments and donors providing agricultural credit to rural farmers. What we know as a MF institution today began appearing in the mid 1970s (including well known ACCION and Grameen Bank). It wasn’t until the 1990s, however, that MF institutions began transforming themselves into solvent, sustainable operations. It took Muhammad Yunus of Grameen Bank 30 years to get recognized and receive the Nobel Peace Prize. That means there are perhaps 20 years worth of comprehensive data and only 10 years worth if we start measuring from the point of self-sustainable MF. Now consider my statement above about MF needing time (and perhaps generations) to take effect. I don’t doubt the scholars but am merely suggesting academic results at this time may be preliminary.

Even if one is a quant-minded person (like me), consider that MF is about lending with our hearts and not our minds. I recently donated to Haiti which just experienced a 7.0 magnitude earthquake. It would be rash to now go and measure the impact donor money had on alleviating suffering. As long as Save The Children Foundation doesn’t commit fraud, I trust the funds have been put to good use.  And such is the case with MF.  For some borrowers, Kiva and other MF lenders serve as the only avenue for improving socioeconomic status. Is it not enough to know one is helping, regardless of incremental value?

Here is another example for perspective.  For every college graduate, how many become billionaires while the rest still live comfortably but classified as ‘middle class?’ Regardless, each individual is better off thanks to having the ACCESS and ABILITY to complete higher education.  Similarly, it is not fair to demand every borrower become a ‘billionaire’ or have a success story.  However, access to loans and the ability to invest in their business should make them better off.  And yes there will always be some who fall into a cycle of debt.  But then again, every town has a prison.

Alex Duong is the first Kiva Fellow (KF9) working with TYM Fund in Hanoi, Vietnam. Click the links for info on TYM Fund & his personal blog.

Vietnam has received consistent coverage on this blog since the Kiva Fellows 5^th class (KF5).  Often there are snippets or video discussing the dangerous, lawless traffic of the streets.  And until now, there have been no solutions for navigating the madness.  Below is video of what I’m coining as the ‘wiggle.’  Watch how this man avoids cars, pedestrians, and other motorbikes.  Each little twist is a subtle yet intentional twist that finds the next opening.  Click to read about this fellow’s thoughts on Vietnam culture.

I’m going to let you in on a secret: Kiva is one big hunk of love.  Understanding the phrase ‘Kiva love machine’ sheds light on what motivates the work of Kiva fellows everyday.  Why does Rebecca Corey rise at 5:30AM to catch the bus to work?  Why does Thomas Gold risk driving in deathly traffic?  Read on to learn about the bond that unites fellows.

‘Kiva love machine’ exists and spreads because Kiva is about connecting people.  It is infectious and most powerfully displayed through the generosity of everyday lenders.  For those lucky enough to become a fellow, it is also the love and affection shown from the moment training begins in San Francisco.

Case in point: In gearing up for the Kiva fellowship, I found it necessary to clear the mind for fresh perspectives.  This meant hanging up the career suit, leaving friends and family, and finding time for reflection.  And so I left for the most remote metropolitan in the world.  Actually, the answer is Perth in West Australia where there are three cousins whom I have never visited.  Sydney is the closest neighbor via five hours by plane (flying Los Angeles to New York is six hours).

Realizing Kiva fellow Agnes Chu was stationed along the way in Samoa, I made it a point to visit.  The ability for two fellows to relate is unmatched.  It is akin to explaining fraternity/sorority life: a true mental picture is hard to develop unless you are American.  The underlying unity thread for Kiva fellows is that they are uniquely situated to facilitate communication amongst lenders, borrowers, Kiva, and the local microfinance organization.  Though I had not officially started, this common bond allowed Agnes and I to team up and find answers to some elusive goals Agnes wanted to achieve.  Hearing about her challenges firsthand was equally invaluable in helping preparing for Vietnam.  Flying over one-quarter of the world to visit someone you met for a week at training is not on the typical list of reasons to fly.  This, however, is just one event that demonstrates the depth that ‘Kiva love machine’ can bring forth.

In Samoa, I followed Agnes, Kiva’s Samoan partner SPBD, and Mercy Corps volunteers as they distributed aid and clean up supplies to tsunami victims.  Agnes has already provided great tsunami coverage here so I will spare the repeat.  However, one look in victims’ eyes was all you needed to understand the tragedy that occurred.  Some were willing to share their stories but just as many wanted to move forward and never again recall the event.

Shortly following Samoa it occurred to me SPBD operates in a dramatically different environment than TYM Vietnam where I will be working.  Kiva partners are indispensable because they understand local terrain and how to best allocate limited resources.  Nobody (nor organization) is perfect but behind the logos and names lie people dedicated to doing the right thing.  It is not uncommon for loan officers to literally spend the night in a branch office far from the comforts of home.

