In the U.S., there is a great deal of concern about hidden fees from financial service providers. “Read the fine print!” we are warned, because this is where fees and special conditions hide.

In a small village in Antique Province in the Philippines, I witnessed an entirely different approach. I accompanied staff from Ahon sa Hirap (ASHI) for the training of a new member. Potential borrowers are required to attend several days of training on interest rates, the different types and levels of loans, and the mechanics of group lending in order to be accepted as an ASHI member.

While only one woman was new, her entire group attended the training session. This is required by ASHI in order to reinforce the solidarity of the group and to help members refresh their knowledge. Not that they needed refreshing—the current members were quick to provide even the most minute details on ASHI loans.

The Development Officer used stories, quizzes and repetition to ensure that each concept was well understood. My favorite part was the use of props (rice as money, small purses as savings accounts) to demonstrate the loan process. While it’s important to “read the fine print,” it doesn’t really sink in until you’re counting out handfuls of rice to represent your principal, interest, savings and insurance contributions. Imagine a credit card company doing this!

I don't think he gets it

Casey Koppelson is a Roaming Kiva Fellow focusing on Social Performance in the Philippines.

Was I ever solb last Friday…

I tagged along with staff from Ahon sa Hirap (ASHI) to visit 21 centers in Antique Province in the Philippines. ASHI members meet at centers every week to make payments, apply for new loans and discuss any issues with an ASHI Development Officer. The centers are also a place for members to cook together, plan special activities and lend each other financial and emotional support.

Every year ASHI holds competitions for the Best Center Hall, in which the most organized, most unified and most structurally sound centers win special recognition from ASHI.

For the judging day, we piled into a jeepney and hit the road early, in order to hit all 21 centers before nightfall.

I had been advised beforehand to get a good night’s sleep and to eat a light breakfast, because every center would prepare food and refreshments for us.

A staff member "judges" the sweet potatoes

The centers did not disappoint. That’s 21 meals, folks!

At each stop, ASHI staff introduced themselves and the center chief spoke about the center hall. On more than one occasion, I was asked to give an impromptu speech to the members. This was only a little bit terrifying:

I loved seeing the special touches that each group gave to their center. Some had started gardens with vegetables and medicinal herbs, others had built playgrounds and indoor toilets.

All of the Antique members were incredibly warm, outgoing, and determined to overfeed me. The famous Filipino hospitality in action…

A group of members with Kiva Fellow Casey

Interested in village banking? Read more about Ahon sa Hirap, a Philippines-based replication of Grameen Bank. You can also lend to Marites, an ASHI member and fish seller from Antique:

Casey Koppelson is a Roaming Kiva Fellow currently at Ahon sa Hirap in the Philippines. She recently completed a KF12 fellowship at Opportunity Fund in the United States.

The women of Ahon Sa Hirap, Inc. in the Antique province of the Philippines are “bringing sexy back”.   To celebrate its members’ accomplishments, the ASHI Antique South branch hosts the annual “Feeling Sexy” pageant open to all its women entrepreneurs.  Nominated by their peers at ASHI, the “Feeling Sexy” contestants are evaluated in different categories including leadership &  community involvement, talent, and “Best in Gown”.

ASHI Members in the "Feeling Sexy" contest. Contestants are wearing evening gowns made from recyclable materials such as rice sacks

In discussing the power of microfinance, the focus is often on tangible benefits to borrowers such as access to loans and capital, life insurance, and savings funds.   To me, it is the intangible benefits such as building and celebrating self-confidence that are invaluable.  As fish vendors, variety store owners, livestock breeders, and farmers, the women and contestants of ASHI’s “Feeling Sexy” contest are my role models who have inspired me with their beauty, poise, and inner spirit.

Dress 1: Made from corn husks, banana fiber, pandan leaves (from palm tree), capiz shells, and dried flowers

Dress 2: Made from pandan leaves (from palm tree), drinking straws, wild flowers, dried vegetables, and broken CDs

Dress 2: Close-up shot

To promote environmental and green initiatives, the “Feeling Sexy” pageant contestants were asked to create evening gowns made from all natural, indigenous products and recyclable materials.  Check out these couple pictures showcasing some of their exquisite  handmade dresses.

