Kiva Fellows celebrated Earth Day around the world (Rwanda pictured)

Kiva Fellows observed Earth Day by sharing projects initiated by their partner microfinance institutions and host countries and by celebrating Kiva.org’s first batch of “Green Loans”. The upbeat mood also extended to anniversary parties at MFIs in Jordan and Armenia, enthusiastic endorsements to travel to Colombia, and reporting on a great opportunity for Kiva clients in Mongolia. Fellows also visited with borrowers in the Philippines, South Africa, and Armenia, and took us on a typical commute in Mexico City. All in all, a very busy week as members of KF14 wind down their time in the field.

Spazas + Tuck Shops: Corner Stores in South Africa
Country: South Africa / Fellow: Alexis Ditkowsky (KF14)
The difference between a spaza and a tuck shop is still a matter of debate but no one disagrees about the importance of corner stores in South Africa.

Colombia: Lose your perception of the past and come visit!
Country: Colombia / Fellow: John Gwillim (KF14)
John enthusiastically endorses Colombia for your next trip abroad. Beaches, mountains, jungles, colonial cities, modern amenities, and friendly people – it’s hard to go wrong.

Time, Love, Money & Energy
Country: Philippines / Fellow: Kaajal Laungani (KF12)
Inspired by the wisdom of a martial arts champion, Kaajal asks borrowers, “Do you have enough time? love? money? energy?” and shares their thoughtful responses.

Celebrate Good Times, Come On!
Country: Jordan / Fellow: Alex Silversmith (KF14)
Alex’s partner MFI celebrates twelve years of impact with cake, pashminas, watches, and a few of their 57,000 current clients.

The Subway Show
Country: Mexico / Fellow: John Farmer (KF14)
A trip on public transportation can quickly transition from entertaining to awkward to uncomfortable. John recounts one such morning in Mexico City.

Expectations
Country: Armenia / Fellow: Caree Edson (KF14)
Caree’s experience meeting with borrowers and business owners all over Armenia has met (and exceeded) her expectations of microfinance.

Additional XacBank Kiva borrowers eligible for interest rebates in savings accounts
Country: Mongolia / Fellow: Amber Barger (KF14)
Amber has been assisting her MFI in a special program: Kiva clients who pay back their loans early or on time receive a partial rebate on the interest paid, deposited straight into a savings account!

Happy Earth Day from Kiva Fellows around the Globe!
Countries: Armenia, Bolivia, Rwanda, Jordan, Cambodia, Ghana / Fellow: Compiled by Caree Edson (KF14)
While there is plenty of bad news about the environment to go around, Kiva Fellows took a moment to highlight environmental initiatives at their partner MFIs and in their host countries in honor of Earth Day. And in more good news, Kiva just launched a series of “Green Loans” so lenders can support environmentally conscientious businesses.

~
Updates from the past month:
Update from the Field: Trash, Delicious Treats + Community Outreach
Cute Pigs, New Toilets + Everything is Relative
April Fools, Terrible Coffee + Getting Attached
Social Quirks, Justin Bieber + Lots of Carbs
Fun Facts, Field Visits + Back to Basics
~

Plus more pictures from the past week:

Armenia (by Caree Edson)

Cambodia (by Stephanie Sibal)

South Africa (by Alexis Ditkowsky)

Jordan (by Alex Silversmith)

Mexico (by John Farmer)

Philippines (by Kaajal Laungani)

Mongolia (by Amber Barger)

Colombia (by John Gwillim)

Mongolian Tugrug (MNT)

Originally, until December 2010, a Kiva borrower would only be considered eligible for the 9 percent interest rebate if he or she always paid their monthly loan repayments back on time, and in exactly the scheduled amount. This means that if a borrower is late on one monthly payment by one day, then he or she is disqualified from the savings program.

Additionally, in the original policy, it was not just those who couldn’t make their payments on time that were denied eligibility for a rebate. It was also prepaying borrowers, or, those who paid too much, too soon. So, for example, a borrower who had a scheduled monthly repayment of 30,000 MNT (US$24.50), but paid 31,000 MNT (US$25) instead, would have been denied eligibility for the interest rebate and related savings account. On any given month, about 78 percent of XacBank Kiva borrowers prepay up to 5 percent of what’s expected, which means that the majority of borrowers under the old policy were deemed ineligible for the interest rebate. And only for paying early.

Under the old policy, some of the Kiva borrowers who were actually eligible for a savings account wouldn’t open them. One reason was because XacBank didn’t attempt to notify eligible Kiva borrowers of their interest rebate and savings account option until after the loan was finished. At that time, it was much more difficult to get the Kiva borrowers back into the office to sign papers and learn about the savings account options. As you can imagine, borrowers living far in the countryside were reluctant to return to the branch office to fill out more paperwork. It was a logistical mess to coordinate the computer information, contact the eligible borrowers, and communicate between the headquarters and branch offices to make this happen on a large scale.

These hurdles affected the number of people who actually took the interest rebate in a savings account – only 11 percent of eligible Kiva borrowers, those who paid exactly on schedule, opened an account. Therefore, out of all Kiva borrowers (including those who were not eligible, the prepaying and delinquent, plus those who were eligible) only 4 percent took the interest rebate in the savings account. As a Kiva Fellow, I’ve been working with XacBank to change the way this product is offered in order to increase these percentages.

Savings account ceremony

In December 2010, the policy was rewritten to include all Kiva borrowers who prepaid or paid on time each of their loan repayments. Now the prepaying and on schedule clients are eligible for the interest rebate in a saving account, but the delinquent are not. In this policy, XacBank is retroactively including all Kiva loans that ended in 2010. The MFI can either deposit the interest rebate into a borrower’s current savings account or it can create a new account.

The updated process allows the Kiva borrowers to open up one of four types of XacBank savings accounts at the beginning of the loan. If the client already has a savings account, then that one can be used. Here are the XacBank Kiva borrower savings account options:

1. Future Millionaire children’s savings account: Specially designed for children and has a long term with a high interest rate. This account restricts withdrawals until the child turns 18 years old.
2. Regular, short-term time savings account: No withdrawals are allowed until the maturity date (1-24 months) but deposits are allowed to be made at any time.
3. Long-term savings account: Designed for those who feel that their future pension is not enough, or if they do not receive health insurance fees due to working in a personal business
4. House, long-term savings account: Designed for those who want to save for a down payment on a house

At the end of the loan, if the client is eligible to receive 9 percent of their paid interest back, the money is deposited into their already-opened savings account. The process no longer requires the borrower to make a long journey to the branch for further signatures. Plus, the Kiva borrower can begin depositing money into the savings account right away by visiting the branch or through mobile phone money transfers. This has turned out to be a more streamlined process for XacBank employees, and is able to benefit more Kiva entrepreneurs as well.

Check out a previous post by a Kiva Fellow about XacBank savings accounts.

Join the XacBank lending team or lend to an entrepreneur.

–

Amber Barger is currently serving as a Kiva Fellow in Mongolia. She has lived for the past two years in rural Mongolia as a community economic development Peace Corps Volunteer. Along with her Kiva Fellowship, she is extending a third year with the Peace Corps as a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader.

Many Fellows get around in fanciful local taxis (Indonesia pictured)

While it may have been a slower “official” news week than usual, I can assure you that the Fellows are keeping busy. One Fellow spent hours searching fruitlessly for borrowers in the jungle, another has been suffering from serious gastrointestinal issues (aren’t you glad he didn’t post about that?), and the rest of us have been plotting something very special for the end of the week. In the meantime, you can catch up on social quirks in Rwanda, transportation in West Timor, the importance of corn in Guatemala, and the latest from Mongolia all while taking a look at photos from South Africa. Enjoy!

Hissing, High Fives & Apologies; Some Habits I Have Acquired In Rwanda
Country: Rwanda / Fellow: Caitlin Ross (KF14)
Adapting to a new place is great while you’re there but potentially awkward when you return home. Caitlin figures out which habits she should leave in Rwanda (hissing) and which need to come back with her to the States (high-fiving strangers).

Photos from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Country: South Africa / Fellow: Alexis Ditkowsky (KF14)
There’s nothing like a quick trip to the field to keep a Kiva Fellow motivated. Check out pictures of borrowers, loan officers, and a very cute goat.

Hear that?? It’s Kupang Bemo Rap!!
Country: Indonesia / Fellow: Lisa Skowron (KF14)
Kupang, West Timor takes its taxis (“bemos”) VERY seriously and you can vote for your favorite at the end of Lisa’s post. Fortunately, listening to Justin Bieber for an authentic Kupang Bemo experience while voting is optional.

Corn People: A Staple Food and the Key to Human Creation
Country: Guatemala / Fellow: Gustavo Visalli (KF14)
Gustavo shares insights into the history of corn for the Quiché Mayan people and its essential role in everyday life today. Pasta and rice with a side of tortillas, anyone?

A field partner grows from the pilot to active stage
Country: Mongolia / Fellow: Amber Barger (KF14)
Read all about how Credit Mongol transitioned from a pilot partnership to an active partnership with Kiva and how Amber and previous Fellows guided them through the process.

~
Previous updates from the field:
Fun Facts, Field Visits + Back to Basics
Carnival, Collaboration + Cheese-Making
Man’s Day, Singing Fellows + Learning How to Count
Videos, Epic Commutes + Going Beyond Microfinance
“Christmas”, Trekking, Adversity + Good Company
~

Plus more pictures from this past week:

Guatemala (by Gustavo Visalli)

South Africa (by Alexis Ditkowsky)

Rwanda (featuring Caitlin Ross)

Kiva Fellow and Credit Mongol Kiva staff

Until an MFI meets the requirements of an active partner, an MFI is initially placed in a pilot stage.  During this pilot phase, a partner is allowed to post loans to Kiva.org in a limited capacity. A Kiva Fellow or regional staff usually visit the partner to help set up the processes in accordance with Kiva’s policies and regulations, while also maximizing the benefits for the MFI. In Credit Mongol’s case, three Kiva Fellows have assisted with its Kiva pilot program – Beth, Kevin, and myself.

Knowledge exchanged in the pilot phase and the systems put in place are the foundation on which the Kiva program at each MFI is formed. The pilot phase helps partner’s effectively implement the Kiva process.  It’s also important for the MFI to understand specific aspects related to the Kiva partnership – the internal website used for uploading profiles and reporting, the client protection requirements, and, of course, Kiva’s mission, objectives, and how all of the pieces fit together. The MFI becomes a sustainable link between the lenders and borrowers.

In order to determine if Credit Mongol was ready to move from the pilot to active stage, I performed an Accelerated Pilot Consultation. As a Kiva Fellow, here are some of the activities I completed:

• Completed a Borrower Verification to ensure that the entrepreneurs are real persons that are actually taking loans as described in their profiles
• Ensured that monthly repayment reporting is accurate and international money transfers are doable
• Updated Credit Mongol’s Implementation Manual containing partner-specific process maps and guidelines
• Reviewed the various processes needed to support the Kiva program – borrower profiles, loan updates, repayment reporting, etc.
• Verified that Credit Mongol was able to regularly meet the majority of its pilot stage fundraising limit
• Ensured that Credit Mongol’s loan updates (journals) were meeting quality and quantity requirements
• Ensured that all stakeholders – headquarters, branches, and borrowers –  understood the implemented client protection waiver, which allows borrowers’ information to be public on Kiva.org
• Assisted Credit Mongol with forecasting its Kiva loan volume

In its 11 month pilot stage, Credit Mongol reached 190 entrepreneurs using US$270,000. With the increase in Kiva funding, Credit Mongol is now able to reach many more borrowers than it could in the pilot stage. Once moved to active status, Credit Mongol traveled to its rural branches to ensure employees understood Kiva’s procedures and were ready to effectively implement these loans in the countryside. The MFI now has additional funding to reach more rural, low-income microentrepreneurs – and is currently utilizing it with enthusiasm!