Blessed is the opportunity to become a Kiva fellow and experience firsthand this  young microfinance industry.  It is easy to be in the comforts of home and criticize Kiva for lack of full transparency.  Sure Kiva COULD do more but adequate disclosure is often a judgment call.  Fannie & Freddie Mac disclosed what even financial auditors considered adequate and yet became a prime factor in the financial storm.  But this isn’t the point.  Look into the eyes of a Samoan who saw 14 family members wash away in the tsunami and tell them to wait a bit longer for loan disbursement because of a small holdup in San Francisco.  As stated earlier by Victoria Kabak, in this industry every bit counts.  During such times, it becomes important to recall lending is an act we make with our hearts rather than our minds.  And just this one time that is probably okay.

Kiva fellows Agnes Chu & Alex Duong soaking in Samoa

Alex Duong is the first Kiva Fellow (KF9) working with TYM Fund in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Click the links for info on TYM Fund & my personal blog

The CIA World Factbook provides the following details for Vietnam -
Population median age: 27.4
Percentage of population living in urban areas: 28%
Literacy rate: 90.3%
GPD growth rate: 6.2% in 2008, 8.5% in 2007
Unemployment rate: 4.7%

Leaving aside the recent inflation spike, Vietnam offers a young, competent, and dynamic environment that is ripe for putting microfinance to work.

My name is Alex and I will be the only 9th class Kiva Fellow in Vietnam (starting in December).  Without a doubt, Kiva continues a series of amazing curveballs that life tosses at me.  I would never have dreamed of leaving work and all that is familiar in Southern California for this.  However, Kiva somehow appeared in Google results one day as I was scaling the consulting corporate ladder.

Training was just completed last week.  After applying for the fellowship nearly five months ago, the duties have now been bestowed.  The depth of character within each member of Kiva Fellow’s 9th class is humbling.  Not everyone is a financial guru or video-making whizz but therein lies our strength.  To see such a variety of backgrounds yet know that each individual can equally carry out Kiva’s mission while abroad is incredible.  Make sure to stop by frequently and watch our journeys unfold.  I have no doubt the stories we post will be genuine and passionate.

Lastly, I want to thank both Scott and Mike of Infusion Lounge for providing space to host my fundraiser in San Francisco.  Their generosity is greatly appreciated.  /ALEX

Alex Duong is the first Kiva Fellow (KF9) working with TYM Fund in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Click the links for info on TYM Fund & my personal blog

I never leave home without my camera these days. But there are many instances when I fail to pull it out in time to capture some of the interesting things I pass on the street everyday.

Peddling Bamboo

Then there are times when I am tired of filming or when I capture a moment on video and find myself debating what I should do with it. When you are interviewing people each day and they trust you with their stories, it’s a great privilege – and at times overwhelming. I had one of these moments last week.

Chief Credit Officers, Ms. Ha, whom I’ve grown very fond of, and Ms. Hanh gave me instructions to meet them at Nuoc Mam Thanh Huong for a borrower meeting. This is the area where the popular brand of nuoc mam (fish sauce) is made in Thanh Hoa. I hopped onto a Xe Om (motorbike) and told the driver to take me there. I knew immediately when we had reached the vicinity of our final destination…distinct harsh and pungent whiffs of fermented fish floated through the heavy, humid air. Nuoc mam is a staple of Vietnamese cuisine. I grew up eating many meals with nuoc mam, and still, the scent is too strong for me. I was glad that I had recently caved in and bought a facemask to avoid breathing in the dusty Thanh Hoa air…and in this case, the strong fermented fish odor.

Ms. Ha and Ms. Hoa at a borrower meeting

Ms. Ha flagged me down from the side of the road and led me to a small house with a front room that doubled as a garage. A small white car took up the majority of the space so we huddled on red plastic stools in a corner. Several members in this group sell nuoc mam and shrimp sauce (mam tom), including Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh. Through the other borrowers, I learned that Ms. Thanh had passed away several months ago. After the meeting ended, Ms. Ha and I walked two blocks to Ms. Thanh’s fish sauce stand and met her daughter, Ms. Huong. She is now managing her mother’s fish sauce stand and will be responsible for paying back the loan from FPW.

Ms. Huong agreed to be filmed for an interview. I pulled out the Flip and began asking my usual questions…
What was the loan money spent on? Purchasing fish sauce for resale at the market.
How much are your profits? One jug of fish sauce brings in a profit of 5,000 VND ($0.18 USD). On a good day, Ms. Huong can sell 10 liters a day for a total profit of 50,000 VND ($3 USD).
How many people are in your family? Ms. Huong has a 6-year-old son and 21-year-old daughter who is currently attending university in Hanoi.

…and so it went….until the final question: what are your dreams for the future?

This is what she says…

Then, Ms. Huong’s eyes became soft with sadness. This completely caught me by surprise. Dreams usually generate smiles. She looked away and told me that her family has encountered much hardship since the passing of her mother. Her mother received a monthly retirement stipend of 1,300,000 VND ($76 USD). With a strong belief that education would draw their family out of poverty, Ms. Huong’s mother dedicated all of her retirement stipend and some of her profits from the nuoc mam stand to pay for her granddaughter’s university fees. Ms. Huong said that it has been difficult to pay for the children’s school fees with only one salary – she is concerned about their future. I could see through these words that it was the memory of her mother combined with the family’s current financial struggles that brought tears to Ms. Huong’s eyes. I turned off the camera. I could not imagine grieving the loss of a parent and worrying about how the loss will impact family finances at the same time. It must feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders.

