Posts tagged ‘Kiva’
Update From The Field: a New Perspective from Mexico, Second Chances for Borrowers + a Microfinance Medical Mission
Compiled by Allison Moomey | KF16 & KF17 | Bénin
Deep into the world of profile posting, repayment reporting, and borrower verifications, Kiva Fellows have been reflecting on the contrasts between their previous lives and their lives in the field. Kiyomi discovers a new side to neighboring Mexico, Micaela humorously presents the her differing reactions to office problems in Mozambique vs. New York, and Allison learns that directions are not the same where streets have no names. Jamie discovers that medical missions don’t look quite like Grey’s anatomy, and DJ discusses the more limited options for rejected borrowers in Georgia.
Continue Reading 12 March 2012 at 09:00 Allison Moomey 4 comments
(VIDEO BLOG) This is Definitely Not “Grey’s Anatomy”: Microfinance Medical Mission on Pitogo Island
By Jamie Greenthal | KF 17 | Philippines
While watching TV medical dramas over the years, I often fantasized about being a perfectly coiffed doctor who miraculously cures patients in under an hour (including commercial breaks) without breaking a sweat, and always remembers to flash a pearly white smile before the credits roll. While it seemed glamorous on TV, I knew, from being a patient myself, that the TV doctor exists only in Hollywood.
Continue Reading 11 March 2012 at 08:00 jlgreenthal 17 comments
Second Chances (Part 2)
Due to the threat and risk of rejected loan applicant’s falling prey to predatory lenders, Credo is launching an innovative new program to bring Kiva Loans to these most vulnerable borrowers. With the development of Credo’s Poverty Score Card, a complex matrix of variables are measured to define an individual client. If it is determined the client’s application was recently rejected primarily due to an absence or lack of business income and their repayment capacity; they may yet qualify for a loan with Credo.
Getting to Know The Real Mexico
Kiyomi Beach | KF17 | Mexico
When I found out I was being placed in Mexico, I was not exactly thrilled. I wanted to go someplace exotic, and far from home. Living in California, I’ve had lots of exposure to Mexican culture, so I thought that I wasn’t going to feel that I really got away.
The truth is, however, that I had never been to Mexico, outside of visiting a few resorts with my family, and I (not surprisingly) discovered that the mission district in San Francisco, where I live, and beach resorts are not proper representations for the “real” Mexico.
I want to share my experience travelling around the country meeting with borrowers of Fundacion Realidad, A.C. (FRAC).
Continue Reading 6 March 2012 at 08:45 kiyomibeach 12 comments
Update From The Field: Inspiring Field Partners, Cultural Adjustments + Girl Scout Cookies (No Wait, That’s Not Right)
Compiled by Chris Paci, KF16 & KF17, Azerbaijan
It’s the beginning of March, and by now, most of KF17 has been out in the field for several weeks. We’ve settled in at our field partners, gotten to know some of our new coworkers, and started to dig a little deeper into the societies of the countries we now call home. Many of us have already traveled out into the field to visit the borrowers at the heart of the Kiva model. Check out this week’s posts and join the fellows of KF17 as they discover the quirks of Samoa, reflect on Benin’s distinctive culture, and observe extreme poverty in the Dominican Republic. Then keep on reading to learn about a devoted loan officer in Ecuador, the money management techniques of microfinance clients in Togo, and the surprising opportunities that Liberian microfinance institutions can create.
Micro-Credit’s Dirty Little Secret
Ryan Cummings | KF 17 | Liberia
Cynthia and Maroline with their Bangladeshi host
All too often, when people talk about the positive impact of micro-credit, they focus exclusively on borrowers. While they are obviously a significant beneficiary of micro-credit, I have a dirty little secret for you: many other people benefit from micro-credit too.
There is an entirely different group of people who are having their lives changed for the better by the micro-credit movement. Who am I talking about? (more…)
Modernity in the Dominican Republic: La Capital vs. El Batey
By David Gorgani, KF17, Dominican Republic
In Santo Domingo, locally referred to simply as “La Capital,” it is an understatement to say that luxuries from back home are readily available. But this wonderland of IKEA, the Blue Mall, luxury car dealerships and international cuisine is the exception as opposed to the rule when viewed in the greater Dominican context.
Same Same but Different
Allison Moomey | KF 16 & KF17 | Bénin
One of my favorite aspects of Kiva is the autonomy it gives to partners. While Kiva has strict due diligence standards, the microfinance institution (MFI) partners are the ones who decide what products to offer, what social performance steps to take, and how to execute their plans. This results in a wide range of partners, each with its own unique culture and take on how to best serve the microfinance market in their respective areas of operation.
Having started my second Kiva fellowship a month ago, it has been fascinating to compare and contrast the work culture at each MFI. During KF16, I served as a fellow at Micro Start in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. I am currently in Cotonou, Bénin working with Finadev. Although the countries share a border, the people, language, and culture are very unique.
Continue Reading 28 February 2012 at 09:06 Allison Moomey 11 comments
Update From The Field: Client Visits In Bethlehem, A New Partnership In Cameroon + A Peek Into A Loan Officer’s World
Compiled by Allison Moomey | KF16 & KF17 | Bénin
KF17 fellows have now made their way into the field, which means new workplaces, new countries, and new cultures for us all. Even more importantly it means fascinating new blog posts from every corner of the globe for you. Check out this week’s posts and join fellows as they observe microfinance in action Palestine, share about a great new partner in Cameroon, visit a village bank in Peru, and adjust to life in Togo. Then continue reading to learn about a cricket-raising business in Indonesia, microsavings in Mozambique, Senegalese politics, an apartment search in Mongolia, and a loan officer training in the Philippines.
