A week ago, Regina Jose, Hluvuku’s client in Mozambique, received a brand new wheelchair to replace her broken one!!! KivaFriends donated it, and with the help of many people it was bought, transported from South Africa to Mozambique and delivered to her!!
Regina was so happy with her new wheelchair that she even cried! Now she will be able to resume her activities and will go to church on Sundays, something she described as her favorite activity. As I wrote in my last blog, it took just over one month since my first journal about Regina to get all this done. One of Regina’s lenders who is also part of KivaFriends brought this into KivaFriends attention and in a teamwork event it was successfully concluded!
As I mentioned in my last blog, I’m quite impressed with this network of good-hearted people that don’t know each other in person but work together for the same cause – to help those in need.
The picture shows Regina shaking Bernardo Tembe’s hand (Hluvuku CEO) and with Ernesto Rungo, Regina’s loan officer from Hluvuku.
I’m already back from my fellowship in Mozambique and as some other fellow fellows, I will write about my microfinance experience in my next blog.
Ate mais.
Posted on behalf of Beatriz Mauro
Was Kiva ever meant to be a Microfinance Fund?
15 June 2008
I wonder if Jessica and Matt Flannery, Kiva co-founders, meant to create a Microfinance Fund to help local entrepreneurs in developing countries have money to grow or help their business. When I decided to join Kiva as a Kiva fellow I told my friends I was going to work for a Microfinance Fund. Last week I understood I was completely wrong. Kiva is a global community, not a microfinance fund based on small individual lending.
The other Friday, June 6th 08, I posted a journal about a client I visited the previous day. Nothing special, that’s one of my main tasks here. However, the client, a disable woman, mentioned that her wheelchair was broken and that she hasn’t been to Church in almost 2 months, and therefore was considering using a next loan to buy a wheelchair. I wrote that. The following morning I read a comment on the journal written by a Kiva Friend saying that KivaFriends would be willing to donate a new wheelchair to Regina Jose (picture below). The next day Jill, the KivaFriend, created a new thread at KivaFriends and on Monday, June 9th, when I opened Kivafriends.org for the first time in my life I saw that more than 300 people had seen Jill’s message and there were around 30 replies. People around the world were committed to give Regina Jose a new wheelchair, and then, for the first time, I realized I was working for a community, not for a Microfinance Fund. Now this message board has been seen for more than 900 people!!
For those not familiar with KivaFriends, it is a parallel non-profit organization that was created by very committed Kiva lenders, with the intent of helping further Kiva clients and Kiva itself. I am quite impressed by the power of Internet and global instant communication. Within 10 days the wheelchair was chosen and will be acquired next week, with delivery scheduled for the following week, hopefully in time for me to deliver the chair (representing KivaFriends) and take a few pictures on the occasion.
I am thrilled to see so many good people in the world wanting to help a client in a very poor neighborhood in the outskirt of Mozambican’s capital city Maputo. So many people have given advises and tried to help! A few even joined KivaFriends for the first time to help with donation!
If Jessica and Matt wanted a microfinance fund, they have it. Kiva is a fast growing fund on its way to be one of the largest microfinance funds in the world. Congratulations for that. But I believe they need a long applause for the community of good people they put together for the cause – helping alleviate poverty and promote economic development.
I’ll keep you posted on Regina’s wheelchair story!
Khanimanbo.
Field Experience
8 June 2008
I’ve been working in Mozambique with Hluvuku-Adsema for the past 3 months now and I’m not even close to adapted. I must have visited more than 100 clients so far, and sometimes it is still quite hard to face reality. As a professional in the field I’m supposed to leave my emotions aside, right? Why is it so hard? Am I a bad “field employee” because I feel or am I just hurting myself?
I remember when my brother started to operate while in Medical University. My aunt, a doctor herself, told him the hardest part of being a doctor was to put the feelings aside and not suffer for all the patients’ lives my brother would loose in his career. I remember the first time my brother lost a patient. He went to my parents’ house devastated, and wouldn’t even talk. Four or five years have passed since my brother became a surgeon. I’ve listened to him talking about a few patients he has lost, but never emotional. Does this mean he doesn’t feel anymore, that he adapted? Or that he is just pretending he doesn’t feel anything?
