Posts tagged ‘Women’
Junk Food +1,300 Chefs + Edirne-Style Liver + Maya Food Entrepreneurs
By Kimberly Strathearn, KF 16
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
Perks + Atatürk + My hero
Cookıe samples = Perks!
Women of the Year
By Andrea Ramirez, KF16, Costa Rica.
Today I was a judge for the first time. I had the honor of being invited to represent Kiva as part of the jury for Fundación Mujer’s 8th annual Woman Entrepreneur Awards for 2011. Today was a day full of stories of strength and success, told by some of the bravest women I have ever met. I knew these women had to be pretty amazing, but my imagination wasn’t wild enough to have predicted the struggles that these women have and continue to face. If you’re looking for inspiration to start a new project, face a difficult situation, or just to get off the couch – keep reading.
Continue Reading 7 December 2011 at 17:18 Andrea Ramirez 1 comment
Multi-faceted Borrowers Part 2
By Abhinab Basnyat, KF 16, Nepal
Part 1 of this series is available at here
Similar to Narayan Devi, Binu is a multi-faceted entrepreneur. A previous Kiva loan helped her fund a tailoring business where she was able to employ a few other people. As a single mother, she recently moved to another part of town to be closer to her brother. Upon moving she closed her tailoring shop. The distance made it expensive and difficult to travel and manage her shop. One option would have been to start another tailoring business in her new locality. As an entrepreneur who is constantly looking out for new opportunities and has a desire to learn new skills she decided to open a small canteen.
Binu infront of her canteen
Her new residence is located close to a hospital, and after an initial survey of the area she noticed that the hospital did not have a canteen to serve the medical students, doctors and patients. Drawing from her brother’s experience in the restaurant business Binu received a loan to kickstart her small canteen. In the hour that I visited there was a steady flow of students who came for a quick snack between classes, doctors between shifts, and patients. Serving to a medical community, Binu is especially aware of the need to provide safe, tasty, hygienic snacks.
Medical student books and snacks
Binu infront of the counter
As I became more aware of Binu’s business acumen and desire to take measured risks, I inquired about her entrepreneurial drive. As a single mother, Binu is motivated, knowing that her wellbeing depends on her handwork, and her desire to provide her son with a good education. In the past even she had even ventured into growing mushrooms to sell in the local market, and explored going into the wholesale clothing business. The support of BPW-Patan and Kiva have been instrumental in providing borrowers like Binu and Narayan Devi the necessary financial resources to become a multi-faceted entrepreneur and improve their livelihoods.
Binu with her son
Although, these borrowers provided me with a first hand experience on how micro-finance impacted peoples’ lives, the nagging question in my mind had always been: how can micro-finance be scaled? For example, the purchase of a cow to sell milk provides an opportunity to generate income, but the scalability of this endeavor is limited until a second cow is purchased, and so forth. The industrious and multi-faceted entrepreneurship of Binu and Narayan Devi provided another dimension to micro-finance. There were borrowers who were actively taking measured risks and starting new micro-ventures. A single activity might not be scalable; but the desire and agility to transition and supplement one’s activity definitely yields the opportunity for greater returns.
Abhinab Basnyat is currently serving as a Kiva Fellow in Nepal with BPW-Patan. To learn more about BPW-Patan go to their Field Partner Page on the Kiva website. Check out the BPW Patan Lending Team and consider making a loan to a woman entrepreneur from Nepal.
If It Is Tuesday, It Must Be Izmit + more of my favorite borrowers + “buyurun agabeyi”….
By Kim Strathearn, KF16, Turkey
If It Is Tuesday, it must be Izmit. Maya’s Kocaeli / Izmit branch is about 1 ½ hours away from Istanbul and every Tuesday, either Aylin or Asu, or both from the Istanbul office make the trip to approve borrower applications. These visits always take place in the business or home (if that were she works from) of the potential borrower.
Izmit Office
Maya Poster
The office is located in a small mall in the downtown area. Pelin (now on maternity leave) and Songül staff the office.
