Posts tagged ‘social performance’
Stuff Kiva Fellows Like
Compiled by Jim Burke, KF16, Nicaragua
We are Kiva Fellows. This is the stuff we like. Here is an insider (often critical, or satirical but always true!) view of what it means to be a Kiva Fellow and promote access to financial services around the world. From alpaca fur to FSSs to ziplock bags, these are the things we like and thrive on.
#1 Being the first foreign person that somebody has ever seen in their life
Dave Weber, KF16, Cambodia
Few life experiences will measure up to the one where a Kiva Fellow is told that he or she is ‘the first foreigner that somebody has ever seen in their life’ (TFFPTSHESITL). This experience often comes with having ones hair and skin touched, which people in our home countries don’t find nearly as interesting. KFs know that their image will forever be bored into the mind of the Latino/African/Asian/MidEastern borrower since we assume they ‘never forget their first one.’
A Kiva Fellow will react to being TFFPTSHESITL in several ways. They will utilize social media to get the word out to 500 people in their friend list and possibly even engage the Stories from the Field blog to get the message out to potentially hundreds of thousands. It will also be the first story they tell supporters and people back home. Kiva Fellows will also often use the phrase, “I’m pretty sure I was the first foreign person to ever go there” when referring to locations, even if they’re talking about Machu Picchu or Angkor Wat or the running of the bulls or the Washington Monument.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to spend my holiday evening at a Cambodian air conditioned movie theater which I’m certain no foreign person has been to before and I will be TFFPTSHESITL to at least half of the moviegoers there to engage in the revelry entitled Cowboys vs. Aliens. (more…)
Trust But Verify
By DJ Forza, KF16, Georgia
It was a gorgeous autumnal morning in Tbilisi, when we set out for Rustavi; Georgia’s third largest city. As we drove east towards Azerbaijan, I was struck by the dramatic change in scenery during our short 30 minute drive to deliver a Kiva training at one of Credo’s newest branch offices. Not only did we leave behind the verdant landscape, there were no charming cobblestone streets or European architecture to be found. Instead, we entered an urban desert and what seemed like hundreds of crumbling soviet-style cement apartment blocks and abandoned factories. The difference was shocking (and a bit depressing) to me. Georgia, of course, has many apartment blocks in every city, but Rustavi seemed to have little else, other than a used car lot and prision to complete the bleak picture.
Continue Reading 4 October 2011 at 08:22 DJ Forza 12 comments
Work is cancelled: Typhoon Day
“To Luzon (Head office, NCR, C.Luzon, Rizal, Laguna-Cavite, Batangas) staff: Due to heavy rains and strong winds brought by Storm Pedring, management advised to stay at home. Work is suspended today. Kindly monitor our communities if help is needed. Ingat mga kapatid. God’s protection be upon us all!”
The view from my window. Manila Bay is typically completely stagnant water which is why the waves crashing over the break wall were alarming.
This was the text message I received at 6:24 am on Tuesday, September27th, 2011. I had already been up about an hour due to the sleepy realization that my room was distinctly more humid than my wonderful air conditioner allows for during my hours of sleep. Puzzled, I got out of bed to turn on my lights and identify the problem but the lights did not turn on. This information, in combination with a few other factors, helped me put the pieces of the puzzle together. There was heavy rain as I fell asleep, there were screaming winds outside my window and small puddles on the floor of my apartment. Monday’s rumors were true, Typhoon Pedring (international name Nesat) had come to visit Manila and the island of Luzon.
I had already seen what a few hours of rain in Manila could do to the streets and traffic here, so needless to say I was relieved when I got the text message cancelling work. Just the day before, a colleague had been telling me how his normal two hour commute (due to traffic and not physical distance) had become four hours due a minor rain shower, Monday morning. Knowing this, I could only imagine what havoc a typhoon could bring to the arteries and veins that feed into the heart of Manila and it’s surrounding areas.
