Posts tagged ‘Philippines’
Business in Manila, Both Mall and Small
By Nick Whalley, KF12, Philippines
A first Jeepney ride through the heavy traffic congestion on Taft Street, the main thoroughfare through Ermita and Malate, gave me a quick introduction to the urban economy of the Philippines. Despite the presence of familiar franchises (McDonalds, Starbucks, etc.) and some not so familiar ones (Jollibee, a local favorite), the majority of commercial enterprises lining the road are small, family run store fronts and stands, most of them selling a diverse and predictable range of products: candies, bottled water, soft drinks, small toiletries, spices, canned goods, etc. The sheer number of these “sari-sari” stores is astonishing. It wasn’t surprising then that as I began working with the CCT Credit Cooperative uploading borrower profiles onto Kiva’s website, I found that the vast majority of borrowers listed “SSS” (Sari-Sari Store) as their current business, and the purchase of small consumer goods for repackaging and resale as the purpose of the loan.
Continue Reading 19 August 2010 at 15:55 nwhalley 5 comments
To Have a Servant’s Heart: The Essence of Customer Service
By Kaajal Laungani, KF12, Philippines
When you’re in the business of microfinance, you’re in the business of relationship building. Microfinance institutions (MFIs) must rely on a vast network of relationships between stakeholders – clients, lenders, donors, employees, etc – in order to provide financial services to the poor and fulfill their other objectives.
Pastor Boris Joaquin, World Vision’s Director of Publics in Ministry, shared his insight on how to exceed customers’ expectations with Community Economic Ventures, Inc (CEVI) during an intensive workshop. Forty-seven CEVI staff members, including branch managers, area managers, and top management, met at JJ’s Seafood in Tagbilaran City to discuss Customer Service 101.
Continue Reading 16 August 2010 at 00:01 klaungani 6 comments
Kiva, Google Earth, and the Big Wide World
Ok so hear me out on this concept – I think it’s a good one.
In my eyes one of THE greatest things to come out of the last fifty years is the ability to travel. The ability to see, to experience, to understand different cultures, and get a taste of what it’s like to live in a country vastly different to your own.
So what about Google Earth?
10 Things the Philippines Can Teach the World
1) How to smile
At the moment I am working as a Kiva fellow with the field partner organisation Community Economic Ventures (CEVI), based in Bohol, Philippines. Here there are some of the most fantastic smiles I have ever seen. It’s the real face lit up, all teeth accounted for, glowing beam that can spread far and wide.
Lesson: Plain and simple – Smile! Remember to smile as much as possible because everyone knows that smiles are contagious!
Business Development Services
For any employee at Alalay sa Kaunlaran (ASKI) field partner, business and community development programs are seen as crucial in offering a holistic approach to serving the people of Luzon province in Northern Philippines. ASKI combines a variety of non-financial services with lending that is enhancing the technical, operational and strategic skills of clients – helping them to achieve financial and personal growth.
Dear World….
Some people don’t like airports/train stations/bus stations but I do. I like those few moments in between where you’ve been, and where you are going. The fact you actually get a chance to reflect. I’m in a queue at the airport. Here are my thoughts.
My Right Hand Man, Sesenio
It is becoming increasingly obvious to me, living here in the Philippines, that SO often money does not go into the right hands. The two main shopping malls on the island of Bohol are owned by wealthy Chinese business men. Chain stores like Chow King, McDonalds, and Jollibee are filled with customers. When you ask people what they do in the weekend the common answer is “malling” or window shopping. Malls are synonymous with air conditioning. Air con means escaping the heat. Less people shop in the open markets and side of the road stalls. More people are drawn into the big chain stores.
And so the story goes, and it’s an old one, the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. ENTER: Microfinance!
Filipino culture and microfinance
When I visit a new country, I am always fascinated to see how the social values differ from my own as a British born Indian. When I found out I would be heading to the Philippines, I was pleased to see that the cultural guides were richly filled with Filipino traits. It made my day when I read another Kiva Fellow’s blog about the most well known Filipino trait – ‘Bahala Na’ which means ’leave it to God’ . Along with Bahala Na, I wanted to share two other common traits that I believe make borrowers from the Philippines great candidates for micro-lending. Group loyalty (Pakikisama) and inclusion (Sakop).