Pelin
Multi-faceted Borrowers Part 1
By Abhinab Basnyat, KF 16, Nepal
I had always been fascinated by the textbook stories in micro-finance: loans to buy cattle or to start a small tea-shop that supported income generating activities and had a tangible impact on people’s lives. When I met Kiva borrowers, Narayan Devi and Binu, and heard their stories I suddenly had the visceral confirmation that had been amiss in textbooks. Yes, micro-finance loans played an influential role to uplift livelihoods. But more importantly, it was the borrowers’ multi-faceted entrepreneurship that magnified the impact of micro-finance.
A Kiva loan helped Naryan Devi, a mother of two, buy supplies for her store, which she runs with her husband. Her small shop while profitable to repay her loans is not enough to sustain her family and send her children to school. Narayan Devi is a multi-faceted entrepreneur who is always looking to learn new skills and apply her business acumen to new opportunities.
Narayan Devi at store with her husband
Two years ago Narayan Devi took a training on making a traditional Nepal sweet – pustakari that is made up of khoa (a cheese like milk based product), peanut powder, sugar.
Narayan Devi making pustakari
She spent her spare time during the past six months experimenting and perfecting the sweet making process. For the last two months she has been producing batches enough to sell in her shop and the surrounding area. Sale of pustakaris have supplemented Narayan Devi’s income.
Packaged pustakari for sale
Unfortunately, some of the major sweet producers in the the Nepali were recently found to be producing sub-standard pustakaris. This resulted in an overall drop in demand for these sweets. In response, farmers in the upstream market have stopped converting their milk to khoa – an essential ingredient in the sweet making process. Since, Narayan Devi caters to her local market people still trust and purchase her sweets; however, she is facing difficulty in procuring the raw materials. Narayan Devi is hopeful that her small home enterprise will not be shuttered, and consumers will continue to love the traditional Nepali sweet.
As a multi-faceted entrepreneur, along with her shop and sweet making enterprise, Narayan Devi is an experienced carpet weaver. She learned this craft as a kid working during the school holidays, and occasionally takes on weaving projects for extra income.
Abhinab Basnyat is currently serving as a Kiva Fellow in Nepal with BPW-Patan. To learn more about BPW-Patan go to their Field Partner Page on the Kiva website. Check out the BPW Patan Lending Team and consider making a loan to a woman entrepreneur from Nepal.
Artisan Borrowers of BPW-Patan, Nepal
By Abhinab Basnyat, KF 16, Nepal
Kids playing on swings in Thecho village
Thecho village lies just six kilometers outside of Patan, a sub-municipality and headquarters of Lalitpur district. Thecho still has the charm of a village, albeit a rapidly changing one.
Corn being dried for planting next year
A main road under construction in Thecho
Thecho has a high concentration of the Newari artisan community. Laxmi, and Hera Devi are two female borrowers of BPW-Patan, who have been funded through Kiva in the past to support their woodcraft and artisan businesses.
Porcelain, wax, and metal materials used for deity cast
Besides metal and wooden crafts, Hera Devi has been busy making makhmali (globe amaranth) garlands with her mother for Tihar / Diwali (festival of lights). Tihar extends over five days, and on the last day – Bhai Tika, siblings exchange blessings and the makmali flower garlands. The makhmali flower signifies longevity since it colors do not fade.
Hera Devi weaving garlands with her mother
Hera Devi with her garlands
This is a seasonal undertaking for Hera Devi and she can prepare about twenty garlands in a day. She plants the flowers in her garden several months in advance to prepare for the festival demand. Once winter starts, she plans to sew sweaters as well.
Wooden stumps before carving
Laxmi carving wooden stumps
Completed carved masts
If It Is Thursday, It Must Be Sakarya + What is Bohça?
By Kim Strathearn, KF16, Turkey
If It Is Thursday, It Must Be Sakarya and either Aylin or Asu from the Istanbul office will make the 2 ½ hour drive each way to visit potential loan clients and conduct the final interview for loan approvals. Since the office covers a large area, sometimes they both go. It depends on how many loan application approval visits they have to make and how far spread out the clients are. Click on Ayse, Mine, and Hayriye’s profiles to see some Kiva entrepreneurs from the Sakarya region.