Last Thursday I’ve visited 16 clients (Kiva and non-Kiva clients) and when I arrived home at night I was completed exhausted; emotionally devastated. I had seen so much poverty, so many problems, so many kids in horrible situations, diseases, hunger, lack of a proper home to live. A strong storm hit the region the previous night, and many people that had plastic roofing had just lost their home with everything inside. Many clients lost their stand and their place to sell their products, but they weren’t as scared as I was. They were sad, but behaving as “we lost it all one more time”, which for me was even more hard to take it.
I come from a developing country. I have already volunteered in slums in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. I’ve seen poverty and many children begging in the streets. Why am I still not used to it? Why do I still feel so much? I would like to work with economic development as a profession. Does that mean I will never be good enough for it? I will never adapt? Or am I just in my first “field year”, just like a first med school year?
Yesterday I walked through the capital city Maputo the whole day, just thinking and trying to understand the reality I am facing. With my sad spirit came my furiousness. If I already wanted to help the poorest reach the ladder of development, now I will.
Jeffrey Sachs said in one of his books that you can’t study, understand, and advise a country in it’s economic development path without going into the field, without clinically diagnosing what is the country’s “disease” so that you can find the best “remedy”. I agree. A field experience changes one’s looks and comprehension of the world. It does put life into perspective.
Khanimanbo.
Getting Deeper into a Microfinance Institution
11 April 2008
I’ve been working with Hluvuku in Mozambique for a month now and had the chance to live for at least a week in 3 different branches (including the headquarters). I was lucky enough to live the day-to-day life of a small branch office with only one loan officer and to witness a transition of portfolio, as this loan officer, Paula, was moving back to a bigger branch and a recently promoted 1st year loan officer, Luciano, was taking over her portfolio. By than it was crystal clear the huge importance of a loan officer at the microfinance world: without their knowledge of local people and local culture, a microfinance cannot work. How would Luciano know what to write about the person’s character without the guidance of trusted people Paula appointed? And how would Hluvuku disburse a loan to someone they don’t know if they can trust and if it will pay back? Quite interesting the dynamics between a loan officer and a microfinance institution… It is almost as if each officer was an institution by itself…
However, I really got deeper into Hluvuku after Bernardo, the founder and general director, asked my help to review their 2007 annual report before it went to their board of directors. The first thing one would notice is how profitable Hluvuku was in 2007, even with substantial increase in expenses due to the opening of a new branch office (which is still not profitable). The obvious question to Bernardo, that in fact I didn’t have to make, he answered before I even started talking, was: if Hluvuku is a non-profit, had social projects and still had a lot of profits, what are the next steps to the organization? What to do with the money? How to think about financial projections and sustainable growth?
I had the most interesting 4-hour conversation with Bernardo ever. He shared all his knowledge of the microfinance world, all he learnt during seminars he attended all over the world and his views on Hluvuku’s future. Yet it was not clear to me he is prepared for a sustainable growth and to move forward without major risks. Bernardo does not count with a knowledgeable board of directors and he actually has reduced academic background (he never went to university). My basic knowledge of microfinance, yet reasonable knowledge of finance, let me to think that a significant reduction in the interest rates charged is possible. Today they charge between 35% and 55% annual interest rate (depending on the industry and loan use), calculated on a decreasing basis over the outstanding loan. After hearing a few complaints from clients I visited, I came to the conclusion Hluvuku does have margin to reduce it. On the other hand, Hluvuku could use this profit to increase their social efforts (such as the soccer team or the help to create water holes for communities that do not access water) and therefore reach more people than just their clients, and at the same time protect itself against any downturn and need of own capital.
I wonder how other MFIs around the world are dealing with this “good” dilemma. And I wonder what is the future of MFIs in Mozambique, Africa and in the world. Any comment or guidance is highly appreciated!