Ms. Huong at her mother's market stand

Chia buồn is a Vietnamese saying that means, “to share sadness.” The words are said in a low tone and the phrase itself sounds sad. In Vietnam, people will offer to share another person’s grief and sadness. Chia buồn. My imagination tells me it’s like splitting up the cloud of sadness into puzzle pieces and distributing them across the universe, until the pain no longer exists. Of course, that is not reality. Despite anyone offering to chia buồn, Ms. Huong’s sadness, just like yours and mine, cannot be easily delegated to others. I suppose then, it’s more of a reminder to someone that they are not alone and that in the bigger picture, we are all one people. Then perhaps, stories that connect us to one another, no matter the distance, help us chia buồn.

Often times life is like a boxing match. You’re put into the ring with a challenge and you have some rounds to hash it out.  Once you’re in this figurative ring you have a few options: you can get scared and jump out of the ring, you could dance around for a few rounds, or you can try to engage the challenge and see how you hold up.  I know this metaphor sounds incredibly cliché, however it reminds me of a phrase our Fellows director told us way back in San Fran.  To prepare us for our experiences in the “microfinance mundo,” ( I borrowed this from Susan Arthur, I really like it!) he told us that we should be ready for a few “gut punches.” When I heard this I wasn’t really surprised, I knew that things out in the field wouldn’t be easy. I knew that we all would have our fair share of adversity. I mentally prepared myself to expect the unexpected and for things to not always happen according to plan.

hours of highway on the bak of a moto...

Soon after settling in at the head office in Hanoi, I was eager to meet more clients and visit them at their place of business. All worries and various setbacks that happened to me so far would soon wash away as I met my first clients. I didn’t mind that the trip there took over 3 hours in a cramped bus with the thermometer hovering above ninety degrees. I couldn’t wipe off the grin I had on my face as we pulled up to the first client’s house. The client came to the gate and we explained why we had come to visit her. With a friendly smile she invited me in, introduced me to her family and offered me a delicious cup of tea. Everything was going well during the interview and then it happened, my first gut punch.  POW! Right to the gut, I was down and the referee was already giving me the ten count. The question I asked her was about how the loan has changed her life and if there has been any positive change since she has expanded her business. She replied emphatically, “No!” She even told me that her loan was too small to make any real changes in her life and that she needed double the loan if she was to have any impact on her children’s lives. After a couple minutes of Vietnamese back and forth my interpreter explained to me that although she was very happy with the loan and that it did help her pay for things, she still didn’t have enough to see serious changes happen in her life. The client then explained to us that although she could vary her family’s diet every week, she still didn’t make enough to buy meat or fish, or save enough to send her children to a university. I felt confused and frustrated. I knew that as a Kiva Fellow I wouldn’t be hearing dramatic stories every time I met a client, but I didn’t believe that I would have a client tell me that their loan hasn’t helped much.

an interview at a client's home

After finishing the interview I contemplated what had gone wrong and why this woman hadn’t seen much change in her life. As we rode on the motorbike to the next client I felt a bit defeated. Even some of the street dogs we passed seemed to stop and give me a look of disappointment.

the look

Fortunately enough for me my MPM ( Kiva’s partner manager in Asia and my fellows manager) was coming to the office this week and I explore the issue with some of the management in the office before I came to any conclusions. What I realized was that things weren’t as black and white as I thought they were. Although SEDA was a great organization and was expanding it still faced many challenges that so many other MFI’s face all over the world. They still have to manage their portfolio and develop solid lending practices for each one of their clients. There were many challenges that SEDA was still dealing with which kept them from lending larger loans like some of their competitors. Vietnam also has very different regulations from many other countries which keep a microfinance institution from lending as freely as they would like to. Essentially SEDA understood the problem of small loan sizes for their clients and is working to improve on it, however it is better for them to loan what they can and maintain their risk mitigation strategies than to create a situation which may compromise their lending ability all together. Also many of the clients that had complained about loan size had just recently started borrowing and they had to build their credit with small loans before they were considered for larger ones. When I spoke to some of my friends in other organizations I was reassured that many MFI’s were dealing with this challenge and that it was a matter of time before they could grow to their full potential.

It is important to understand that progress is being made! Whether it is because clients who are borrowing are now learning about practical business principles and how to manage a loan, or that the MFI is working out bugs in its operation model, progress continues. Even though many of the clients have been working hard to pay back some of their loans they are still very new to the credit system and they are learning about good borrowing behavior. Although some clients may not have realized it, many displayed a new understanding of the credit market. One could see the difference in behavior from a client on their third cycle to a client who just received their first loan. The older clients understood the difference between rates and repayment schedules. Experienced clients could explain why they like certain methods of repayment over others and some even kept track of their cash flows on ledgers, which they were always happy to display.  I was excited to see that in some communities where SEDA had built a presence, principles of sound business and finance had taken root and taught business owners how to leverage their debt to improve their lives.