Maya’s Sakarya branch office is located in Adapazarı and was established in 2005. Adapazari is the capital of the Sakarya province and this branch also provides services to clients in the neighboring province of Düzce. Maya Istanbul office has been providing loans to women entrepreneurs in Düzce since 2004 but assigned the area to the Sakayra office because it is easier to serve from Adapazari than from Istanbul.
Continue Reading 3 November 2011 at 05:00 act4impact 5 comments
Home to a New Adventure: Hoş Geldiniz Maya!
Unlike some of my KF 16 fellows classmates, I did not have to rush to the bookstore to read up on the country where I was about to be posted, figure out if my cell phone would work overseas, or learn about internet capabilities because Istanbul has been my home for about the last 12 years. I am lucky that I already have an apartment, know how to get around, know how to order what I want to eat and even knew where my MFI was located. No panic attacks about my new location but lots of panic about blogging and about what my first blog should be on.
Continue Reading 30 September 2011 at 05:00 act4impact 1 comment
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
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
Prehistoric Drawings and Four Intertwined Client Visits
An intense trip thought the rural mountains of eastern El Salvador made us think about the importance of family unity through the clay and string and flour that intertwine these 4 stories.
The day began with a visit to a cave which has prehistoric drawings that date back thousands of years. Our attention was drawn to several of the figures which were of couples holding hands. We didn’t think much of it then, but that image stayed with us as the day unfolded.
One client visit was to a young woman who weaves hammocks. She invited us in to her house: a tiny shack made of wood, bamboo, cane, and tin with a dirt floor and walls covered with newspaper. Inside was barely room for a bed, a finished hammock and one being made. She uses loans from PADECOMSM to buy materials to make hammocks, improve her house and pay off her small lot all by herself – in tears, she told us that she had recently become a single mother. Her six year-old son recently suffered a facial paralysis when his father left.
Continue Reading 9 July 2011 at 10:56 john.beckwith.farmer 5 comments
Walking a Mile in Her Shoes
Actually, we trekked and climbed about 5 miles to visit Eunice’s farm, and our path was much easier than her typical route. Eunice is a GHAPE borrower and a farmer. She grows potatoes, corn, and beans. Then she sells the vegetables to people from her home. Traveling to the closest market in Belo would be much too far. I rode for 30 minutes on a motorbike to reach her village, and the 5 miles that we hiked together was only the portion of the trip (beyond the village) that was not passable by motorbike. When I announced at the borrower meeting that I wanted to see her farm, everyone warned me that it was very far away – a 3 hour climb. I knew her three hours would be a much faster pace than mine, but I also knew I needed to go.
[caption id="attachment_28169" align="aligncenter" width="819" caption="Faith and Eunice at her farm"]
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Continue Reading 21 June 2011 at 10:00 faithgarlington 3 comments
Pig Loans in Paradise: Microfinance for Livestock in West Bali, Indonesia
By Anne Conlin, KF15 Indonesia
When I told my family, friends, and prior employer that I would be spending my Kiva Fellowship in Bali, I got a lot of rolling eyes, good-natured ribbing, and questions about my surfing ability. Fair enough. Instead of working on my tan, I am working in Jembrana, Bali’s poorest and most sparsely populated kabupaten (regency), which is situated on the northwest corner of the island and five hours from the nearest tourist. Both nightclubs and surf shops – not to mention grocery stores, rentable housing, and taxis – are nowhere to be found.
Blimbingsari village church - the decorative style is Balinese, and the split gate is inspired by Hindu temples
Though 93% of Balinese practice Hinduism, my village, Blimbingsari, happens to be the one Protestant village in Bali (the other Christian village in Bali is the neighboring Catholic village of Palasari). Blimbingsari was founded in 1939 when Dutch colonists, worried that ardent Christian converts were creating tensions with Balinese Hindus, banished the island’s Christians to the uninhabited west of the island. In Blimbingsari, the gereja (church) is the physical and soul center of town: on a typical Sunday, 500 of the village’s 600 residents turn out for mass. Though Blimbingsari was formed by a group in exile, the residents – the children and grandchildren of village founders – remain proudly Balinese. Traditional Balinese garb is go-to attire for mass, and the church is built in the distinctive ornate style generally attributed to Balinese Hindu temples, the giant cross on top one notable exception.