El Nino in the Philippines
Vishnu Hariharan, KF10 Philippines
When I read a Kiva Fellows blog, it is a chance for me to switch off from the sparks of self awareness. I teleport across the world for 10 minutes to experience life as another Kiva Fellow – exposing me to the elements shaping the lives of Kiva clients. I would like to expose what I have found to be one of the key elements shaping the lives of ASKI’s clients – El Nino.
Of Chicken and Men
By Ujwal Kharel, KF9, Philippines
Today is my last day here at CCT. I can’t believe how soon it’s ending.
I have been largely absent from the blogosphere for more than a month. I blame that on two work weeks I missed being bedridden with chicken pox. I found it ironic (?) that I spent 19 years of my life in Kathmandu without any sickness, and within 4 weeks in a relatively cleaner and more developed city of Manila, I got bedridden. I realized that the worst part about getting a child illness at the age of 25 is not the severity of symptoms, but the ridicule from friends and cousins.
“What!? Chicken pox!? Haha! I had that when I was in the 3rd grade!”
“No way! But you are sooooo old!”
“Hey poxy!”
“Are you sure it’s not adult acne?”
Yeah, thanks everyone! (more…)
Challenging Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon
For all those who have succumbed to playing the late night trivia game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon”, you know it is based on the assumption that any actor can be linked through his or her film roles to actor Kevin Bacon within six steps. The game is a play on the network idea “Six Degrees of Separation” that everyone is at most six steps away from any other person on Earth.
What I have come to realize week one into my placement as a brand new Kiva Fellow is Kevin Bacon is to Hollywood as Kiva Fellows are to the world of microfinance.
Continue Reading 13 February 2010 at 21:17 Christina Reyes 4 comments
Day 0: A Kiva Fellow’s reflections
As I sit at a local internet cafe in Cabanatuan city, Philippines (where I am surrounded by five kids all reading out loud the blogs of other Kiva Fellows’ from my computer screen!), I find myself reflecting more on what I hope to learn when I’m in the field.
Continue Reading 8 February 2010 at 00:03 vishnu84 5 comments
San Frantastic, time to get real
The best part about leaving a place is that it generally means you will be arriving somewhere new. You’re sad. You’re excited. You’re a whole bunch of simultaneous emotions. I want to write this, my first Kiva Fellow’s Blog, while these emotions are still fresh;
while the bitter sweet sound of karaoke is still ringing in my ears;
while the last shot of the night is still processing;
and while the memory of 30 smiling fellows is firmly imprinted in my mind.
First let me tell you why I am excited
1) I am about to embark on a three month fellowship for an organisation called Kiva. They’re excited about the concept of microfinance. We all know that excitement is contagious. If you want to get excited too then skip to The Kiva website.
Community Loans: Another Level of Microfinance
By Josh Weinstein, KF9 Philippines
I spent the last week with the research department touring the region, tagging along on a market research survey. On the last day, we were driving through a coastal town when the paved road turned to dirt. According to the driver and director of the research department at NWTF, when the road turns to dirt, you know you are headed in the right direction. Sure enough, within a few minutes we reached a squatter community bustling with people. (In the Philippines, the government protects squatters, and large communities spring up on other peoples’ lands.) The road was just wide enough to fit the van and lined with nipa huts and sari sari stores. We passed by two makeshift basketball courts before coming to the end of the road. We parked the van and split up to walk around and talk to the people. Unfortunately, the interviews are all in Illonggo, so I chose to follow the director down to the shore. He began talking to a group of women on the beach holding their infant children. He asked a few questions, one of which is particularly interesting. If they could have a loan to spend on anything in their community, what would it be? Their response: a storage tank for diesel fuel or an icemaker. I’ll explain why this is important, but first some background. (more…)
How to be a Not-Microfinance Borrower
Recently I attended a centre meeting with one of PMPC’s loan officers. I sat down beside a woman who smiled broadly but did not want to give me her name or have her picture taken since she hadn’t prepared for it, which, in the heat and humidity of the Philippines, I could certainly understand. I asked her if she was a borrower and she said no, she wasn’t. She was a member of the centre, which meant that she was a PMPC-client but only had a savings account. She re-paid her last business loan but decided not to take another one out. When I asked her why not, she told me, laughing “Pagod! Mag-pahinga muna ako!” (Tired! I’m going to rest first), very kindly answering me in Tagalog instead of Visaya sensing I was still more with my local dialect.