Continue Reading 27 February 2012 at 02:56 Allison Moomey 5 comments
“Training Day”: Denzel’s Got Nothing On These Filipino Loan Officers
By Jamie Greenthal | KF 17 | Philippines
In keeping with the transformation theme (see From One City to Another: A New Yorker in Tagbilaran), I am proud to say that I recently graduated from Kiva trainee to Kiva trainer. The setting was Corella, Philippines, a bucolic and verdant village on the island of Bohol, where 30 young Filipinos, most of whom had recently graduated from college, were undergoing intensive training to become microfinance loan officers.
Continue Reading 26 February 2012 at 17:41 jlgreenthal 9 comments
Common sense in Mongolia: An evolving definition
Jon Hiebert | KF 17 | Mongolia
When looking for an apartment in a new city, common sense would guide you to look online, contact a realtor or network through ex-pats and friends that work and live in the area already. But common sense seems to be very relative here in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia…
“I’ll take you for a walk to some areas where you might want to live,” says Ron, a new friend of mine who wants to help us hunt for apartments.
“Sure,” I reply, thinking it would be good to get an idea of what places looked like and what they are near.
At this point, I had been in Ulaanbaatar for just 30 hours and was living in a guesthouse downtown. I had met an American Fulbright researcher, Hannah, and we were thinking of finding an apartment together.
Mongolian Parliament. No wonder this is called the “Land of the Eternal Blue Skies.” (more…)
Some Politics with your Rice and Fish?
David Suk | KF 17 | Senegal
It’s been a constant refrain in e-mails from family, friends: “Are you okay over there? It sound’s dangerous. Be careful!”
Between protests, candidates find time for political rallies. This one, for the candidate Djibril Ngom, took place right outside my office window!
I arrived here in Senegal February 1st, just five days after the Constitutional Court ruled that Abdulaye Wade, Senegal’s incumbent president, may seek a third mandate, even though a casual reading of the constitution would seem to suggest a two-term limit.
Many Senegalese support Wade’s re-election bid, pointing to progressive gender parity initiatives and massive infrastructure investments, especially in rural and suburban areas. Others — especially city-dwellers — believe the pro-poor message that swept Wade to power in 2000 was little more than empty rhetoric. They feel trapped between rapid price inflation, slower wage inflation, and high unemployment.
And so, led by a loose coalition of opposition parties and Y’en a marre (Fed Up), a collection of politically-savvy hip-hop artists, some Senegalese responded to the Court’s ruling by protesting — indeed, rioting — on the streets of Dakar. Several protesters have been kiled in skirmishes with the police.
It's lunch time, UIMCEC!
A sad story, to be sure. Yet there is more to the Senegalese story – and I’m not even referring to flashes of hope and perseverance that emerge on the Kiva Website. Rather, I’m getting at the lunchtime back-and-forth around the communal Thiebou Diene (rice and fish) bowl.
My UIMCEC colleagues’ banter always seems to circle back to politics. They pass around the morning’s newspaper, and speculate about which articles contain kernels of truth. They argue about whether or not the protesters are destroying Senegal’s intentional reputation for Teranga (hospitality), or doing what’s necessary to preserve it. They ask one another if any of the opposition candidates has what it takes.
These uninhibited discussions — which are taking place at every bar, restaurant, and street corner across the country — are fuelled by dozens of newspapers, radio stations, television channels packed full of debate and speculation. Senegalese unions, women’s groups and human rights coalitions inject their own flavour, too.
I contrast this to my experience three years ago in Zimbabwe, which I visited to celebrate my brother’s wedding. I hardly ever heard Zimbabweans talking about politics. It wasn’t part of the political culture. It wasn’t safe – and since the only newspapers and radio stations available were essentially devoid of dissenting content, there wasn’t much to talk about anyways.
Senegalese is buzzing with political dialogue. It’s a humming a cacophony of dissenting and defending voices. This gives me hope.
And for those of you still worried about me, I assure you, I am okay over here – and I promise I’ll be careful.
David Suk (KF17) is serving as a Kiva Fellow with UIMCEC in Thiès, Senegal. Support UIMCEC by joining the UIMCEC Lending Team. Or lend to one of their borrowers right now.
On avian appetites and accidental entrepreneurs…
Heather Sullivan | KF 17 | Indonesia
Nearly every Kiva Fellow will tell you that meeting borrowers is one of the greatest satisfactions of serving “in the field.” It’s a delight to sit down with a group of borrowers and hear them talk about their families, their small businesses, their challenges, and their accomplishments. Quite possibly, local snacks will be involved; if you’re lucky, the snacks will not only be “locally sourced” but indeed specialty confections made from scratch by one of the borrowers. (In Kiva Fellow lingo, this is called “eating the profits” — all the better if the edible profits are green!)
Es PIsang Ijo, banana in a green “robe” served with delicious coconut cream.
Hugs and kisses from ebullient borrowers, group photos with the goofy-looking bule (Indonesian for “foreigner”), plantains in green robes — all good stuff. Even more rewarding, though, are the glimpses into how individuals and their loans fit into the local culture and economy.
