Posts tagged ‘Kiva Field Partners’
New Kids on the Block: Meet ACEP Cameroun
Natalie Sherman | KF 17 | Cameroun
They have an air-conditioned waiting room, tiny espresso mugs, an executive director that knows how to make a good joke, and a long-standing record of excellent customer service. They are a poverty-busting force to be reckoned with. Yep, there are some new kids in town. Who are they? ACEP Cameroun, one of Cameroon’s top four microfinance institutions, Kiva’s newest pilot partner, and the MFI I get to work with closely over the next four months of my Kiva fellowship.
ACEP Cameroun’s headquarters in Yaoundé
Aside from its pilot partner status, ACEP Cameroun is not really “new” at all. The bank has been around since 1999, was privatized in 2005, and has grown to serve over 8,500 customers since. With branches in Cameroon’s largest urban areas, Yaoundé (the capital), Douala and Bafoussam, ACEP provides loans to clients that are owners or managers of “Très Petites Entreprises” (TPEs), or “Very Small Businesses.” Whether you are a tailor, a beignet vendor or a hardware store owner, you can apply for an ACEP small business loan to help with planning, to purchase equipment or for plain ole’ working capital.
20 Years in 2012: A Celebration of Serving the Filipino Poor
The new year is already in full swing and resolutions are being met or failed as we speak. This New Year’s celebrations, for me, was a little different as I got to spend a full week with Center for Community Transformation staff as they celebrated 20 years of growth and successful service to the poor in the Philippines. President Ruth Callanta spent time reflecting on the past but also casting vision for the future as CCT hopes to transform more communities in the Philippines and reach more marginalized people groups.
Continue Reading 22 January 2012 at 04:51 The Musings of a Sponge 1 comment
Producto Creer: How for a Bank Doing the Right Thing Can Pay Off
By Emmanuel M. von Arx, KF16, Guayaquil (Ecuador)
My host and Kiva´s partner organization Banco D-MIRO provides over ten different types of microloans to borrowers in and around Guayaquil: among them loans to finance housing improvements, school expenses, medication, and loans awarded specifically to employees, young clients with a business idea but no experience, and – as Ecuador´s only microfinance institution – discount loans for HIV-positive micro-entrepreneurs. Yet, one borrower group beats all other borrowers in their dedication and commitment to paying back their loans on time: the well over 400 disabled borrowers of Banco D-MIRO, whose payment discipline has turned “their” loan – “Producto Creer” (“Product Believe”) – into the most successful and inspirational product of D-MIRO´s extensive spectrum. The delinquency rate of Producto Creer is by far lower than that of any other major micro-loan type of Banco D-MIRO, which means that borrowers of Producto Creer are better at paying back their monthly rates than any other client group! In these times of economic and social turmoil, Banco D-MIRO´s Producto Creer may be a much needed reminder that it may pay off for banks to do the morally right thing.
Continue Reading 20 December 2011 at 04:00 Emmanuel von Arx 1 comment
And the Winner Is…………
By Jill Hall, KF16, Philippines
“And the winner is……..ppprrrrrmmmmmmm” (drum roll). Now, if you are anything like me, the image in your head is of some famous actress or actor fumbling with a large envelope, complaining about how is it hard to open. Luckily, for this post, we are going skip the envelope and talk about a winner who is a little closer to home for this Kiva Fellow. The winner I am talking about is CCT’s very own, Andresa Javines, who is Citi Bank’s “Entrepreneur of the Year” (MOTY) for Mindanao, Philippines.
Continue Reading 14 December 2011 at 07:00 The Musings of a Sponge 3 comments
A Typical Day in the Life of a Kiva Fellow: Loan Officer Training (Video Blog Post)
By Emmanuel M. von Arx, KF 16, Guayaquil (Ecuador)
Video posts on a “typical day” in the life of a Kiva Fellow are a time-honored tradition on the Fellows Blog. Without any more words, here is my contribution to the video series of documenting a typical day in the life of a Kiva fellow. Like all previous contributors to the series, I am keenly aware that there is no “typical day” for Kiva Fellows. But taken together, the growing number of “typical day”-videos may at least convey something of the diversity, unpredictability, spontaneity, and joy that a typical untypical day of a Kiva Fellowship entails. Enjoy!
Continue Reading 6 December 2011 at 04:00 Emmanuel von Arx 1 comment
Visiting an HIV-Clinic in Guayaquil (Part II)
By Emmanuel M. von Arx, KF16, Guayaquil (Ecuador)
One of the great joys and privileges of being a Kiva Fellow is to go along with loan officers when they are meeting Kiva borrowers and new clients. One of my most memorable outings was a visit of an HIV-clinic in a public hospital in Ecuador´s largest city Guayaquil. In the first part of this blog post I recounted how I drove with Nahin Alvarado from Banco D-MIRO´s headquarters on Guayaquil´s Isla Trinitaria to the HIV-clinic at Hospital Abel Gilbert. Nahin is the bank´s loan officer specializing in HIV-positive and/or disabled clients who have the right to receive a discount micro-loan. And Banco D-MIRO is the only micro-institution in all Ecuador to provide financial products especially for these two long-excluded client groups.
Nahin is talking to a patient outside of Guayaquil´s HIV clinic
While Nahin is presenting the bank´s special loan products to the patients in the HIV- clinic´s crowded waiting room, Franklin walks towards me. A strong man in his forties, Franklin is the leader and community organizer of FUSAD (Frente Unido por la Salud y los Derechos – in English: United Front for Health and Rights), a self-help and support group for HIV-positive people, based at the hospital and well known for the professional education courses they provide to their members.