That got me thinking about microfinance and its critics. We Kiva Fellows have responded in depth and with much honesty about the criticisms of microfinance and whether or not it is an effective poverty alleviation tool. One of the charges leveled against it is that the poor don’t know how to run a business: they take out loans, don’t know what to do with the funds, get over-indebted and run themselves ragged trying to repay it. Ultimately, they turn against microfinance and never want to take out another loan again. It’s true, that does happen sometimes but sometimes it doesn’t.
In this woman’s case, it didn’t. What happened to her was that she’d taken out a loan, and run a successful enough business that she could now close it down. She had her children to take care of her, as is the custom here, and in addition to that, she’d saved enough over time and through her savings account at the MFI so she could now support herself during this break. Sometimes, meeting a microfinance borrower who has stopped being a microfinance borrower is proof enough that it is working.
After reading both the detractors and the devotees, I know I can be a little of both but meeting smart and savvy PMPC-clients gives the advocates an edge this time. This woman made an active decision rather than being caught hopelessly in a cycle out of her control and she was an active member of her community, putting together the holiday decorations and always attending meetings. The chance to rest gives her the chance to celebrate the holidays. Happy New Year everyone!
Squid Centre's Holiday Decoration- Made out of Softdrink Straws!
To learn more about what PMPC does, visit their team page
Please support PMPC entrepreneurs by clicking here.
Holiday Greetings – KF9 on Christmas
By KF9, All Over The World
Merry Christmas! This holiday season Kiva Fellows are celebrating Christmas all over the world, in all sorts of different ways. Whether it be traveling, feasting, or working hard to bring you some additional Kiva magic over the holidays, it’s safe to say we’re all thankful to be serving as Kiva Fellows and glad to have found a wonderful community in Kiva.
We wanted to share what Christmas is like for KF9ers out in the field and around the world. So enjoy – and happy holidays!
In no particular order:
Nicki Goh, KF9 Senegal
This coming weekend, the Senegalese have a 4 day weekend with both Christian and Islamic holidays straddling the weekend. I will make the most of the time off work to visit the Sine-Saloum Delta on the Atlantic coast of Senegal – an area where my MFI SEM’s work is extremely important to ecovillagers. The delta is an area of immense natural beauty which is sadly at risk of desertification and where there is a high level of unemployment. This time I will be on vacation but I hope to return there at a later date to meet some of the borrowers for myself. Happy holidays to you all – whatever your religion!
CCT Christmas Fun
By Ujwal Kharel KF9
This is a collection of video excerpts from Christmas parties at few of the CCT branches. They sure know how to have fun here 
.
Signing off from the Philippines
By Adam Preston, KF9, Philippines
ASKI client performs beachside karaoke before annual client meeting
I was perusing through my IPhoto gallery when it occurred to me, I am almost done here. Since October, I have been working at the head office of Alalay sa Kaumlarun or ASKI. I have been on two week long field visits, a day trip to deliver relief goods to typhoons victims, 4 ASKI client annual meetings, and even day of team building through sports and exercise, where I participated in a cheer competition. Needless to say, it has been a very full three months.
As I page through the photos and videos of borrower visits, I feel that I should have a resounding conclusion on microfinance or at least of P2P banking or at least of of Kiva. But I don’t. I have traveled throughout northern Luzon and meet with over 80 ASKI clients. I have found that the Filipinos are proud, hardworking people not looking for handouts, but rather for opportunity. There were the visits to people, like Jelly, who is not renewing her loan. She is taking a break from selling banana chips to focus on caring for her newborn baby. She has no plans to renew. Others, like Lourinda, a smart, strong center chief women, is a pillar in her community. She has renewed her loan multiple times and was recently recognized for her achievements as a business woman in the 2009 annual client meeting. Still others like, Jose who is not renewing his loan due to an farming accident earlier this year. Right now, he can’t work. He said that once he recovers, he might renew. While I have not made any startling discoveries, I have made a few observations:
Microfinance Requires a Team Effort
One thing I came into the Kiva Fellowship with is this idea that Kiva helps regular people make a direct impact in the life a poor person. In my mind I envisioned a women living in a grass hut only needing my $25 loan to start a business to finally lift herself out of poverty. After reading A Banker to the Poor, can you blame me? You as a lender are making a difference, but when you hit that lend now button you not acting alone to help this borrower out, you’re joining a team. What I have learned since being here is that it takes a finely tuned machine to lift communities out of poverty – and that finely tuned machine is the MFI. Just at ASKI, there are the loan officers (or project officers as they are called here), who routinely risk their safety to visit borrowers to collect the payments. There are the documentation officers, who reside in the branches and transfer and translate the loan applications to posted loans on Kiva. There are the communications officers who reside in the head office who oversee and coordinate documentation officer’s work. And this is just the tip of the iceberg of the MFI. There is a team of people working tireless behind the scenes to produce that one photo and the borrower profiles. And this isn’t even counting the Kiva staff responsible for keeping the Kiva platform humming. To achieve this this noble goal of alleviating poverty it requires a sustained, team effort.