After I had considered the perspectives from the clients all the way through to SEDA’s management I felt more at ease with the progress of microfinance in Vietnam. I understood that although some clients didn’t feel a tangible improvement in their life, there were many positive improvements to the general financial system which previously didn’t even exist in these communities. I understood that there were still many clients who considered the changes in their lives to be very significant. A client I met last week told me her son might be attending a medical school if he passes the entrance exam this fall. She told me that another successful loan cycle would be enough to help pay for the tuition he needed if he gets in. At the end of the interview she gave me a wink and told me that she was confident everything would fall into place. I guess I learned to carry that confidence about the progress I’m witnessing in the poorest areas of Vietnam and engage the fight worth fighting, even if it means hitting the mat a few times on the way.

Michael Kasseris will be working with SEDA in Vietnam this summer for 12 weeks. If you would like to learn more about SEDA or lend to one of their borrowers click here.

Visiting borrowers during the past three weeks has taught me that interviews can take place just about anywhere– standing in the middle of a noisy market, sitting on very short stools near a street stall or squatting on someone’s kitchen floor.

Earlier this week, Ms. Ha, a credit officer at the Fund for Thanh Hoa Poor Women (FPW), offered to take me to three repayment meetings. I grabbed my bag – which nowadays contains my handy Flip video camera, a notepad, my pocket dictionary, and borrower group photos – and we set off.

An hour later, we found ourselves at a lively market in Dong Son District. Searching for borrowers in between the rows of colorful fruits and vegetables, fresh cut flowers and delicate china turned out to be quite the task. With Ms. Ha’s expertise, we managed to track down all six women belonging to the 11-Don Son Group.

Our next stop was to the home of a first time borrower, Ms. Phuong. Once there, I spent time with a group of four women, asking questions and listening as they gossiped and teased each other.

The final meeting for the day was at a local Women’s Union center where I was able to catch a few short interviews as group members dashed in to make their monthly repayments and rushed back to work as quickly as they came.

If I could, I would spend hours talking to each borrower. I realize the questions that I am able to ask during the short amount of time I have with the women only offers a glimpse into their lives – a small chapter of the full story. Yet, in those few moments, there is a connection. The hours pass by quickly and at the end of the day, I have footage, pictures and pages of notes. Here are a two of their stories.

Meet Ms. Lien

When Ms. Lien told me that she makes “than” I had to dig in my bag for my pocket dictionary. In the time it took me to find the translation, Ms. Lien had brought a bucket of coal blocks to show me what “than” was.

Ms. Lien is 29 years old and the youngest member of her group. She tells me that everything she does is for her two children. Ms. Lien and her assistant can make up to 1,000 blocks of coal in one day. The recent loan from FPW helped pay for repairs to the machine that they use. On rainy days, the business comes to a halt since the coal needs to dry in the sun. On a good day, the couple can sell 300 blocks for a profit of 60,000 VND ($3 USD). A woman of few words, Ms. Lien pulls me outside to demonstrate how the coal blocks are actually made.

As Ms. Ha and I watched Ms. Lien work with the sun beaming down on her hat, I thought about how the profits from Ms. Lien’s business might help to provide more opportunities for her two young children in the future. We said our goodbyes and Ms. Lien continued her work. You never know when the rain will come.

Meet Ms. Trinh

We found Ms. Trinh sitting in between a stall lined with assorted spices and a stand selling sets of baby clothing. Interviews at the market are some of the most interesting that I have had. It’s amazing to watch the women in action as they answer questions and make change for customers at the same time. Talk about multi-tasking!

Ms. Trinh at her market stall

With her youthful energy, Ms. Trinh tells me that she “sells many many things!” At 60 years old, she recently expanded her stall with an impressive variety of kitchenware – pots and pans, fish sauce (nuoc mam), teapots, spices, mops, rice cookers, scissors, chopsticks, dishwashing liquid…the list goes on…

Ms. Trinh says that the market is like her second home. She has no intentions of retiring any time soon because her profits are needed to pay for her daughter’s tuition and lodging fees at Hanoi University. Ms. Trinh estimates that her monthly profit has grown from 1,500,000 VND ($84 USD) to 1,800,000 VND ($101 USD) since taking out her first loan with FPW.

Usually, when I ask borrowers about their dreams, there is a moment of hesitation. This was not true with Ms. Trinh. Full of energy, she tells me, “I want to travel.” I’ve heard this answer before, but then she adds, “to the places where people have given loans. I would go there to say thank you.”

I get to hear these sentiments day in and out – and those thank yous are truly meant for all the people who show their support through lending. So until Ms. Trinh makes her way to your neck of the woods, I’d like to send her message of appreciation to you. Thank you Kiva Lenders!

Hanh Tran is serving as a Kiva Fellow in Vietnam with the Fund for Thanh Hoa Poor Women (KF8). Click here to view currently fundraising loans from the Fund for Thanh Hoa Poor Women. Join the Vietnam Critical Mass lending team to support entrepreneurs in Vietnam!