So what does one do with a “Typhoon Day” from work? Having had snow days growing up with cold and snowy winters in Wisconsin (USA), I reviewed the activities I did then. Sledding? No, there were floods outside. Drink hot chocolate? No, I had no heat or power. Watch movies or work on Kiva tasks? No, my computer was dead and the Internet lab has no power. Obviously, I was new at this typhoon thing and the day unfolded with the following activities: sleeping, sopping up flooding in my 34th story apartment, releasing the foot of water on my balcony over the edge, walking the 34 flights of stairs twice to retrieve non-refrigerated food from the candlelit 7 11, and reading an entire 100 page book. At one point I did leave the building to attempt an escape to Starbucks two blocks away but quickly realized that between the thigh high flooding and massive winds, that a.Starbucks was probably closed, like all other establishments for blocks and b. this escape plan had some major flaws like the road being covered in water up to my hips.
The shallow end of the flooding on my street
The exciting conclusion to my story with the typhoon happened late on Tuesday night. Not only had the strong winds and rain subsided, but the power came back on. I had also managed to drain most of the water out of my apartment and I was reconnected to the world via the Internet. The only problem is that with all natural disasters, the story does not end there for a large portion of the people of Luzon. I came to the office on Wednesday to discover much of the city was still without power, much of the large street dwelling population here had been displaced to aid centers and that 400 of CCT’s borrowers had suffered great damage or loss to their homes and businesses. (For more information on the typhoon, you can check out this article from BBC News.)
So with this, or any natural disaster, what is the role of microfinance or our local NGO’s or MFI’s? My first hand experience that I can share with you is through the benefits that I have seen through my placement at CCT. Microfinance institutions have a unique relationship as they have access to borrowers in low income and remote areas. As the Philippines is a highly developed microfinance market, many of the MFI’s have begun to offer comprehensive services to their borrowers that can include aid and relief during natural disasters. Also CCT’s portfolio includes borrowers with small businesses and agricultural business, which could be severely affected by the typhoon if their inventory was washed away, or crops destroyed. Already, two days later, I just received a report on the status of CCT’s partners and the ways in which those affected received aid. CCT staff was ready and on call to assist their region of borrowers. The following quote was from a 2010 report given by CCT President, Ruth Callanta about their response and plan for other disasters.
“D. Responding to Disasters.During Typhoon Ondoy, CCT set in motion a disaster response effort that included relief, medical missions, and rehabilitation of the shelter and businesses of affected community partners and staff. This response, begun within 24 hours of the flood’s arrival, was possible because of a ready infrastructure of staff and volunteers at the community, barangay, municipal, provincial, regional, andnational levels.”
The small business owners in the area that I like have appeared to bounce back fairly quickly as the small pedi-cab (bicycle cabs) are transporting people through puddles and the street food cellars were out as soon as the flooding had diminished. Others, though, will need to take more time to recover as homes and business were lost. Luckily CCT is there to help them identify their losses and get reconnected to the services to help them recover.
Pedi-cab driver offering his services during the typhoon. The street was so flooded he had to walk the cab through the flooding.
This week Kiva started sharing the stories of lenders worldwide who talk about “Why I Kiva”. As I have listened to the stories of Kiva borrowers in the field and now heard from numerous Kiva lenders about why they are involved with Kiva. I have also been reflecting on the same question and in light of the events of this week, I just realized how much I like being a part of the movement to level the playing field. When a tornado, snowstorm, or flood hits us in the developed world, we do not worry if our money is safe in our savings or if our bank will provide us access to the capital to work on restoring our business or livelihoods. We also assume that we have the right to services that will come for us, if the community is destroyed and we are not safe. It is inspiring to be on the ground working with an organization that is providing capital and resources to the local microfinance institutions who have relationships established with these borrowers as well as the access to assist them through these uncontrollable disasters. Join us in this movement and share with us why you Kiva?.
Jill Hall is part of Kiva Fellows 16th class, working with Center for Community Transformation (CCT) in the Philippines. Please support CCT borrowers by reading about their stories and making a loan today. Be a part of the movement of Kiva and join CCT’s lending team.
Same Rung of the Ladder?
Eric Rindal – KF16 – Bolivia
After Jeffrey Sachs started talking about ladders, rungs, and poverty, many wondered if there would be an end to poverty. The way he saw it was that if a developing country could just make it to that first “rung” on the ladder, they would reach the global economy and lift themselves from poverty. He augmented this with “clinical economics,” treating developing countries like patients by offering a unique diagnosis, by properly addressing a country’s need. I am not going to analyze Sachs’ book, rather I will compare the differences of my two Kiva Fellowships in countries considered on similar “rungs.”