On a completely different subject, yesterday I met a client and while walking to her house to take her picture in front of the house she is building, she mentioned that her family was against her marriage in the beginning because her husband was poor. She was raised in the capital Maputo and her father was a carpenter, but gave all the 6 children access to school and basic needs. And that was enough for her to be richer than her husband. They have been married for 13 years and today her family loves him. Nothing like putting life into perspective, no?!
Ate mais.
Soccer Does Promote Social and Economic Development
18 March 2008
During my initial days here in Mozambique, while Bernardo was explaining me Hluvuku’s background and current position, he mentioned investments in a soccer team. Immediately I remembered all the NGOs that operate in Brazilian slums and their effort to promote sports (99% of the time soccer) and music. I though that soccer worked in Brazil because of the fame it has and because many star players come from those slums. I never actually imaged how far it could reach and how thoughtful this method could be.
Hluvuku is divided in 4 departments, as below. The 3 profitable ones are committed to give 10% of their monthly profits to Hluvuku’s social department.
- Microfinance: offering microcredit and micro-leasing
- Services: offering services to clients (such as tractors to help in their harvest)
- Production: raising cattle and selling meat in the region at a lower cost
- Social: promoting the soccer team of Bela Vista village and other community gatherings and traditional parties (below a picture of Hluvuku’s social center)
I must admit that my first reaction as a Brazilian girl used to having men talking all the time about soccer was to think that the choice of soccer was mainly because of Bernardo’s personal taste or because most of Hluvuku’s staff are men. Those might even be the true reasons, but it doesn’t matter!! Today I realized that soccer is an incredible way of promoting social and economic development, in any where in the world.
The Bela Vista team is already playing for a year now, and because of their great performance as beginners last year, they were given the chance to play Mozambican’s national second division championship this year. Yesterday a couple of representatives of this championship where here in Bela Vista checking the field’s conditions, as there will be a couple of games played here! More than an opportunity for a few young men to play and do something on their spare time, this will be an amazing opportunity for the village to grow and become known again.
Bela Vista used to be an important city before Mozambican civil war, if you get any map of Mozambique, it will always point Bela Vista just below Maputo. But the war simply destroyed it: almost all the brick houses where put down or abandoned and 16 years weren’t enough to rebuild it.
This simply choice of a soccer team was all but a personal or naïve choice. It will put Bela Vista back in the map. It will promote economic development through increase in people flow. It will help all Kiva borrowers that have grocery stores and will help local lodges to develop (today there is just 1 guest house with 4 rooms). It will also promote social development through the sense of one unit country, no more local tribes that have never been to each other villages.
The championship will begin in April. I already have a team to support! I will let you know how Hluvuku Futebol Clube goes!!
Ate mais.
Ola from Mozambique!!
12 March 2008
Or as locals would say hello in Ronga: Shawane!! For those of you that don’t know me, I’m Beatriz, originally from Brazil, and will proudly be a Kiva Fellow with Hluvuku-Adsema in Mozambique for the next 4 months.
I have arrived 2 days ago and so far so good! Hluvuku seems to be an outstanding organization. Fast growing since its establishment in 2004, today it has more than 2,000 clients and an outstanding loan portfolio of almost $1.0 million dollars. Hluvuku mission is to promote social and economic development in the district of Matatuime and surrounding, and apparently it has been doing a great job! There are 5 branches (Bela Vista, Boane, Catembe, Namaacha and Ponta D’Ouro) spread between Mozambican capital Maputo and the south of the country – close to South Africa and Swaziland’s borders.
I’m initially based in Bela Vista (100 km from Maputo), where Hluvuku’s general director, Mr. Bernardo Tembe, is locate. The village has around 3,000 people, is very poor but quite charming. It has considerable developed itself in the last 10 years and today, even though you won’t find proper roads to access the village, it is possible to see a few houses with cement walls and 2 streets with public illumination. There is even a Christian church under construction, what an honor for the village!
Yesterday Bernardo took me around all the branches (some located more than 100km from Bela Vista) and it was already possible to notice economic development / status differences between the villages. I will at some point live in each of them – I’ll definitely give more details as I move along.