Lend to Credit Mongol entrepreneurs as the MFI expands its Kiva operations to the Mongolian countryside.

—

Amber Barger is currently serving as a Kiva Fellow in Mongolia. She has lived for the past two years in rural Mongolia as a community economic development Peace Corps Volunteer. Along with her Kiva Fellowship, she is extending a third year with the Peace Corps as a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader.

This week, take a trip to the field with Kiva Fellows (Mexico pictured)

For many Fellows, this week was about getting back to basics: the borrowers. In between fun facts about Kiva Fellowships, doing database detective work, and reflecting on the internal dynamics of Kiva’s partner microfinance institutions, Fellows found themselves in the field again and again, much to their delight and often to the delight of borrowers. From Latin America to Africa to the Caucasus to Southeast Asia to Eastern Europe, meet Kiva clients, learn about their businesses, and check out all of the great photos.

Kiva Fellows by the Numbers
Countries: Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Mexico, Ghana, Uganda, Mongolia, Ukraine, Nepal, Peru, Cambodia, Indonesia, Liberia, Guatemala, South Africa, Colombia, Bolivia, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan / Fellows: By David McNeill (KF14) & Adam Cohn (KF14) but featuring the entire 14th class
Ever wonder how far Fellows travel for their placements or how slow the Internet really is in Liberia? And did you know that you can buy Coca-Cola in a plastic bag for $.15 in Cambodia? Discover more fun facts about Kiva Fellowships in this post and the accompanying spreadsheet.

Death By Fire
Country: Mexico / Fellow: John Farmer (KF14)
John considers the tension between business and family after meeting a borrower who successfully used microloans to set up a tamale shop but hesitates to make an expensive investment even though it would improve her family’s health.

Database Detective: South Africa Edition
Country: South Africa / Fellow: Alexis Ditkowsky (KF14)
For those of you who like reading about databases and reporting, Alexis has you covered. For everyone else who wants to visit a borrower, learn about her business, and look at lots of pictures, you’re taken care of, too.

Get into the groove
Country: Ukraine / Fellow: Jacqueline Gunn (KF14)
Jacqueline finally finds a cure for the shock of moving from Ghana to Ukraine in the middle of winter: visiting borrowers! Get to know Sergei, Yana, and Irina and learn about the philosophies behind their businesses.

Piece by Piece: The Garment Worker’s Loan
Country: Cambodia / Fellow: Stephanie Sibal (KF14)
Stephanie introduces us to the challenges of working in the garment industry through Sok, a Kiva client. Thanks to a recent loan, Sok purchased a cow which she hopes will increase her family’s income stream so she can send her sons to university one day.

Realities Of Microfinance In Benin. (Part 1, The White Man)
Country: Benin / Fellow: Gareth Davies (KF14)
In case you thought that picking up and moving to another part of the world was easy, Gareth explains some of the new realities he’s encountered as a white man in Benin.

Women Working for Women: Staff + Client Collaboration in Nepal
Country: Nepal / Fellow: Claudine Emeott (KF14)
BPW Nepal not only serves women through its loan products and personable customer service, it also provides a warm and supportive environment for its staff, management, and board members, the vast majority of whom are female.

New Horizons- A Fellow’s First Field Visit
Country: Armenia / Fellow: Caree Edson (KF14)
Caree’s first trip into the field was definitely worth the wait. In addition to being welcomed with cake and chocolate at the New Horizons office, she learns more about their loan products and partnerships, meets several borrowers with very distinct businesses, and eats lunch at “indisputably the most beautiful place in Armenia”.

~
Previous updates from the field:
Carnival, Collaboration + Cheese-Making
Man’s Day, Singing Fellows + Learning How to Count
Videos, Epic Commutes + Going Beyond Microfinance
“Christmas”, Trekking, Adversity + Good Company
~

Plus more pictures from this past week:

Armenia (by Caree Edson)

Mexico (by John Farmer)

Ukraine (by Jacqueline Gunn)

Nepal (by Claudine Emeott)

South Africa (by Alexis Ditkowsky)

Cambodia (by Stephanie Sibal)

Retailer moves from renting to owning clothing stall

Meat saleswoman pays for her daughter to study in Japan

Painter buys raw materials for shop

Shoemaker buys repair tools

Car repairman builds housing for low-income families

Saleswoman bought a freezer to safely store meat

Cook supports children's housing

Retailer finishes university and buys house

Seamstress moves to a larger space

Join the Mongolia Lending Team!

—-

Amber Barger is currently serving as a Kiva Fellow in Mongolia. She has lived for the past two years in rural Mongolia as a community economic development Peace Corps Volunteer. Along with her Kiva Fellowship, she is extending a third year with the Peace Corps as a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader.

Happy Lunar New Year! Сар шинэдээ сайхан шинэлээрэй, as we say in Mongolian. Today, the countries and communities across the world who traditionally follow the lunar calendar are celebrating the first day of the New Year! Boy! – Microloan demands sure have been high lately. The need for loans center around traditional activities practiced for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Usually, the peak time for microloan requests and, in relation, the height of the business cycle, are related directly to the local lunar and seasonal calendars. In December and January, entrepreneurs are preparing for the January 1^st, Russian-influenced New Year and the traditional Lunar New Year, usually in February. In April, the weather turns warmer and the winter construction ban is lifted – businesses revive and start up again. In August, families prepare for the beginning of the school year and the auspicious wedding season, according to the lunar calendar.

Let’s look, for example, at the business activities that go along with the traditions related to the Lunar New Year.

• Having a clean and comfortable home:

Traditionally, Mongolians believe that having a clean and comfortable home on the first day of the Lunar New Year symbolizes good luck for the upcoming year. Many Mongolians extensively clean their homes and invest in homeware updates, such as couches, electronics like televisions and computers, and rugs. The implication of this is that small businesses stock inventory in these homeware products, and some people take out micro consumption loans in order to afford these housing updates.

• Traveling to the eldest person of the family’s home:

In Mongolia, the Lunar New Year is all about respecting one’s elders. This influences many traditions – from the order of the greetings, to whose house you visit first during the holiday, to the travel patterns throughout the country. According to custom, the younger members of the family must visit the eldest person of the family, usually the grandfather, at the beginning of the Lunar New Year. The national holiday allows the workforce two days of vacation, and students have up to a month off from school.

Winter roads in the Gobi

This leads to a massive amount of travel throughout the country – the city dwellers travel to the countryside and the countryside dwellers travel across the country to visit their elders. The transportation industry booms – anyone who owns a car or van can charge to transport people across the Mongolia. Taxi, van, and bus drivers upgrade their vehicles around this time, and some take out loans to do so.

• Hosting and visiting family and friends:

The Lunar New Year is all about spending time with family and friends! And, of course, one must look good while doing it! The demand and price of traditional clothing drastically increases the month before the Lunar New Year – Hats, dresses belts, boots.  As a host, each family must provide each guest with a small gift for visiting their home. This can range from small things like chocolate bars to larger items like cup and saucer sets. As a guest, depending on the traditions in your part of the country, one needs to give a gift of crisp money bills to the host.

When hosting a Lunar New Year gathering, one needs to serve traditional food related to the holiday. It’s expected that бууз, steamed meat dumplings, will be served, along with milk tea, salad, candy. Traditionally, each guest must be offered three shots of vodka. Imagine visiting eight houses in one day with all of that food and vodka! The table needs to be decorated with a steamed sheep rear and a tower of white dairy products and traditional bread.

It’s said that with all of the housing renovations, gift-giving, and cooking that goes along with the Lunar New Year, some families will spend the equivalent of a full year’s salary in just two weeks!

The Mongolian Lunar New Year is one of my favorite holidays! This year, I’ll be visiting several of my friends in Ulaanbaatar, and then attending the Lunar New Year work celebrations at the Kiva field partners’ offices on Monday. Сар шинэдээ сайхан шинэлээрэй!

Join the Mongolia lending team!

My personal Lunar New Year Blog Post from 2010

Read more Kiva Fellows blog posts about Mongolia!

—

Amber Barger is currently serving as a Kiva Fellow in Mongolia. She has lived for the past two years in rural Mongolia as a community economic development Peace Corps Volunteer. Along with her Kiva Fellowship, she is extending a third year with the Peace Corps as a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader.

A Kiva Coordinator is someone who organizes and manages the Kiva program at one of Kiva’s field partners. Watch the video to find out what a Kiva Coordinator does everyday, their favorite aspects of working with Kiva, and also the challenges of being a Kiva Coordinator. As a Roaming Fellow, I had the opportunity to interview three Mongolian field partners – XacBank, Credit Mongol, and Transcapital.

Kiva Coordinators and Kiva Fellow in Mongolia

Join the Mongolia lending team!

—

Amber Barger is currently serving as a Kiva Fellow in Mongolia. She has lived for the past two years in rural Mongolia as a community economic development Peace Corps Volunteer. Along with her Kiva Fellowship, she is extending a third year with the Peace Corps as a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader.

• The First Nine: Milk vodka congeals and freezes
• The Second Nine: Vodka congeals and freezes
• The Third Nine: Tail of a three-year-old ox freezes
• The Fourth Nine: Horns of a four-year-old ox freezes
• The Fifth Nine: Boiled rice no longer congeals and freezes
• The Sixth Nine: Roads become visible from under the snow and ice
• The Seventh Nine: Hilltops appear
• The Eighth Nine:  Ground becomes damp
• The Ninth Nine: Warmer days set in

The nine sets of nine days originated hundreds of years ago when clocks and calendars weren’t available to herding families. It’s set from the lunar calendar.

The seasonal calendar greatly influences the types of micro businesses in Mongolia. In the wintertime, many of the businesses focus on keeping the general population warm.

• Importing winter clothing from China – coats, hats, long underwear, and gloves
• Selling animal hides to line traditional clothing and boots
• Sewing traditional warm clothing, deels, and modern warm clothing
• Distributing wood and coal in order to heat gers, brick and wooden houses
• Producing and distributing traditional winter housing items – stoves, fire tongs, extra felt ger lining
• Transporting people throughout cities so they don’t have to walk long distances in the cold
• Creating thick wool shoes and wool shoe inserts

In order to keep warm, Mongolians must prepare their homes for the drastic temperature change from the summer to wintertime. Living in a ger, sometimes the family will add another layer of felt around the outside and put dirt around the outer rim of the ger in order to block wind from entering. Rugs are sometimes hung inside the walls to create additional insulation.

Adding felt layers to my ger

My ger's stove

My wood pile and added winter "ping" for storage

Keeping a fire going throughout the winter is quite expensive, too! Different parts of the country use different types of fuel. A combination of coal, wood, and animal dung are used depending on preference and availability. If they have savings, families can buy the fuel in bulk at the beginning of the winter, usually at a cheaper price than buying smaller quantities throughout the winter. Buying coal in bulk could cost around 150,000 MNT (about $120 USD) for the entire winter, plus an additional cost of wood around 150,000 MNT (about $120). The prices vary by region depending on the availability of the certain fuel, though.