A month ago I was living in Sierra Leone for my first Kiva Fellowship, today is my tenth day in La Paz, Bolivia for my second Fellowship. These are two very different experiences; sometimes I don’t know where I am when I wake in the morning. In Sierra Leone I was often the only white person (I am part Norwegian) in most situations, and in Bolivia I am often the tallest person in the room (barefoot I’m 6’ 4½ ”). I don’t fit in, so what? Fortunately these Kiva partners in Sierra Leone and Bolivia have looked past what I am, to focus on who I am. Spending time in each country has given me a glimpse into their views on development and microfinance. This has allowed me to not look at what these countries are — considered the poorest in their regions – but who they are – uniquely developing. I am finding the needs of a country vary tremendously.
Continue Reading 23 September 2011 at 03:00 erindal 5 comments
I love saying ‘cachiporras’
By Andrea Ramirez, KF16, El Salvador.
Last Thursday, September 15th, we celebrated Independence day here in El Salvador. However, El Salvador was not alone in the celebrations as Mexico, Honduras and Nicaragua also had their own festivities on that very same day. It was a colorful day, and I want to share a bit of the awesome show that I got to enjoy here in San Miguel.
Continue Reading 20 September 2011 at 15:48 Andrea Ramirez 1 comment
Navigating Asunción through an Amazing Network of Human Connections
By Alba Castillo, KF 16 Paraguay
The other night my landlady, Señora Ada, came up to my apartment with two slices of pizza her husband had just made. We chitchatted while I enjoyed a fabulous concoction of cheese, meats and olives over a flaky thin crust. A few minutes later, as Señora Ada was walking out of my door, I was encouraged to come downstairs and spend time with her family anytime I got lonely. I started to draft this blog entry as soon as she left. I wondered, will the generosity and kindness I have experienced from day one ever cease to amaze me?
Can Technology Influence MFI Social Performance?
By Dave Weber, KF16 Cambodia
The microfinance industry has been slow to adopt information and communication technologies. Therefore, they are in the technological transitional period that most organizations in the developed world already traversed in the late 20th century. These technologies radically change the way that MFIs operate. There has also been an impetus as of late to encourage social performance among MFIs. Theoretically, we can make a connection between technological capabilities and MFI social performance, but the empirical and anecdotal evidence have yet to be uncovered.
Continue Reading 16 September 2011 at 09:00 bluepotatokiva 1 comment
The Cultural Complexities of Poverty Alleviation
By Allison Moomey, KF 16, Burkina Faso
About 3 weeks ago I arrived in Burkina Faso, ready and excited to work with Micro Start, Kiva’s first partner in the west African country. Micro Start has an amazing mission “to improve families’ living conditions in general, and that of women in particular, by facilitating access to financial and non-financial services” and a conscientious staff who start working at 7:30am to carry it out. This is Micro Start’s Kiva Coordinator (KC) and I at the office during one my first days:
Continue Reading 15 September 2011 at 10:20 Allison Moomey 3 comments
The Circle of Life; Filipino Style
The phrase “The Circle of Life”, for individuals of my age demographic, typically conjures up images of Timon and Pumba. Hopefully I did not pull you into this blog under false pretenses but unfortunately the title is the only relation to the famous Disney movie. My hope is that you will continue reading in order to find out what “The Circle of Life” has to do with microfinance and Kiva.
First off, let me introduce you to the place, which is not Africa. For this circle of life I will be showing you around the workings of my MFI placement in Manila, Philippines. My MFI placement is called Center for Community Transformation (CCT). I have been working with CCT for just a week and already had a whirlwind introduction to what was microcredit services at birth and has transformed into a diverse body of services to enhance the lives of their “partners” in Metro Manila and to the greater body of the Philippines.
Prior to starting my Kiva fellow duties associated with their microfinance activities, the staff at CCT wanted to introduce me to the breadth of services they offer so I can understand how my participation in their microcredit services is contributing to a much bigger picture. I am going to bring you along on the ride, so you can get a glimpse of this bigger picture as well.
- Microfinance services- My first two days here I got to travel to several field offices of CCT, in order to see individual lenders and community lending meetings. One of these areas is just outside of Manila and it is called Payatas. This place is home to Manila’s infamous trash mountain called “The Smokey Mountain” (please see links on bottom for more information). Here many of the entrepeneurs own junk shops to clean and re-sell the items that have been scavenged from the nearby infamous “Smokey Mountain”.