Continue Reading 15 November 2011 at 12:00 Emmanuel von Arx 4 comments
Study Now, Pay Now: Funding Higher Education in the Philippines
by: Jill Hall, KF16, Philippines
The higher education loan was an exciting idea because it had the potential to provide access to financial backing to those who wanted to pursue further education but were often limited by the lack of availability of funding in their country. The higher education loans hold much potential but it also introduces a whole other set of potentially troubling issues.
It was a pleasure to sit down with Maricar Santiago, CCT with the Visions of Hope division, to discuss the the details of the “Study Now, Pay Now” education loan product.
Continue Reading 12 November 2011 at 18:08 The Musings of a Sponge 5 comments
Visiting an HIV-Clinic in Guayaquil (Part I)
By Emmanuel M. von Arx, KF16, Ecuador
“Don’t be scared to shake the hand of a client with HIV or to drink out of his glass. You cannot get infected that way.” This was the message that Nahin Alvarado repeated over and over during a training session in September with a group of twelve new and somewhat incredulous loan officers of Banco D-MIRO, when I first met him. A loan officer himself, Nahin has been with Banco D-MIRO for over two years, focusing on two very special client groups who – not just in Ecuador – have long suffered from discrimination and lack of access to financial services: micro-entrepreneurs who are HIV-positive or disabled. The moment I heard Nahin so forcefully speak up on behalf of HIV-positive clients, I knew that I wanted to spend a day with him in the field.
Continue Reading 2 November 2011 at 08:00 Emmanuel von Arx 3 comments
Girlie’s Peanut Butter: Borrower Verification in the Philippines
By: Jill Hall, Manila,Philippines
As I stepped out in the oppressive humidity of a Manila morning, my spirit was excited and ready to leave the protection of CCT head office’s wonderful air conditioning because this was the day I got to do another borrower verification.This day’s journey is particularly exciting because the reward at the end of the two-hour bus side in Metro Manila traffic, is Caloocan City, a place where nature begins to meet houses and instead of high rises and smog you plunge in to lush green hills and palm trees. It is there that I will find the lady that makes peanut butter.
Continue Reading 23 October 2011 at 21:54 The Musings of a Sponge 6 comments
What Does it Take to be Kiva Field Partner: New Partnerships in the Middle of the World, Part I
Of the seven-step process to becoming a Kiva Field Partner, the last step is easily the most exciting. It signifies a new opportunity for Kiva lenders and borrowers, a meaningful development for Kiva, and a promising culmination of work for a potential partner. Before I arrived in Quito, Ecuador two weeks ago, my in-country partner Fundación Alternativa had completed steps one through six of the process. And as I stepped off the plane at Mariscal Sucre International Airport on May 30th, Fundación Alternativa imperceptibly passed from step six to step seven: when Field Partners enter the Pilot Phase, and Kiva sends you a frighteningly enthusiastic Kiva Fellow to get you started.
Continue Reading 13 June 2011 at 15:50 Kate Bennett 3 comments
A field partner grows from the pilot to active stage
Congratulations to Credit Mongol! This Kiva field partner in Mongolia recently achieved active status on the Kiva website. As you may well know, Kiva partners with microfinance institutions (MFIs), like Credit Mongol, in countries across the globe, reaching hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs. These partnerships are what make Kiva possible on a large scale.
Kiva Fellow and Credit Mongol Kiva staff
Rwanda: Where the women are kind, the men are generous and everyone is just so nice
By Michelle Curtis, KF13, Rwanda
“Someone told me she loves me, just then…she told me that she loves me and I am so happy.” When an overjoyed stranger took his mobile from his ear and turned to find the first person to share his wonderful news with…there I was. Someone loved him and he had to let it out to the world. I gave him my congratulations, shook his hand and landed an encouraging pat on his back. He was beaming. So was I.
Kiva Climbs the Ecuadorian Andes to Team Up With Its Newest Field Partner
by Josh Wilcox, KF10 Ecuador
Please join me in welcoming the latest Field Partner to the Kiva platform and third in Ecuador, Cooperativa San José! They are headquartered in the small village of San José de Chimbo and have 5 other branch offices within the Bolivar and Los Ríos provinces. Located in the heart of the country up in the Andes Mountains, Cooperativa San José offers various types of savings and credit products to its members.
Cooperativa San José will be working with Kiva to administer loans to their ventanillas rurales (group loans in the countryside). The majority of these borrowers works in agriculture and predominately grows corn, potatoes, beans, tomatoes, among other crops. Many also raise small animals or have a small store within their home to augment their income, since their harvests often do not provide them with adequate income to support their families. These farmers will also travel weekly to the fairs in the village to sell their grains, fruits, and vegetables.
TLM… hotter than an Indonesian rap song!
by Cissy DeLuca, KF8, Indonesia
When most people think of Indonesia, the first places that usually come to mind are Bali and Jakarta. West Timor may be the last place a person associates with Indonesia. West Timor is part of the NTT province, which is the poorest in Indonesia. That means the people of this area need Kiva lenders the most!
Nestled in the bustling metropolis of Kupang is a humble organization called Tanaoba Lais Manekat. Only posting on Kiva since March 2009, they are rapidly becoming the next big thing in microfinance, Kiva and the world!
I made this video to get all you Kiva lenders as pumped on West Timor and TLM as I am!
Cissy Deluca is a proud member of KF8 working in Indonesia with TLM. Please feel free to join their rapidly growing lending team or follow them on twitter!
