Posts filed under ‘CEPRODEL’
3 Different Countries, 3 Remarkably Similar Businesses
Since I started my third stint as a Kiva Fellow at Opportunity Fund, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the differences between microfinance in the USA (Opportunity Fund is located in the Bay Area) and microfinance in Central America (I previously worked in Nicaragua and Costa Rica). Then I met Monica, an Opportunity Fund client, and was immediately overwhelmed by how similar her business was to other businesses I saw while I was abroad.
Monica sells shoes at the Berryessa Flea Market in San Jose, California. She is using her loan to buy more merchandise so she can expand her business. Monica is proud of her business and is particularly happy that her business has enabled her to send money to her help support her parents and to pay for her sister’s education in Mexico.
Out of the Fire, Into Managua
At 6am I was in Guatemala, a few hundred meters from the border with El Salvador. I later crossed the borders into El Salvador and Honduras. It is now 10pm and I have made my way to Nicaragua. My final destination is just under 4 hours from here, in the Nicaraguan Capital of Managua.
It has been 10 days and 3,500 miles since I set out, on motorcycle, from San Francisco, to start my placement as a Kiva Fellow.
Continue Reading 11 May 2010 at 11:00 Gabriel Castillo 6 comments
The Many Faces of Microfinance
By Meg Gray, KF10 Costa Rica
One of the benefits of being a Kiva Fellow for more than one placement is getting to see how different MFI’s (microfinance institutions) with very different models all fit under the microfinance umbrella. There is no one-size-fits-all methodology. I just finished up my second full placement as a Kiva Fellow and along the way I also visited a third MFI for a week. For those of you just getting started with microfinance or for those who are interested in seeing the diversity amongst Kiva’s partner’s, I thought a brief rundown of a few MFI models side by side might be interesting. So here I go (ordered chronologically)
Model #1 CEPRODEL (Managua, Nicaragua)- Individual Loans only
One of CEPRODEL's branch office is inside a stall in a main market
From a head office in Managua, CEPRODEL runs 16 branch offices throughout western Nicaragua. All of the loans they offer are individual loans and require formal collateral. The work with a wide range of clients with a portfolio balanced between male/female and urban/rural. In addition to loans, some branch offices offer voluntary small business management trainings when the demand exists for this type of program. CEPRODEL also constructs housing cooperatives throughout the country and is an active leader in Nicaragua when it comes to housing issues. (more…)
Bad Roads, Interest Rates, and MFI Sustainability
By Meg Gray, KF9 Nicaragua
One example of a bad road I have faced.
I’ve driven over some pretty terrible roads over the last three months. It doesn’t seem to matter if they’re gravel, paved, dirt, or a mixture of the three. In Nicaragua every road has character and usually this “character” makes it harder to get to CEPRODEL’s clients. Now besides being an inconvenience, why does this matter? It matters because bad roads are just one of many factors that contribute to high operating costs for a microfinance institution (MFI). High operating costs mean higher interest rates are necessary in order for the MFI to be sustainable.
I feel like the conversation about interest rates usually starts and stops with the word “usurious” or “unfair,” when in reality it is much more complex than that. CEPRODEL charges 36% interest on loans to small businesses (rates are lower for some other types of loans) and yet I’ve talked to numerous clients who comment that they like working with CEPRODEL because their interest rates are so low. How could this be? (more…)
More Green Loans Please
By Meg Gray, KF9 Nicaragua
Yarlin proudly shows me the solar panel she purchased with her Kiva loan.
As a Kiva lender, I wistfully search the “green loans” category every time I go to relend my funds on Kiva.org.
Sadly, I feel like I almost always get the “no loans found” response. This is too bad for many reasons. Green loans, such as solar panels, fruit trees, or water filtration systems, have such a profound (and sustainable) impact on the borrower’s life while also helping the environment at-large. CEPRODEL, my MFI, for instance, has a reforestation program where clients receive a loan to buy a mixture of trees to plant along riverbeds on their property.This protects the river from erosion caused be deforestation in the area and in the long term, the fruit trees will also provide food for the borrower’s families.
CEPRODEL client, Yarlin Moreno, is another example of a green loan. She used her Kiva loan to buy a solar panel for her house. Before the solar panel, her family did not have electricity. Her family lives so remotely that their whole community is off the power grid and her daughter, literally, walks almost 4 miles to school each day. (more…)
Microfinance, Migration, and a Constant Stream of Remittances (Part 3 of 3 of the Remittance Series)
By Meg Gray, KF9 Nicaragua
This is Part 3 of 3 in a series of blogs discussing remittances that were inspired by a recent UN Human Development Report on migration. As you will see from our posts, there are many perspectives to look at and the issue is by no means simple. I encourage you to read Part 1 posted by Rob from Kyrgyzstan and Part 2 posted by Agnes from Samoa earlier today.
Aurelia is one of many CEPRODEL clients I have met who aspires to work abroad someday.
“Half of Nicaragua lives in Costa Rica,” said one of my coworkers at CEPRODEL when I asked him about remittances, “Everyone has someone sending them money.” This is an exaggeration of course, but his statement does hint at the tremendous importance remittances and migration play in Nicaragua’s economy. Roughly 10% of Nicaragua’s population abroad is living abroad with 48% of this group living in Latin America and 44% living in North America. More than 400,000 Nicaraguans live in Costa Rica alone, accounting for more than 10% of Costa Rica’s population. With a significant portion of its population abroad it is no wonder that remittances account for 12.9% of Nicaragua’s GDP. The significant number of people moving back and forth between Nicaragua and Costa Rica in particular hints at the complexity of migration and remittance flows. It isn’t just developing countries sending people to developed countries. It is much more complicated than that. As if to mirror this complexity, while working at CEPRODEL, I keep coming across clients, programs, and stories that demonstrate elements of this convoluted theme.