I haven’t started to properly work yet, that is, to visit entrepreneurs with Kiva loan outstanding, I’m just getting familiar with the institution and with the 38-40 degrees Celsius (100-104 Fahrenheit) during the day (and 30C / 86F at night). For a Brazilian, this is even worse than arriving in Rio de Janeiro in the summer, getting out of the plane for a business meeting in a suit at a 40 C / 104F temperature!! I wish there was enough water to drink and/or shower, but unfortunately water (potable or not) is still a very scarce thing. I am living in a house together with locals, some government people from the district, and it will be an incredible experience. To share the local culture, learn and give, is what this fellowship is all about!
I look forward to getting involved with the operations and will certainly keep everyone posted!!
Ate breve / Hitavonana / Cheers
Beatriz
Sad Goodbyes
15 December 2007
I can’t believe my work here is almost coming to an end! It feels like just yesterday (or a couple days ago) that I was getting off the plane in Maputo – uncertain, nervous, and excited as to what this entire experience would be like. I still remember flipping over and over (and over) again through my copy of all of FDM´s Kiva clients, wondering what it would be like to meet them face to face. In fact, I looked at those pictures so many times that every time I met a client, I could literally see their picture and their description in my mind.
I met a client the other day who I found truly amazing. Not only was she incredibly warm, inviting, and generous, but I have absolutely NO idea how she does what she does everyday. She teaches primary school in the mornings, runs her business as a very successful seamstress in the afternoons (she has clients that leave orders with her from all across Mozambique), and travels to the capital of Maputo every night to take classes so she can start teaching secondary school. Yet, what I admired most about her was what she calls her most cherished and long held dream, hoping one day to open her own primary school to serve the local impoverished children. Education, she tells me, is the most important component to developing the area and creating a stronger Mozambique, and she dreams of a better future for her children and the next generations. She already has the course materials prepared, and has a step by step plan to realize her goal. As she explains, she first hopes to open the school at her home early next year until she has saved enough to purchase an old, abandoned home nearby to set up a proper school there. She projects that she will be able to begin enrolling students in January and hopes to open the school by the end of that month! Additionally, her husband is a disabled war veteran and she currently supports her children entirely with the profits from her business and current salary as a teacher. Needless to say, the women here never cease to amaze me, and I’ll miss having the opportunity to meet women like her everyday when I go home in a couple weeks.
At the same time, some of the most telling and moving experiences have come from meeting clients of FDM who are not on the Kiva website (for everyone one Kiva client, I usually accompany the loan officer when they visited two others for FDM). There was one client in particular who is no longer receiving loans from FDM because she has put her business on hold, but the promotora wanted to stop by and visit nonetheless. She has been sick for quite a while now, almost six months, and when she went to the local clinic (the one and only time) they simply told her that it was malaria and sent her back home. While she received some general form of treatment, she her health has been getting worse and she was forced to stop her business selling charcoal and can no longer pay for loans. Her promotora tells me that there are days that she will stop by and the client can’t even get out of bed, and while she keeps telling her to go the clinic and take an HIV test, her client has yet to take her advice – not because of the cost but because she’s too frightened to go. We sit down to talk for an hour or so as the loan officer reminds her again to go to the hospital, seek the tests and the treatments she needs if not for herself, but for her son who has no one else if something were to happen to her. It truly touched me to see how much the loan officer cared, how much she wanted her old client to get better and see her healthy, happy, and doing well. Her client finally tells her that she will go next week, her usual answer, and as we walk back to the main road to catch our next bus to take us to our next client, I’m left to wonder what will happen to her and her young son if she doesn’t get better.