Kiva entrepreneur selling bags of wood and coal

If a family doesn’t have enough savings to purchase in bulk, they can purchase fuel in smaller quantities on a weekly or daily basis. In Ulaanbaatar, 1 bag of coal is about $1 and 1 bag of wood is about $1. On a warmer day, and based upon preference, 1 bag of coal and 1/2 a bag of wood is used. On a colder day, 2 bags of coal and 1 bag of wood can be used. In the coldest of the winter months, January, to stay comfortably warm, a family would need to spend $90! By the lunar calendar, the winter lasts just under 3 months; however, families sometimes need to be making fires to stay warm from October until May – 8 months!

Unfortunately, not everyone has enough money to heat their homes. If a ger isn’t heated, it’s most likely to be the same temperature as outside. Today it’s – 31 degrees Fahrenheit. In the ger districts, families without fuel money burn car tires and bricks soaked in gasoline to stay warm. Also, homelessness does exist in Ulaanbaatar, the capital city. In the wintertime, street children live in the sewer system to stay warm. The homeless sometimes hide in apartment stairwells and make fires from trash.

The extreme winter affects all social classes of Mongolia. The three Kiva field partners in Mongolia, XacBank, Credit Mongol, and Transcapital, are able provide financial services to micro entrepreneurs, many of them who live in the ger districts. The micro entrepreneurs have an opportunity to better their living situation by generating income from their small business.

Please assist in alleviating poverty by lending to an entrepreneur in Mongolia or by joining the Mongolia lending team.

–

Amber Barger is currently serving as a Kiva Fellow in Mongolia. She has lived for the past two years in rural Mongolia as a community economic development Peace Corps Volunteer. Along with her Kiva Fellowship, she is extending a third year with the Peace Corps as a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader.

Recently, I was able to travel to the countryside and combine many of my Kiva Fellow duties into one trip. With XacBank, I traveled to Uvurkhangai and Bayankhongor Provinces together with the Kiva Coordinator. We interviewed Kiva entrepreneurs, attended trade fairs, trained loan officers, and participated in a very special certificate ceremony – all in four days!

Uvurkhangai Trade Fair

Uvurkhangai Trade Fair

Uvurkhangai was having their large annual trade fair that attracts hundreds of small businesses from the area and thousands of customers to one central location at the town’s theater. The branch employees introduced us to the Kiva entrepreneurs who had booths at the trade fair. Some were selling vegetables, others traditional boots, and others handicrafts. I had a very enjoyable time in Uvurkhangai, because it’s where I used to live and I met many of my friends.

Bayankhongor Kiva Event

Savings Certificate Ceremony

In Bayankhongor, the branch employees had organized a special trade fair and certificate ceremony for the Kiva entrepreneurs. The event was held at Bayankhongor theater auditorium and Kiva entrepreneurs were able to sell their goods at small tables. New and old clients came to listen to information about Kiva, borrowers shared their stories of success, and here’s the best part… We handed out certificates to the recent entrepreneurs who earned a savings account through XacBank for being on schedule with their Kiva loan payments! Click here for more information about XacBank’s Kiva-related savings product.

Loan officers and branch staff training

At each of the branch offices, the Kiva Coordinator and I refreshed the loan officers about Kiva processes and answered their questions. We played a game involving the circular order of the Kiva loan process, and handed out candy to the team who had the most correct answer. The trainings answered more in-depth questions that the loan officers and branch directors had that they weren’t able to ask before our visit.

In both Bayankhongor and Uvurkhangai, I interviewed specific Kiva entrepreneurs who were part of the borrower verification process, plus a few more. I was checking to make sure that the information listed on the Kiva website is true. I asked them very in depth questions about their businesses, checked their repayment schedules and inquired as to if they knew they were on the Kiva website. Feel free to read journal updates for two of the entrepreneurs, Chimed and Munhchimeg, whom I met on this trip.

In addition to our Kiva duties, we still found time to see interesting sights on our countryside trip. In Uvurkhangai, we visited the Horse Monument, and in Bayankhongor, we visited the natural hot springs and the dinosaur park! The XacBank staff in the countryside was so welcoming and accommodating during our visit. I’m always pleasantly surprised at the kind hospitality that is shown to guests in this country.

Bayankhongor Hot Springs

Bayankhongor Dinosaur Park

Uvurkhangai Horse Monument

All of these fun and interesting activities happened within just four days of each other. There’s such a variety of activities within a Kiva Fellowship. If you think that any of the activities that I explained above sound interesting – the interviews, trade fairs, trainings –  I’d like to encourage you to apply for a Kiva Fellowship!

Stuck on a bridge, surrounded by a herd of sheep

—

Amber Barger is currently serving as a Kiva Fellow in Mongolia. She has lived for the past two years in rural Mongolia as a community economic development Peace Corps Volunteer. Along with her Kiva Fellowship, she is extending a third year with the Peace Corps as a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader.

Around the world, Kiva Fellows are celebrating the start of 2011 in all sorts of different ways. Here’s what some KF13-ers are doing to ring in the New Year.

Enjoy and Happy 2011!

Ellen Willems, Ecuador

Ecuadorians, as I was told, celebrate the coming of the New Year, and more importantly the going of the “Old Year” by making “monigotes”. These are dolls made of old clothes, stuffed with newspapers or sawdust and sometimes with fireworks as well. They have masks made of papier maché. The monigotes represent the “Viejo” or Old Year and all the bad things that happened during that year. On New Year’s Eve these monigotes are burnt in the streets.

New Year’s Eve, as well as Christmas, is a holiday that is mostly celebrated with family. And traditionally all the family members work together to make the monigotes. In San José de Chimbo, the small mountain village where I am currently living, a judge, accompanied by the local band, goes around town to look at all the monigotes and to select the three most original ones.

Cooperativa San José will close its doors early on Friday and kick off the New Year’s Eve festivities with an office party and its own monigote. I am sure that for me 2011 will start with a Big Bang because San José de Chimbo is known throughout the area as a mayor fireworks producer!

Ellen with monigotes at Cooperativa San José

Betsy McCormick, Colombia

Two fun Colombian traditions to speak of:

1. People in Medellin wear yellow underwear on New Year’s Eve because it’s supposed to bring good luck.

2. At midnight, people run around the block toting empty suitcases behind them. This is supposed to bring travel in the new year.

Abhishek Banerjee, Armenia

New Year’s Eve, similar to Christmas, is a holiday celebrated mostly with family. I have been told that generally, families get together for NYE to eat and drink. However, after midnight, many families then leave home and go visit their friends and neighbors, eat and drink some more and occasionally burst into dance. As a country that stays up into the late hours of the night quite often, this doesn’t surprise me.

On a side note, Armenians follow the Gregorian calendar and their Christmas falls on the 6th of January. As a result, 30th Dec – 10th Jan is basically the time off for all offices and banks. SEF will also be closed till the 10th of Jan.

Personally, I am taking this long break as an excuse to fly out to Europe and ring in the new year with some old friends!

Julie Shea, Bolivia

Bolivians typically eat New Years Eve dinner with their families, after which the young people head off to parties with their friends. At midnight they eat 12 grapes each, presumably to represent each month of the coming year. Echoing the Colombian traditions (above), many people will walk around the block with a suitcase, which is supposed to bring travel in the new year. The women wear red underwear if they want love in the new year, yellow underwear for money. At 6AM when the parties are ending, everyone goes out for Fricasé, a traditional pork dish.

Tara Capsuto, Kenya

Christmas and New Years is a time when many Nairobians pack into overcrowded taxi-vans and buses and head home to their villages – where they have their ancestral roots — to celebrate the festive season with family and friends.  Rising urbanization, especially over the last 30 years spawned the tradition of going home for the holiday. The capital city, renowned for terrible traffic, literally emptied out by December 24th. For both Christmas and New Years the tradition is to slaughter and roast a goat, which can be bought for 3,000Ksh ($37USD), or selected from the pasture for those families fortunate to have their own shamba (farm in Kiswahili).  I’ll be celebrating New Years in Zanzibar, Tanzania with some new friends!

Nick Hamilton, Dominican Republic

Dominicans celebrate New Year’s Eve in the same way that they celebrate Christmas, which is actually celebrated on Christmas Eve. It’s a time for families to get together and sit around a dinner table feasting on meat, rice, meat and more meat. Once they have seen in the New Year the young at heart will then go out and party until the early hours.

Having spent Christmas with my host family, I actually travelled to a beach resort called Cabarete with some friends and saw in the New Year there. We were a group of Argentinians, Italians, Dominicans and a Brit (that’s me) and so we actually celebrated New Year four different times for each country over a 5 hour period, which was lots of fun!

Amber Barger, Mongolia

Mongolians traditionally ring in the New Year during the last two weeks of December. Each evening, different organizations hold their annual New Year’s parties to celebrate achievements during the past year and to create a sense of motivation and community for the next year. Christmas and New Year celebrations are commonly thought to be the same holiday by many Mongolians. At New Year’s parties you’ll find Santa Claus and his scantily-clad snow girls playing silly games. The attendees will be charmed with an intertwining of live singing, dancing, and award –giving. All of this entertainment plus alcoholic beverages and dinner are included in the usual entry fee averaging anywhere from $25-85 USD per party. If you’re involved in many organizations, you’ll be expected to attend multiple New Year’s parties each year. Ladies are sure to wear their glittery dresses and men wear their nice suits or traditional deels.

On the actual New Year’s Eve, though, it’s a family affair, as it’s a common view that if you aren’t home with your family on New Year’s Eve, then you won’t be home for most of the next year. The President of Mongolia normally gives a speech around midnight and the family members gather around the television to watch this.

Santa and his elves

November 26 is a national Mongolian holiday. November 26, 1924 was the day that Mongolia declared itself as an independent country with the adoption of its first constitution. The Mongolian People’s Republic (MPR), a communist state, under the rule of the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP), lasted until 1990.

Although, November 26 is the day that Mongolia turned into an official communist country, it’s still celebrated today as the day Mongolia gained its independence once and for all. Mongolia had been under Chinese rule by varying degrees of force for centuries. When the last dynasty of China, the Manchurian Qing Dynasty, fell in 1911, Bogd Khaan, the Holy King, declared Mongolia’s independence. This, however, wasn’t recognized by the new Chinese government.

Bogd Khaan

After many failed attempts to declare and fight for Mongolian independence, Mongolia turned to Russia for help. In 1915, the Khyagta talks took place between China, Russia, and Mongolia in order to discuss the political status of Mongolia. The Khyagta meetings resulted in the decision to split Outer and Inner Mongolia and give them limited autonomy under Chinese rule.

In 1919, with the distraction of the Russian revolution, the Chinese returned to Mongolia and forcefully occupied the capital city. The Mongolian government was required to sign a document that forfeited their autonomous status. Once again, Mongolia looked to Russian Bolsheviks for assistance. The Outer Mongolian Revolution took place in 1921, with the assistance of Soviet troops to overtake Ulaanbaatar from the Chinese. On July 11, 1921, the People’s Government of Mongolia was declared with China’s defeat. From 1921 until 1924, Mongolia worked to establish a new government and finalized this with its constitution on November 26, 1924.

As I was researching this blog post and asking my Mongolian friends the history of this holiday, I found that many of them weren’t sure of the history, themselves. Many of them thought of Mongolian Independence Day as a day off from work to be with their families and friends. I had to ask quite a few people and search through many articles on the Internet to piece together this short history piece.