Dress 1: Close-up shot

******

About ASHI: With portfolio loans to 100% women, ASHI has the distinction of being the oldest existing replication of the Grameen Bank approach in the Philippines.  In addition to general business loans, ASHI also offers educational loans, house repair loans, savings funds, and social development programs for its members.

Browse ASHI members to make a new loan here.

Read more about ASHI here.

Join the ASHI Lending Team and credit your loans to ASHI here.

******

Christina Reyes is a KF10 Kiva Fellow serving her placement with Ahon sa Hirap, Inc. (ASHI) in the Philippines.  As a first generation Filipino-American, she feels especially honored to pay it forward in a country so close to her heart.

The sweet sound of empowerment is a beautiful thing.

Check out the clip below featuring members from Ahon Sa Hirap, Inc. (ASHI) in a cheering contest at a recent branch meeting.  As a visiting Kiva Fellow, I also had the privilege of “participating” in the contest.  Our team fittingly named “The Inspiration Group” won 1st prize for “Best Coordination.” 

Translated from Tagalog, Ahon Sa Hirap means “to rise out of poverty”.  With portfolio loans to 100% women, ASHI has the distinction of being the oldest existing replication of the Grameen Bank Approach in the Philippines.   In addition to general business loans, ASHI also offers educational loans, house repair loans, savings funds,  and social development programs for their members.

Learn more about ASHI here.

Loan to ASHI members here.

*****

Christina Reyes is a KF10 Kiva Fellow serving her placement with Ahon sa Hirap, Inc. (ASHI) in the Philippines.  As a first generation Filipino-American, she feels especially honored to pay it forward in a country so close to her heart.

Picture of Nieva De Leon (ASHI member) and myself

I would describe the members of ASHI as scrappy and determined entrepreneurs who practice savvy business sense. During my interviews with the borrowers, I ask how the Kiva loans have impacted their businesses and what they value from their experiences as entrepreneurs. These women never fail to impress me with stories regarding the importance of:

• Diversifying their revenue streams by managing multiple businesses
• Investing in capital to expand their ventures
• Managing the cash flow of their daily operations
• Reinvesting profits back into the business

Poverty fuels entrepreneurial dreams. I have learned that selling charcoal, chicken feathers, gasoline, and bamboo are all viable means of livelihood in the Philippines. With Kiva loans, many of these entrepreneurs are doubling their monthly business income and improving their overall quality of life.  “Higher quality of life” as described to me by the entrepreneurs is affording to install a functioning bathroom in their home or upgrading their walls to cement instead of bamboo.

So what are my thoughts of the experience so far? I think the Journey song “Don’t Stop Believing” best sums it up for me. Seeing the power of microfinance in the field has renewed the optimist inside.

***

Translated from Tagalog, Ahon Sa Hirap means “to rise out of poverty”.  With portfolio loans to 100% women, ASHI has the distinction of being the oldest existing replication of the Grameen Bank Approach in the Philippines.   In addition to general business loans, ASHI also offers educational loans, house repair loans, savings funds,  and social development programs for their members.

Loan to ASHI members here.

***

Christina Reyes is a KF10 Kiva Fellow serving her placement with Ahon sa Hirap, Inc. (ASHI) in the Philippines.  As a first generation Filipino-American, she feels especially honored to pay it forward in a country so close to her heart

What I have come to realize week one into my placement as a brand new Kiva Fellow is Kevin Bacon is to Hollywood as Kiva Fellows are to the world of microfinance.  Our role is to facilitate connections between Kiva borrowers, Kiva lenders, partner microfinance institutions, and the team at Kiva.org.  As Kiva Fellows, we play a pivotal role in Kiva’s mission to “connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty”.

Our multiple responsibilities working with various key stakeholders include:

-Writing blog postings and borrower journals to connect borrowers with lenders

-Working in the field helping our partner MFI (microfinance institution) leverage its partnership with Kiva

-Developing rich borrower profiles and verifying client waivers to protect the confidentiality and dignity of our borrowers

-Supporting the mission and continual improvement of Kiva.org

I feel privileged and honored to serve as a new Kiva Fellow in the Philippines with partner Ahon sa Hirap, Inc.  Hopefully, I, together with my devoted KF10 classmates can challenge the “Kevin Bacon” game and connect people in less than six degrees of separation for the “sake of alleviating poverty.”  It’s a small world after all.