The Blimbingsari-based MFI Mitra Usaha Kecil (MUK) is my host organization, and we open each day with hymns, bible study, and prayers for the success of MUK clients, programs, and partners (including Kiva!). Though a Christian organization, MUK has clients of all faiths, which reflects a “live and let live” attitude towards religion common among Indonesians, but which might run counter to many Americans’ opinions of Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation.
MUK was founded as a cooperative in 2008 and its member-borrowers receive 20% of profits as dividends at year-end. Without cliché, MUK operates like a family; the cooperative’s first board was made entirely of employees, most of who were raised in Blimbingsari and remain residents today. Because of cautious growth, small scale, and high social cohesion in the community, MUK exists in a rarified space among MFIs in that they have, to date, never collected collateral (some individual loans are collateralized, group loans are not). The cooperative structure has limited imperatives for growth and MUK operates without commercial funding.
Though Jembrana is remote, “access to finance” could hardly be termed “poor”. The explosion of retail banking and consumer credit that has resulted from Indonesia’s strong half decade of economic growth has brought national banks as well as several MFIs, cooperatives, and a government bank to the Jembrana area. These banks offer group and individual loans, but government loans involve endless bureaucratic hurdles, while some of the cooperatives collect 73% (APR, before fees) interest, and many require collateral. MUK offers both group and individual loans at comparatively low interest rates, but MUK’s true differentiation and value to the community is in specialized livestock loan products.
MUK’s most unique product is the Kelompok Babi or Pig Breeder Group. Across Bali, men support their families through farming, manual labor, small businesses, and other trades. In addition to participating in many of these productive activities alongside their husbands, many Balinese women supplement family income – under $1.25 PCI/day for many Jembrana families – by informally raising one or two pigs in their yard for sale to the local butcher. (Babi guling, or suckling pig, is a Balinese delicacy.) MUK identified that, with capital, these women could scale up their pig breeding activities and earn more money for their families.
A proud second loan client with her pig in its tidy cage
MUK’s Pig Breeder Group Loan Program forms groups of ten female neighbors, each of whom gets 1M IDR ($117 USD), lent at 18% interest (APR, ~34% after fees). Typically, women buy two piglets for around $60, and spend the rest of the money on pig food. They sell the pigs five months later to a butcher for around $190, yielding an excellent return and substantial increase in familial income over farming or running a kiosk. Unlike most microloans, which rely on a high-touch repayment schedule with group meetings every week, Pig Breeder clients have one repayment at the end of the six month term, only after they have sold their pigs. Most group members say they will use increased income to improve their houses, pay school fees, and buy motorbikes to use in their families’ businesses. Earnings, plus their next loan, also go towards buying more pigs. The hope is that after several loan cycles, women will be raising four or five pigs.
Given the return, why wouldn’t more banks and cooperatives in the area cater to this common productive activity? The amazingly low default rates seen in microfinance are often attributed, at least in part, to the high-touch microfinance practice of weekly repayment meetings. This repayment schedule clearly does not mesh with a livestock breeding cycle, in which clients make an upfront investment in the animals, but do not see returns for several months. Well, though no small business is a sure thing, livestock are especially risky because the asset can die, almost certainly resulting in default. Microfinance institutions are justifiably uneasy with lack of diversification in local rural economies, and subsequent lack of diversification in their portfolio, particularly when a large fraction of borrowers might be subject to covariant risks like drought or flood. Microfinance institutions generally look for years of experience in a given business as a mark of credit-worthiness, so MUK’s clients could be seen as a risky proposition because they have not formally raised pigs before. Though livestock and crop insurance – a topic beginning to garner interest in the microfinance community – is not feasible for MUK, they have come up with some innovative services to ensure the continued health of the groups’ pigs and – by extension – MUK’s loans.