—

Lend to an entrepreneur in Mongolia.

Amber Barger is currently serving as a Kiva Fellow in Mongolia. She has lived for the past two years in rural Mongolia as a community economic development Peace Corps Volunteer. Along with her Kiva Fellowship, she is extending a third year with the Peace Corps as a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader.

Mongolia is known for its vast amount of open space and beautiful scenery. The population density of Mongolia is just over 1 person per square kilometer. In this post, I’ll share photos from the most rural of businesses to the most urban.

The term “countryside” can be translated into “khuudoo” in Mongolian language. However, the meaning of the word is slightly different in English and Mongolian. The term khuudoo in Mongolian is relative to where you are from in the country and where you are when you say the word. If you are based in Ulaanbaatar, the capital city, a person usually thinks of anyplace outside of the capital as the khuudoo. If a person lives in a provincial capital, when this person says the word khuudoo, they usually are referring to anything more rural than where they are at the time, like a village or open field.

If a person is based in a village or “soum” and says khuudoo, the person is talking about the vast countryside of open fields. A soum is the Mongolian word for a village of about 3,000-7,000 citizens.

The term khuudoo comes up in conversations about vacations, where a person was born, and general traveling.

PASTURE AREA BUSINESSES – Herders, roadside cafes, and tire repair shops

Herding ger in Omnogovi Province

A herder is the most rural of businesses in Mongolia. The herder lives with his or her family in the open pasture with the family’s herd of animals.

Cafe truck stop in the pasture - Govi-Altai province

Along the roadside, cafes and tire repair shops are housed within gers. Weary travelers can stop to eat a hot meal and repair their busted tires.

SOUM/VILLAGE BUSINESSES:

Hotel in Bat-Ulzii Soum - Outside View

The hotel is located on the second floor with a food store and cafe on the first floor.

Hotel in Bat-Ulzii Soum - Inside view

This hotel, and many in soums, don’t have running water. The guest may use the outhouse down the stairs and in the backyard. To bathe the guest can request a bucket of hot water.

Supermarket in Uuyunga Soum - Outside View

Supermarket in Uuyunga Soum - Inside View

This supermarket has two aisles of food and toiletry items for sale. About 25 % of the goods for sale are varieties of vodka and candy.

Jewelry shop in Bat-Ulzii Soum - Outside View

Jewelry shop in Bat-Ulzii Soum - Inside View

PROVINCIAL CENTER BUSINESSES:

Main road of the market in Arvaikheer, Uvurkhangai province

An outside clothing stall in a metal container - Arvaikheer, Uvurkhangai

Buildings with many small businesses inside - Bayankhongor, Bayankhongor province

Brick houses with a food shop on the bottom floor and apartment on the second floor

A new indoor market in Bayankhongor, Bayankhongor province

ULAANBAATAR SMALL BUSINESSES:

Narantuul Outdoor Market - Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Small shops and taxis on Peace Avenue - Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Meat vendor at an indoor market - Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Roadside fuel vendor in ger district - Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

As you can see from the photos, the small businesses at the provincial capital and country capital levels look a lot alike. There are many cafes, food stores, clothing shops, and small electronics stalls that are run on a micro scale. The small businesses in the countryside and the city are very similar by appearance and how they are managed, in my opinion. In the countryside, the small businesses make up most of the economy. Provincial centers have a small percentage of medium-sized businesses.

In Ulaanbaatar, there are thousands of small family-owned businesses, but also many medium and large businesses. Darkhan and Erdenet are sometimes categorized as cities, but sometimes the khuudoo, depending on the context.

ULAANBAATAR LARGE BUSINESSES:

Nomin State Department Store - Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Louis Vuitton at Central Tower - Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

—

Please lend to an entrepreneur in Mongolia through XacBank and Credit Mongol, LLC.

Amber Barger is currently serving as a Kiva Fellow in Mongolia. She has lived for the past two years in rural Mongolia as a community economic development Peace Corps Volunteer. Along with her Kiva Fellowship, she is extending a third year with the Peace Corps as a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader.

Mongolia is a landlocked country spanning 1,564,116 sq km, slightly smaller than Alaska. It’s situated between Russia and China. The main forms of transportation available from international destinations are flights from Russia, China, Korea, and Japan and the train route from Russia and China. Domestic flights, the train route and transport by road are options within Mongolia.

Small business owners normally don’t have the money to fly to and from Ulaanbaatar, this luxury is usually only attainable for government officials, foreigners, and wealthier urban Mongolians. I checked a website of a domestic air carrier, Eznis, and the cheapest one way flight from Ulaanbaatar to Khovd province is $273 USD! If a person took a public bus from Ulaanbaatar to Khovd province, the trip would take two full days of traveling and cost $40 USD. The distance from Ulaanbaatar to Khovd is about 980 miles.

From my experience interviewing micro and small businesses, I’ve learned that many of the small businesses import their goods from China. Although, some upscale businesses will import goods from Korea, Japan, Russia, or America, possibly from family members living there. Business owners travel to Ereen, a town on the border with China to purchase equipment, materials, and goods needed to run their business. The owners then take the train from Ereen to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. From there, the goods are transferred to a public bus, truck, or van to transport the goods across rural Mongolia. Many loans listed on Kiva.org mention the borrower’s intention to purchase goods from Ereen, China.

In order to transport goods on the train line from Ereen to Ulaanbaatar, it costs about $15 USD per 200 pounds. Enkhtuya, a Kiva borrower I interviewed, owns a hardware store in Ulaanbaatar. She said that about every five weeks she travels to Ereen to buy supplies and on each trip she spends about $100 USD to transport the goods. My experience living in Arvaikheer, Uvurkhangai was similar, some of the small entrepreneurs I worked with traveled to Ereen about every six weeks to buy supplies for their business.

The micro businesses had less than five employees, and sometimes only a couple of family members working together. The owner of the business normally travels to pick up the supplies so that he or she can make the selection of products available to sell to customers or for expensive equipment upgrades. If it’s a family-run business, the other family members, possibly teenage children, help out at the shop while the owner is away. Although, sometimes, the micro business does not have enough family members or employees to cover the business’ hours while the owner is away.

I often go to food stores, hardware stores, and fruit stands that are closed when I would expect to find them open. I ask around to the neighboring businesses what time the closed shop will open and where the owner is. Sometimes, the shop keeper is out running errands, but other times, the neighbors respond that the owner is in China buying things. My trips to the store in order to buy apples, for example, usually turn into a Saturday shopping routine of walking all across town to shop after shop and finding many of the stores closed for one reason or another.

The time the owner spends away from his or her business is a lost business opportunity. From Arvaikheer, Uvurhangai, as you can see from the map below, a traveler must take road transportation from there to Ulaanbaatar. Then the traveler takes the train down to Ereen, China and spends a day or two buying goods. The traveler takes the train back up to Ulaanbaatar with the goods, and travels by road back to Arvaikheer. All of this takes at least 4 days roundtrip. Although, Arvaikheer, Uvurhangai is one of the closer provinces to Ulaanbaatar, many small business owners take up to one to two weeks to travel to Ereen and back.

Mongolia Road Infrastructure

As you can see from the infrastructure map above, there aren’t really transportation options between provinces. Most transportation runs to and from Ulaanbaatar, the capital. 94% of the road transportation available is gravel or earth road which makes traveling uncomfortable and lengthy.

Road in the Gobi

Improving the transportation infrastructure in Mongolia would help small entrepreneurs spend less time away from their businesses. It would help with the imports and exports coming in and out of Mongolia, but also across provinces.

–

Please lend to entrepreneurs in Mongolia at XacBank and Credit Mongol, LLC.

Amber Barger is currently serving as a Kiva Fellow in Mongolia. She has lived for the past two years in rural Mongolia as a community economic development Peace Corps Volunteer. Along with her Kiva Fellowship, she is extending a third year with the Peace Corps as a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader.

If you browse Mongolian borrower profiles on Kiva.org, you’ll notice that most of them say that the borrower lives in traditional Mongolian housing named a ger, more commonly known as a yurt. Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to visit borrowers who live in traditional gers and who work in ger-producing workshops. In addition, I have the personal experience of living in a ger for a year as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

Amber Barger, Kiva Fellow, outside a traditional ger

In Mongolia many types of artisan specialties are needed in order to produce the items that make up a ger. Kiva entrepreneurs that produce ger-related items include carpenters, painters, felt-makers, welders, seamstresses, etc. The felt-makers produce the outer coverings of the ger. The welders produce the stoves that sit in the center of the ger. The carpenters produce the skeleton of the ger including wooden lattices, poles, and beams. The carpenters also produce traditional ger furniture like chests, dresser drawers, tables, and stools. The painters turn the carpentry work into beautiful pieces of brightly-colored art. The seamstresses create the inside wall hangings of the ger, plus other decorative items.

I’ve visited several small-scale furniture-producing carpenters and painters. Nasandelger is a painter who buys unfinished wooden ger products from carpenters. She paints wooden items, like chests, poles, chairs, and doors, with the traditional bright orange base color with green, blue, and white accents. Nasandelger said she sells more items in the wedding season of fall and spring than in the winter. In Mongolian tradition, when a couple is married they will buy a ger in order to live together. Check out this short video tour of Nasandelger’s painting workshop that she shares with five carpenters:

When I interview borrowers and ask what their future goals are, many of the borrowers say that they would like to own the land that their ger is built on, and then after that they would like to build a brick house on their land. Living in a ger is a lot of work, I know this from experience: fetching water from the well, chopping wood, keeping a fire going for 8-9 months of the year, using an outhouse, bathing in a bucket, etc. Even though some people want the stability of a brick or wooden house on their own private land, these houses, especially in the countryside, are still in the same neighborhood as the gers, which means the houses aren’t connected to central heating lines or running water.

Ger Neighborhood in Bayankhongor, Mongolia

So many borrowers I interview say that their future goal is to move out of a ger, and yet so many small business entrepreneurs are involved in producing ger products. I hope Mongolia can find a balance between its traditional past and likely booming future.

—-

Read a post by a previous Kiva Fellow about Mongolian gers.

Join the Mongolia leading team on Kiva.org!

Amber Barger is currently serving as a Kiva Fellow in Mongolia. She has lived for the past two years in rural Mongolia as a community economic development Peace Corps Volunteer. Along with her Kiva Fellowship, she is extending a third year with the Peace Corps as a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader.

The past five years XacBank, a Kiva field partner, has been providing higher-education loans for university students. The bank has also created a savings account named Future Millionaire, for children under the age of eighteen. More recently, the bank has targeted a younger group of students, as young as eight years old, to provide personal finance and social education. XacBank is currently implementing two youth financial education programs – Aflatoun and Aspire.

The Aflatoun program at XacBank is based on materials provided from the Aflatoun international program. The motto of Aflatoun is to “Separate fiction from fact. Explore, think, investigate and act.” The program is based upon eight modules which encourage primary and secondary school students to learn by doing through fun games, activities, songs and workbooks. XacBank’s Aflatoun program is just in its pilot stage now, however it has a goal of reaching 8,100 students at 90 schools across Mongolia by 2012. The training of eighteen regional master trainers is finished and the training of teachers nationwide will happen this week in Ulaanbaatar. By October 1^st, the Aflatoun pilot program will be implemented in ten communities across Mongolia.