It’s the Percentages, Stupid
We hear a lot about how Kiva isn’t perfect or that microfinance isn’t perfect. You don’t have to go very far on the internet to find criticism of microfinance in general or even Kiva in particular . One thing that I have learned since being here is that you can not judge the effectiveness of microfinance based on success of single MFI client (or even a single MFI for that matter) anymore than you can judge the effectiveness of baseball player by a single at bat. I do not have to go far to find examples where additional credit did not result in a prosperous business. But a simple fact remains; access to credit is essential for any business to function. As ASKI Executive Director Roland Victoria once said credit is the lifeblood of an economy. By supplying life to even the road side sari-sari store, gives the small business owner the best chance and climbing to that next rung. Over time, making credit more accessible will result in a higher percentage of stronger, healthier businesses.
Poverty Alleviation Requires More than Microcredit
One reoccurring message I have heard here is how ASKI is “Going beyond microfinance.” To truly lift an individual from poverty, credit is important, but so are other services such as insurance, savings programs, vocational training, community development, and disaster relief. Last week, along with the ASKI management team, I attended 4 ASKI client general assembly meetings. These meetings attended by up to 1500 ASKI clients are usually held around Christmas and serve as an opportunity to update the ASKI clients on the various ASKI programs. Local government officials are also there detailing government run social programs and also educating the audience on a variety of topics such consumer rights . These meetings require a considerable amount of work to plan and run, but are a great example of how ASKI is going beyond microfinance.
Mature Microfinance Institutions, such as ASKI, offer their clients an array of services that previously were not available to this segment of the population and these services are not purely financial in nature. I think mistakenly many of the academic studies are out to find a silver bullet. What I have learned in my short three month Kiva fellowship is that there is no silver bullet. However this should not dissuade us from participating. This is a very interesting time in our history where we finally have the technology to harness the collective power ordinary people for social good, and Kiva is leading the charge.
Adam Preston is a Kiva Fellow who proudly served at Alalay sa Kaunlaran, Inc (ASKI), Philippines.
Microfinance and Education
The road to the home of a Kiva borrower
by Josh Weinstein, KF9 Philippines
I spent the last three days in “the field,” a term used to describe the front lines of microfinance where the money is distributed to the clients of the MFI. Beginning early Tuesday morning, I set out for the town of Valladolid, a rural municipality about 50 km from Bacolod City. The road snakes along the coast through increasingly less urban communities, until reaching Pontevedra, where the NWTF (Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation) Valladolid branch is located. The branch manager, Linda Saraet, took me to see the first of 15 borrowers we would try to track down over the course of the three-day trip (with a 67% success rate). Riding in the metal grates on the back of a tricycle, where I’d spend most of my trip, we rode to a small village called a barangay to interview several women about their business and loan. The community here is small, and stopping for directions usually produced a friendly guide that brought us directly to the home of the borrower. Home constructions vary from 2-3 room nipa huts – bamboo structures with thatched roofs and dirt floors – to cement frames with roofs of corrugated aluminum. Sometimes the house has electricity and running water, sometimes not. Over the course of the week, I’d see all types represented. Housing loans are popular among borrowers, and many homes have been built with loans from NWTF. (more…)
Another young boy!
By Ujwal Kharel KF9
Hello everyone!
My name’s Ujwal and I started as a Kiva fellow for CCT, Manila on Monday, December 07. For those fans of Prem, don’t worry he’s still here, and will be here for at least another month .