Out of Cusco: Day in the life of a loan officer
Carrie Nguyen | KF17 | Peru
On Friday, I accompanied a loan officer to visit one of her 19 village banks just outside of Cusco, Peru, in the Andean highlands. On this occasion, we were providing the bank’s eighth loan disbursement since its formation in 2008. Despite a long-standing relationship with Asociación Arariwa, the group still had many organizational issues to iron out. This became evident as our routine meeting, which should have taken one hour, stretched into an all-morning affair.
By the end of the day, I had a much greater appreciation for the hectic schedule that loan officers face, and the numerous risks and obstacles involved in performing their jobs.
Our meeting room was all set up, but where were the borrowers? (more…)
Microfinance in Palestine: Some things are the same, some things are different
Philip Issa | KF17 | Palestine
Halaa from Palestine! This past Tuesday, I spent the day at microfinance nonprofit FATEN‘s branch office in holy Bethlehem and made my first round of borrower visits. Visiting three borrowers, each in a different phase of their enterprises, I was afforded a broad look at the realities of microfinance in Palestine. Read on about Noor, a young father who just started his business; Johny, a successful barber; and Imad, a mechanic whose garage is located just 200 meters from the Israeli Separation Barrier.
Noor, and his start-up
Fundraising for his first enterprise. (more…)
Karibu Kenya: Strathmore Facilitates Connections
Nessa E. French | KF 17 | Kenya
“I won the bet!” I exclaimed on Friday afternoon as I did a victorious ‘raising of the roof’ dance. The dance is better left to the imagination than any sort of visual. The bet in question was one that two other colleagues and I made on how long it would take for Strathmore University’s first partial tuition loan to fund once it went live on Kiva’s website.
Of course, we did not bet on anything material — only glory. One of the Strathmore Kiva Coordinators who lost said, “I lost but it’s good, I’m happy to lose because we all won.” She was right, Strathmore’s Kiva Coordinators had been working on making this a reality for many months now and it finally was. We were all ecstatic. What an exciting way to end my first week of work as a Kiva Fellow, and just another instance where I felt so happy to have been placed with field partner Strathmore University.
It was the last day of my first week of work at Strathmore University, and six partial tuition and laptop loans had just gone live on the site. The loans went live on Kiva.org at around 11:00 a.m. Nairobi time. The first partial tuition loan was funded by 12:40 p.m. My bet had been that the first loan would be funded by 1:00 p.m. My colleagues were a bit more modest in their estimates, going with 1:30p.m. and 2:00 p.m.
Connecting in New Orleans: Saints, Daiquiris & Mardi Gras
Charlotte Makoff | KF 16 | New Orleans
A Terrible Event
On January 14, the most horrible thing happened. The Saints lost to the 49ers. I have never cared about any football team, not even my high school and college teams. And really, if I did care about a team in this game it should have been the 49ers — after all I am from San Francisco — but, this time, I cared about the Saints.
It wasn’t for myself, it was for everyone else in this city — the ones who have 12-foot-high inflatable football players in their front yards, the ones who wouldn’t dare step out their front door without first putting on black and gold, the ones wearing football jerseys and black circles smeared below their eyes with SAINTS painted in white. The crowds at sidewalk cafes who suddenly start chanting:
“Who Dat? Who Dat? Who Dat team gonna beat them Saints?” – Saints Ice Bucket (more…)
An Ordinary Borrower Visit: The Reality of Microfinance in Honduras
Santiago Cortes | KF 17 | Honduras
I’ve just arrived in Tegucigalpa after my first trip to one of Kiva field partner Prisma‘s branches. I left Prisma’s headquarters on Wednesday on the back of a pick-up and drove to Danli, home to the nearest branch. My main goal with this visit was to test some policies I want to implement across Prisma. I hope to change all the processes related with Kiva, so I used this branch as a sort of “pilot branch.”
I didn’t know what to expect, Honduras being one of the most dangerous countries in the world. After a couple of hours heading south with an entire family in the back of a pick-up Toyota, I arrived in Danli in southern Honduras late at night.
The pick-up that took me from Tegucigalpa to Danli. (more…)
First Day as a Kiva Fellow in Cambodia
Jen Truong | KF17 | Cambodia
After experiencing my first day at work as a Kiva Fellow, I can tell you this much: One should always expect the unexpected! For me (and I feel incredibly fortunate for this), most of my unexpecteds so far have turned out to be only pleasant. Below, I have listed some details and thoughts of my first days being in Cambodia and at my MFI, MAXIMA, that I hope you will find at least entertaining.
The Expected:
1. Cambodia’s weather
Cambodia is humid! Granted, this is coming from someone who has lived in the Arizona desert pretty much her entire life, so I’m just being a bit more dramatic than I should be. Thankfully, my one-room apartment that I am renting from a family has air conditioning, which has helped the adjustment go much more smoothly. I am sweating less and less buckets as the days progress, and I’ve noticed that if I gradually wean myself off of the cool air, I will soon no longer need it at all! It doesn’t sound like something to be that proud of, but it’s funny how easily we take something like air conditioning for granted. Most people I’ve talked to don’t use or have air conditioning in their homes at all.