There wasn’t much wind blowing through Hanoi that morning. The air was heavy and humid, like every step I took was like walking through a pool of water. It was my first morning in Hanoi and I needed to cross the street my hotel was on to hail a taxi. As I stepped closer to the edge of the sidewalk I noticed how fast the air was moving across my face. A swarm of motorbikes, taxis and trucks racing through the street swept the air past me and blew a cloud of dust in my eyes. Before I knew it my chances of crossing the street were over and the violent current of traffic seemed to have no end, or so I thought. Next to me an old lady balancing two enormous piles of fresh pineapples and lychees across her shoulders just stepped down onto the street and without looking up, miraculously reached the other side. I was amazed that she came out alive, how did she not get hit by any of the vehicles? As I waited for a break in the traffic, another woman walking with her child stepped down onto the street in front of me and in what seemed like a suicide attempt, made it through alive on the other side of the street. I was baffled. There was no way I was going to be able to cross here. As the taxis on the other side began to lose patience they drove off looking for another customer. I was going to be late. I walked up and down the street as if I was going to discover some invisible bridge to take me to the other side, yet there was no break in the death race in front of me.

...one of the reckless motobike drivers

Then as I began to lose hope, a tall man with what sounded like an Australian accent looked at me and laughed. He also stepped down and started walking through the traffic that raced past him like a swarm of bees, but before he made it halfway across he looked back and yelled at me “You just go!” You just go? Was he crazy? I didn’t know if the locals used some secret hand gesture to cross the street or knew of some unspoken pattern in the traffic but surely I couldn’t “just go.” Or maybe I could? With my eyes half closed and my limbs as close to the center of my body, I gingerly stepped down into the street. I didn’t bother looking at the traffic coming straight for me but instead looked forward at the other side of the street and kept walking. When I stepped back up onto the other side of the sidewalk I couldn’t help but think of those safari programs on TV that follow that lone zebra as it tries to cross the crocodile infested waters. After I finished counting for all my toes, I realized that it took a leap of faith to get me across the street and that I didn’t need to be worried. I just needed to go. Sometimes things in a new place may not seem as organized and as sterile as one might be used to in their normal environment. That’s something I have been reminding myself this past week in Hanoi and as I get situated at my MFI, that some things just take a leap of faith. It was a leap of faith which made me leave my “great” job back home in finance and board a plane to Hanoi. It was the same leap of faith which some of the first micro lenders had when they decided to support some women in poverty start a business. It was a leap of faith which brought these new entrepreneurs to believe that they too could be successful business owners in a developing economy. I will be working with SEDA , which stands for Center of Small Enterprise Development Assistance and is a part of Binh Minh a larger NGO here in Vietnam focused on Microfinance. The staff here has been extremely hospitable and I have already made friends with some of them. They particularly like bringing me to lunch in a group and see what food I will be too scared to eat which I am proud to say has never happened, even lunch can sometimes be a leap of faith.

Michael Kasseris will be working with SEDA in Vietnam this summer for 12 weeks. If you would like to learn more about SEDA or lend to one of their borrowers click here.

Having spent some time in Hanoi as an undergraduate, the bustling sounds of the Old Quarter are familiar and comforting. The streets lined with booming businesses of every sort are images that come to mind when I think about microfinance and entrepreneurship in Vietnam.

As I left Hanoi for Thanh Hoa, where I will be based as a fellow during the next three months, I wondered what entrepreneurship would look like in Vietnam’s second poorest province. During the foggy morning as my train rushed by brilliant shades of green across Vietnam’s lush rice paddies, I could not help but be captivated by the tranquil countryside. It’s raining as I leave the train station and my first sight of Thanh Hoa is a gray, damp and serene scene.

I did not know how quickly that initial portrait I painted of microfinance in Vietnam would change. The day before the start of my fellowship, I learned that some family members who I had never met before live in the Sao Vang district, a 1.5 hour bus ride from Thanh Hoa City where I am located. When I got to their house, I was greeted by a family of cows in the front yard. Later in the day, my aunt told me she took out a loan of 8 million VND ($450 USD) to help buy the mother cow. “A loan for the poor,” she said. I asked for details. She went on to describe how she sells vegetables at the market daily, making $1.90 USD on a good day. Due to her husband’s illness, he is unable to work regularly. She explained that the cows are easy for him to maintain, as all he has to do is cut grass for them to eat. Each year, the mother cow can give birth to one calf, resulting in a profit of approximately $150 USD per year.

The cows in the front yard!

When I began this fellowship, I was not aware of how close to home the impact of microfinance would be felt. My aunt is a borrower of a government microfinance loan. She does not consider herself an entrepreneur and has no intentions of opening a business. Simply put – she took the loan out of necessity. The additional income from the sale of cattle has allowed her to maintain a more stable family life and put food on the table during those times when her sales at the market are low. Thus, my image of microfinance and entrepreneurship in Vietnam as being merely busy city shops has been wiped away. I am so looking forward to filling in the colors of this new picture as I meet women borrowers from the Fund for Thanh Hoa Poor Women.