On my first visit to CEPRODEL’s branch office in Nagarote, I handed branch manager Miguel Calderón a list of Kiva borrowers that I wanted to visit. Looking at the list, Miguel slowly shook his head and said, “You can’t meet Juana. She left. She went to Costa Rica to look for work.” (more…)
El Mercado Central: A Day Visiting Kiva Clients
By Meg Gray, KF9 Nicaragua
How to describe one of the markets in Nicaragua? It’s hard and there really isn’t anything like them in the States to compare to. When I visited the Mercado Central in Chinandega, a small city that serves as a supply hub for the farms surrounding it, the heat was stifling. A few aisles are well lit with a sprinkling of fluorescent bulbs, while others are dark and cave-like. At the same time, the whole building is bursting with colors, smells, and noises. Every aisle is packed with people and very few aisles are wide enough for more than two people to walk side by side. And did I mention it’s hot. Chinandega has a well-deserved reputation for being one of the hottest places in Nicaragua. My guidebook accurately describes it as feeling like a rotisserie chicken the moment you leave the AC behind. In the end I decided, it was too hard to describe my day visiting clients in the Mercado Central. I decided it would be more fun and easier to try to figure out my video editing software and give you guys a taste of what my day was like. So here goes my first attempt at making a video…
Meg Gray is currently a Kiva Fellow in Nicaragua, where she is working with Kiva’s field partner CEPRODEL. Support a loan to a CEPRODEL entrepreneur or introduce a friend to Kiva with a gift certificate.
US Embassy Alerts a.k.a. Things to Worry About
By Meg Gray, KF9 Nicaragua
It rained all weekend in Managua. It rained because of Tropical Storm/Hurricane Ida, which hit Nicaragua’s Atlantic coast on Thursday. You may have heard about Ida because your saw it on the news or read about it in the paper. Or maybe, like me, you learned about it via an alert from the US Embassy in Nicaragua. In my mind, Embassy Alerts are code for “things to start worrying about if you aren’t already.” Written in a calm, informative tone, the alerts are as alarming as they are pertinent. In my five weeks in Nicaragua, I have received alerts on three topics:
1. Tropical Storm (soon-to-be Hurricane) Ida
2. Mobs Attacking the US Embassy
3. Dengue Fever Outbreak
(more…)
Businesses Look Different Here
By Meg Gray, KF9, Nicaragua
"Rent a telephone here"
Walking around my neighborhood in Managua, Nicaragua made me realize that businesses look very different here. Every couple of houses there is asign in the window- “We sell nacatamales” or “We offer haircuts” or “Rent a Nintendo here”. Usually the sign is hand written, but occasionally it has been neatly typed. I only have to walk a block or two from house to find tortillas, chocolate-covered bananas, a pedicure, reading lessons, and all sorts of other things. It seems like everyone is selling something, but there is also hardly a storefront in sight.
When I moved to Managua, I was prepared to say goodbye to big box stores (more…)
Bienvenidos a Nicaragua!
By Meg Gray, KF9, Nicaragua
Last Thursday night, while eating a farewell dinner of Chinese take-out, I drew the perfect fortune cookie: “Traveling to the south will bring you unexpected happiness.” Since I was leaving for Nicaragua the next day as a member of KF9, I was happy to have this auspicious omen on my side.
Turns out it was also exactly the reassurance I needed as I arrived in Managua, Nicaragua during a torrential rainstorm on Saturday night. Moments after a very turbulent (and somewhat terrifying) landing, the power went out in the airport and we had to wait for it to come back before we could deplane. Needless to say, waiting in the plane, I had a few doubts and remembering my fortune cookie brought a smile back to my face.
Here is CEPRODEL's main office. They have 16 other branches throughout Western Nicaragua.
Now that feels so long ago. I successfully made it through Day One at CEPRODEL, one of Kiva’s field partners in Nicaragua. CEPRODEL has been a Kiva partner for almost two years and has facilitated loans to over 2,100 Kiva entrepreneurs! Everyone I met was extremely friendly and helpful. I’m still struggling to remember most of their names, but they have welcomed me back for Day Two nevertheless.
Before I dive too far into journal entries and borrower profiles, I briefly wanted to say hello. I look forward to your comments and to giving you more information about CEPRODEL, Nicaragua, and my experiences as a Kiva Fellow.
Learn more about CEPRODEL on their field partner page or loan to a CEPRODEL entrepreneur now! Or if you’re feeling brave and want to practice your Spanish, check out CEPRODEL’s website.
Breastfeeding and Social Responsibility in Microfinance
What if Kiva were to encourage its microfinance partners to include breastfeeding initiation and duration rates in their social performance and responsibility assessments?
Continue Reading 4 August 2009 at 12:48 suearthur 5 comments
As the Microfinance Mundo Turns: The Money Tree & the Family Tree
Doña Cony’s daughter works as a home health aide and nanny in Spain and sends money so that Doña Cony can have an annual mammogram. Doña Cony’s mother died of breast cancer, and Doña Cony has had five benign cysts removed from her own breast. In Managua, a mammogram costs 650 cordobas (USD $32.50).
As the Microfinance Mundo Turns: The Best Nicaraguan Ice Cream
I scream, you scream, we all scream for Doña Cony’s ice cream.
Kiva Novela — “As the Microfinance Mundo Turns ” Episodio 2: Who is Doña Cony?
“As the Microfinance Mundo Turns” — Episode 2 — Purveyor of Nicaragua´s Best Ice Cream
Tune in to “As the Microfinance Mundo Turns”
Stay tuned for upcoming episodes of “As the Microfinance Mundo Turns.”