I left Atlanta on November 23rd and flew to Kathmandu for the best detour ever (I am of course ignoring that this ‘best detour ever’ required 40 hour long trip with long transits in DC, Frankfurt and Bahrain). Kathmandu is awesome as always. Despite the chaos, it has maintained its charm. Temples in Basantapur still stand tall. You can still savor the best dumplings in the world (Momos) in a long line of Nepali restaurants in King’s way. (Oh yeah! right in the middle of this line now stands a recently opened KFC, the most popular venue in Kathmandu right now).
I arrived in Manila on Saturday. Prem was nice to take me around the city over the weekend. We mostly went to malls. And there are so many of them! Manila seems great and not very unlike Kathmandu. I am sure I will get to share great things about Manila with you in next few months.
On my first day at CCT, Lala, the Kiva coordinator, introduced me to almost everyone. The most common comment I got: Another young boy!
Are These Borrowers Legitimate?
Ed Coambs KF9 Philippines, Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation
What will the field hold for me today as I go out to complete my first Kiva mission. I have been asked to spend time completing ten borrower verifications. The idea is first introduced to me during my fellowship training. The borrower verification process is one of the requirements for a Micro Finance Institution (MFI) that has partnered with Kiva to move from pilot to active status. (The pilot stage is designed to allow Kiva to evaluate the MFI, and their ability to meet all Kiva requirements. All MFI’s start in pilot status with a low fundraising limit and once they move to active status have their fundraising limit raised.) During training as I am introduced to the borrower verification process I think oh no problem I can knock this out in a day. All I have to do is take some photo’s, check documents, and ask some questions about the borrowers business. Well what unfolds (more…)
My Field Trip to Tuguegarao City
By Adam Preston, KF9, Philippines
AKSI clients prepare lunch
In addition to being a very hard word to spell, Tuguegarao (pronounced too-gig-a-raou), is the location of one of the ASKI branches that posts their clients on the Kiva website. It’s also the destination of my second trip to the field. One part of my job as a Kiva Fellow is to help conduct borrower interviews for journal updates. Even though these field trips can be somewhat of a grueling experience, to me this is one of the most effective ways to connect the lenders to the borrowers. And so it was, on Monday morning at 5:30 AM Teke, our loyal driver, Kenneth, an ASKI staff member, Mary, my KF partner, and I loaded up the minivan and headed out for an 9 hour ride to Tuguegarao City.
Eating Frogs
That next morning, accompanied by three members of the local branch staff we headed out and for a full schedule of meeting with ASKI clients. As we headed out of town, with our lists and Flipcams in hand, I noticed a women selling something on the side of the road. Trying to get the conversation going in the car, I asked what she was selling. Its was then that a burst of Tagalog erupted in the car, then some giggling. It wasn’t long after asking that seemingly innocent question, that we had stopped the car, negotiated a price, and stowed away in the front seat our lunch. Yep, frogs. Later that afternoon, we sat down to a wonderfully prepared and delicious meal prepared by some clients. And yes, it actually does taste like chicken.
Caving
I think if you would ask someone in my home state of Minnesota the name of the activity of hiking in a cave, they would probably say “Hiking…in a cave”. When asking a Filippino the same question, they would describe this activity as “Caving.”
Well, after finishing up on Wednesday we went “Caving” at Callo Cave, one of the local attractions. Along with two, the local ASKI field officers, and my Kiva Fellow partner in crime, we all partook in the what ended up being one of the more grueling cave hikes I can remember. Don’t get me wrong, it was good but it was also very slippery and required the utmost concentration as to avoid slipping into what I can only imagine as the abyss. In the end it was worth it, the rock formations, the natural skylights, the very dark and damp sanctuary.
That Friday night, 1 cave, 1 fried frog, and thankfully no renditions of “Bottles of Beer on the wall” later we all arrived back in Cabanatuan City safe and sound.
Adam Preston is a Kiva Fellow at Alalay sa Kaunlaran, Inc (ASKI), Philippines. He thinks you should click here to lend a helping hand to one of ASKI’s clients today.
“Ok. Next question…”
Laughing with Myrna Data, a Kiva Borrower
Mary Riedel, KF9, Philippines
“…What do you think your biggest challenge will be if you become a Kiva Fellow?”