- Payatas, the infamous “Smokey Mountain” landfill
- Health services- In this same field office I was introduced to just a portion of the services offered by CCT in their field offices. Here the CCT staff look for individuals that show leadership and consistency in participation in order to recruit them to be health partners for individuals undergoing Tuberculosis treatment in their area. The reason this is important is because the treatment for TB is a daily, six month long treatment that requires much support to complete correctly. If left to themselves, TB patients will often not complete the treatment without support.
- Feedings for Kaibigans (Tagalog for friends) aka Street dwellers- Manila is home to a large community of street dwellers. CCT has developed a transitional program to help individuals, who desire to do so, get off of the streets and find housing, mentorship, job training and school services for their children.
- Trade/job training- for the Kaibigans in areas of trade that include construction, janitorial work, sewing and agriculture (rice farming).
- School services and job skills for Kaibigan children- CCT has constructed several schools (by Kaibigan construction workers) to provide boarding and school services to students of all ages. In addition to this, they provide trade and job skill training to the teenage students.
- Agricultural services- for those Kaibigans who choose this areas of speciality they get to move out of Manila to help manage the rice fields and agricultural areas that are a part of the CCT portfolio . Not only do they earn a wage and food for their home/community, the food goes to supply the on-going Kaibigan feeding program from which these individuals came.
- Jobs- CCT provides jobs to the Kaibigans that go through their training programs as well as increased leadership opportunities for the entrepeneurs that show potential in these areas. The janitorial staff work at all of the CCT field offices (spanning the Philippines), the construction workers help build the buildings going up for CCT’s growing programs and the agricultural workers get to help raise the crops for the feeding program.
- CCT provides job training for former street dweller which they call Kaibigan (Tagalog for friend)
- Support and create community water programs- CCT finds local spiritual communities to become partners in supply affordable and safe drinking waters to low income areas. Through the water program, CCT is able to offer more jobs to Kaibigan to run the water purification process and packaging. CCT also works with local microentrepeneurs so that they can sell the safe water products.
The aforementioned items are a part of the whirlwind orientation I received over the last four days. I hope you enjoyed the ride as much as I did. These programs grew out of what was initially just microcredit services. It became a circle where borrowers become health partners and community leaders and former street dwellers find homes, get jobs, supply their products and skills to enhance CCT’s day to day functions. A CCT field staff and I were talking over my time in orientation and she kept emphasizing to me this element of spiritual transformation, long term growth/vision and sustainability. Together we joked about this “circle of life” that CCT is trying to provide. At the end of four days, it is not so much a joke but a serious and inspiring vision to me.
For more information on Manila’s “Smoky Mountain”:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/21/world/asia/21iht-city7.1790859.html?pagewanted
Jill is a Kiva Fellow (KF16) currently serving with the microfinance institution CCT in Manila, Philippines. In addition to seeing micro-finance work first hand, she’s looking forward to personally assisting food vendor micro-entrepreneurs across the Philippines to increase their revenue. Please be a part of this movement and check out more about the stories of CCT, the Philippines and Kiva. Visit Kiva.org and CCT’s partner page (http://www.kiva.org/partners/1440).
9 September 2011 at 05:08 The Musings of a Sponge 8 comments
New City, New Field Partner: Settling into the “Big Durian” (Part 1 of 2)
By Laurie Young, KF16, Indonesia
A little over 4 months ago Kiva welcomed a new field partner headquartered in Jakarta, VisionFund Indonesia (VFI). VFI operates out of the two largest cities in Indonesia: Jakarta and Surabaya. Because it’s a relatively new relationship, a fellow has yet to spend time with VFI or be placed in Jakarta. That’s where I enter this story. I’m working with VFI to help them move from a pilot to active status. Within my two-part series, I’ll give you a taste of what it’s like to get settled in the field and get to know a new partner.