This entire experience has left me irreversibly changed and the lessons I´ve learned I will carry with me the rest of my life. Sure there are a couple moments I would rather forget. For example, I have helped push chapas out of ditches, shared the back of trucks with goats and other various livestock, and waded through puddles of mud (and trash) 10 inches deep, but I would trade any of these experiences for anything. The women I´ve met her have inspired me to be a stronger person (literally – as Roslyn describes, women three times my age have skipped past me balancing buckets of water or multiple sacks of potatoes on their heads) as well as reassess my understanding of what it means to be successful and what it takes to be happy. I can honestly say that all the clients I have met have been nothing but gracious, warm, and have welcomed me into their homes like members of their own family. Without a second thought, they share much cherished information not only about their businesses, but about their children, their hardships, and their dreams for the future. During our talks, one of the best moments usually comes at the end – when I take their picture. Some simply smile, some strike a well practiced pose, some run into their homes first to change and fix their hair, and other gather their children and spouses to make it a family shot. After, I always show them the picture I’ve taken on my digital camera, and every single time, without fail, they´re positively beaming. I tell them that the picture is beautiful, and they laugh and can´t help but agree.
What will I miss most? Without out a doubt, I will miss being able to wake up every morning knowing that I will meet people that day who I will say goodbye to ever-so-slightly, but forever changed. I will miss working with the promotoras who have taught me what it means to work hard and live a life doing something you love to do. Not to mention the fact that FDM is simply an amazing organization. I just now realize that I’ve have yet to mention FDM´s administrative head, Ana Maria, who will always my role model, the person I will strive to emulate – ceaselessly diligent, intelligent, and devoted to the organization (and the workers and clients here at FDM respect and adore her). She is currently spearheading innovative projects to further serve FDM’s clients which include agricultural initiatives where they will begin selling plots of cultivated land next year for clients to run their own farms as well as plans to begin training rural clients in cattle raising. I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to work with all three of FDM´s different offices, and have every intention of returning to Mozambique one day to visit and maybe even work them again.
I was told before I left that when the time would come to leave, I would want to say and I can honestly say that that person was right. I feel like there’s so much more to learn, so many more things to experience, more inspiring people to meet, and so much more I could do, but sadly I’ve been postponing school and my classes long enough.
It’s been an incredible, strange, difficult, exhilarating, and life-changing experience and I want to thank Kiva and Kiva´s wonderful lenders for having given me the opportunity to take this adventure.
Also, I have no idea if they will ever read this, but time to give a shout-out to all the workers of FDM that have made this experience so incredible – Ana Maria, Leopoldina, Esmeralda, Don, Bridgette, Margarida, Sandra, Rosalina, Suzette, Minarsanda, Ricardina, Edineria, Dercia, Jamie, Francisco, Ricardo, Arcenia, Madalena, Lidia, Rosa, Nelizarda, Elina, Ermelinda, Arcenia, Benevenita, Irenia, Simoes, Ilda, Ana, Zelia, Brito, Roda, Deocleciana, Esmeralda, Eulalia, Ana, Marta, Adelso, Carmelia, and Manuela! I will miss you all so much, and thank you.
Finally, while this will be my last blog from Mozambique, inspired by Drew Kinder´s wonderful write-up on Sam, I will be doing the same by giving you all a glimpse into the history of Fundo de Desenvolvimento da Mulher and their amazing Executive Director, Ana Maria. I regret to say I don´t have the amazing specifics that Drew provided in his own blog, but I will try my best to do FDM and Ana Maria justice and reveal a little more of what makes FDM such a powerful organization.
Mozambique!
23 November 2007
First, I want to apologize for not blogging earlier! I’ve had some problems with my account, but now that I’m able to write, I have absolutely no idea where to begin… It’s hard to believe that I’ve been here for about two months already and only have one more to go. To quickly introduce myself, my name is Charline Yim and I’m currently a Kiva Fellow in Mozambique, working for Kiva´s partner microfinance institution Fundo de Desenvolvimento da Muhler (FDM). I don’t know how exactly to explain what an incredible, crazy experience this has been, but I’ll try my best.