Aflatoun, the mascot of the program, is an imaginary fireball from outer space

Tэмүүлэл, known as aspiration in English, is the name of the Aspire program in Mongolian. In early 2009, XacBank began collaborating with Women’s World Banking, The Nike Foundation, and Microfinance Opportunities (MFO) to research the behaviors and attitudes of Mongolian girls and families towards financial products and education. The research findings helped to create a financial education program focused specifically on Mongolian girls aged 14-18 in secondary schools and at-risk girls who work in the community. For more information about how this Aspire program was initially researched and developed, feel free to read a very interesting case study written by Women’s World Banking titled, Product Development for Girls: Girls’ Savings and Financial Education.

The goals of the Aspire program are for teenage girls to:

• Understand the importance of savings and consider it desirable
• Learn savings strategies
• Open formal accounts of which they have control
• Develop a savings habit

In order to reach Aspire’s target market, XacBank teamed up with the Mongolian Education Alliance (MEA) and the Equal Step Centre, a non-government organization (NGO) which works with low-income and working children. The eight week financial education program is disbursed by three methods to reach three target groups:

1. Urban girls from ages 14-18 – The MEA trains peer educators from universities to facilitate the training.
2. Rural girls from ages 14-18 – XacBank branch staff deliver the training at secondary schools.
3. Vulnerable girls who have dropped out of school – The Equal Step Centre integrates the Aspire program into their other activities which help at-risk youth.

All three target groups have access to the Aspire savings account that XacBank developed through market research. By July 2010, the Aspire program had reached 117 secondary schools, 4,800 urban and rural teenage girls and 120 vulnerable girls. Also, by that time, XacBank had 3,288 Aspire account holders.

98 percent of the students who evaluated the training reported that their knowledge and skills about bank services had improved. The most popular activities among the girls included: calculating interest, visiting a bank branch, learning how to open a bank account, and budgeting. The participants are now paying more attention to their spending decisions, are more carefully considering what they spend their money on, how often they spend money and the consequences of these costs. The girls reported an increased savings behavior at home, and used the money they saved to make their own purchases (i.e. birthday gifts for friends, mobile phone units) instead of asking their parents for the money.  All respondents said, in post tests, that they were more confident asking questions at a bank and that the bank is a safe place to keep money.

XacBank has been happy with their initial venture into providing financial education for youth. Although, financial education is not XacBank’s primary function, they would like to see it as a sustainable service that they offer. The staff sees how youth financial education fits into the bank’s overall mission, such as increased product uptake, an improved image of the bank, and better service to their clients and future clients.

Please lend to entrepreneurs in Mongolia and read other posts related to education and microfinance on the Kiva Fellows Blog.

—-

Amber Barger is currently serving as a Kiva Fellow in Mongolia. She has lived for the past two years in rural Mongolia as a community economic development Peace Corps Volunteer. Along with her Kiva Fellowship, she is extending a third year with the Peace Corps as a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader.

Mongolians have been practicing the art of transforming milk into dozens of dairy products for hundreds of years. Nowadays, about 40 percent of the workforce is engaged in activities surrounding animal husbandry and products made from livestock. As Kiva’s August food month is coming to an end, here’s some insight into dairy product producers and distributors in Mongolia.

Like countless of other Mongolians living in the countryside Tsevelmaa, a Kiva borrower, owns a herd of animals from which her family makes a living. In the summertime, she produces milk and yogurt from a herd of fifty sheep and eleven cows. Tsevelmaa milks the herd with the help of her sister, mother, and other family members. Each morning, along with her own family’s products, Tsevelmaa gathers dairy products from other herding families to take to the market in her husband’s car. Every day from 7:00-8:00 AM, she sells about 40 liters of milk and 10 liters of yogurt directly to customers from her car parked near the market.

A Mongolian Herder Making Dairy Products*

The goals of the United States Peace Corps and the Kiva Fellows Program fit quite well with each other. Because of this, I’m able to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) and Kiva Fellow at the same time. Both programs promote cross-cultural awareness and capacity building within the given host community. Let’s look at how the volunteer programs relate to each other.

The United States Peace Corps’ mission has three goals:

1. Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.
2. Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
3. Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

The Kiva Fellows Program corresponds with the Peace Corps structure. The Fellows focus on helping to improve the knowledge, capacity, and systems within their assigned Microfinance Institution (MFI). Then, inherently, by working with the Fellow, the MFI staff learns a bit about the culture that the Fellow comes from. The Fellows also create an international awareness on behalf of their host communities by visiting borrowers, posting journal updates, creating borrower press profiles, writing on the Fellows blog, etc. Kiva Fellows can meet the needs of all three of the Peace Corps’ goals.

From my own experience, I’d say that Peace Corps, as a whole, focuses more on culture aspects like learning the local language, integrating into the host community, and living like the local people, than the Kiva Fellowship Program. Peace Corps supports community integration by providing intensive language training, local culture trainings, a living stipend at the same level of locals, and a contract period of 27 months of service. The Peace Corps framework lends itself to integration within the community, and then from developing relationships within the community, the Peace Corps Volunteer can build successful work programs.

The Kiva Fellowship can be a much shorter program, with a minimum of three months of service. In my experience, the Kiva Fellowship Program focuses more on the capacity building of the MFI and implementing a work plan that focuses on creating an international awareness of the host country’s people. The Fellowship Program attracts professionals who have a variety of skills in consulting, microfinance, marketing, photography, non-profit management, investment banking, etc. Each Fellow has a unique set of skills that the program matches with an MFI that needs those specific skills. The Fellowship Program creates a work plan that the Fellow and host MFI follow to meet the goals that Kiva has for that specific MFI. The Fellowship training week mostly focuses on the Fellow’s work plan items and how to do them within the context of Kiva.

If you’re looking for an entry into international development, I’d encourage you to look at both Peace Corps and the Kiva Fellows Program. I often hear a saying that says, “You can’t get a job in international development without a job in international development.” These volunteer programs are great stepping stones into the field. About eight Kiva Fellows have been past Peace Corps Volunteers and I know of a couple of Kiva Fellows who are looking to join the Peace Corps.

I look forward to using my two years of experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer to assist me in my Kiva Fellowship.  Please follow me over the next year as I try to give you a look into Mongolian borrowers, culture and business practices, among other things.

Rural area outside of Uvurkhangai Province, Mongolia

—-

Check out how to apply to be a Kiva Fellow.

Check out more information about Peace Corps International and Peace Corps Mongolia.

If you’re a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, please join the Kiva RPCV lending team.

Amber Barger is currently serving as a Kiva Fellow in Mongolia. She has lived for the past two years in rural Mongolia as a community economic development Peace Corps Volunteer. She is also extending a third year with the Peace Corps as a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader.

“What is microfinance?” I’ve been asked this question a lot during my time as a Kiva Fellow. I used to answer by saying “microfinance is extending credit to people who do not have access to the traditional financial system” then remembering Kiva Fellows training I would add, “but not just credit, it’s providing other financial services, too.”

I think because Kiva is a lending platform and the field partner I primarily work with in Mongolia, Credit Mongol, is exclusively a lending institution*, it’s easy to forget about the “other” part of the equation. So I was very interested to learn about a program at XacBank, Kiva’s other field partner here, that is using funds from Kiva to provide more than just credit. Since August 2009, XacBank has provided Kiva borrowers with savings accounts when their Kiva loans have been repaid. To start the borrowers-turned-savers off XacBank returns 9% of the interest a borrower pays over the course of his or her loan.

Offering the poor a safe, liquid option for savings can be as valuable as providing credit. Savings can protect against interruptions in income caused by, for example, the loss of a job or illness. Providing a secure location for deposits can also remove the temptation to spend frivolously (see a great article on this topic by Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times). Deposits are also beneficial for the sustainability of the lending institution because they are a source of capital.

Savings programs are actually commonly called the forgotten half of microfinance. Due to the high administrative costs of accepting small deposits most banks have been unable to offer this service. Unlike microcredit, which is often funded by donor aid and organizations such as Kiva, there haven’t been many organizations committed to funding savings programs.

XacBank began offering the savings account program for Kiva borrowers when they were looking for a way to share the benefit of Kiva’s 0% interest capital. Since Kiva loans are usually pre-funded from the bank’s source of capital and there isn’t a guarantee they will be funded on the Kiva website, XacBank can’t offer a lower interest rate to Kiva borrowers and instead decided that returning interest in the form of savings accounts would be the best way to contribute to Kiva and XacBank’s common goal of alleviating poverty.

The greatest challenge in implementing the savings program has been extending it to all Kiva borrowers. XacBank can only afford to offer the program to borrowers who repay their loans as scheduled. 55% of borrowers are ineligible because they repay early. However, of borrowers who do receive accounts, Xacbank has found that so far they have all kept their accounts open and some clients have even started making small deposits.

I’m getting better at explaining that microfinance is about more than just lending. For me the best reminders are these press releases from XacBank describing proud Kiva borrowers receiving their account passbooks. XacBank translated these press releases into English to share them with Kiva lenders.

XacBank branch in Arhangay province started opening savings accounts for its Kiva borrowers

January 29, 2010. Branch staff informed our clients of this happy news via phone. Microentrepreneurs all were very happy no matter if they received 1000MNT or 10,000 MNT in their savings account. Mongolians are very superstitious. The day we organized the event to hand them a savings book was a special day in the Buddhist calendar that wealth is increased a lot if someone has wealth on this day. One of XacBank’s repeat clients Ms. Davaadorj wore her best traditional dress because she respects this event and her understanding was that she was getting a benefit from an international organization. She was very proud of herself for becoming a Kiva borrower. All microentrepreneurs who received Kiva benefits through savings accounts expressed their gratitude to both Kiva Microfunds and its lenders and also to Munhmandah and her colleague Ms. Botagoz who are working on this project. In this picture: Kiva borrower and Micro Entrepreneur Davaadorj C., branch manager Galya Ch. along with branch staff.

Motto: Let’s take the Kiva loan. Let’s pay it back on time. Let’s get the benefit from it.

April 30, 2010. Invitation to the Kiva event in Uvurhangay province was distributed to XacBank’s micro entrepreneur clients. The event was held on the following day. Best performing micro borrowers were awarded a Kiva savings passbook with total amount of MNT 418,000. At the event XacBank promoted its microfinance services and products to participants. Furthermore, XacBank’s success stories and microclient successes were presented during the meeting. There was high satisfaction shown on our borrowers’ faces.

* I don’t want to imply that Credit Mongol has forgotten about the importance of savings in microfinance. As a non-bank financial institution they are prohibited from accepting deposits.

Kevin Henderson is serving in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia as a member of Kiva Fellows 11th Class

You can lend to a borrower in Mongolia here!

When I found out I was going to Mongolia this summer as a Kiva Fellow, I thought I’d probably have a tough time catching much of the World Cup. It hasn’t been the case at all. Like many Kiva Fellows, I’ve found the World Cup really is a global event. With a few exceptions it seems like there are celebrations just about everywhere.

In Mongolia there’s a lot of enthusiasm for the World Cup. The contestants on Universe Best Song (the Mongolian equivalent of American Idol) have even recorded a Mongolian version of the song “Waving Flag.” Here in Ulaanbaatar, the capital city, Irish pubs are a popular concept, and are the best place to see a game. At the Grand Khan, the largest Irish pub, there’s a Coca-Cola-sponsored tent called “Cup Land” where locals and expats watch the games and enjoy popular Asian beer Tiger and local beers like Chinggis.   Hot dogs and French fries are on the menu along with local favorites such as khuushuur – a type of fried pastry filled with mutton.