I consider it a matter of chance that I was born in the U.S. and given all the opportunity in the world. What an honor it is to have this opportunity to serve as a Kiva Fellow in Vietnam!

Hanh Tran is serving as a Kiva Fellow in Vietnam with the Fund for Thanh Hoa Poor Women (KF8). Join the Vietnam Critical Mass lending team to support entrepreneurs in Vietnam.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Many of the Vietnamese Kiva borrowers are themselves rice farmers. In order to appreciate and gain a sense of what the life of a Vietnamese Kiva borrower is like, we, the two Kiva Fellows in Vietnam, took the opportunity to spend a day in a typical borrower’s shoes, or lack thereof.

The rice paddy in the distance is calling out our names...

After spending two hours literally in the field bending over in the baking sun and in ankle deep mud and water, we realized that we had not become experts in rice farming techniques. To make this point clear, we couldn’t even tell the difference between the weeds we were supposedly looking for and the actual rice; the grass had evolved to look almost exactly like the rice! This is just one of the difficulties that the farmers face everyday in the field. (We haven’t even mentioned the exact science of fertilizing and watering let alone the creepy crawlies everywhere)

For us, we could barely comprehend the effort it takes for the farmers to simply put rice on their own tables, let alone the fact that the borrowers have other job duties as well. To supplement their own income, many of the farmers take up Kiva loans to run micro-enterprises such as selling fruit and vegetables at market or raising and selling animals. Simply put, being a Vietnamese farmer isn’t as clean-cut as one may think, and we found this out the hard way…

Bernice and Nate,                                                                                                                       Kiva Fellows IN the Field

Please continue on to Kiva Fellows IN the Field – Part 2

Ms. Nguyen Thuy Minh, a Kiva borrower with SEDA

One of my main roles as a fellow with SEDA in Vietnam is interviewing borrowers and then writing a journal update so that lenders can see how the borrower is doing. I have many questions that I like to ask most of the borrowers and one of my favorites is quite simple: What did you do before you started this particular business? This question is great because it really helps me learn about the person I’m interviewing; their previous jobs tell a lot about them. Take for example Ms. Nguyen Thuy Minh.

Ms. Nguyen, 45, currently runs a mobile phone business which she started four years ago and helps her daughter-in-law raise animals. Six years ago her husband was killed in an accident and that accident changed her life as she knew it. When most people think of microfinance they think of a poor person trying to empower themselves out of poverty and thus we assume that person was always poor and that microfinance is the opportunity they never had before. Ms. Nguyen’s case, however, is completely the opposite.

Prior to her husband’s accident, Ms. Nguyen’s job was running a confectionary factory for 16 years with her husband which employed over 60 workers—now that’s a favorable impact on a community, a locally owned business which creates jobs! She and her family were very well off until her husband’s death. For some reason or another his death meant the closure of the factory (I didn’t want to pry into all of her personal details about the accident and accompanying results but I assume her husband had many debts) and quickly propelled Ms. Nguyen and her family into the type of poverty they had never known before.

The location that Ms. Nguyen and other borrowers in her community make payments on their loans.

As Ms. Nguyen described her situation, she said her best option was to start a mobile phone business in her hamlet but it meant that she had to work harder than before for less money to simply get by. To help her business along and to help begin increasing her standard of living she decided to apply for a micro-loan (before, with the factory, her credit was good enough to get loans from traditional banks). Her loan has since helped increase her daily income and has allowed her to purchase more new phones in bulk, thus reducing her overall costs.

Ms. Nguyen’s story is a perfect example of an atypical borrower, but nonetheless microfinance has become a valuable tool for her. With that in mind, I think her role as Group Leader is also valuable to microfinance in her community because she can share her knowledge of business management with her other group members and possibly with many others in her community. In fact, one of my goals now is to see if Ms. Nguyen could possibly run a work-shop on business management with the other SEDA borrowers in her community which perfectly answers another question I like to ask borrowers: what impact do you and your business have on your community? And my oh my, what a potential impact Ms. Nguyen can have!

A consultant by training, I’m in my element when I’m in an office, laptop in hand and armed with my shortcut keys. This is why I jumped at the chance to conduct my first Kiva training session. We pulled together a Power Point presentation, drafted and translated ‘cheat sheets’ and were ready to go. …or so we thought… Talk about an emotional journey!

The day started well with,

Enthusiasm: Granted, I was probably the only one who was excited for the session to begin but I Fn+F10-ed and the presentation was up and running. Then came…
Anxiety: “Wait! That’s the search bar not the address bar.”
Chaos: Forgetting to translate the calendar months could have resulted in a mad grab-bag of dates had it not been for a quick cross-reference table and printer.
Frustration: Taking up 3 computers for the better part of the day in an office with limited resources was not spectacularly well received by senior management…
Relief: By the end of the day, everyone got the hang of it and profiles proliferated!