2. Homesickness
It would be a lie if I told you that I haven’t thought about being back home at all. I miss it. I miss conveniently knowing where everything is and who I’m going to see everyday. But, it is also for that reason that I am incredibly thankful for this opportunity to be in Cambodia. Each day I’ve seen something new–made new friend. I really can’t complain about that.
3. Street children
It is a known problem in Cambodia. Many people discourage giving money to these children as it only perpetuates the situation and puts them at even higher risk of getting into worse things in the future. Instead, I’ve been searching for local NGOs that aim to help protect street children and youth. I had dinner last night at Friends, the Restaurant (called Mith Samlanh in Cambodian). Friends is a training restaurant run by former street youth and their teachers. The food is delicious (a fusion of American and Cambodian cuisine) and the people are beyond hospitable here. (more…)
From One City to Another: A New Yorker in Tagbilaran
Jamie Greenthal | KF 17 | Philippines
The bustling streets of Tagbilaran City.
I wonder if you’re thinking the same thing I was not that long ago. I often thought about what it would be like to live and work on the other side of the world in a culture that is different from what I’ve grown accustomed to. After picturing myself in a faraway land, most of the time I would spin back around in my chair, refocus on the task at hand, and shrug off the daydream. But after doing this for over 10 years, the call became too loud and I had to act.
That faraway land is the Philippines. The work is with a microfinance institution Community Economic Ventures (CEV), in Tagbilaran City (TC) on the island of Bohol on behalf of Kiva as part of its Fellows Program. I used to live and work in New York City. This blog is about my experiences working in microfinance and living in the Philippines. There’s an open seat on my tricycle (see below). I hope you come along for the ride!
(more…)
Preservation Hall
Charlotte Makoff | KF16 | New Orleans
It’s hard to imagine a dingier, more neglected looking space than Preservation Hall in the French Quarter of New Orleans. The tall windows facing the street are shuttered and have not been washed in years, maybe decades. Paint, in the areas that are or were painted, is blistered and peeling, but most of the walls are covered with ancient pegboard stained a myriad of browns and grays by an accumulation of dust and tobacco smoke. (more…)
Kiva Puts its 17th Class of Fellows on the Map!
By Jacob Schultz, Kiva Fellows Program Manager, and Eric Brandt, Kiva Fellows Program Coordinator
Kiva HQ was electric last month as the newest class of Kiva Fellows gathered for an intensive five-day training course. Over the next several weeks, they’ll split up among 21 countries where Kiva loans are made. While there, they’ll spend the next four months working closely with our field partners and meeting with borrowers to grow and strengthen the Kiva lending experience.
Prior to arriving for training, Kiva gets to know the KF17 trainees through their bios
Kiva received 165 applicants for the class’ 21 placements, and everyone at HQ was very excited to meet these exceptional people in person.
“It’s humbling to meet this talented group of individuals who are willing to do so much to support Kiva’s mission,” says Kiva President Premal Shah.
In one whirlwind week, a total of 29 Kiva staff delivered presentations on their areas of specialty and prepared the Fellows for the challenges they will face in the field. At the same time, each of the fellows got a crash course on the Kiva partner they will be working with to make lending even easier and more rewarding for lenders and borrowers alike.
As much as the Fellows are learning, this training week always ends up being a two-way street. As Premal notes, “Even before their time in the field, the fellows inspire and challenge us while they are training to continue to innovate and deepen Kiva’s impact.”
Matt Flannery, Co-founder and CEO, and Premal Shah, President of Kiva, speaking with the trainees
Following in the footsteps of 407 past Kiva Fellows, KF17 will play a critical role in expanding Kiva’s global reach and ensuring the integrity of the Kiva lending experience. Each individual in the class will serve with one or more of Kiva’s field partners in order to strengthen relationships, build capacity and gather insights, pictures and stories from the field.
KF17 trainees (from left) Jon Hiebert, Isabel Balderrama, Nessa French, and Micaela Browning prepare for the field
The Fellows will contribute their incredible energy and diverse professional skills to Kiva as self-funded volunteers. They will travel thousands of miles, immerse themselves in unfamiliar cultures, and overcome challenges for the opportunity to further Kiva’s work.
Members of KF17 take their place on the map
We’d like to congratulate the amazing 17th class of Kiva Fellows and wish them the best of luck in the field over the next several months. We can’t wait to learn even more from their experiences.
We proudly announce the 17th class of Kiva Fellows (KF17)!
- Adria Orr – South Pacific Business Development, Samoa
- Alex Connelly – Colfuturo, Colombia
- Ben Schelling – Arvand, Tajikistan
- Carrie Nguyen – Asociacion Arariwa, Peru
- David Gorgani – ASPIRE, Dominican Republic
- David Suk – CAURIE, Senegal
- Devon Fisher – Milango, Kenya
- Heather Sullivan – VisionFund Indonesia
- Isabel Balderrama – FODEMI, Ecuador
- Jamie Greenthal – CEVI, Philippines
- Jen Truong – MAXIMA, Cambodia
- Jon Hiebert – XacBank, Mongolia
- Kiyomi Beach – Huatusco, Mexico
- Micaela Browning – Hluvuku, Mozambique
- Mike Slattery – WAGES, Togo
- Natalie Sherman – ACEP, Cameroon
- Nessa French – KADET and Strathmore University, Kenya
- Philip Issa – Ryada, Palestine
- Rebecca Vo – SEDA. Vietnam
- Ryan Cummings – BRAC Liberia
- Santiago Cortes – Prisma, Honduras
And an extra special thanks to the following fellows who will be returning for a 2nd placement!