I heard this question twice during my interview process with Kiva. On both occasions I was sitting at my kitchen table in San Francisco, working from home (experiencing some cabin fever), and planing to meet up with friends later in the day. My answer was, “Feeling disconnected from friends and family.” And yes, some days staying connected has been a bit of challenge, looking at the clock wishing it was telling me a different story, jumping to Skype and hoping to to see little green dots. For the most part though, communication has been good, it just takes more planning and acceptance.
So that’s not my biggest challenge… (more…)
Hey, Joe
I have been mistaken for this guy a lot since I've been here
By Adam Preston, KF9, Philippines
The Filipinos are a very generous people. So generous, in fact, that if they don’t know your name, they will even give you a name – and that name is Joe. I am greeted in this way no less than 3 or 4 times in a day, coming from men and women both young and old: “Hey Joe!”
As many guide books will tell you, in many parts of the Philippines foreigners especially males of Caucasian decent (read: white dudes) will be greeted as “Joe” referring to the GIs (American soldiers) who had a presence here through World War II.
“Finally, Filipinos have a unique greeting for male (and sometimes female) Westerners: ‘Hey Joe!’ (‘Hey Kano!’ is a less used variation). Both are hangovers from Word War II when the country was overrun by GI Joes or American soldiers (‘kano’ comes form Americano’) and are used ad nauseam. Of course, if your name’s Joe, you’ll feel pretty special. If not, you may start to feel like a clown set especially to give the locals a laugh.”
“Philippines”, Lonely Planet, p. 63, Edition 8, 2009
What is interesting about this experience isn’t just that this moniker dates back more than 50 years, but it is how it is often said, the utter exuberance in which the greeting is delivered. When waiting for my tricycle and I hear someone shout “Hey Joe!”, oddly, I don’t feel insulted. When I look over at the guy saying this, he is looking right at me with a big smile on his face. He seems to be genuinely glad to see me. I politely turn and wave and reciprocate in the only way that I know how: “Hey buddy”, I respond.
Adam Preston is a Kiva Fellow working with ASKI in Cabanatuan City, Philippines. He answers to both the name his mother gave him and also now to Joe. To get involved click here.
Farmers playing Wall Street
By Karl Baumgarten, KF9, Costa Rica
In the last 5 years, financial innovation has spread rapidly to the field of microfinance. What previously was better coined micro-credit is starting to live up to its name, with more and more MFIs starting to offer a full gambit of financial services: microinsurance, microsavings, remittances and others. Technology is enabling these products to spread faster and further. But just what are the impacts of these products and how can we be sure that microfinance is really doing all that its rosy image implies? One increasingly popular method is a randomized control trial, where individuals are randomly divided into treatment and control groups to evaluate the impacts of various development interventions. The participants are surveyed at the beginning of the experiment and again at the end. As the treatment and control groups are randomly chosen, the differences between them at the end of the period can be attributed to that treatment/intervention.
Below are a few interesting products and findings I have come across recently: (more…)
“After the storms, a new morning comes.”
The rain has stopped! Umbrella and tricycle outside ASKI!
Mary Riedel, KF9, Philippines
I’m sitting in Cabanatuan City, Philippines on the island of Luzon, which is one of the main islands in the Philippines (a nation composed of over 7000 islands). My name is Mary Riedel and it’s Day 5 of my Kiva Fellowship at Alalay sa Kaunlaran, Inc. (ASKI) (a partner in development). ASKI has been an MFI Partner with Kiva for 10 months and I am the third fellow to be on the ground here with Adam Preston fellow #4. They have over 2000 Kiva Entrprenuers and have raised a little over 400K on Kiva.
It’s weird to be so close to the recent devasation of Ketsana (Ondoy – local name) and Parma (Pepang – local name) and still feel somewhat removed from it all, apart from the rain of course and carrying “payong ko” (my umbrella). However, it has touched the lives of many employees here and all of the Kiva clients/borrowers at ASKI who live in Region II (Northern Luzon) where there was serious damage from Parma. This region was chosen to be “Kiva Country,” (as the ASKIANS call it) because it is the most remote and under-served area in the ASKI portfolio.
A Road Is Paved, A Mall Opens
By Sloane Berrent, KF8, Ahon sa Hirap, Inc, Philippines
A Center Meeting in San Jose, Antique, Philippines.