Needless to say, it was a most educational day and despite the shaky emotional foundation, it wasn’t drastically different from the countless office days I’d experienced before.

Contrast this with the unfamiliar field. I find myself on the back of a motorcycle (breaking the only rule my dad ever gave me) and traveling to the community house that doubles as the FPW repayment center once a month. I realize that I have left my office sanctuary and <<CTRL+Z>> is not going to save me. I can’t take back the loud crashing noise of my motorcycle helmet falling to the floor or rescind my confusing question of “do you enjoy your job”. I don’t know much about animal husbandry or agriculture or raising a family, and I can’t quickly google ‘Le Mon’ to figure out what it is. …but somehow, it doesn’t matter. The women welcome my questions and share details of their lives. I hear stories of strength and hard work – hauling fertilizer to and from train cars certainly puts my ‘long hours’ into perspective; of sacrifice – expensive medical trips to get better treatment for their children; and most often, I hear of success. “Increased earnings, new TVs, demand for more loans!” There is definitely no shortage of demand for microcredit here, and to me that is a sign that there is a need being fulfilled and that these loans are working!

No shortcut key could’ve taught me that.

Join the Vietnam Critical Mass Lending Team
See loans currently being fundraised by the Fund for Thanh Hoa Poor Women

In Vietnam, the beginning of spring is marked by a very large festival called the Tet Festival where the symbol of the Lunar New Year and spring awakening is the arrival of the blooming kumquat and peach trees. Unfortunately, I missed this festival by just a week or so before arriving in Hanoi. While I missed the actual Tet festival, the festivities do not stop that soon: every year for one or two months after Tet, Buddhist pilgrims (85% of the population of Vietnam identifies their religious beliefs as Buddhist, whether they practice often or not) flock to the Perfume Pagoda, aka Chùa Hương in Vietnamese.

The throngs of boats waiting to take pilgrims to the mountain.

My guide book says that the Perfume Pagoda—which is 60 km south west of Hanoi in picturesque limestone mountains and is actually a large cave—is one of the prime places to visit in the Hanoi area, but warns about visiting it for two months after Tet due to the crowds. I must say, the warning was completely justified! Nonetheless, this was a cultural experience I am glad I partook in.

Prior to my trip to the Perfume Pagoda, my co-workers at the MFI SEDA/Binh Minh asked me for 70,000 VND which is roughly $4. I was unsure why they wanted this money, maybe it was for lunch for the week? I soon found out that they actually wanted me to join them on their annual pilgrimage to the Perfume Pagoda to pray for wealth, health, and prosperity for the new lunar year. We left on a Sunday at 5 AM, for a long but incredible day.

After a sleepless 1.5 hour bus ride to the town of My Doc, we finally arrived at the river that would take us to the foot of the mountains. The town was crawling with people and vendors of cheap trinkets and stacks of small denomination bills which are both used as offerings at the various temples, altars, and pagodas. I could sense the urgency and the excitement in my co-workers who were non-stop chattering in Vietnamese. As I looked around the town upon arrival I was overwhelmed by the mass of people yet I could not help but feel slightly lonely because of the language barrier. Nonetheless the staff at SEDA/Binh Minh did everything they could once we were on the river to explain to me what the day would be like and the purpose of the festivities.

To get the festivities started we purchased a whole cooked chicken, plopped him/her on a pile of sticky rice, stuck stacks of money under it and added a few flowers. We then marched the chicken and a platter of fruit into the first temple and put it on the altar with incense burning everywhere. Everyone, by this point, was praying for wealth, health and prosperity in general. I assumed this was an offering but as quickly as it began the chicken and fruit platters were back out the door of the temple. Apparently they were lunch for the boat ride ahead…

A My Doc woman rowing effortlessly.

The boat ride lasted about one hour and I was placed squarely in the middle, probably so I wouldn’t fall into the water. The boat was rowed by a small but buff woman who steered the row boat with professional poise, which in my opinion was incredible! We had at least 16 people in our boat and she propelled us through the water without a hint of being tired and with extreme ease. Apparently most of the women in the town of My Doc, aged 13 to about 65, row the throngs of pilgrims up the river every year, all year long. Not a single obese one amongst them.

The scenery on the river was literally awe inspiring. Too bad it was cloudy, because I bet with a blue sky and a blazing sun the limestone and lush green mountains would be even more phenomenal. Despite the clouds it was still pretty. As our boat made its way amongst the other boats the staff of SEDA/Binh Minh broke out into traditional Vietnamese songs until we made it to the docking point where the hike up the mountain would begin.

The hike up to the Perfume Pagoda is several kilometers and quite steep. It doesn’t make it easy that the stone-paved path has been trekked on so many times that the rocks have been burnished smooth and thus are insanely slippery; I lost my footing too many times to count. Unfortunately, all along the path the view was blocked by more vendors and food and drink stalls (which were actually quite necessary due to the heat). I would have liked to have seen the view, but it makes sense for the vendors to be there: with the thousands upon thousands of people walking by it’s a small entrepreneurs dream to have such easy access to a market like this one! I would not be surprised if some of the stall owners had micro-finance loans of their own, from Kiva or any other organization.