- Abhinab Basnyat – NUBL, Nepal
- Allison Moomey – Finadev, Benin
- Chris Paci – VisionFund AzerCredit, Azerbaijan
- Emmanuel von Arx – FRAC, Mexico
- Kim Strathearn – Maya, Turkey
- Whitney Webb – VFC, Rwanda
To learn more about the Kiva Fellows Program, please visit our information page . We are currently accepting applications for the 18th class of Kiva Fellows who will begin their fellowships in June 2012. Apply today!
Junk Food +1,300 Chefs + Edirne-Style Liver + Maya Food Entrepreneurs
Kimberly Strathearn | KF 16 | Istanbul, Turkey
Although you will find many familiar fast food restaurants in Turkey, I have never understood why they are popular. Turkish food is just too darn good. When I first started living in Turkey in 1998, there was very little western fast food, very little packaged junk food, and very little prepared foods (i.e. bottled sauces, frozen vegetable, mixes and other packaged foods). I used to bring back lots of food items when I visited my family once a year. Now I only bring back chili powder for when I occasionally make tacos (don’t have to bring tortillas back anymore, Turkey now grows avocados, and I substitute fresh yogurt for sour cream).
Gigantic Lay's billboard
Fast food glore
Secrets of the ELA Sisterhood (Part I)
Andrew Huelsenbeck| KF16 | Kampala, Uganda
Life is not easy for a lot of young women in Uganda. Many girls in poorer urban areas and in rural villages are regularly confronted with sexual assault, unwanted or unintended pregnancies, HIV, and the list goes on. These girls are also commonly forced to drop out of school early because they can no longer pay fees or because they need to help support their families. With these kinds of hardships, young girls are often trapped in poverty with few, if any, opportunities to develop independence and improve their lives.
Enter BRAC. Four years ago, BRAC Uganda began to address some of these problems by implementing what they call the Empowerment and Livelihood for Adolescence Program (ELA Program). The program is designed specifically “to improve the quality of the life of vulnerable adolescents by organizing them, creating spaces of their own and helping them develop a set of skills so that they can live and grow as confident, empowered and self reliant individuals contributing to change in their own families and communities.”
Because it is set up to achieve so many ambitious goals, the ELA program can seem fairly complex at first glance. In this blog post, I want to outline how the program is organized and talk a little bit about some of the social components of the ELA clubs. And in the next blog post, I’ll talk more about the finance components of the ELA program and about the impact of the program overall.
General Organization of ELA
Meet Barbara. She works extremely hard to train ELA staff and to develop materials for the program. She has also been with the ELA program from the beginning and has an excellent grasp on how the program functions and on how far it has come. In the video below, I asked her about what she’s currently working on and about some of the major changes she has seen in the program over the years. Check it out:
As Barbara said in the video, the ELA program has expanded significantly in the past few years and as a result, has become much more decentralized. A colleague at BRAC once joked with me: “anyone who says they understand everything that’s going on with the organization is crazy.” Yet somehow, the program functions with uncanny efficiency.
ELA Management
Each ELA girl is a member of a local club, which is organized and managed by a mentor. There are currently a total 785 clubs, which are located all across Uganda. In general, clusters of about 10-15 clubs are linked to Branch Offices based on proximity. Each branch office has a Project Assistant who is responsible for supervising all of the clubs associated with the branch and for helping the clubs to strengthen their relationships with surrounding communities. The Project Assistants report directly to the Area Coordinators, who are responsible for overseeing a handful of Branch Offices in a specific district. Area Coordinators report to Regional Coordinators, who then report to the Uganda Program Manager. The program manager is responsible for overseeing all big-picture aspects of the program and is stationed mainly at the BRAC Country Office in Kampala.
Microfinance Staff
The ELA microfinance, which is recent addition to the ELA program, requires some additional staff members. At the branch level, there are Credit Officers, who are tasked with overseeing all the financial components of the program. ELA microfinance also has its own set of Area Coordinators, who are responsible for managing microfinance at multiple branches and must be present at all loan disbursements. The microfinance Area Coordinators also report to the Regional Managers and to the Program Manager. Every month, all of the Area Coordinators meet with the Program Manager at the Country Office to review the performance of their clubs and to discuss how to improve the program.
Club Houses
The space used for the program consists mainly of extensions of community member’s houses, or of public buildings rented by BRAC from local governments. This is the main space where club members and mentors meet six afternoons per week. The clubs also use community sports fields for certain athletic activities.
How to Join
The requirements to join a club aren’t strict at all. Any girl between 13 and 21 years old, who is a permanent citizen of Uganda and who can pay the 2,000 UGX (~$0.80) admission fee can join. All she really has to do is approach the local club’s mentor and ask.
The Social Components of ELA Clubs
Community Participation
One thing that is emphasized over and over again when discussing the ELA program with BRAC management is community involvement. From what I was able to gather, this happens in mainly two ways. The first way is called a mothers forum. Once, every two weeks or so, the Project Assistant from the branch will get together with the mothers of club members to discuss the club programs and things that the mothers can do to help empower their daughters. Another way that the community is involved with ELA clubs is through community leaders’ workshops. These are events where prominent female figures from the community visit a club to talk to the girls about sexual health, life challenges or a host of other topics.