Continue Reading 6 September 2011 at 04:00 laurie4485 13 comments
Updates from the Field: Loan Sharks, Snapshots + “the Country with a Smile”
Each Kiva borrower enjoys his or her own borrower profile page. We’ve all seen these pages: they acquaint us with the borrower’s story, plans for the future, country, and a photo in their business or home. Borrower profiles present us with a clear snapshot of the ebbs and flows of a borrower’s life. But how can we begin to flesh out what’s beyond the edges of the screen? On the Fellow’s blog, of course!
This week Kiva Fellows bring us a little closer to our borrowers. We try to walk in the shoes of those living under a dollar a day in Nicaragua. We learn about the power of accredited microfinance institutions for the average Ecuadorian. We get a glimpse (and a sample!) of traditional El Salvadorian fare. We marvel at brilliant images of borrowers in their element in Chile and Colombia. And finally we depart Latin America for Senegal, where a Latin phrase can teach us about entrepreneurs the world over: they can, because they think they can. And they do, just as soon as they have the capital to do it.
Continue Reading 29 August 2011 at 02:00 Kate Bennett 8 comments
Everything is sweeter in El Salvador
By Andrea Ramirez, KF16, El Salvador
Pastries in Usulutan, near one of the offices of Fundacion Campo
During each of the meals I’ve had here in San Miguel thus far, I’ve noticed something fascinating: everything seems to be sweeter in El Salvador. I started noticing this during breakfast, when I tried the orange juice — which is so sweet that could be considered dessert. I can tell it is natural orange juice, but whether or not it has sugar added is yet to be determined. I also noticed that the chocolate flavored cereal that I usually eat at home, is particularly chocolat-ier. The coffee is not even bitter, so no need for sugar. The quantity of sweet breads and pastries available is astounding. They are incredibly addicting and can be found everywhere.
Continue Reading 28 August 2011 at 09:00 Andrea Ramirez 7 comments
Loan Sharks, Microloans and the Highest Interest Rates Around (they aren’t on Kiva)
Small business owners like Marcia Suqui in Cuenca, Ecuador use their microloans to move forward with their businesses and improve their quality of life. Which is terrific news, because afterall this is the idea driving Kiva: small loans can change lives. But not all small loans can improve a business owner’s standing, because the darker side of the “little loan” market in Ecuador is dominated by loan sharks. Taking a loan out from a chulco, Marcia explains, is actually taking few steps backward…
Continue Reading 24 August 2011 at 08:51 Kate Bennett 6 comments
Saudades
Yesterday, as I left the office of FODEMI for the final time I felt as if I could not find the words to describe what I was feeling. Both the English and the Spanish languages had failed to provide me with a word that could capture the feeling of happiness and sadness that coexisted rather uncomfortably. There have been some serious ups-and-downs in my summer as a Kiva Fellow in Ecuador. I felt inspired and happy when I met some incredible Kiva borrowers, including an entrepreneur that I had helped fund. But, at other times, I felt frustrated or homesick or like an outsider in the organization and in life in this new country. Sometimes these opposite emotions happened in closer proximity that I’d like to admit. Yet, as I walked down the sidewalk in Ibarra, I wondered about these feelings and struggled to come to terms with how I felt. Was I happy? Yes. Was I sad? Yes!
Continue Reading 13 August 2011 at 23:00 Megan Bond 6 comments
Measuring Social Performance
How should a microfinance institution (MFI) measure performance? Should they focus solely on the most common method, financial performance, or are things like client retentions rates and social indicators also important? While traditional financial indicators, like client repayment rate, are important in a drive to create a sustainable MFI, they do not measure the entire success of an MFI. Even client retention is not a perfect measure; are clients continuing to use services because they are good, or driven to by necessity to make payments on spiraling indebtedness? Measuring social performance, or looking at how a MFI is translating their social mission into a reality, is also key in determining if the loans they give to their clients are really having a positive impact on their lives. Fondo Esperanza (FE) recently partnered with Santiago, Chile based Universidad Alberto Hurtado to do just that: study the effects on the lives of FE borrowers from the microfinance services they receive.
Continue Reading 12 August 2011 at 14:22 JohnGwillim 1 comment
Video Blog: For the Love of Fiestas
By Megan Bond, KF15, Ecuador
Music, parades, disguises, fabulous street vendors, dancing in the streets, dancing in the fields, dancing wherever you feel like it – the Ecuadorians I’ve met love a good party and there’s nothing like a traditional fiesta to generate the right mood for all of the above. Fiestas have been a great opportunity for me to join in and have fun with the locals. Villages and towns all over have their own festivals days and there are certain times a year when the entire country is celebrating.