Most Mongolians are supporters of Germany, a relationship that goes back to the Communist days. About 30,000 Mongolians speak some German and many of the elite class are still educated there. At a lot games it’s been difficult to discern allegiances apart from small groups of expats working here with NGOs or in the mining sector, but there’s always been a good turnout. There was a small but dedicated group of self-described “Mozzies” (Mongolians who have studied in Australia) at the Australia games and the African teams were all popular.

I asked the Kiva coordinator here at Credit Mongol why the World Cup is so popular and she explained that 10 years ago most Mongolians didn’t know anything about it. Recently though playing soccer has become more popular (a national program began in the late 1990s) and the World Cup is conveniently at a time when people take summer vacations, so it’s really about taking a break from work and spending time together with friends.

Watching the game on the public TV along Peace Avenue in central UB

The Cup Land tent at the Grand Khan Irish pub

I checked in with other Kiva Fellows out in the field to see how they’re enjoying the World Cup. Here are some updates I received during the past week:

From Austin in Rwanda:

If I can generalize, Rwandans are for the most part a reserved group.  However, when the World Cup is on, this general characteristic no longer applies.  The excitement for the game is partly fueled by the fact an African country is hosting the Cup and by large bottles of Primus beer.  Rwandans mainly seem to support any African team that is playing.  When the Ivory Coast was tied with Portugal, bars were packed with people hungering for an Ivory Coast goal. When South Africa beat France, you could hear the roars of celebration all through downtown Kigali.

The staple dish for the matches is brochettes, or skewered goat meat, with potatoes or plantains.  These are often accompanied by Rwandan beers Primus and Mutzig.  If you are in the rural area, you can also get local beer made from sorghum or bananas.  All of it makes for a lively event, especially when there is an African goal.

Goat Brochettes

Rwandan Spectators

From Sally in Mexico:

(Written prior to Mexico’s elimination)

Mexico City is one of six cities outside of South Africa designated as a FIFA FanFest site. The giant Zócalo (main plaza) in the centre of the city has been taken over with giant screens broadcasting all of the games live. I saw Mexico’s first game against South Africa in the Zócalo, although I was almost denied entry by security when my trusty Kiva Fellows metal water bottle was deemed a dangerous weapon. Fortunately Kiva Green is very similar to the green of Mexico’s traditional uniform, and I managed to convince them that my bottle was essential to support the ‘Aztec selection’. The game ended in a draw, and my Mexican friends went straight from the Zócalo to the adjacent cathedral to pray for a win in game two.

Their prayers were answered with an impressive win against France. Celebrations throughout the republic lasted long into the night.

The head office of CrediComún, one of Kiva’s field partners in Mexico, is located two blocks from El Angel de la Independencia (the Angel of Independence), a striking monument where fans go to celebrate sporting triumphs. On my way to work last Tuesday morning there were an equal number of police and TV crews setting up, in preparation for a Mexican win. Sadly Mexico lost to Uruguay, and I didn’t get to see an exuberant celebration at the Angel. At least Mexico made it through to the second round, which is more than I can say for my home team, Australia.

It is impossible to ignore the World Cup here in Mexico. The games are broadcast at bars and restaurants, at taco stands and in taxis. A TV is essential to avoid losing customers during a big game. Aside from stimulating the sales of both LCD and portable TVs, the World Cup is also a boon for street vendors who have invested in all sorts of merchandise to support the Mexican team. Flags, jerseys, balls, face paint, trumpets, hats, tiaras, even false eyelashes in the Mexican team colours.

I have heard from loan officers that some of their clients are asking to push back their weekly meetings times if they coincide with an important game. The time difference means most games are broadcast at 9.00am or 1.30pm, and in Mexico City many breakfast and lunch meetings are strategically scheduled around the games. I wonder if productivity during the World Cup has dropped more in the Americas, where games are broadcast during the workday, or in the Asia-Pacific, where sleepless fans stay up through the night. Or does the economic stimulus of World Cup activity make up for a few less hours in the office?

From Alexis in Bolivia:

(Written prior to the USA’s elimination)

Bolivia may not have a team in the World Cup but that does not stop them from enjoying the games.  World Cup fever has infected everyone, even this American (who is really a baseball fan at heart). The municipality of La Paz set up a big-screen TV on the plaza near the main thoroughfare of the city so residents can watch the games.  This TV is right by my apartment, which has its advantages and disadvantages (I can’t even count how many times a day I hear the “waving flag” and Shakira songs in both Spanish and English). Every bar, restaurant, and café is broadcasting world cup games and offering some sort of world cup special.  My office even brought in a TV to watch the games.  Let’s face it: there’s always time to check in on the score of a game (especially when a team gets a goal).  So, since there is no Bolivia team who are the people rooting for? Well, most people I’ve talked to are rooting for Brazil and Argentina.  Personally, I am rooting for the U.S.A.

The Brazil-Portugal game on the big-screen tv on the plaza.

From Leah in Togo:

As is true almost everywhere in Africa, the World Cup – “La Coupe du Monde,” or simply, “Le Mondiale” – is a big deal in Togo. Here at WAGES (Women and Associations for Gain both Economic and Social), one of Kiva’s Togolese field partners, staff are using the World Cup as a means to reach out and expand their current client base. Below you can see the cool new “Calendrier du Mondial 2010” – World Cup Calendar 2010. These calendars were printed up and handed out to thousands of WAGES clients as a “thank you” for working with the organization, and a way to attract potential new clients. This just goes to show how important the World Cup is here; its impact infiltrates even a microfinance institution’s client outreach strategy.

“This program is offered to you by WAGES”

From Cheney in Sri Lanka:

(Written prior to England’s elimination)

Upon entering any restaurant or bar showing World Cup matches here in Sri Lanka, one instantly recognizes who the favorite team is here. Any guesses which team it might be? If you’re picturing a large white flag with a red cross, you’ve got it ‘right on the button!’ (Extra points if you pictured the Queen).

Though Sri Lanka gained their independence from England in 1948, the presence of the English here is still very much felt today. The largest expat community in Colombo is the English, who fill a large proportion of NGO positions, in addition to a strong presence with their High Commission. In my conversations both with the Sri Lankans and with the English, I sense that the “suddhas” (as the English are sometimes referred to colloquially) are welcomed here. There is also a big Sri Lankan diaspora living in England, many of whom have returned after the Tsunami in 2004 to help rebuild the country. As a result, chants of “EEN-GUH-LAANDD, EEN-GUH-LAAND, COME ON ENGLAND!!!” can be heard throughout the capital city during a match.

Sri Lanka was ousted from qualifying for this year’s world cup in the very beginning stages, losing 6-0 to Qatar. Sri Lanka’s national team ranks 159th out of 202 nations. They have never qualified for a World Cup.

From Kati in Chile:

The hope was that at the time of this posting, Chile would have advanced to the World Cup quarter finals.  After beating Honduras and Switzerland in the first two games, hopes were high that Chile could triumph over Spain (the favorite) last Friday.  Like most schools, businesses, and other organizations in Santiago, Fondo Esperanza closed its doors at midday on Friday so that everyone could watch the game.  Unfortunately, when Roja met Roja (traditionally, both the Spanish and the Chilean teams sport red jerseys), the red Europeans won.  Nevertheless, Chile had scored enough points in the previous games to advance to the next round, so there were great celebrations in the streets.  Conveniently on Monday, when Chile was slotted to play against Brazil, there was a national holiday, officially Día de San Pedro y San Pablo (recognizing Sts. Peter and Paul and celebrating fishing traditions in Chile), and unofficially the day Chile was supposed to make fútbol history (not having advanced this far since 1962, when they placed third overall).  Everyone watched the game at home with family, which was ultimately a good thing because it meant that everyone had a familiar shoulder to cry on as Chile succumbed 0-3 to Brazil.

Today, as everyone takes off their “joker” hats and gets back to work, feels a bit like the day after a Christmas when you didn’t get all the presents you asked for.  Chileans certainly would have liked to see their team come home with that big gold trophy, but they won’t hold a grudge against Brazil for too long – after all, World Cup 2014 is in Brazil, and Chileans are already pricing their tickets and looking for places to stay.

Kati (leaping in back) celebrating with MFI staff

Unfortunately not all Kiva Fellows have been able to enjoy the World Cup:

From Eva in Kyrgyzstan:

If you want to seriously escape the excitement of the World Cup, head to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. As an Argentinean fan you can imagine how hard this is for me. I have seen it all: bars charging three dollars to watch the match, no TV channels even showing the game, then finding one channel showing the game but then immediately freezing. I asked countless waiters if they could change the channel from a music video to the World Cup, I witnessed the game disappearing from the screen after half time, and I even ran a kilometer frantically peeking my head into every bar until finally finding an American bar where I was able to catch the last five minutes of the Argentina-Nigeria game.

There are gaming centers in Kyrgyzstan that luckily have large screen TVs with hundreds of channels. The most delightful experience was when I walked into one of these to watch the Swiss-Chile game. When I walked in, I noticed that some kids were sitting on couches with two different flat screens depicting people playing soccer. Naturally, I was relieved to see that other people were already watching the game. They seemed excited. As I approached to take a seat alongside them I realized that they weren’t watching the game at all, they were playing Fifa Soccer—the videogame!! Clearly, this group of young men was interested in soccer, just not in the most important tournament in the world.

Thanks to Kiva Fellows Austin, Sally, Alexis, Leah, Cheney, Kati and Eva for your contributions. The World Cup really does connect people from all over the world…and so does Kiva! In the spirit of the World Cup, how about making a loan?

Kevin Henderson is serving in Ulaanbaatar,Mongolia as a member of Kiva Fellows 11th Class

On Tuesday evening the atmosphere in Ulaanbaatar felt festive. It was Women and Children’s Day, offices had been closed all day and the weather had been sunny and unusually warm, reaching a high of 30 degrees Celsius.  Even at 10pm, the streets were full of people chatting and strolling about.

It seemed like everyone was in a good mood, but I knew that many Mongolians, particularly those outside of the capital city, were likely not feeling very carefree. I’d just arrived back in the city after using the holiday weekend to travel to the countryside and see some of the spectacular scenery for which Mongolia is renowned. The vast steppes took my breath away. So did valleys full of decaying animal carcasses.

Earlier this year, the previous Kiva Fellow in Mongolia, Beth, wrote here about the summer drought followed by a harsh winter that was causing devastation for Mongolia’s herders. Several months later, the effects of the “dzud” as this weather pattern is called are even worse than expected. 8 million head of livestock, about 17% of the country’s total, have frozen or starved to death and the count is rising.

In an earlier post, I described Mongolia as a rapidly industrializing country, but herders still make up about 30% of the total population of 2.7 million. This winter some of these herders have lost their entire herds. Many of them are also burdened by debt incurred when they purchased emergency feed. Without any other economic opportunities in their remote provinces they are now completely destitute.

The International Red Cross and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) are two aid organizations that have responded to this crisis. The Red Cross is providing food and clothing as well as psychological support and health education. The UNDP has implemented a $1.5 million cash-for-work program that pays herders to properly bury carcasses.