Thank you for joining my journey.

For all those interested in becoming a Kiva Fellow, click here.

Christina Reyes is a KF10 Kiva Fellow serving her placement with Ahon sa Hirap (ASHI) in the Philippines.  As a first generation Filipino-American, she feels especially honored to pay it forward in a country so close to her heart.

A Center Meeting in San Jose, Antique, Philippines.

“How has Ahon sa Hirap, Inc.” (ASHI and my host microfinance institution) “being here in your barangay or in your town helped your community?” I ask the women from ASHI during each Center meeting that I attend. There are a few variations on this question. I ask how their lives have changed and what the Center means to them.

“My husband had a stroke and couldn’t work anymore. I worked as a domestic in town and had to travel very far every day for not a lot of money. I joined ASHI 7 years ago to start a buy and sell fish business so that I could stay closer to home to take care of my husband and help my children.”

“After my husband died, I was so lonely. My children are all grown up and out of the house. I was sad. I joined ASHI 13 years ago and now my life is so different. I laugh. I come here every week to see my friends.”

“My house was very bad and made from old bamboo. When typhoon season came, my family had to run to our neighbors because we were scared our house would collapse. With my ASHI loan, I was able to move my Sari Sari store to a busier corner where workers pass by on their way to the fields. I open at 4AM and close at 8PM but am very happy. Now 10 years later, we now have a house made of stone and we don’t run from the typhoons anymore.”

But has it changed MORE than that? What about an entire town?

I had heard that seeing microfinance in action could be like watching grass grow. So gradual, so slow. How could I say that there is indeed a larger change in the landscape of where microfinance sets up shop?

I turned to the ASHI staff. It was a Saturday night and we were going to go out to dinner together. The two Kiva Coordinators asked me if we could stop in the new local mall that opened so that could grab a few things.

“Sure,” I said. No problem.

We walked to the end of the drive and hopped into a tricycle and took off towards the mall. There was light traffic, the road wasn’t too bumpy, we arrived to throngs of people gathering outside the mall, in the entrance, more teenagers and families gathered.

“This has been huge for our town,” the one Kiva Coordinator said.

As we walked around the mall, I couldn’t help but get the feeling that I get at a lot of the malls here in the Philippines (which seem to be everywhere and just about swallow up whole towns). It’s too much stuff, too much temptation, too much emphasis on buying and consumerism and it leaves me feeling slightly uneasy. Like how can a country be expected to rise out of poverty when they are spending their hard-earned dollars on things?

And it’s true, that the emphasis can be on the wrong things. But in talking with the Kiva Coordinators, I learned something else.

10 years ago the roads in this town weren’t all paved and it was hard to find a job and there was only one mall but it was farther out of town and slightly run down. ASHI has been in the Antique region for 14 years and the makeup of entire villages has changed. People now have money to feed their families and many of the borrowers are success stories. With disposable income comes influence, namely politcal influence, especially in a country with such economic disparity as the Philippines. Money flowing in and out of San Jose, Antique, gave the town some leverage to fix up their streets and road conditions, open more stores, have more commerce and finally – just this past June – open a second brand-new mall right in town.

Is it potentially dangerous to have another place to shop and spend their limited income? Yes, I really believe that is a huge threat to rising out of poverty for many here. At the same time, building this mall was job creation. Employing staff and security guards in all the stores in job creation, and steady employment and economic development.

Lastly let me say that they are damn proud of their new mall, a status symbol for this once sleepy drive-through town. There are many steps and layers to breaking the poverty cycle, but surely a sign of real progress can be found here in San Jose, when a road is paved and a mall opens.

Sloane Berrent, KF8, is currently serving her placement with Ahon sa Hirap (ASHI) in the Philippines and falling more and more in love with the Filipino culture every day. When online, you can find her promoting Kiva on Twitter and writing about the cause-filled life on her blog, The Causemopolitan.

Special Mission should you choose to accept.

The Kiva Fellows Program is looking for a Tagalog-speaking (or Cebuano) person of Filipino descent for a placement at a microfinance institution on the island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines. That means you must be comfortable being placed there and traveling around the region.

Why Tagalog/Cebuano speaking and Filipino?