First, though MUK’s Pig Breeder clients do not repay until the end of the loan, check-ins do ensure funds are not diverted: field officers visit clients one month after disbursement to ensure they have bought pigs, and one month before repayment, to ensure that pigs are healthy. In addition, there are monthly meetings at which members discuss progress and add small amounts of $1-2 to voluntary savings accounts. Though all MUK clients receive training on household budgeting, training women in more professional pig raising methods is the primary goal of Pig Breeder Group wrap-around services and the way MUK ensures clients will be successful. Before joining the program (and usually through her first loan cycle) a woman might allow her pig free roam of the yard and feed it banana-tree-stalk pulp. Conversely, in her second or third loan, the woman might build a metal or bamboo cage for her pig and feed it more modern animal feed. If the former sounds like a recipe for organic, premium priced, free-range pork, think again. Un-caged, the pigs can wander around, eat garbage, and become sick; moreover, their banana tree diet is low in nutrients and will limit the size of the pigs. Pigs are less likely to live to sale, and also less profitable when sold using this more primitive methodology.
A prize sow, some healthy piglets, successful second loan clients, KF Anne chats with a client
Therefore, to foster a change in method, MUK’s staff veterinarian visits villages and gathers borrowing groups together for training. Rapid change in generations old practices is not the goal; the aim is gradual behavioral modification over the course of multiple loan cycles. As an additional “insurance policy”, if a pig gets sick, the vet makes house (or sty) calls with vitamins and medicine. No client in the program has ever lost a pig.
MUK’s Kelompok Babi program is an example of the power of microfinance to not only deliver loans to the underserved, but to also meet clients where they are with pragmatically designed products. This program – and, I am sure, innovative programs at many Kiva partners – delivers a product that is highly tailored to the productive activities of the community, and supports clients, loan cycle after loan cycle, in their success.
To learn more about Mitra Usaha Kecil, please visit MUK’s Kiva Partner Page or join the MUK Lending Team to support some great women (and great pigs).
In addition to a second loan, successful group members are eligible for participation in MUK’s pilot BioGas program – BIRU – which will be the subject of a future post.
For more information, please visit Microfinance Gateway’s Rural and Agricultural Finance library.
Kiva in the Community!
Tim gives his first impressions of how a Micro-Finance Institution interacts with the local community it serves, gets to know the personalities of the Dakar suburb of Yoff and even tries for an early sneaky appearance on national TV!
A Rainy Day in Masaya
By Jason Jones, KF15, Nicaragua
It’s Wednesday, the third day of my Kiva Fellowship here in Nicaragua. After a short ride on a motorcycle, a relatively long walk, two different vans (OK…so the first one MAY have been due to an error on my part) and one taxi, I’ve finally arrived to a small meeting area outside the town of Masaya. As I enter the gathering, I find approximately twenty women sitting around a U-shaped arrangement of tables. They are the “entrepreneurs”, the owners of small businesses that have come today for a training session on the topic of Business Development. Unlike me, they seem to have arrived in a relatively timely manner despite the morning rain. Fortunately, they don’t judge too harshly.
A Day of Business Development
To understand why we are here today, I should probably begin with a brief explanation. With an overall mission of connecting people through lending to alleviate poverty, Kiva partners with 133 microfinance institutions in 60 countries throughout the world. After making a loan through the Kiva website, these funds make their way from the lender (you?)……to Kiva……to a local MFI…….to individuals such as those sitting in front me on this rainy morning in Central America. By receiving such loans, these women are given the opportunity to grow, improve, or enhance their businesses for the economic benefit of themselves and their families.
As for the reason behind MY particular presence, that’s a slightly different story. Through Kiva’s Fellowship Program, individuals such as me are sent to the various field partners (MFIs such as ADIM) in one of those 60 countries I mentioned before. I would describe the actual work of the fellows as a combination of such roles as accountant, journalist, photographer/videographer, customer service liaison, globetrotter, business consultant, and auditor. It involves such objectives as being Kiva’s “eyes and ears in the field” and “increasing the impact of Kiva’s global mission”, but in the end really just comes down to creating or maintaining a connection between those four distinct groups in the Kiva model; lenders, Kiva, MFIs, and borrowers. Two weeks ago, while participating in a training session at Kiva’s central office in San Francisco, I was wondering why I hadn’t dressed more appropriately for the cold weather. Today, I find myself sweating in the tropics.
