Mar 10, 2013
Uganda
As a Kiva lender, I would often find myself looking at the slew of pictures and video on Kiva’s website and wondering about the moment the images were captured. This past week I was able to experience firsthand when Ryan, Kiva’s Video Production Manager, and Liz, Kiva’s Media Fellow, visited Kampala for several days to capture images from two of Kiva’s partner organizations I am working with in Uganda: Solar Sister & Grameen Foundation.
Kiva loans for both organizations work as business-in-a-box models whereby the borrower receives goods in-kind to use or...
Mar 9, 2013
Ecuador
I recently had the opportunity to sit down and talk with a grandmother named Angelita. She has been using micro-finance for the last 15 years. I thought she would have some interesting things to say about micro finance.
Mar 9, 2013
Kenya
Although there is a growing middle class in Africa, the lack of basic services, adequate infrastructure and access to banking are still pervasive. Rather than completely stifling growth, these deficiencies have become fertile ground for innovators whipping up solutions and products customized for the continent. In Africa, developmental challenges can be synonymous with opportunity. “We thank God for giving us many problems so that we can find solutions,” joked Kenyan Information and Communication secretary Bitange Ndemo to the Daily Nation at an IBM forum in February...
Mar 8, 2013
Vietnam
Having spent the last month living and working in Vietnam's capital city, I've learned some interesting things about Vietnamese culture that are worth sharing.
1. Traffic is chaotic, yet road rage doesn't seem to exist: By far the most obvious difference. While a driver's license is technically required in Vietnam, the traffic code is rarely enforced and driving is basically a free-for-all. Motorbikes are the predominant mode of transportation due to their low cost and maneuverability, and moto drivers will squeeze into every available...
Mar 7, 2013
Guatemala
Last year, I served as a substitute teacher in my hometown of Minnetonka, Minnesota.
Now as a Kiva Fellow in Guatemala, I hope to maintain contact with the students.
This is my video journal.
International calls...
Mar 7, 2013
Mongolia
It’s been just over two weeks since I arrived in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital, and there’s been much to take in. I’ve never been anywhere quite so foreign to me, where nothing about the culture, the food, the people, or the language is familiar. Chances are, these things aren’t familiar for many of this blog’s readers either. So for my first post from Mongolia, I’ve decided to take you through my new world through the senses, so you can get an idea of what it’s been like walking around in my shoes (or rather, my heavy winter boots).
The sights
I’ve been...
Mar 6, 2013
Chile
“Look,” says Irma, staring me straight in the eye. “I started my business with very little.”
In Rauco, Chile, a small rural town a few hours south of Santiago, Irma and I sit at a small fold out table at Irma’s...
Irma at her Soda Fountain
Mar 5, 2013
Senegal
Some of you have may lend to women borrowers gathered in groups called "Village Bank", or "Banc Villageois" in French, the following is the story of this system in Senegal.
In 1984, in a plane going to La Paz, John Hatch outlined a project in which poor people gathered in a group were directly in charge of their financial service program. The main idea was to provide small loan to poorest families, especially women, for helping them to start small businesses. Such as what Grameen Bank was already doing in Bangladesh.
Village Banking has been designed to be a fully...
Mar 4, 2013
Zimbabwe
Pamhidzayi (Pamhi) Mhongera leads all new and existing projects at the MicroKing microfinance institution in Harare, Zimbabwe. As part of her role, she oversees the Kiva program under which Zimbabwean entrepreneurs are given the opportunity to work their way up the socioeconomic ladder.
Pamhi at the office where she oversees MicroKing’s Kiva partnership
However Pamhi’s positive impact on her community extends beyond her daily work. She and her husband, Mustafa, launched...
Mar 1, 2013
Kenya
Mary, far left, with the Sisal Sisters borrower group in Kakuyuni, near Tala, Kenya The second day I was in Kenya I had the good fortune to spend the day with KADET staff profiling the top loan officer at the agency, Mary Ngenya, who works in the Tala region. Mary is considered THE BEST of approximately 80 loan officers in the entire organization which has offices all over Kenya; she manages one of the largest loan portfolios in the organization and in the six years since she’s been with KADET, her portfolio has consistently had the fewest loans at risk...