I´ve been lucky enough to spend time now in all three of FDM´s branches, and what strikes me most is how different they are. First, just the locations… While Xai-Xai, the location of FDM´s headquarters, is a small, busy market town where I passed weekends lazily watching soccer games and drinking endless cups of coffee at one of the cities two restaurants with locals to pass the time, Maxixe was an idyllic tourist destination with the lure of picturesque beaches and scuba diving. And now I’m here in the capital Maputo – a large, crowded, polluted city (like any other large city in the world) where I’ve spent a considerable amount of time thus far mainly trying not to get lost. Each FDM office is surprisingly different as well and it’s funny how they mirror their respective locations, but the complete dedication, level of hard work, efficiency, and passion has been the same in all. I’ve had a chance now to work with all 16 of FDM´s loan officers, or promotoras as they call them here, and while each have their own distinct styles and ways of dealing with their clients, each has amazed me with their dedication to the people they serve. We spend literally hours a day walking miles and miles to reach each client, and as I’m sweating to keep up I tend to ask them what they think the hardest part of their job is - they never fail to say the same thing. Yes, they explain, the job is difficult at times, but you get use to it and it’s worth it because they love what they do. They have been nothing but gracious, kind, and truly wonderful to me, and I know that at the end of this entire experience, they are some of the people who I will miss most.
And the clients I’ve met! They welcome me into their homes, introduce me to their children, proudly show me their businesses, and offer me meals without a second thought. While I admit that there have been times when I’ve wondered if it is worth a four hour chapa ride holding someone’s flapping chicken on my lap to reach a single client (and another four hour ride back), finally meeting them and enjoying a moment to sit down with them and talk has always proved worth it. While I have many questions for them, they have just as many for me – ranging from asking what it’s like in the United States (is it like what they see on TV?) to inquiring if I’ve ever seen a mango before. Interestingly, and somewhat strangely, when I tell them I’m from California, I get lots of questions about Arnold Schwarzenegger… The weather here tends to fluctuate between blistering heat, overwhelming humidity, and drenching downpours of rain, and walking in any of these extremes can be challenging at times, but the clients and their families really make it worth it. Not to mention that I’m also put to shame by the children and older women who easily skipping past me carrying buckets of water on their heads as I trudge along. At one client’s business and home, I was invited by her young son and his friends to play a little soccer match with them (at which point I made a complete fool of myself as I, to be frank, am horrible at soccer), but at least he and his friends (and his family…and the loan officer…and the neighbors who stopped to watch) had a good laugh.
There are little reminders of home everywhere. When I have access to a TV, there’s this show on one of the two channels here called Fama Show, the Mozambican version of American Idol which is always being replayed. Their annual beauty pageant here is called Miss KFC. Yes, as in Kentucky Fried Chicken. While one client and I were for some reason (I forget how we reached the topic) discussing our mutual love of coffee, I asked her if she knew what Starbucks was but she refreshingly said no.
While I admit that time here initially felt a bit slow, now with only one month left…I wonder where it went. Like Maren mentions in her blog, my thoughts and experiences here have reached two extremes – from wondering what exactly I’m doing here to moments of complete exhilaration. I definitely won’t miss the public transportation system here as it often entails idling at a stop for two hours to get more passengers (which range from actual people to bags of fertilizer and goats). I’ve also probably spent more time in chicken coops than completely necessary…not to mention that am currently modeling the dirty sneakers, knee socks, unwashed hair, hybrid fanny pack-messenger bag look, but at the same time I can’t help but already feel a bit sad about everything else I’ll leave behind. I know my only regret when I leave will have been that I couldn’t spend more time here, and I plan on savoring every last minute that I have here in Mozambique and working with FDM. Well, that’s it for now. Ate logo!
The Strength Found in a Global Community
10 August 2007
I start every meeting with clients by first offering my thanks for their time and a small recordação; a photo of my hometown, San Francisco, which I explain is also where Kiva is located. Before sitting down with clients, sensitive to Hluvuku-Adsema’s image within the community, I got the blessing from Hluvuku’s Executive Director to outline the Kiva-Hluvuku relationship and how we share responsibilities within the loan process.
To elucidate this further, I show each client a color printout of their respective business profile page from the Kiva website, explaining that they have their own dedicated page which showcases their photo and a description of both their personal and business experience. ‘Voce e medio famoso no mundo do Internet!’ I proclaim, to which they reply ‘Epa!’ Without question, the clients are first most excited to see their likeness in print since it’s not often, if ever for some, that they have seen their photo. They call over friends and family, everyone gathers ’round, laughter ensues and they say ‘Saio bem!’ (’It came out good!’)
