When I lend on Kiva, I want to support a budding entrepreneur, someone that shows innovation in their small-scale business, has big dreams and is now able to run after them. I like to imagine that as a Kiva lender, I am a small part of a catalytic process that opens the floodgates to the borrower’s success. I lend because I want to do something selfless, however when it... Continue Reading >>
Stories tagged with Hluvuku-Adsema
When I lend on Kiva, I want to support a budding entrepreneur, someone that shows innovation in their small-scale business, has big dreams and is now able to run after them. I like to imagine that as a Kiva lender, I am a small part of a catalytic process that opens the floodgates to the borrower’s success. I lend because I want to do something selfless, however when it... Continue Reading >>
"It's so beautiful!" Dona Elsa stood in awe of the photo I just took of her.
Dona Elsa isn't used to being in photos, and she is especially not used to smiling in photos. When I asked if I could take her picture, her first instinct was to stand with arms by her side; a serious, pensive look on her face without a shadow of a smile in sight. Before taking the picture, I asked her to smile and she timidly obliged.
I took the picture and showed her the outcome on the tiny LCD screen of the digital... Continue Reading >>
Micaela Browning | KF 17 | Mozambique
A few weeks ago, Kiva Fellow Jamie Greenthal wrote a great blog post about his new life in the Philippines versus life back in New York City. This week, I’d like to expand upon this most excellent topic and draw your attention to a few slight differences between the way things function in my office here in Mozambique and how things worked in my office back in New York City.
Few events can highlight differences between two places better than the occurrence of problems. I have definitely had my share of problems...
Continue Reading >>Micaela Browning | KF17 | Mozambique
“A penny saved is a penny earned.”
Ah, the old adage; the bane of the average American adolescent’s existence. My mother, in particular, constantly sung the praises of fiscal responsibility and self-discipline. By the age of eleven, I had my own ATM card and bank account (my meager savings consisted of reluctantly deposited babysitting money and crumpled wads of birthday cash).
Though young, I generally understood that the bank would “guard” my money until I wanted to spend it, much like my best...
Continue Reading >>by Isaac Iglesias, KF10, Mozambique
Unlike much of the rest of the world, Mozambique did not hold any holiday for Easter. However, April 7th was a national holiday to celebrate the day of the Mozambican woman. In spite of having the 11th lowest Human Development Index in the world, Mozambique does not score poorly in women’s rights when compared to its peers. Every year on this day, events are held across the country to celebrate what has been achieved already in terms of gender equality, but also to remind Mozambicans that there is still a long way to go.
I would...
Continue Reading >>By Isaac Iglesias, KF10, Mozambique
There is arguably a problem larger than poverty in southern Africa. Although not reaching the levels of neighbouring Swaziland, whose mid-term future as a country and people is uncertain, HIV is rife in Mozambique. One in six adults is estimated to carry antibodies for the disease, as are over 100,000 children.
I happen to belong to the oldest generation that has always been aware of the existence of HIV. Many readers probably remember a time when it did not exist. In the late ’80s, I saw...
Continue Reading >>By Isaac Iglesias, KF10, Mozambique
I used to work in the credit card industry for a major bank in London, looking at portfolios in the developed world. One of my biggest surprises when I started working with my MFI was the fact that they are much pushier than their European and American counterparts when it comes to asking for loan repayments. Before approving a loan, an assessment of the equity of the borrower is performed; and some or most of his property is offered as collateral. This is usually a fridge, a television or a piece of furniture. If a borrower starts to...
Continue Reading >>By Cameron Morris KF8, Mozambique
On Monday ten hours of arduous bus travel took me from Maputo to Johannesburg and brought a pretty definite end to my Kiva Fellowship. Before going to Mozambique I was easily amazed by wonky, academic models that sought to bring the end of poverty to the world. It didn’t take long to realize that those theories are exactly that, just theories that in reality cannot be easily applied. People are not merely numbers or statistics and their problems are not inputs into functions. Their problems are real and have voices. Voices that are...
Continue Reading >>By Cameron Morris-KF8, Mozambique
For the last week and a half I have been working out of the Hluvuku-Adsema office along the bustling Mozambique-Swaziland border in the town of Namaacha, Mozambique. Namaacha is nestled in the Libombo mountains, boasts a plenitude of colonial architecture and has extremely erratic weather (please believe that it gets mighty cold in Mozambique). During the near fortnight that I’ve been here I have been continually impressed by th...
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