The SEDA/Binh Minh staff before the hike up to the cave.

With roughly 1/3 of a mile to the cave, our ability to walk normally stopped. Suddenly I was at a rock concert back home: we were in a mosh pit. The throngs of pilgrims had finally all converged on one narrow path to the pagoda with intense pushing and shoving. I swear, at one point my feet were no longer on the ground and my body movement was only because of the sway of the crowd! Fortunately for me, I was a head taller than everybody so I was able to get fresh air, while everyone else must have been suffocating. Being a head taller was also useful for the staff of SEDA/Binh Minh to keep track of me and each other as I was a very visible landmark amongst the sea of people. In fact I was called a ‘hero’ by them since I was able to make my way through everyone easier and thus opening up a path for them behind me!

The pagoda itself was breathtaking. After walking down about 120 stairs I found myself in a wide-open cavern with a giant pillar of stone in the middle. Behind the pillar was a grotto with several Buddhist altars where people were doing a number of things including praying, trying to catch ‘lucky water’, aka drops from stalactites, and stuffing money into fissures of the rocks (a sacrifice in hopes that wealth will surely be had this new year!). The intensity of the spirituality simply washed over everything in the cave. I was left without words as I took it all in.

Entering the mouth of the Perfume Pagoda.

While I was literally one of only four recognizable foreigners I saw the entire time (I only saw the other foreigners on my way back down the mountain) amongst the at least 100,000 people, I would surely visit it again during this time of the year. If I could, I would edit the guide books to say “do not visit the Perfume Pagoda for the first two months after Tet, unless you want a truly unforgettable cultural experience that you’ll probably keep with you for the rest of your life.” Furthermore, I am glad that I was able to share this experience with everyone at SEDA/Binh Minh because now I truly feel like I have been accepted by my co-workers!

If you are interested in lending to Vietnamese borrowers please join the Vietnam Critical Mass lending team!

Also, please  lend to any and all SEDA/Binh Minh borrowers!

My name is Nathan and I would like to introduce myself to the Kiva community as one of the members of KF7. I am stationed in Hanoi, Vietnam with the local MFI SEDA. I am extremely grateful for this amazing opportunity and strongly urge anyone who is considering applying as a Kiva Fellow to do so immediately!

A typical Hanoian street scene.

The well-known idiom ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ perfectly explains my first several days in Vietnam. While I had many fears prior to arriving in Vietnam including safely crossing the hectic and mob-like streets of Hanoi (I even was hit by a passing motorbike on the sidewalk one day and the previous day I saw a city bus T-bone another motorbike!), I am no longer afraid that there are no deserving recipients of microfinance here in Hanoi.

Before arriving in Vietnam, several previous fellows told me that in terms of Kiva placements, Hanoi is a 5-star rated fellowship. The city looks and feels like a modern city in all aspects including hotels that are budget to posh, an extensive public transportation system, large businesses and high-rise buildings on many blocks, and young, trendy, and fashionable people everywhere. The house that I live in even has high-speed wireless Internet, a luxury the vast majority of Kiva Fellows will not even come close to having at home let alone in Internet cafes.

This so-called 5-star rating made me question whether microfinance was actually all that necessary in Hanoi and the surrounding communities. After my first day in Hanoi I still felt this way after looking to purchase a mobile phone. After being pointed in a direction to find a phone by a long-time expat from Australia (maybe this was my first mistake!), I went into a very fancy looking store with an all-glass front with automatic sliding doors. Inside, the clientele was 100% Vietnamese with many of the people wearing what appeared to be designer clothing and sporting cool and trendy-looking haircuts. The cheapest phone that I found in the store was around $40, with prices ranging all the way up to $600+ for iPhones and various Blackberry phones.

My initial fear about microfinance in Hanoi however has turned out to be unfounded. Without even having a chance to settle down and get over my jet lag I went right to work as a Kiva Fellow my second day. After taking a hired taxi to SEDA’s branch offices on the outskirts of Hanoi and beyond I realized that there are in fact many deserving recipients of microloans here in the Hanoi surrounds.

Bac Ninh: The location of a SEDA branch office.

In one village that I visited near SEDA’s Bac Ninh branch office, I met my first group borrowing team. The village was small and had open raw-sewage drains along the tiny road in front of the small retail shop of one of the women. Nearby several small children were playing next to dogs that were foraging in piles of litter. The five women that I met live very different lives than many of the residents of Hanoi-proper, and in my humble opinion are using their microloans to attempt to better their opportunities. In fact, when asked what their hopes were for their futures they all said the same thing: get larger future loans so that they can improve their businesses even more so that hopefully they can send their children to university to provide the children better job opportunities than they have. Very inspiring if you ask me!

Lesson #1 learned in Hanoi: you can’t judge a book by its cover!

To learn more about SEDA, please click HERE. If you would like to lend to woman like this group near Bac Ninh, Vietnam, please check out SEDA’s currently fundraising borrowing groups by clicking HERE.