Some people in Mongolia feel the international media have overlooked the dzud crisis, so I was pleased to see a detailed report two weeks ago in the New York Times (this is the source of the unlinked statistics above). The article and video point out that climate change, overgrazing, overpopulation of livestock and the general sustainability of the herder lifestyle are issues that are being examined.

Fortunately, Kiva’s field partners in Mongolia, Xacbank and Credit Mongol, haven’t seen their loan portfolios affected too severely.

Xacbank began slowly restricting loans to herders three years ago because it feared a dzud. In rural areas, businesses that herders patronize, such as grocery stores, are struggling. In Ulaanbaatar, many of the students come from the countryside and because their parents can’t send money, delinquencies are rising for businesses such as stationary shops and cafes.

Credit Mongol hasn’t experienced too much of an impact because it only has two branches in the countryside.  Most of its clients in urban areas have been able to make repayments on time.

For now donor aid to help meet basic needs is most appropriate for individuals from the hardest hit areas. However lending to all Mongolian borrowers can help to create further economic activity and opportunities for employment, which is what the 20,000 herders expected to permanently move their gers to the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar this summer are desperately seeking.

A traditional Mongolian ger used by herders

Gers in rural Arkhangai province

Gers dot the hillside around Ulaanbaatar

You can lend to a borrower in Mongolia here. Please join the Mongolia lending team here.

Kevin Henderson is serving in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia as a member of Kiva Fellows 11th class.

Last week, Credit Mongol, one of Kiva’s two field partners in Mongolia, honored its top 50 clients at an annual appreciation event. The busy agenda included a presentation by Credit Mongol’s management team, a business education lecture and an awards ceremony. I was fortunate to attend this year’s event and gain a more informed perspective on Credit Mongol’s clients and its business.

Credit Mongol staff and their top 50 clients of the year

The criteria for a client to make the top 50 included creating a stable, growing business and, most importantly, making timely and complete loan repayments. Most of the honorees were longtime clients, although they were not necessarily representative of the largest loans in Credit Mongol’s portfolio. Since Credit Mongol is not exclusively a micro lender, the guests also included representatives of small and medium sized enterprises.  25 clients of the top 50 were microfinance clients.

Clients that sold products were encouraged to set up displays. Below are the products of a boot maker and a maker of traditional Mongolian wares.

The afternoon began with a presentation by Naranbaatar, Credit Mongol’s Chief Operational Officer. The audience listened carefully to his description of the organization’s performance and strategic direction (in this picture Naranbaatar was talking about Kiva!).

Naranbaatar’s presentation was followed by a dynamic lecture from a noted Mongolian business educator. This energetic woman told the clients how valuable they were to Credit Mongol and spoke among other things about the importance of creating a mission statement for a business. Despite creating successful businesses, most of the clients have never had a formal business education. This session ended on a very relaxed note. Everyone gave each other shoulder massages.

After a dinner that included suutei tsai (salty milk tea), a popular drink that I think I’ve developed a taste for, award plaques were presented to the best of the best. Triumphant sounding music played as the winners proudly came forward to accept their awards from Credit Mongol’s management team. Awards were presented to the favorite clients from each branch.

As a new field partner still in pilot stage, Credit Mongol hasn’t had many Kiva borrowers and this year there weren’t any among the top 50, but I’m told that next year that may change.

This occasion was well deserved by the clients and offered them a great networking opportunity to strengthen their businesses. The clients and staff alike enjoyed themselves and even danced together as the evening ended. Events like this are also an important marketing tool for Credit Mongol. Retaining good customers with growing businesses strengthens the loan portfolio, attracting financing and enabling further lending.

You can fund a Credit Mongol borrower here and fund more borrowers in Mongolia here! Please join the Friends of Credit Mongol lending team here!

Kevin Henderson is a member of Kiva Fellows 11^th class and is serving with Credit Mongol in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

I’ve been in Mongolia’s capital city, Ulaanbaatar, for over a week and I’m quickly learning many things about a place that I previously knew very little about: the food is quite tasty – there are even vegetarian cafes that can provide a good break from the typical meat-rich diet – English is spoken by fewer people than I had hoped and the traffic is a bit intense.  Pedestrians do not have the right of way and the flow of traffic can be unrelenting. Patience when crossing the street – that’s probably the first thing I learned.

Prior to coming to Mongolia and beginning my fellowship with Credit Mongol, one of Kiva’s newest field partners, I thought of Mongolia as a country that was developing quite slowly economically. It turns out that Mongolia’s economy, which historically was dependent on assistance from the Soviet Union and primarily focused on herding and agriculture, is shifting gears in a big way.  Although it has been hit hard by the global economic slow down, one predication is that Mongolia’s GDP could triple in the next decade. And yes, major retailers are poised to take advantage of Mongolians’ increasing prosperity. I was surprised to find that luxury brands such as Armani, Zegna and Louis Vuitton have established stores in central Ulaanbaatar.

The Louis Vuitton store in Ulaanbaatar opened in 2009

Economic growth is being driven primarily by the development of the mining sector. Recently the government signed multibillion-dollar deals with major corporations such as Rio Tinto and China’s state owned wealth fund China Investment Corp. to develop gold, copper and coal deposits among other mineral assets. In a research paper that attracted international headlines, one investment firm popularly termed the economy the “unstoppable Mongolian wolf.”

The development of natural resources is controversial. For now though the influx of foreign capital is going to continue and it is going to affect Kiva borrowers. This is why I believe microfinance and Kiva will continue to be very important.

Despite the potential for significant economic growth, a large portion of the population currently exists near or below the poverty line. The harsh winter has only worsened the situation for many people who have now lost their livestock and are coming to the city in hopes of finding better opportunities. By providing loans to small businesses, like souvenir makers, and enabling Mongolians to fund home construction, Kiva lenders provide financial independence that allows borrowers to engage with their economy on more equal footing.  The souvenir maker, for example, can increase his working capital to prepare to take advantage of his expanding market and continue to pursue his craft as an alternative to taking a job in a mine. Without Kiva, I’m not sure he would have that choice.

Kiva’s vision is “Everyone connected. Everyone empowered.” As Mongolia’s economy takes flight, my hope is that Kiva lenders will make it possible for all Mongolians to reap the benefits.

Lend to a borrower in Mongolia!

Kevin Henderson is serving at Credit Mongol in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia as a member of Kiva Fellows 11^th Class.

Currently on Kiva.org there are almost 100 loans looking for funding for personal housing expenses.  The purchase of a home, and the subsequent improvements, is one of the largest household expenditure items in almost any country.  Because of the high costs associated with home improvements, many Kiva borrowers are successfully borrowing funds in a series of loans, making improvements over time.  For example Jesenia Del Socorro Urbina Jarquin in Nicaragua, is looking to fund her 3^rd home improvement loan.

A typical Mongolian ger

Kiva borrowers have a wide variety of homes – in Central America the homes may have 4 mud walls, a roof and a dirt floor.  In Southeast Asia a home might be on stilts with a thatch roof and walls.  And in Mongolia you find homes called gers, a type of yurt.

About half of all Mongolians live in a ger, a one-room round felt tent traditionally used by nomads.  Gers consist of a wooden internal frame that is covered with a heavy felt blanket, making them easy to set up and take down.  The inside of gers are often decorated with woven wall hangings and the wooden frame is usually painted bright orange.  2 or 3 generations of family typically live in a ger together and life revolves around the central stove, which not only heats the ger but also serves as the kitchen.  Ger etiquette involves women staying to the right of the stove, with men to the left, and the head of the household always sitting at the northern end.  Visitors in a ger should always remember to not linger in the doorway and never to lean on the support frames.

Gers were created to suit the nomadic life and work wonderfully in the countryside, but unfortunately as life on the steppes has become more difficult for nomads, more of them are setting up their gers on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia.  It is estimated now that 90% of Ulaanbaatar is made up of ger districts.  And there are a multitude of problems with the ger districts – one of the largest being the lack of any formal sanitation system.  Many ger district residents dig a pit toilet next to their ger, which contaminates the local water sources.  The World Bank and the IMF have both recognized the problems with the spread of the ger districts in Ulaanbaatar and are working on sanitation and water source solutions.

Ger district in Ulaanbaatar. Photo credit: Robin Edwards

Some good news is that both of Kiva’s Mongolia partners, Credit Mongol and XacBank, are helping to fund loans for Mongolians to move out of the ger districts and build more permanent homes.  XacBank in particular is tackling the housing problem by helping to finance the construction of low-cost apartments.

Beth Ritchey is currently serving as a member of the Kiva Fellows 10th class with Credit Mongol in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia  - make a loan in Mongolia today!

Often on the Kiva website, lenders will see entrepreneurs looking to borrow money to stock their business shelves for an upcoming holiday.  In the United States we see retailers plan for the Christmas shopping season, in Central and South America businesses prepare for Carnaval sales and in Mongolia one of the biggest holidays that small businesses look forward to is Tsagaan Sar, the Lunar New Year.

Tsagaan Sar is celebrated two months after the first new moon following the winter solstice, typically in mid to late February.  The celebration goes on for several days and is centered around honoring relatives and elders.  Mongolians will travel great distances to spend the holiday with family.

Credit Mongol staff celebrating Tsagaan Sar

The main celebration feature of Tsagaan Sar is the great feast.  A full belly during the holiday is said to represent prosperity in the coming months.  Buuz, steamed mutton dumplings, are served in vast quantities, signifying the closing down of the previous year.  Another central part of the meal is a sheep, preferably one with lots of fat, typically served on a large platter in the center of the table.  The sheep and buuz are usually surrounded by plates of dried cheese and cookies stacked in layers of 3, 5 or 7 (lucky numbers).  Airag, fermented mare’s milk, and vodka are also enjoyed in copious amounts.  During the holiday oral histories are passed to younger family members and traditional games are played, including one that involves hiding a piece of silver in a buuz to signify wealth in the coming year.

Mongolian small business owners see an increase in food related, clothing (you have to look good before heading home) and transportation sales in the weeks leading up to Tsagaan Sar.  Tradition holds that when family members and guests visit your home during the holiday small gifts are exchanged by both parties, which means retailers usually see an increase in demand for these as well.  Kiva lenders may see Tsagaan Sar related loans popping up in December and January.

For those of you interested, attached below is a Mongolian music video of sorts depicting several Tsagaan Sar related activities (the eating of buuz, the sharing of airag and the passing of snuff bottles).

Beth Ritchey is currently serving as a member of the Kiva Fellows 10th class with Credit Mongol in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia  - make a loan with Credit Mongol today!

Please give a warm Kiva welcome to our newest partner in Mongolia:  Credit Mongol LLC!  Credit Mongol (CM) is based in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, and is Kiva’s second partner in Mongolia.  Credit Mongol is excited about this new partnership with Kiva and is looking forward to building connections between the Kiva lending community and borrowers in Mongolia!

Credit Mongol Staff

A little bit about Credit Mongol LLC:  its mission is to contribute to the prosperity of Mongols through providing diversified financial services to micro and SME clients and to become the best performing company in micro and SME financing.  CM services 6 aimags (districts) across Mongolia and is using Kiva loans to support borrowers that do not have access to the traditional banking system in Mongolia.

The staff of Credit Mongol is a close community that works hard and plays hard.  Together they celebrated Tsagaan Sar, the traditional lunar New Year, at the office with dancing, singing and lots of food.

Me, losing at arm wrestling to a strong CM loan officer

They honored Women’s Day together with a weekend retreat to the countryside, a day full of team building exercises including tug-of-war, snow soccer and arm wrestling.