Kiva abides very closely to the State Department issued warning and there is currently a travel advisory against U.S. citizens traveling to that part of the Philippines.

Reward you say?

That’s right. If you recommend the Kiva Fellows who gets the placement I personally will give you a $25 Kiva gift certificate.

Why? Because I’m here in the Philippines now and I wish I could go down to Mindanao myself. I see microfinance making a real impact here in the Philippines, especially in the provinces outside of Manila, and I believe that Mindanao deserves the same availability to Kiva the rest of the Philippines has access to.

Ok, so more about the Kiva Fellows program? Think you’re qualified?

Join a group of the most dedicated up and comers in the fields on microfinance, community building and economic development you could find.

Spend a minimum of 10 weeks at a placement determined by Kiva. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis (I have heard they are willing to move quickly for the right candidate for this placement but shhh you didn’t hear that from me).

What are you waiting for? Please send this along to anyone you think is a qualified candidate. Have them refer you in their application and if chosen, I’ll be giving you a $25 Kiva gift certificate to loan to any Borrower you want!

Interested in helping with this incentive? Match me and let’s make this “reward” higher ($50, $100 +!) Just say so in the comments and include your email address and I’ll keep you in the loop about who our deserving winner is!

A little linkage for more information:

More about Kiva Fellow requirements can be found here.

Meet the Kiva Fellows

FAQ’s

Kiva Fellows Blog

Sloane Berrent, KF8, is currently serving her placement with Ahon sa Hirap (ASHI) in the Philippines. Spending time with ASHI members she has learned to throw pots, plant rice and helped man a general store and is planning to spend a day with more members to walk in their shoes. When online, you can find her promoting Kiva on Twitter and writing about social action campaigns on her blog, The Causemopolitan.

By Sloane Berrent, KF8, Philippines

“Tell Ma’am Sloane about your recent project.” Sir Rexon asks Sir Ronnie while we sit having lunch on Talim Island in Binangon, Rizal, where I am visiting an ASHI branch for the day. Everyone here goes by Ma’am and Sir as a sign of respect.

This island, is the 12th and final stop on the small transporter boat from Morong, and one of ASHI’s strongest branches and most remote. No cars are on the island, only tricycles (motorcycles with sidecars) and the main thoroughfare’s fences in front of the houses are painted with a scene of a garden that stretches the equivalent of 3 city blocks. The rest of the world feels far, far away.

I think the project is going to have something to do with this branch, I’ve heard all about how this branch gets books donated to the schools and how ASHI has a strong social development program to help the ASHI members learn financial literacy, good parenting, how to strengthen their community.

I’m wrong. It turns out Sir Ronnie saw on the news last year a story about 10 children on a small island called Magalundi Island about 100 meters from Ilio-Ilio City on the Panay Island.

These 10 children were reported as swimming to their elementary school, Binon-An Elementary School, in the morning and home in the afternoon because there wasn’t a canoe or boat to transport them and no school in their island.

There is a commercial boat, but the hours start after they have to be at school and end before they are finished for the day.

“But what about their books? Their uniforms?” I ask incredulously.

Sir Ronnie tells me they put their books and uniforms in plastic bags and buried them in the sand every day. “They couldn’t do their homework at night,” he tells me, that is the one thing that stood out most to him.

“Once,” he says, “a storm was coming in and one of the girls was responsible for her little brother when they swam. He was too little to do the whole distance himself and so would hold onto her neck and shoulders. The storm moved in fast, and unfortunately she lost him.”

“So what you’re telling me,” my hands gripping tightly to the table and my appetite gone, “Is that there are children who swam to school because their family believed that much in education. And that they buried their belongings in the SAND day in and day out and one day while swimming the 100 meters one-way, that they swam twice every day, a storm rolled in and one of the boys died?”

“Yes. That is why it made the news.”

“Wow.” I pause mainly because no words seem to be able to escape my mouth with my jaw hung open so low. Finally I muster, “So what is the project?”

Talim Island Branch of ASHI, hundreds of miles away, under the leadership of the Branch Manager Ronnie, decided to raise the money to buy these kids a boat to take them to school.

The cost? 2,000 PHP (American dollar to Philippines pesos is 1:48 so about $42).