Continue Reading 12 August 2011 at 08:00 Megan Bond 2 comments
“What do I do here in Lebanon?” you ask
“What do I do here in Lebanon?” people ask me all the time. I usually struggle a bit; I take a deep breath and I start explaining what micro-credit and micro-finance is. I tend to throw in words like: “lack of access to the banking system”, “Mohamed Yunus” and “giving the poor financial stability”. But even after a little bit of explaining, I still don’t know if I’m getting the point across. And I often find that when I say “loan” people immediately ask “How can I get one for my business?” So, I turned to Al Majmoua to see how local Microfinance Institution (MFI) in Lebanon is addressing this on a daily basis?
Continue Reading 3 August 2011 at 10:00 Heba Gamal 3 comments
To the Ends of the Earth
By Eric Rindal – Sierra Leone – KF15
I am writing this blog by hand today as I sit at my desk in Makeni, Sierra Leone. There is no power for the whole office. When I ask, “isn’t there National Power from the grid?” people just laugh (it only comes on at night for a few hours). When I ask, “What about the generator?” people just shrug (it runs on petrol). The town is actually out of petrol on this cloud-tumbling Monday morning.
With finicky fuel costs, scarcity of fuel, and an inflation rate of 17.7% there are many reasons for days like this. The MFI (Microfinance Institution) staff is fidgeting to power up their computers and begin working on the ebb and flow of loans, clients, and monthly reports. Such is life in rural Sierra Leone, where verdant tropical forests blanket the region and scattered mountains are sleeping like behemoth tortoises.
Green Microfinance: Backyard Biogas in Bali, Indonesia
By Anne Conlin, KF15 Indonesia
In a past blog post, I discussed how loans from Kiva’s partner MUK in rural West Bali, Indonesia are helping women expand the scale of their pig breeding businesses. As part of MUK’s mission statement is to address local environmental issues, MUK is currently piloting a program that would put pig waste to good use, by installing biogas digesters in the backyards of successful pig borrowers.
Continue Reading 28 July 2011 at 02:55 anneconlin 7 comments
Bafut by Foot
At GHAPE, new borrower centers are established only in areas identified as mostly poor. Individual borrowers are also screened using a tool called the Basic Needs Test to determine whether they qualify as potential GHAPE borrowers – very poor based on a variety of measurable factors. Recently I had the opportunity to accompany GHAPE’s Chief of Administration and Finance and the Assistant Field Manager to conduct a Basic Needs Test for a new borrower center in Bafut, outside Bamenda. The Basic Needs Test is a survey developed by GHAPE staff to first assess the overall poverty level of an area and then to screen potential borrowers to learn their economic status. GHAPE administers micro-loans, beginning as small as $10, to the poorest of the poor. In order to assess whether new clients qualify as very poor, GHAPE visits their home and asks detailed questions. The questions focus on 5 main areas: food consumption (number and quality of meals per day), clothes, cleanliness, house structure, and health. type of toilet, number of school age children in school, and whether or not children under age 6 receive milk every day.
Continue Reading 19 July 2011 at 23:00 faithgarlington 9 comments
Faces from the field: A day of visits and photos from Chile
Early this week I had to the opportunity to go out into the field with Kiva staff member Nicolas Lafaye (Portfolio Manager for South America) as he visited Fondo Esperanza in Santiago, Chile. This day gave me the opportunity to focus on two of my favorite parts of being a Kiva Fellow: talking with clients and taking photos. With camera in hand we headed out to two communities in the Santiago area, visited clients in their homes and businesses, and attended a Communal Bank meeting. Here are 3 of my favorite photos from the day, as well as some of what I learned about their businesses from the clients.
Continue Reading 15 July 2011 at 09:26 JohnGwillim 3 comments
Mud Walls to Mechanical Looms: Borrowers’ Stories
By Megan Bond, KF15, Ecuador
Eight years ago, Manuel told me, their house was very different from the one I was standing in. The walls were made of compressed earth and the roof was constructed out of dried straw. Manuel, his wife Cristiana, and their six children struggled on a daily basis to make ends meet. Looking for a change, they sought their first loan from FODEMI. Eight years and eleven loans later, I stood in their new house/factory. The floors and walls were solidly constructed out of cement and the roof was metal. In the spacious rooms, family members and two hired employees worked at multiple looms weaving thread into cloth.