And they are excited to begin this new partnership with Kiva.  In the future you can look forward to seeing two main types of loans from Credit Mongol offered on Kiva.org:  Housing Improvement and Entrepreneurial loans.  Credit Mongol has created these two loan products specifically for Kiva, and is using the 0% interest Kiva funds to provide credit access to borrowers that have traditionally been considered too poor and therefore too high risk for loans.

Housing is a major expense in almost every country, and the same holds true here in Mongolia.  The Housing Improvement loans will be used to help fund home building or improvements such as insulation or new roofs, expenses that can take years to save for when a loan is not possible.  The Entrepreneurial loans will be offered to small business owners with lower income levels than Credit Mongol has traditionally served.

Credit Mongol Loan Officers

Credit Mongol would like to extend a big THANK YOU for making it a partner with Kiva!  The loan officers of CM are enthusiastic about the new partnership with Kiva and excited to start posting loans.  The first two loans from Credit Mongol have just been posted – click here to help fund them!

Beth Ritchey is currently serving in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia as a member of Kiva Fellows 10th class.  Make a loan with Kiva partner Credit Mongol today!

Some people don’t like airports/train stations/bus stations but I do. I like those few moments in between where you’ve been, and where you are going. The fact you actually get a chance to reflect. I’m in a queue at the airport. Here are my thoughts.

Sometimes life rushes. Sometimes it goes so fast you don’t have time to check if you’re going in the right direction. Sometimes you see a slower, less comfortable mode of transport and assume it’s going in the wrong direction. Sometimes it’s not.

I guess this blog isn’t specifically Kiva related, but more of an ultimatum, to each and every one of you, to the world as a whole. Let’s stop every once in a while. Let’s reflect. Let’s allow time to consider what is important. Which way we want our world to go.

The thing I like the most about Kiva is that the essence of it has nothing to do with money. To me it is more about connecting people in different parts of the world. It’s the realisation that the fundamental values of human beings are all the same. It’s the fact that someone from New Zealand can care about someone in the Philippines; that someone from New York wants to help people in Mongolia; and that someone from Canada can care about someone living in Rwanda. It shows that a small operation based in San Francisco cares about the world. Let’s keep caring. And let’s keep making sure that we’re moving in the right direction.

“On March 27, 2010, an estimated one billion people around the world came together to call for action on climate change by doing something quite simple—turning off their lights for just one hour—Earth Hour.” Starting at 8:30pm in New Zealand and following the setting sun around the world, Earth Hour asked people to turn off their lights for one hour, adding up to a global 24 hours without lights.  Internationally recognizable monuments like the Eiffel Tower, Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge, even the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Brazil slipped into darkness for an hour on the 27th for the cause.  The excitement and enthusiasm for Earth Hour even made its way to Mongolia!

In Sukhbaatar Square, the heart of the commercial district in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Earth Hour supporters gathered on Saturday night.  The lights highlighting the Parliament Building and the surrounding office buildings were turned off and the crowd lit candles and listened to a local band playing music in the square.

On the following Sunday and Monday an eco-fair was set up in the square.  Gers (yurts) were constructed showing off the newest innovations in nomadic-friendly eco-technology.  Several displays highlighted new and improved stoves (including the GTZ stove mentioned in a previous post).  Other gers exhibited hot water heaters (with a shower!), solar panels, satellite dishes and one even featured a cocoon of reflective insulation – giving the ger a Roswell-style look.  The fair attracted much attention, and many Mongolians came outfitted in their best dells.

So how does this relate back to microfinance?  With an estimated annual GDP per capita of $3,200 and almost 40% of the population living below the poverty line, Mongolians don’t typically have the immediate savings available to purchase these new innovations.  Advanced technologies in stoves and insulation may actually help Mongolians to reduce fuel expenditures in the long run, but they need access to capital to purchase them.  The eco-fair not only attracted Mongolians interested in buying the new products, it also attracted local microfinance banks that were interested in helping to fund loans for the purchases.  Look for micro-loans for solar panels from Kiva partner XacBank later this spring!

Beth Ritchey is currently serving in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia as a member of Kiva Fellows 10th class.  Make a loan with Kiva partner XacBank in Mongolia today!

Yes, it might be the dead of winter in Mongolia, with temperatures hovering around -30 degrees Fahrenheit, but the loan products here have been turning green.  Thanks to the hard work of the Eco Products Team at XacBank in Mongolia, Kiva lenders saw an introduction of 3 new types of personal consumption ‘green loans’ in December 2009:

• Energy Efficient Stoves                                
• Ger (yurt) covers
• Energy efficient fuel

That's not fog! The pollution in Ulaanbaatar

Currently around 60% of the population of Ulaanbaatar (the capital of Mongolia) lives in gers (a yurt-like structure heated by a central stove).  Pollution is a big problem in Ulaanbaatar, especially in the winter when pollution levels increase substantially due to the extra coal and wood burned in the gers to keep warm.  The World Bank estimates that 60% of the pollution in the city during the heating season is attributed to coal burned in the Ger Districts*.
XacBank recognized this problem and its connection with poverty.  Most families spend up to 40% of their incomes, roughly a $140 per month, in the winter time on heating fuel alone.  This money most often comes from cuts in nutrition and health budgets*.  To address this relationship between pollution and poverty, XacBank started offering new loans to make eco products financially accessible to the residents of the Ger Districts.  XacBank currently offers 3 types of green loans for personal consumption:  energy efficient stoves, ger covers and energy efficient fuel.

Energy efficient stove

The energy efficient stoves were developed and tested by GTZ, an international enterprise for sustainable development run by the German Government.  The stoves are lined with a type of brick similar to that found in a pottery kiln and are designed to circulate and retain heat for longer periods than traditional stoves.  This in turn reduces fuel consumption by more than 60% each month and helps to reduce a family’s air pollution.

Ger blanket

Ger covers are essentially large insulating blankets composed of three separate layers that wrap the entire outside of the ger. The specialized insulation helps to keep heat within the ger and results in a 50% reduction in fuel burned each month.  The Ger covering was designed by the United Nations Development Program, but is produced locally in Mongolia.  As an additional note, XacBank provided start-up loans to local producers to increase production of both the stove and the ger cover.

Energy efficient fuel - sawdust briquettes

The third XacBank Eco loan is for energy efficient fuel.  Borrowers can obtain a loan to buy fuel from producers who create efficient fuels from things like compacted sawdust and gasified coal. The efficient fuels are more expensive than traditional fuels but they have less of a negative impact on the environment by burning longer and producing less carbon output.  Overall, the price difference between clean fuels and brown coal is made up through clients using less fuel to achieve the same heating results.

The majority of XacBank’s green loans are posted in the fall, as Mongolians prepare their gers for winter and stock up on fuel.  To date, XacBank has posted 22 green loans on Kiva and plans to do more in the future, so keep an eye out for new eco-loans coming soon!  In the meantime you can also check out XacBank’s carbon partnership with yurtcozy which is helping to make the program sustainable.

*Energy Efficient and Cleaner Heating in Poor, Peri-urban Areas of Ulaanbaatar, World Bank Consultant Summary Report on Activities, October 2008

Beth Ritchey is currently serving in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia as a member of Kiva Fellows 10th class.  Make a loan on Kiva today!

I am convinced that my borrower videos have been lost in the abyss which is the Kiva journal tab (it currently has 5224 unsearchable pages), so I had to find another platform for their airing. I.e., here!

Posting a video journal entry takes a considerable amount of work, and I thought I would lay the process out here so they will be more appreciated

(I have also inserted one of my video journals here rather than below to pique your interest, so please click the “read more” button after you’re done watching!)

Gantuya Narmandah

1) Finding a translator
Unlike Kiva fellows who are placed in countries where they know the local language, I do not know how to speak Mongolian… even though locals frequently speak it to me. (Apparently I look Mongolian…) Hence finding a translator is necessary, especially since the Kiva coordinator here is too busy to visit borrowers with me. It took me awhile to find translators who would work for free, but finally on my 3rd week here, by acquaintances of friends of friends, as well as XacBank’s HR department, I managed to find… THREE translators!

My translators are quite an odd mix. One came in 6th for Ms. Mongolia last year, and was a catalog model for Gobi Cashmere (THE premier brand of cashmere in Mongolia); another was a former tour guide who has a ton of expat friends; and the last one is a university kid who is purportedly quite wealthy – he managed to get out of mandatory national military service through a combination of bribery and connections.

2) Coordinating logistics
The first is making sure one translator is free, then asking when one of XacBank’s branches can spare a loan officer and car to come visit borrowers with me (a rather infrequent event). A car is a precious commodity as branches only have one car each, and use it heavily for their day-to-day operations – loan officers constantly need to visit borrowers in the field to verify their information for the loan approval process.

The problem is that working with free labor (aside from Kiva Fellows) has its perils, and all 3 of my translators have been flakey at some point. One dropped out within a week, another bailed out on me 3 hours before we were going to visit borrowers, and another is frequently late. On days when they cancel on me, I have to cancel with the branch, and incur their ire.

3) Journey to the borrowers
Travelling to visit borrowers is always an experience, especially when I’m going to their homes. (Many of them work from home, especially those which make products for sale – think gloves, boots, crafts, etc.) All borrowers I’ve visited live in ger districts, which are basically districts surrounding downtown Ulaanbaatar, composed of a haphazard mass of wooden fences, within which you can find a ger or two, and sometimes a house. Most gers burn coal in their stove to keep warm, as a result, pollution in Ulaanbaatar is absolutely awful in the winter. (In addition to being the coldest capital in the world, UB is also the most polluted one.)

Ger districts don’t have proper roads (let alone addresses), and borrowers frequently draw makeshift maps to let the MFI know where they are located. Sometimes we spend more than 1 hour in the car, circling the same few roads, trying to find a particular borrower.

The terrain in ger districts is also rather varied. Travelling on dirt roads aside, I have been driven over a frozen river bed, a bumpy field that is used to grow crops in the summer, and precarious hill slopes.

On the road
(Music credit: Jenny M)

4) Interviewing borrowers
Interviewing the borrower is the easiest part. Some words are lost in translation, and the quality of translation and the answers I’m getting often depends on how hard my translator feels like working that day – but for the most part, this runs smoothly. 9 out of 10 times we also get to drink Suu-Tei Tsai (Mongolian milk tea which has salt and butter in it), and on occasion get to snack on Battsog (something like donuts, but in a rectangular shape).

5) Subtitling the video
Once the interview is done, and footage shot, I get a translator to come to headquarters and help me subtitle it. This basically consists of me and him/her sitting in front of my laptop, pressing rewind/play multiple times on Windows Movie Maker, and typing in each spoken line.

6) Editing
After subtitling, the translator leaves, and then I edit the video – this isn’t hard at all, if not for the fact that Windows Movie Maker frequently crashes on me, and now won’t start at all. Am currently using the trial (read: free) version of CyberLink PowerDirector. Will invest in a Mac and FinalCut going forward…

7) Posting
Posting is the easiest part of the process, but also takes time due to large file sizes, the erratic nature of the Internet here, and occasionally some malfunction with the Kiva website. Therefore it is only after the journal is posted, that a sigh of relief and accomplishment can be made.

Now, after all that, won’t you give journal entries more love?

——————–

More video journal entries (click on the pictures which will take you to their borrower profile which have journals at the bottom of the pages!)