The time? 3 months. It took two months to raise the money and both ASHI staff from around the country AND borrowers pitched in. One month to have the boat built and then Rexon and Ronni drove it across Panay to a inaugural ceremony on the beach to give it to the families.

There was not a dry tear in the house. When they presented the boat this past May, the families cried and the teachers cried and the ASHI staff who delivered it cried.

“But,” I say after many moments of blinking back my own tears, “ASHI doesn’t even operate in Ilio-Ilio, and there are so many other natural disasters I’ve heard of like typhoons and flooding and the lean months. Why this project?”

Ronnie looks at me, slowly smiles and says, “Everyone should have the opportunity to go to school. And God tells us to help those less fortunate than us. When I saw the story on the news, I knew we had to help.”

Meeting Borrowers here, one of the questions we ask them is, “What are your hopes and dreams for the future.” Almost unanimously they respond that their dream is to be able to send their kids to school and college. Fees for book, required uniforms and tuition can be hard for a family in poverty with many children.

Here in the Philippines I’ve found time and time again, even those with little look to help those with less. That is the human spirit, that is humanity and it’s seeping here. Seeping through the boat, up the dirt path, around the corner with the kids playing hopscotch and the mothers doing laundry in the alleys and the men pulling in the morning’s catch of fish. It’s seeping all the way to the table where I sit, looking at a man who would not stand for kids to have to swim in dangerous water just to go to school.

Sloane Berrent, KF8, is currently serving her placement with Ahon sa Hirap (ASHI) in the Philippines. Spending time with ASHI members she has learned to throw pots, plant rice and helped man a general store and is planning to spend a day with more members to walk in their shoes. When online, you can find her promoting Kiva on Twitter and writing about social action campaigns on her blog, The Causemopolitan.

By Sloane Berrent, KF8, Philippines

As a Kiva Fellow, drinking the Kiva kool-aid and eating, living, breathing Kiva day-in and day-out, my browser is full of tabs following Kiva online. I wanted to share those ways to connect with you. So you too, can friend, follow, subscribe and join away!

Blogs:

• Kiva Fellows – a great place to read all about the stories, experiences and reflections of the approximately 40 Kiva Fellows that are currently in the field.
• Kiva Blog – To read about happenings from Kiva HQ including new country launches, partnerships and resources for ways to get more involved with Kiva.

Facebook

• Become a Fan
• Support the Cause

Twitter

• Kiva
• Kiva Fellows
• BuildKiva

YouTube

• Kiva
• Kiva Fellows

LinkedIn

• Kiva Group

Phew! Is there anything I’m missing? Is there anywhere you’d like to see Kiva online that isn’t listed here? Thanks and happy connecting, see you around the Internet!

Sloane Berrent, KF8, is currently serving her placement with Ahon sa Hirap (ASHI) in the Philippines. She is learning to love, or at least not visible cringe from, love ballads from the ‘90s, the de rigueur music choice in every taxi, tricycle, jeepney, café and restaurant experienced thus far. When better “connected” you can find her promoting Kiva on Twitter and writing about social action campaigns on her blog, The Causemopolitan.

My First Center Meeting with Antique Southwest Group

By Sloane Berrent, KF8, Philippines

Just five days into my Kiva Fellowship, one thing I already know, this is truly an amazing experience, no two ways about it. I am learning things, going places, meeting people that never in a million years would a normal traveler experience.

It’s also quite frankly, hard. This isn’t like jaunting in my solo travels around the world, being carefree and on my own schedule, meeting fellow travelers on the road and taking my own adventures at every turn. It’s a hard mattress on the floor, a cold shower that consists of filling a bucket with water and throwing cups of it over my shoulder and in my hair, it’s no air-conditioning and tossing and turning at night in my sleep waking up sweating. It’s spraying copious amounts of bug spray and those suckers still getting my ankles, my knees, the back of my neck. It’s taking multiple forms of transportation every day, on this motorbike, off that jeepney, into another taxi. It’s SLOW and unreliable Internet when all I want to do is post a blog post like THIS and respond to the most urgent emails and be done with the computer again for the day. But fighting for each page load. It’s meeting new people every day and they are so excited to meet me and I have to fight through the heat and exhaustion of all of the above and show the same enthusiasm back.

It’s hard. It’s also, in just under a week so deeply gratifying in the most pure and honest way I could ever describe.