Life Skills Based Education
The ELA program also provides girls with resources to learn more about life challenges and how to overcome them. The clubs focus on a wide range of topics including reproductive health, menstruation, familial and community responsibility, leadership, bride price, early pregnancy, STIs, family planning and rape. Mentors will normally focus on one aspect of one of these topics every day, and occasionally guest speakers will come to the clubs to give presentations to the girls. BRAC has also published books on each of these topics consisting of general advice and collections of stories from the lives of ELA girls.
Just below is a kind of introductory story from BRAC’s book on family planning. It’s called “Tough Times,” and is mainly about a young, 20-year-old woman named Stella and her struggle through her second pregnancy. It emphasizes the importance of leaving time between births.
Last year, in 2009, I got married to Mike, a bicycle cyclist. I’m now five months pregnant. I was forced into marriage because my parents never wanted to stay with a pregnant woman. I had long stopped studying due to lack of finances at home.
Mike stayed in a remote village. Once in a while, when a vehicle passed, every one waited in anticipation of their relative. City people are claimed to be rich since they always carry with them so many gifts. In the village the main source of livelihood is agriculture and most of the farming done is for consumption.
As it was my first pregnancy, I lacked knowledge on how to care for myself. Friends, however, encouraged me to visit the health centre for checkups.
Throughout the pregnancy, I visited the health centre only once. The long distance discouraged me form frequenting the place. I also lacked the money to receive the medical attention I needed. As a result, a traditional birth attendant helped me to give birth to my first child. She was easily available and cheap.
Much as Mike tried so hard to meet every need of the family, the poor man failed. To make matters worse, I conceived again after ten months. This also affected our daughter so much. She was ever sick and crying. I also stopped breast feeding her since e I was down with morning sicknesses and the general discomfort that comes with pregnancy. Eating also became a problem since we could only afford one meal a day.
When it reached birth, Mike was able to gather some money to transport me to the health centre. I delivered with the help of the nurse, but I faced severe complications. I almost bled to death. I was weak and anemic. My baby looked so sick that I doubted his survival. My daughter was stunted. Having two children in a couple of years was too much for me and it also strained my husband a lot.
The nurse advised me to go back for postnatal care, with my husband. She later explained that child birth was the most risky incidence and a threat to the woman’s health and that of her baby. She emphasized the need for birth spacing if we were to take good care of our children’s health and needs.
When the nurse had finished talking, it surprised me that I was so ignorant about family planning methods and birth spacing. Use of contraceptives would give me enough time to properly heal and properly take care of myself and the children before getting unexpected pregnancy.
Since then, I have learned to use contraceptives. I plan on waiting for my two children to properly grow before I conceive again. It is also important that I get a job so that I can supplement on Mike’s income. This will help us to properly take care of our family and keep it happy.
Club Activities
To me, the club activities are in a big way the heart of the ELA program. They afford the ELA girls a daily opportunity to take a break from adversity, to talk about their experiences and to learn from one another.
Towards the end of my fellowship, I was lucky enough to visit the Kanyanya Club in the Zanna district in Kampala. Just before lunch one day, I hop on the back of a boda boda and speed just a few kilometers up the road to the main traffic hub in Zanna. I pick up two oily, floury pancakes called chapattis for lunch, then march off of the main road, back into the Zanna “slums” to find the Branch Office. I get a little lost on the winding backroads, but am only a few minutes late – Uganda style.
Once at the office, I am greeted warmly by the Project Assistant and an Area Manager I’ve met before. The three of us travel up about two kilometers of steep, dusty roads in the hot afternoon sun. It would have been much easier to take a boda boda, but the project assistant had recently been in an accident and really didn’t want to take any more chances. Just as I think I am running out of steam, we reach the top of a huge incline, descend down a short lane with lots of tree shade, and finally arrive at the club house.
It’s around two o’clock, and more and more girls filter in over the next hour. Many of the members aren’t around because they’ve gone to visit family in the villages for the holiday, and many of the girls that show up are also a bit drained from the intense heat of the sun. We still have a great time playing board games and dancing. Fortunately, I have my Flipcam and am able to grab some great footage of the club house and of the girls. Enjoy!
Andrew Huelsenbeck is a Kiva Fellow who worked in Kampala with BRAC Uganda. To learn more about BRAC, please visit their Kiva Partner Page. If you are interested in helping to empower one or more of BRAC’s many wonderful entrepreneurs, you can join the Friends of BRAC Uganda lending team or check out new BRAC Uganda loans on Kiva.org. Happy lending!
