As time goes by in my work as a Kiva Fellow, I realize more and more how important the social mission of an MFI is. At my first placement, I was greatly impressed by Kiva’s partner in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I would like to share the story of this institution. Through Kiva, the relationship and the space for the borrower’s voice is not established solely because of technology, but because of the real person-to-person communication that an MFI has with its clients. If the MFI atmosphere and...
Stories tagged with Bosnia and Herzegovina
Surprisingly quickly I got used to life in the quiet Gracanica, BiH as well as the days at the office of Zene za Zene (ZzZ), the Bosnian partner of Women for Women International. The office is a buzzing space especially towards the end of the week, and I keep being amazed at how organized my colleagues are. We regularly have breakfast and coffee in the office while still keeping high work ethic expectations. Spending time with coworkers, even if only for 15 fun minutes, is such a necessary and useful break; still, it never drags too long and people go back to work smiling...
Continue Reading >>Tuesday, July 7 was an amazing day for me because Nela—the Kiva Coordinator of Zene za Zene (ZzZ)–and I traveled far from Gracanica, Bosnia and Herzegovina to meet the last of the 10 entrepreneurs for completing the process of Borrower Verification. I enjoy traveling outside of the small town and especially enjoy meeting all the women who have Kiva loans through ZzZ. Their stories are amazing and I am so glad that I have had a chance to hear them. One in particular was very touching for me because my presence was what brought about the conversation. It turned...
Continue Reading >>By Velizara Passajova, KF8 Bosnia, Armenia
Hello, my name is Velizara and I am from Sofia, Bulgaria. I am currently enjoying KIVA Fellows Training in San Francisco. After I finish my junior spring at Dartmouth College, I will head to Sarajevo, Bosnia to work with “Zene za Zene International” from June-July 2009. In August-September 2009, I will be in Yerevan, Armenia. My job is to help establish KIVA and open up additional oportunities for lending to entrepreneurs in Eastern Europe.
KIVA is so exciting! Please, join our cause!
To see my blog...
Continue Reading >>In honor of the brilliant Tanzanian posts: http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2008/10/10/you-know-you%E2%80%99re-in-tanzania-when%E2%80%A6vol-iii/
You know you’re in Bosnia when…
1. Any healthy foods must always be accompanied by sausage.
2. Your coworkers refer to annoying things as “liver” because “they cause the liver to feel pain.”
3. People mix their wine with coca cola.
4. The most popular musicians are over the age of 40, and are usually accompanied by accordions.
5. Pizzas are baked without tomato sauce, but you...
Continue Reading >>In 2004, the International Criminal Tribunal ruled unanimously that the Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia in 1995 was genocide.
I visited Srebrenica last week. I put together a video with a little history, photographs, and an interview with a Kiva Borrower whose husband was killed in the war and whose life has never fully recovered. I hate to sound cliche, but the entire experience broke my heart.
' /> Continue Reading >>I am living in the attic of a blue house, which I share with fish farmers in the Bosnian countryside. I have a small kitchen (with a tea kettle and 6 espresso cups), a living room decorated with antique dolls, and a bedroom that smells like the suitcase of a grandparent. It is a musty and warm oasis. Behind the house are vegetable gardens and pools of fish and a guard dog (named Garo) who no longer pulls on his chain. There is a dirt path that I can follow for hours, past sheep and cemeteries and forgotten homes.
... Continue Reading >>My name is Milena Arciszewski and I will be serving as a Kiva Fellow for a full year in Bosnia, Kenya and possibly Tanzania and Cambodia. My first placement is in Zene za Zene in Sarajevo, which targets women affected by the genocide of the 1990s.
I have to say… I am so excited to be doing this! For two years, I have worked in a cubicle coated with pictures of giraffes and elephants, daydreaming of escaping the office to pursue a career in international development. The Kiva Fellowship feels like my golden ticket.
Training has been awesome. We eat curry pizza. Shoes...
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There is a lot of talk here and elsewhere as to whether or not microfinance (or any kind of aid for that matter) works. Is what anyone says the truth or just perceptions and opinions? It would be nice to have a definite answer, but it always seems a little more complicated than that.
In my past experience working with volunteers and...
Continue Reading >>The smell of a farm is one thing that is familiar to me, but not much else is. It’s amazing how removed you can be from a process that is so central to life, but it’s true. Feel like I should take some kind of crash course in farming, something that would qualify me to report on the majority of the businesses here. But I’m not qualified and that’s that. This is the amateur’s version of the life of Kiva clients in Bosnia and Herzegovina....
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