A Senegalese Spring?
by Tim Young, KF15, Senegal
“Y en a marre!” the radio shouts as our 4X4 makes its way along narrow dusty roads to a borrower meeting some 40 kms from Thies. It is the 28th June, the day after the latest serious riots here in Senegal and the four of us bouncing around in the car listen intently. Last night I arrived home to find the roundabout outside my flat once again blocked by burning tyres, while large crowds watched peaceably from the side roads.
Continue Reading 6 July 2011 at 06:19 letimyoung 11 comments
Faces of Poverty?
Do these disciplined happy high school students match our common image of poverty in places like Cameroon? Not really. But do their mothers, fathers, grandparents, or other guardian live on more than $2/day, the international marker for poverty? Probably not. Many live on their own, with extended family, or family friends, and earn money outside of school to pay for books and other fees. Furthermore, do these teens have easy access to potable water? Hardly. They most likely carry it in buckets from a public tap that may be shared among the entire village. Do these students have mosquito nets for nightly protection from the risk of malaria? Probably not.
Continue Reading 5 July 2011 at 11:08 faithgarlington 1 comment
Communal banks? Why not just an individual loan?
by John Gwillim, KF 15, Chile
This is the question I asked myself as I arrived in May at Fondo Esperanza (FE). After spending 3 months working with Fundación Mario Santo Domingo (FMSD) in Barranquilla, Colombia as part of KF14, I saw first hand how successful individual loans could be in helping people start and grow their own businesses. FMSD had used group lending in the past (and still has a small number of group loans), but found individual loans worked better for their clientele. Fast forward to my arrival at FE in Santiago, Chile: FE dropped individual loans in favor of communal banks about 9 years ago and is just considering individual loans again. The difference in the methodology intrigued me, so I had to do some research and find out more.
Continue Reading 30 June 2011 at 15:09 JohnGwillim 1 comment
Migration and Microloans
By Kate Bennett (KF15), Ecuador
On Monday morning, long before the sun rose on Quito, Fundación Alternativa’s Business Manager, two Loan Officers and I embarked on an all-day journey to remote Chunchi, Ecuador. After the promised “three-and-a-half hour drive, at the most,” we arrived at our final destination another five hours later: a mountaintop with an incredible view of the sun high in the sky and clouds rolling by beneath us.
We met with a group of five Fundación Alternativa borrowers who are taking out a group loan to build a tourism center above Chunchi. These borrowers have made a long voyage to this hilltop as well- these five men, like myself, are from none other than New Jersey! At least, they lived there for a time and have since immigrated back to Ecuador to build the center, which will include a hotel, restaurant, and maybe one day, a spa.
Before you say it: five dudes from New Jersey building a spa? This does not sound like your typical Kiva loan, I know…
Continue Reading 29 June 2011 at 09:15 Kate Bennett 2 comments
The Pros and Cons of Microfinance – A View From The Field (Part 2)
This is the second of a three-part article on ‘The Pros and Cons of Microfinance – A View From The Field’. The first part concentrated on the pros. The second will focus on the cons.
Most of the cons described below demonstrate one thing; microfinance assists on a micro level but is unable to affect macro-level influences. The latter are the main reason that people are impoverished in the first place.
Continue Reading 24 May 2011 at 06:27 nickhamiltonkiva 4 comments
The Pros and Cons of Microfinance – A View From The Field (Part 1)
The article will be published in 3 parts. The first will concentrate on the pros of microfinance, the second on the cons, and the third on what I perceive to be the best conditions for successful microfinance.
Continue Reading 23 May 2011 at 07:29 nickhamiltonkiva 5 comments
Faces: How We Connect.
By Eric Rindal, KF15, Sierra Leone
“To touch a person’s heart, you must see a person’s face.” (quote from My Name is Asher Lev – Chaim Potok)
Lending on Kiva.org is a very personal experience. Reading a borrower’s profile, understanding a glimpse of their life, and seeing their picture, kindles, in one way or another, a sincere interest in their potential and forms a connection with the uniqueness of that borrower. Beyond the loan, lenders affirm a strong and inherent hope within the borrower and encourage their entrepreneurial spirit. How awesome for global lenders to see a borrower’s face, take a $25 risk to make a loan, and possibly change that borrower’s life.