As I am continually learning as a relative newcomer to the world of microfinance, NOT ALL MICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONS ARE CREATED EQUAL. Of course, when evaluating a particular organization, one always wants to consider such obvious factors as geographic location, size, history, portfolio yield, return on assets, operational sustainability, and that ever-present struggle between the red and black numbers at the bottom of the page. But in a world of mission statements often describing a particular institution’s reason for existence with such phrases as “improving quality of life to specific sectors”, “helping the poor to improve their livelihood”, and “offer financial services to marginalized communities”, the often overlooked SOCIAL PERFORMANCE of an organization remains a vital component of an accurate assessment.
ADIM is a microfinance institution dedicated to entrepreneurial development, especially of female entrepreneurs in peripheral urban and rural areas, to help them move towards transcendence, personal affirmation and evolution into more equitable relationships.
This is the mission statement of ADIM, a small microfinance institution located in Nicaragua. ADIM has been operating in the area for 22 years now and believes strongly that although financial assistance is certainly an important piece, it’s not the entire puzzle. For this reason, they offer their clients (90% of which are women) classes on such topics as identity and self esteem, economic independence, basic accounting, and a variety of themes involving success in the marketplace. Today as I make my entrance, they are giving testimonials with regard to how previous sessions have positively impacted their lives and businesses. After listening for several minutes and giving an impromptu introduction, I ask if anyone in the group has been the recipient of a Kiva loan. One has to remember that although a number of ADIM’s clients do receive loans through Kiva, there are also those that do not. After a moment or two of puzzled looks from the majority of those present, four hands eventually go up. Today, amongst this group of twenty borrowers, it looks as though Kiva has been responsible for 20% of the loans. From there, the stories begin.
Maura with her flowers
Maura is a 39 year old florist who has come today with her teenage daughter. 15 years ago, in an attempt to learn the trade, she began working in local flower shops around Managua. Since no one was willing to pay her for her work at that time, she simply acted as free labor until she gained enough knowledge to be on her own. Although her business remains very small to date, she tells me that it has grown considerably from what it was in the beginning. With her recent loan through Kiva, she’s excited for the opportunity to boost her inventory in preparation for what is perhaps the largest day for the floral industry here in Nicaragua, namely Mother’s Day.
A few of Gloria's purses
Another one of today’s attendees is 23 year old Gloria, who began working with leather several years ago. What began with an initial focus on shoes quickly grew to include purses, wallets, belts, hats, briefcases, etc. In 2010 she, along with two other members of her borrower-group, received an $800 loan from Kiva. With the subsequent improvements to her business and her increased knowledge through ADIM’s training program, Gloria went on to qualify for an additional $1500 in the form of an international grant. Now with a new workshop to call her own and further recognition that has come recently in the local media, she claims that business is better than ever.
I could certainly go on. Adelfa mentions that her Kiva loan has allowed her to purchase beauty products of much higher quality to sell in her small store. As a result, her profit margin has increased significantly. Through a separate Kiva loan, Mayra has been able to raise her inventory as well. In her business of “intimate apparel”, she too reports that sales are up and talks of potential loans in the future.
And so the day continues. We complete the testimonials, several educative sessions, lunch, and a demonstration of products by a number of the entrepreneurs. Before the inevitable departure, the group is given one final surprise in the form of being serenaded with several songs from Mayra, all in honor of the upcoming Mother’s Day. As I make my way back to Managua, I see that the rain has stopped, and I experience a small victory of my own by successfully boarding the right bus in the right direction. While traveling in the northern direction, I can’t help but reflect upon the day. I think it’s fair to say that the borrowers represented by today’s cross section would not be considered to be OVERTLY successful by much of the world’s standard. For the most part, they are simply owners of very small businesses trying to make it from one month to the next. Is microfinance the answers to ALL of their problems? Of course not. Is immediate radical transformation experienced following a simple training seminar? Most likely, no. But from what I’ve witnessed over the last 8 hours, I have to say that this group is certainly heading in the right direction. At some point and in some form, a positive difference is being made along the way. And for that, I also have to say that despite the afternoon showers, it’s been a pretty nice day.
Now…..which one is my stop??