Here’s where it gets really exciting…
I then direct the clients to the bottom of their profile page to show them the photos that represent each lender. I explain that these people have read their business profile and were so impressed with their business, their efforts, and their future direction that they decided to contribute specifically to this borrowers loan. And then I show them where all their lenders are from; individuals and groups of people from the United States, Australia, Belgium, Norway, Germany, Denmark, United Kingdom, Portugal, Switzerland, Canada, Italy, Spain, France, Austria, New Zealand, Brazil… just to name a few.
Watching their faces light up when first hearing this information is extraordinary. While it’s true that some people have little reaction to this news by their nature, the vast majority of borrowers are clearly touched to learn that people outside of their immediate community care enough about them as individuals to support them in their endeavors. Fulfilling obligations and attaining some measure of growth in the eyes of their local community has and always will be important. But my sense is that this new awareness of a global citizenry that is emotionally invested and supportive of them is not only uplifting personally, but a huge motivating factor for continued success of the business!
Oí de Moçambique
23 July 2007
Hi, I’m Shannon from San Francisco, CA and I am a Fellow working with Kiva’s MFI partner, Hluvuku-Adsema, in Mozambique on the southeastern coast of Africa. The country is probably best known for its magnificent beaches, but I will spend most of my time in the equally pretty interior.
After what amounted to 29 hours in flight and two more hours bumping along a dirt highway, I was happy to arrive at Hluvuku’s headquarters in the small town of Bela-Vista. Just south of the capital Maputo, the vila boasts one paved road and is home to about 4,000 residents. At one end of the Rua Principal is a church, grocery store, primary school and the Hluvuku-Adsema office. A ten minute walk to the other end is where I’m staying at the Quinta Mila; a motel on beautifully landscaped grounds run by Sra. Emília Dos Santos, a client of Hluvuku-Adsema and one of Mozambique’s most renowned female entrepreneurs. Hers is my first example that microfinance works, having built her business with the help of successive loans, today she caters to tourists passing through to/from South Africa and Maputo weekenders escaping the smog. She and the staff have taken me in like family; even the guard dogs Lady and Fofo shadow me everywhere (helpful companions when trying to get past other territorial dogs at night).
The Hluvuku-Adsema name holds bilingual significance: ‘Hluvuku’ means development in the predominant Bantu-based Ronga dialect and ‘Adsema’ is an acronym for the Portuguese equivalent of Association of Socio-Economic Development of Matutuíne. The districts served are rural and offer limited infrastructure to people in the throes of rebuilding their communities after a destructive sixteen year civil war and an ongoing battle against the HIV virus. Hluvuku-Adsema helps fill this void.
On my first day out in the field, I hopped on the back of loan officer Arlindo’s moto to meet with my first client in Salamanga village! Gas is expensive so motorcycles are the way to go. I quickly came to appreciate the hard work of loan officers who traverse miles of unkept, rugged roads to see as many clients as possible in a day to maximize efficiency. But as a passenger I enjoyed taking in the landscape; a vast green savanna on dusty red earth, a mixture of mud/wood and concrete block homes peppering the roadside, and men and women (dressed in vibrant traditonal capulana skirts and lenço headwraps) in constant motion skillfully carrying goods atop their heads, children on their backs, and herding livestock.
I have to admit that long days of meetings in the sun, trying to converse in a language I haven’t used in years, was initially tiring, but utlimately so rewarding. The people I’ve met are warm, welcoming, and predominantly single mothers who work long days to support several children and their extended families. Limited family funds allowed them to be schooled only through the 5th or 6th grade and, as a result, they speak very little Portuguese - I rely on Arlindo to translate between my Portuguese and their Ronga. While I didn’t initially understand the meaning of their words, their enthusiasm and smiles made it abundantly clear the positive impact this loan has had on their quality of life. And the more people I speak with, the more I see firsthand how even the smallest of loans can and do make a measurable difference.
Até logo! I’m off now to live and work in Boane (two hours northwest) to be closer to the majority of Hluvuku’s entrepreneurial clients and… Internet access por fim!