How does this really play out? Does the borrower get to look through this window, called the Internet, and see their lenders’ faces?
Kiva Fellows have the opportunity to open that window and make the Person-to-Person connection tangible. Allowing not only the borrower’s financial life to be changed, but also possibly their heart. It’s one thing to know a loan is funded by Kiva…but another to know who Kiva is. A person? A group? Or just another organization? Certainly this does not happen with every borrower, but the previous Sierra Leon based Fellow, David McNeill, and I used my computer to show Kiva borrower, Muhammad, the Kiva webpage of his 38 (and counting) global lenders. 
In his true smile and kind eyes it was clear he recognized the significance of a loan funded by Kiva. He understood his loan was facilitated by the local microfinance institution BRAC and was funded by 38 lenders around the world. (more…)
Farewell from the Field
By Claudine Emeott, KF14, Nepal
To sign off from my post as a Kiva Fellow with BPW Patan in Nepal, I thought that I would take a cue from Alexis Ditkowsky, who wrapped up her Fellows Blog contribution by leaving readers with a note that she wrote to lenders who have funneled loans to WDB in South Africa. Below is my own note to BPW Patan lenders, but the gratitude from the Kiva borrower featured below should be enjoyed by all.
Dear BPW Patan lenders,
As I wrap up my three-month Kiva Fellowship with BPW Patan in Nepal, I want to share a few highlights with you and thank you for your support of this great organization.
I am very grateful for the opportunity to volunteer on behalf of Kiva and to learn about the experiences of both BPW staff and borrowers with Kiva. First and foremost, I want to convey how much BPW values Kiva funding. When BPW became a Kiva partner in 2007, Kiva provided crucial funding during a particularly challenging time for the organization. As BPW has continued to grow and flourish during the last four years, Kiva loans continue to supply the organization with important 0% interest funding to do its amazing work with women borrowers in Nepal. BPW staff members proudly talk about how quickly their loans get funded on the www.kiva.org website – as you lenders likely know, within just two or three hours.
As for my interactions with Kiva borrowers, I have been fortunate to take many productive and rewarding trips to the field. For some of these visits, I conducted borrower verifications, and during this process I brought along printed copies of the borrowers’ profiles. When sharing the profiles with the borrowers, I always pointed to the photos and names of their Kiva lenders at the top of the page. Borrowers – and their fellow group members for that matter – invariably studied their profiles intently, particularly focusing on the lenders from around the world who helped make their business dreams a reality.
One of these borrowers, Sarswati Thapa, is pictured in the photo below.
Sarswati Thapa, BPW Patan Borrower
Like 90% of BPW’s borrowers, Sarswati works in agriculture. Here she is chopping down a papaya, one of the crops that she grows on her small family farm adjacent to her home. In addition to papaya, Sarswati also grows green onions, cauliflower, and a plant that provides the foundation for garam masala spice. Farming in Nepal can be challenging, given the long stretches of dry weather and water shortages from October through April. Sarswati mentioned that she had already lost some crops to drought, and the Kiva loan – her first – helped her pay for additional seeds that she would not have been otherwise able to afford this growing season. At the moment, she and her family manage the farm on their own, supplying produce to their local village. But with additional land surrounding her home, she hopes to eventually expand her business and employ people on her farm.
From all of us at BPW Patan, thank you for lending to women in Nepal. With your loans, you not only provide BPW borrowers with the ability to purchase inputs for their businesses, but also empower them to dream about the future.
Sincerely,
Claudine Emeott
Claudine Emeott has been honored to work with the women of BPW Patan in Nepal. Although she is wrapping up her fellowship, she looks forward to remaining in close touch with her new friends at BPW Patan because she is staying in Nepal to work in the development sector. Check out the BPW Patan Lending Team and consider making a loan to a woman entrepreneur from Nepal.
Previous posts by Claudine Emeott:
Giving Women a Voice: Local Governance in BPW Patan
Women Working for Women: Staff + Client Collaboration in Nepal
Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Landscape of Microfinance in Nepal
Small if Beautiful: Microcredit Fair in Nepal