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
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
Giving Women a Voice: Local Governance in BPW Patan
Against a backdrop of political upheaval in Nepal, Kiva’s local partner, BPW Patan, has not only maintained course as a women’s advocacy group and microcredit organization but has also empowered its women borrowers with a healthy local governance structure that promotes leadership and encourages women to voice their opinions.
Continue Reading 17 April 2011 at 05:19 Claudine Emeott 1 comment
What women want in Bolivia
Clara Vreeken, KF 14, Bolivia
Clara volunteers as Kiva Fellow in Bolivia. She works for the micro finance institutions IMPRO, Pro Mujer and Emprender. She visited a lot of borrowers, of whom many women.
Francisca has to fight hard taking care for her large family and has a heart of gold by inviting me at her home. Rosa was beaten by her ex husband and became stronger by having her own shoe business. Not only women have hard times surviving in Bolivia, also men suffer. Read the story of Carlos the taxi driver who almost died. And what happens with women who do not show up on repayment meetings?
Continue Reading 13 April 2011 at 09:22 claravisser 2 comments
What was your last business trip like?
By Noreen Giga, KF 14, Peru
Mine entailed traveling around Central Peru for a week and a half. Part of a fellow’s duty is to complete a Borrower Verification. Kiva selects a random sample of ten clients that represents an organization’s portfolio and sends it to us fellows. We, in turn, visit each and every client on the list to verify that they are who they say they are, that they indeed received a loan for the amount posted on Kiva’s website, and to talk to them about their business and loan use. You can think of it as a mini-audit process.
I am serving as a fellow with Microfinanzas Prisma, a large micro-finance organization that is based in Lima, Peru, but has branch offices throughout the country. Before I received my list I was told I would get to do some traveling for work, I had no idea what that meant until now.
Continue Reading 30 March 2011 at 08:40 Noreen Giga 6 comments
Women Working for Women: Staff + Client Collaboration in Nepal
By Claudine Emeott, KF14, Nepal
On my first day of work at BPW Patan in Nepal, I took a quick look around the office and was amazed to find myself surrounded by almost all women. Granted, it is a small office — BPW occupies just one room — but the ratio of women to men is nonetheless striking. All of BPW’s full-time staff, including loan officers and accountants, are women. BPW’s entire board is made up of women with impressive and varied backgrounds, ranging from commercial bankers and university professors to a former Supreme Court Justice (she and Sandra Day O’Connor are friends). Of the 17 people working for BPW on a paid or volunteer basis, only two are men. With all due respect to these two men for their invaluable work with BPW, it is, to be sure, the women who run the show. I say this because I know the men would agree!
BPW, which stands for Business and Professional Women, serves only women borrowers, so its very foundation is rooted in a mission to empower female entrepreneurs.
BPW Borrowers at Group Meeting
Of course, many microfinance institutions share this common goal, and my fellow Kiva Fellow Mei-Ing Cheok recently wrote a great post about CRAN’s work with women in Ghana. What strikes me about BPW is not the mission itself but the way it is carried out.
For starters, it is clear that the staff genuinely enjoy their work. They smile. They laugh. They have a spring in their step on their way to the office (okay, maybe that’s just me). And, lest we forget, this is hard work, with long bus rides to and from the field and piles of paperwork waiting for them upon their return.
During loan meetings in the field, the staff and borrowers interact with ease, friendliness, and warmth. They share stories about their families and pass around babies. They linger after the work is done, talking over tea. Sometimes an invitation to a borrower’s home for fresh curd and a Hindi film is too good to pass up. The borrowers have extended their familiarity and generosity to me as well, not hesitating to tell me when I have ink smeared all over my face (thank you) and inviting me back the following week for dinner at their houses.
This level of equality extends beyond personal relationships to professional collaboration. BPW works in 62 different centers, which have up to eight groups of five women each; the members of each center elect a Center Chief, who is responsible for managing the groups and assisting loan officers at center meetings. The photo below shows Kiva borrower Narayan Devi Maharjan, a center chief in the village of Thecho. At the last meeting, Narayan Devi took over the calculator, helping the loan officers with their work — and clearly enjoying it.