It’s tears brimming in my eyes multiple times a day getting out in the field and meeting woman after woman who has benefited from my field partner, ASHI. It’s learning about microfinance in this region and meeting some of the most committed and passionate people I’ve ever had the privilege to come in contact with who chose to work at an NGO despite the long hours and lack of pay because they believe in the power of microfinance. It’s walking through villages, up hills and through fields to meet borrowers in their homes who always accept us with open arms and enthusiasm. It is these women who tell me how they’ve been able through one loan after another to slowly be able to send their children to better schools and afford college. It’s seeing the camaraderie in women who tell me that before ASHI (and in turn Kiva) they were shy and didn’t know their neighbors.  It is these women who tell me that being part of a group of borrowers they are now like sisters and they are accountable to each other through sickness and health. It’s hearing about how they have a positive view of the future for their children. They tell me this all the while talking and laughing louder than the woman sitting next to them. These women shy? I truly can’t believe it.

It’s hard. It’s gratifying. It’s also beyond educational as I find myself daily in intense conversations about microfinance, sustainability and the future of the fight to eradicate poverty.

Yes there is a lot of hard work ahead, many more women to meet, and many more stories to hear, verify and retell to you. There are battles with internet connections as I try to report back to Kiva my findings. There is brewing an internal struggle coming to grip with a newfound respect for the word “patience” as I hurry up to make it places on-time only to wait in the maze of the Filipino word for anywhere between 5 minutes from now and 3 hours called simply “later.”

In the words of Helen Keller, “Life is a daring adventure or nothing,” As adventures go; this one has already paid for itself ten times over. Thank you for joining me on this journey, I’m excited to share much more of it with you.

Sloane Berrent, KF8, is currently serving her placement with Ahon sa Hirap (ASHI) in the Philippines. She is learning to love, or at least not visible cringe from, love ballads from the ‘90s, the de rigeur music choice in every taxi, tricycle, jeepney, café and restaurant experienced thus far. When better “connected” you can find her promoting Kiva on Twitter and writing about social action campaigns on her blog, The Causemopolitan.

Matilde, who is a spry 75 years of age, has been a member of ASHI for 13 years. She loves to sing, and also loves what ASHI has done for her and the women in her community. Faced with this fortunate predicament, she did what any Filipino would do: she sang about it.

Some years ago Matilde composed a song of gratitude for ASHI, one which she usually delivers a capella. ASHI, a Grameen-style, non-profit microcredit institution that provides financial and social services to its more than 22,000 Filipina members, has been operating in Antique Province, where Matilde lives, since 1996.

Matilde has charmed generations of ASHI personnel and members with her song and wit. Legend has it that she sings her song to any new visitors from ASHI when she first meets them, and legend didn’t disappoint on the day I met Matilde.

In late April, I visited her center hall in Malandog Barangay, Hamtic, along with members of ASHI’s board of trustees and other ASHI personnel. After everyone had eaten a particularly delicious meal prepared by ASHI members, Matilde stepped up and sang us her song.

Matilde sings in Kinaray-a, the language spoken by most people in Antique Province. The video is subtitled in English, thanks to ASHI staff from Antique who doubled as interpreters. Enjoy!

Some unfamiliar terms you may encounter in the video:

Field credit officers: ASHI development officers — personnel that visit ASHI members in the field.

Group: ASHI members form groups of five to build solidarity, and to guarantee each other’s loans.

Center: A number of groups — usually six — form a center. A centers is a small, freestanding structure built and maintained by the women who form its member groups. All business is transacted in weekly meetings at the center.

Sir Jesse: The first field credit officer assigned to Matilde’s center; Jesse is now in charge of Grameen operations for ASHI, and is based in Manila. Jesse is the handsome gentleman in Matilde’s song.

Ma’am Hermie: The ASHI first regional manager for Antique Province, who oversaw operations at the time Jesse was a field credit officer.

John Briggs is a Kiva Fellow serving with Ahon Sa Hirap, Inc. (ASHI) in the Philippines. This is his second of three placements. Before his post at ASHI, John worked with Maxima Mikroheranvatho in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. John’s third placement as a Kiva Fellow will be with the Kenya Agency for the Development of Enterprise and Technology (KADET), starting in June. If you haven’t already, consider becoming a Kiva Fellow, too!