Posts filed under 'Ameen'
On legal courts and stock markets
Courts and stock markets appear to have very little in common. The first are a revered part of most countries’ legal infrastructure; we cannot imagine life without them. The second, seem to bounce from loved to hated and back again in a matter of hours and are often far from respected; some countries even believe they can do without them altogether. But what do they have in common?
They both play important roles in checking the status quo. Both institutions are often the only places that can bring powerful people and institutions to account for their deeds. Courts, with their sacrosanct independence from politics and private interests, are able to bring down decisions punishing anyone that violates the law or does not honor a contract. Stock markets, for their part, can punish companies that are not fully dedicated to implementing the strategy they promised their shareholders they would adhere to and implement successfully.
2 comments 26 May 2009
Is Kiva respecting the privacy of its borrowers?
When any of us wants to borrow money from the bank, whether it is for a new car or a home, or even to start a business, we expect complete confidentiality from our bank. It’s a private matter between us and the bank staff.
Yet, when Kiva borrowers need a loan, we expect them to agree to have their information posted on the internet for all to see, along with a picture and sometimes even a video. Are we unnecessarily invading their privacy?
Clearly borrowers are not being forced. They have a choice. Indeed, I am told by the loan officers here at Ameen that some people often do object to the picture in particular and choose not to take a Kiva loan at all. They are then offered another loan product Ameen provides not funded through Kiva.
However, if Kiva provides people with an opportunity where there would not otherwise be one, we realize that we are urging borrowers to, in a sense, give up their privacy for a loan. Is it fair to put them in that situation?
Before I arrived at my host MFI and began to meet borrowers, I had not thought about the privacy of borrowers. I only thought that the information being provided was necessary to facilitate the connecting between lenders and borrowers and to make Kiva possible. The amazing power of the Kiva concept and the opportunity it was providing borrowers in poor communities was all I saw.
Kiva already does a lot to protect a borrower’s privacy, like giving MFIs the option of hiding a borrower’s last name, or not listing the actual address of their business. These are definitely great features. But I think we should be able to do more to protect their privacy. Here are some of the things I find disturbing at present:
- Borrowers can be searched on Google by anyone.
- Borrowers pictures are online for anyone to see along with their first names.
- Personal information is listed, such as marital status and number of children and their business activity, making it possible for people to identify them with a little effort.
Another related issue I find disturbing is that borrowers are being labeled as poor when they do not necessarily see themselves as such. Poverty means different things in different places. A person asking for a loan from a partner MFI for their economic activity works hard and provides for his or her family and may not see themselves as poor.
I must say that the team in charge of the Kiva Fellows Program and the training we went through as fellows, was careful to highlight the need to avoid “cultural imperialism” in implementing Kiva. I feel that the more concern for the privacy of borrowers falls within this.
Some suggestions for increasing privacy protection for borrowers could be:
- Restrict access to the full information on borrowers to Kiva registered users or even active lenders on Kiva.
- Provide borrowers some optionality to provide as much information as they feel comfortable providing.
I think that as Kiva grows and matures, the privacy of Kiva borrowers should be looked at more closely to see how we can better balance the interests of lenders and those of the borrowers. As users on the internet we are always reminded of the importance of protecting our privacy. Why shouldn’t Kiva borrowers also have the same level of protection? This should be especially important given that the bulk of these borrowers have no access to the internet.
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Nemr is a KF7 Kiva Fellow spending 12 weeks at Ameen. You can also check out his personal blog here. Check out some of Ameen’s borrowers and make a loan today by clicking here.
17 comments 6 May 2009
A charming walled town on Lebanon’s Mediterranean coast
The other day, I walked around Saida’s old town in southern Lebanon and just soaked in the mood of the place. The old town is far removed from the modern part of the city where cars dominate. Here, people go about their business in the narrow streets and interact in a far more intimate space. Tourists are just beginning to discover the place, though they rarely go much deeper than the soap museum on its outskirts.
A number of NGOs have been involved in this part of town for years, where the level of poverty tends to be quite a bit higher than the national level. Also, the municipality of Saida as well as the Ministry of Tourism have made efforts to upgrade the infrastructure in the town in the last ten years.
I shot this short video during my visit.
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I am Nemr, a KF7. I am spending 12 weeks at Ameen in Lebanon. You can also check out my personal blog here.
Check out some of Ameen’s borrowers and make a loan today by clicking here.
2 comments 21 April 2009
Beirut’s southern “suburbs”
Beirut was recently ranked on top of a New York Times list of places to visit in 2009. The reason, luxury hotels, the nightlife, and Lebanon’s vast historic heritage spanning centuries of civilization. That’s not the Lebanon I saw last week during my first field visit. Instead, I went to the southern suburbs of the city, also know as “the suburb” (in Arabic, El-Dahyeh).
My MFI, Ameen, was kind enough to arrange for me to be driven to one of two of its branches in Burj Barajneh where I met the loan officer. I was grateful to be driven here since as soon as we entered the area I realized that, left alone, I would surely get lost. Within minutes, I realized that the driver himself was lost.
Ameen has 10 branches in El-Dahyeh and approximately a quarter of its Kiva borrowers live or work here. Though technically not a part of the Beirut municipality, El-Dahyeh is very much a part of the city. Many people who live there work in other parts of Beirut. Also, many go to El-Dahyeh to do business, especially to shop at its bustling markets. Here you will find a whole variety of inexpensive things from furniture, clothes, and household items, to fresh produce and other food products.
One of the first things one notices in El-Dahyeh is the poor state of the infrastructure. Unpaved and poorly paved roads snake their way between buildings that seem to have no particular order to them. In places, the road narrows forcing cars to wait for oncoming traffic. In others, stores place their wares on the road, blocking traffic. Everywhere, pedestrians must compete for space with cars from all directions.
This state of affairs has to do with the history of the area. This part of town has developed into an urban jungle of sorts in a span of only thirty years. Before this lay quiet coastal towns surrounded by orange groves and fields producing various types of fruit and vegetables. These towns remain in name only, though an occasional old house squeezed between multistory apartment blocks reminds you of the time that was.
Burj Barajneh was once a small town, as was Hay Essillom or Haret Hraik. For 15 years starting in 1976 Lebanon experienced a brutal civil war. During this time, marked by a weak or nonexistent central government and several domestic and international wars, the area became a haven for the internally displaced and those looking for economic opportunity. Most came from the south of Lebanon.
The residents of El-Dahyeh suffered the most under the 2006 war with Israel. Whole blocks were leveled and people were forced to leave their homes and businesses. Many Ameen clients in this area lost their businesses and some even lost their homes. Now, almost three years later, the signs of the war are hardly visible, though when I mentioned this to someone, I realized it required a trained eye to actually see the damage and the rebuilding that took place.
Right now, one of the tasks I am working on is preparing a process manual for Ameen’s Kiva loans. So, during my first visit to El-Dahyeh I observed the work of the loan officer and documented the various tasks they perform and how they screen for potential clients. In a subsequent visit to El-Dahyeh a week later, I made visits to a list of Kiva borrowers and later wrote journals for them.
The borrowers I visited were Ali, Samir, Youssef, Najwa, and Haitham. To view the journals, click the link on each name and scroll to the bottom of the page. These are the first journals to be written for Ameen borrowers in Lebanon.
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I am Nemr, a KF7. I am spending 12 weeks at Ameen in Lebanon. You can also check out my personal blog here.
Check out some of Ameen’s borrowers and make a loan today by clicking here.
2 comments 20 March 2009
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