“How has Ahon sa Hirap, Inc.” (ASHI and my host microfinance institution) “being here in your barangay or in your town helped your community?”
I ask the women from ASHI during each Center meeting that I attend. There are a few variations on this question. I ask how their lives have changed and what the Center means to them.“My husband had a stroke and couldn’t work anymore. I worked as a domestic in town and had to travel very far every day for not a lot of money. I joined ASHI 7 years ago to start a buy and sell fish business so that I could stay closer to home to take care of my husband and help my children.”
“After my husband died, I was so lonely. My children are all grown up and out of the house. I was sad. I joined ASHI 13 years ago and now my life is so different. I laugh. I come here every week to see my friends.”
“My house was very bad and made from old bamboo. When typhoon season came, my family had to run to our neighbors because we were scared our house would collapse. With my ASHI loan, I was able to move my Sari Sari store to a busier corner where workers pass by on their way to the fields. I open at 4AM and close at 8PM but am very happy. Now 10 years later, we now have a house made of stone and we don’t run from the typhoons anymore.”
But has it changed MORE than that? What about an entire town?
I had heard that seeing microfinance in action could be like watching grass grow. So gradual, so slow. How could I say that there is indeed a larger change in the landscape of where microfinance sets up shop?
I turned to the ASHI staff. It was a Saturday night and we were going to go out to dinner together. The two Kiva Coordinators asked me if we could stop in the new local mall that opened so that could grab a few things.
“Sure,” I said. No problem.
We walked to the end of the drive and hopped into a tricycle and took off towards the mall. There was light traffic, the road wasn’t too bumpy, we arrived to throngs of people gathering outside the mall, in the entrance, more teenagers and families gathered.
“This has been huge for our town,” the one Kiva Coordinator said.
(more…)
A good ol’ fashioned microfinance story
by Milena Arciszewski, KF8
I’m volunteering at Community Economic Ventures, an MFI in the Philippines. Today I prepared a journal update for a Kiva borrower that I liked so much that I’m posting it here, too.
I hope you enjoy it!
To lend to borrowers like Restituta, check out: http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&partner_id=125&status=fundRaising&sortBy=New+to+Old
Milena Arciszewski has a year-long Kiva Fellowship. She has already finished placements in Bosnia and Kenya and is now in her final placement at Community Economic Ventures, Inc. in the Philippines. You can reach her at milena.kathryn@gmail.com.
Should all kids want to be a doctor or astronaut? Maybe…
By Milena Arciszewski, KF8 – Community Economic Ventures Inc. – Philippines
The backdrop for my ah-ha! moment
Yesterday I had a thoughtful conversation with a CEV Loan Officer, over a bowl of soup. She told me about a recent interview she had with a young boy. She asked him about his dream for the future, and was disappointed when he answered: “When I grow up, I want to be strong so that I can carry heavy boxes like my father.” This boy doesn’t dream about becoming a pilot, or a doctor, or an astronaut. He dreams of becoming strong so that he can carry heavy boxes.
The Loan Officer looked at me and said firmly: “The worst part of poverty here is that it takes away people’s ability to dream.”
One of my favorite quotes is by Martin Luther King, Jr: “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.’ There is a strange beauty to that boy who dreams of carrying heavy boxes. He sees honor in the job and his highest aspiration is to be strong so that he can do the job well. And that’s okay. It is not my place to judge his dreams or expect them to match mine. I responded to the Loan Officer that I think it’s a fine for him to have that dream, as long as it makes him happy.
“No, you don’t understand,” she answered. “That boy isn’t dreaming about carrying boxes because that will make him happy. He dreams of carrying boxes because that is all he knows. He is so poor that he doesn’t know what else to dream about.”
I had my ah-ha! moment. That’s why microfinance institutions exist. It’s not just about giving poor people the ability to grow their business. It’s about giving poor people the chance to live a better like so that they have the ability to dream.
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- A CEV borrower poses before her rice field
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- A CEV borrower poses with her baby pig
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- A CEV borrower with her recycled goods
Milena Arciszewski has a year-long Kiva fellowship. She is currently on her last placement at Community Economic Ventures, Inc. (“CEV”) in Tagbilaran City, Philippines. She has also spent time with Kiva partners in Bosnia and Kenya. For a list of CEV’s fundraising loans, click here.