To Connect People Through Lending To Entrepreneurs Across the Globe
“To Connect People Through Lending to Entrepreneurs Across the Globe” is one of Kiva’s best tag lines. Indeed, “Connecting” is key to Kiva, to microfinance loans and to repayment, especially in this high tech world of Twitter, Facebook, Groupon and the Worldwide Web. All of the Kiva borrowers in New Orleans are online, from the youngest in her twenties to the oldsters in their 60s. A lot have smart phones to check their email and Facebook pages. Unlike the Kiva borrowers in developing nations, there is no need to explain “the internet.” When I meet with a prospective client I walk them through the Kiva website. I go to Kiva.org and explain “crowd sourcing,” i.e. that their loan will actually be funded by around 250 people from different parts the world who want to loan and connect with them after reading their Kiva profile. The response is always positive and many of the borrowers want to make a connection to the lenders. One borrower, Renee, specifically asked me to write all of her lenders a thank you note and a progress report on her loan. The Kiva site is built so that the borrowers cannot directly write to the lenders. This is what I wrote on Renee’s behalf:
Continue Reading 2 February 2012 at 12:26 charlottemakoff Leave a comment
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
Celebrating the Epiphany in New Orleans
I expected Christmas to be different in New Orleans and I was right. The people of New Orleans celebrate everything with flourish and style and of course Christmas is no different. So what’s so different about Christmas? Well, it’s the King Cake tradition. It involves a special cake, a tiny baby and a party. The tradition of having King Cake Parties has evolved through time, but no one in New Orleans ever remembers a time when there weren’t King Cake parties after Christmas. The tradition started in New Orleans, no doubt, with the French Catholics. It celebrates the twelfth night after Christmas, January 6th, the Day of the epiphany. The Epiphany is the revelation that the baby Jesus Christ is the son of God who was born as a human being.
Originally, King Cakes were a simple ring of pastry dough (brioche to be exact) with a small amount of colored sugar as decoration. Inside the original King Cakes was a tiny porcelain or gold baby, representing Jesus. If a person received a piece of cake with the baby they were declared King for the day. Over time, people were choking or breaking teeth on the baby, so the baby has become a little larger and plastic, and instead of being baked inside, the baby is is inserted into the cake after baking. The top of the cake is then covered with sugar icing in traditional Mardi Gras colors: Green, purple and gold. In recent years, bakeries have been improvising and making different cream cheese flavors and fruit filled King Cakes. There’s one bakery in New Orleans, Antoine’s, that makes up to 3,500 cakes per day running their bakery 24 hours and hiring additional employees, during what they term as King Cake season. .
If you go to a King Cake party and get the piece of cake with the baby, beware! You are not just the King for the day, you are now required to bring the next King Cake to the next party. Because of this tradition, some offices and schools have King Cakes every day until Mardi Gras season ends. I first heard about King Cakes at an office meeting at Kiva’s Community partner, Good Work Network. Since I first heard I have been carefully watching the bakery section at Rouse’s and Winn Dixie. I have also been eyeing the cases at the local bakeries. I couldn’t wait until after Christmas to buy my first piece of King Cake, so I went to Antoine’s on Carrollton where they sell King Cakes all year round. They actually had pieces of King Cake for sale, so I dove in head first.
Okay, it tastes and smells like a really good cinnamon roll. In fact, the whole experience reminded me of the chain restaurant, Cinnabon. Am I wrong? Would someone from N’Awlins disagree with my assessment? I googled cinnamon rolls and King Cake and got a multiplicity of hits all of which indicated that somewhere along the way, the original brioche style King Cakes have morphed into a coffee cake similar to a Cinnamon roll. In fact, some easy recipes suggest using ready made cinnamon roll dough to make a King Cake.
Perks + Atatürk + My hero
Cookıe samples = Perks!
What’s next for KF16? (Part 2)
Compiled by Laurie Young, KF16, Indonesia
Last week you read about about what six of the fellows from KF16 were doing once their fellowships ended. Read on to see what adventures 2012 will bring to some more!
Continue Reading 8 January 2012 at 20:54 laurie4485 1 comment
Typical Day of this Kiva Fellow . . . in New Orleans
I interned at the Kiva Headquarters in San Francisco for six months. If you have six months to spare this is a very worthwhile experience. Never had I met so many great people working toward a common goal. And being an unpaid intern was one of the most satisfying things I have ever done. Kiva depends on teams of volunteers, and it is very appreciative of its teams and expresses it on a daily basis. Sure, I did some collating and copying, but I also was invited to brainstorming sessions, wrote country memos, wrote articles for the Kiva Fellows Alumni newsletter, vetted Fellows’ applications and had imput into the inner workings of Kiva.
Kiva is both technology driven and food oriented. When you work at Kiva, you get 20-30 emails a day, most of which are about some delectable treat on the table of wonders. The remainder of the emails are about happy hour, microfinance cafe, microfinance pub, or a party at a Kivan’s house on an upcoming weekend. I was a Kiva Intern with the Fellows Program. I helped Jacob, Eric and Dave with vetting, selecting and training the Kiva Fellows before they left for their varied posts around the globe. (Kiva is in over 60 countries). I love traveling and living in and experiencing new cultures. Working as a Kiva intern made me want to go into the field with the Kiva Fellows Program.
So here I am, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Not exactly a foreign country, but the most colorful city in the United States. This place is amazing, it’s one big party. On any random weekend I can be found sitting in a cafe or a club listening to live music. I attended the Oak Street Po-Boy Festival with at least 50,000 other revelers. Tomorrow night I am going to have dinner at a restaurant owned by a Kiva borrower and afterward I am going on a pub crawl on Tchoupitoulas (pronounced “Chop-A-Tool-ess”) Street in Uptown. Next week is a Rock ‘n Bowl party with live jazz and bowling with my “MFI.”
For this blog post, I am going to tell you about my typical day here in New Orleans. But first a little about the “typical day” topic. Every Kiva Fellow Applicant has to write what he or she thinks a typical day as a Kiva Fellow is going to be. It’s sort of a wild guess exercise because there really is no typical day. The point of making the applicant write it is to see how creative the applicant is, how well the applicant can write, whether the applicant did his (or her) homework and what his expectations are as a Kiva Fellow. As an intern for the Fellows program, I have read dozens. Some were so good I read them out loud to my colleagues at Kiva. Some were funny and some were like reading a calendar entry — 7:30 Wake up, take shower, 8:00 am Eat breakfast, 8:30 am Take bus to MFI . . .” Needless to say, the calendar entries weren’t the most interesting ones. Some were so unrealistic that it appeared the applicant hadn’t a clue as to what a Kiva Fellow does in the field. Not every Kiva Fellow has the same experience, and my situation, being in the United States, is unusual. If you are an applicant looking for ideas, you won’t find a lot here. Here goes my real typical day in Kiva City — New Orleans.
This morning I woke up in my little rented house in Uptown. Because it’s a Thursday, I have to decide which office I am going to work in today. In New Orleans, Kiva works with ASI Federal Credit Union, ASII, a non-profit arm and organization of ASI called “A Shared Initiative,” and the Good Work Network, another non-profit organization that works within New Orleans assisting microbusinesses. I have a choice of three offices, the ASI headquarters in Harahan, the ASII office in the upper Ninth Ward, or the Good Work Network office on OC Haley Boulevard. Luckily, ASI has given me a car, a blue Toyota Corolla, to use while I am here. I usually gravitate to the Good Work Network office. It has the best internet, and prospective Kiva borrowers come into the Good Work Network office for intial intake. I even have my own, desk, cubicle and computer. I decided this morning to start at Good Work Network. I drive down St. Charles St., a tree lined boulevard with trolley cars running down the center. It’s another beautiful day. I say out loud, to myself, “I love this city.” There are yard signs up inviting me to a street fair, a pub crawl, a block party. There are old faded Mardi Gras beads hanging from the trees. I pass beautiful pristine antebellum mansions and boarded up houses with the large Katrina X’s spray painted on them. I park my car across from the Franz Building where the GoodWork Network is. I park right next to house that hasn’t been touched since Katrina. Plants grow from the roof. It’s missing walls, windows, a roof, occupants, but somehow in all of its wrecked glory, it still looks beautiful. I photograph it and my car. I hope nothing falls over from it onto the car.
At noon, a couple comes in to apply for a Kiva loan. I have to ask them a lot of personal financial questions. I hope they pass muster. My inclination is to give everyone who comes in a loan, but underwriting thinks otherwise. The Kiva Coordinator and/or the Kiva Fellow separates the improbable applicants from the probable applicants. There are guidelines: a borrower cannot have charge-offs on their credit report, and must be current on their existing debts with no 60 day past due notices within the last year. The actual credit score isn’t looked at, but it helps if it’s good and hurts if it’s really bad. If a loan applicant is denied, he or she can work with a business counselor at Good Work Network for credit counseling and business advice. If they can fix their issues they can return and reapply for a Kiva loan. This is just the initial intake for preliminary approval. Once we get to the next stage there is a mountain of paperwork involved and the borrowers need to be shepherded through the system. The Kiva Fellow works closely with the Kiva Coordinator, Leslie, the head of Good Work Network, Phyllis, and Lang, the Business Lending Program Manager at ASII, to make sure all of the paperwork is in order for each and every applicant. Once a loan is approved, a photo is taken, waivers and releases are signed and the Kiva profiles are written. So far, I have written three of them.
After meeting with the clients, I drive 20 minutes to the Lebanon Cafe on Carrollton Ave. to meet with Sarah, the Executive Director of ASII. She’s the head honcho for the Kiva program and she wants to check in on the progress of Kiva. Sarah is wonderful and looks like she could have been Miss Louisiana, but it turns out she’s really from Mississippi. (So, maybe she was Miss Mississippi.) Her goal is to get Kiva New Orleans from pilot to active. We discuss this during a delicious lunch with hummus, pita bread and eggplant sandwiches (that look suspiciously like Po’ Boys). Its a very productive lunch. I learn that ASII has some really innovative loan products — including grocery store loans and education loans. We bounce around some other ideas.
After lunch, I drive to the upper Ninth Ward to work out of the ASII office. At that office is Lang, a dynamic woman who knows her loans, borrowers, practices and procedures backward, forward and sideways. She has a very high energy level and is filled with information about New Orleans and the Vietnamese immigrant community. There’s always lots to learn form Lang. We discuss repayment reporting, underwriting, corporate best practices and loan delinquencies, if any.
I check my work plan. The internet connection is “iffy” there so I work offline on my laptop. I do whatever I can to get my work done. Afterwork, I go straight home to clean up my house. I have guests coming from out of town. When you live in New Orleans, you suddenly become popular. Everyone wants to visit. It’s a fun city, what can I say?
Charlotte is a Kiva Fellow in KF-16, the 16th Kiva Fellows Class, with ASI Federal Credit Union and is now living in New Orleans. Charlotte has lived in India, Japan, and has built houses with Habitat For Humanity in Ethiopia, Zambia and India.
For more information about Kiva, click here. Kiva.orgTo read about ASI Federal Credit Union, click here. asifcu.orgYou can also follow Kiva New Orleans on facebook, facebook.com/kivaNOLAjoin the Kiva New Orleans lending team.