Center Chief Narayan Devi Maharjan Helps Loan Officers with the Books
All borrowers benefit from required financial literacy training and can also participate in reading and writing classes (an estimated 30% of BPW’s borrowers are illiterate).
BPW staff have also solicited business advice from their clients. Several of BPW’s staff and board members are entrepreneurs themselves, and Urmila Shrestha, BPW’s director, has taken advice from borrowers about design and material choices for her textile business.
BPW Director Urmila Shrestha Wears One of Her Handwoven Shawls, Inspired by BPW Borrowers
Working in an office with a female majority is a new experience for me. And at this office in particular, it is an empowering and inspiring one.
Hand in Hand: BPW Officer and Borrower
Claudine Emeott is honored to be working with the women — both staff and borrowers — of Nepal’s BPW Patan. Check out the BPW Patan Lending Team and consider making a loan to a woman entrepreneur from Nepal (both women and men lenders are welcome!).
Previous posts by Claudine Emeott:
Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Landscape of Microfinance in Nepal
Small if Beautiful: Microcredit Fair in Nepal
Update from the Field: Carnival, Collaboration + Cheese-Making
Compiled by Alexis Ditkowsky, KF14, South Africa
This past week was all about collaboration: Fellows coordinating across continents to profile entrepreneurs and organizations who believe International Women’s Day should be every day and community members coming together to celebrate Carnival in all of its elaborate glory. We learned about public health in Peru, making cheese and cigars in Nicaragua, the impact of climate change in Bolivia, and the challenges faced by a microcredit saleswoman in Guatemala. Life as a Kiva Fellow is busy as always!
Continue Reading 14 March 2011 at 00:45 Alexis Ditkowsky 8 comments
Bolivian Kiva borrowers: buying a cow, selling food, acquiring sewing machines and constructing rooms
In this second blog of Clara Vreeken, you can meet the Bolivian borrowers of Kiva’s field partner IMPRO: Pascuala and Santos buying a good-quality dairy cow, Maria selling food and renting small accommodations, Juan Carlos and Mery buying more sewing machines and Mery’s mother Maria constructing rooms. 43% of IMPRO’s clients live from 1 dollar or less per day. IMPRO serves clients in rural areas (11%) and in two big cities (89%). 45% of IMPRO’s 2147 clients are women.
Continue Reading 20 February 2011 at 11:14 claravisser 2 comments
Solb! 21 Centers, 21 Meals, 1 Day in Antique
“Solb” or “solve” is Filipino slang for “problem solved,” and typically said upon finishing a big meal. My problem (hunger) is solved, and I am full.
Was I ever solb last Friday…
Innovation in Microcredit: Women, Children and Second Chances
Betsy McCormick, KF12, Honduras
Here at FAMA in Honduras, the organization is always striving to go above and beyond to find ways to better serve clients, and to reach out to marginalized populations. Through a bit of foresight, an increasing tolerance for risk and a deep commitment to the community, FAMA has come up with three products that deserve special attention.
Continue Reading 27 September 2010 at 10:00 betsywmccormick 4 comments
Education and Microfinance
By Becky Myers, KF12, Sierra Leone
A recent article from Nicholas Kristof (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/23/opinion/23kristof.html) argues that among the poorest families in the world, 2% of income is spent on educating children whereas larger percentages (6% in Indonesia and 8% in Mexico) is spent on alcohol and tobacco.
Continue Reading 16 September 2010 at 06:42 rm0506 8 comments
10,000 balloons soared into the sky
By Lorena Gil, KF12, Fondo Esperanza – Chile
On August 6th, over 10,000 balloons soared into the sky with the dreams of entrepreneurs from Fondo Esperanza. Fondo Esperanza is a non-profit foundation that supports entrepreneurship through the provision of credit and training to people living in vulnerable situations to improve their lives and their families.
Continue Reading 11 August 2010 at 07:30 gbrooklyn 4 comments
Women in the workforce
Tashbubu spinning wool into yarn, photo by Rob Cavese
By Rosalind Piggot, KF10, Tajikistan
“Apparently women entrepreneurs are able to raise funds more quickly than men in the world of Kiva,” wrote Peter Tashjian in his recent post.
Peter confirmed what I had long suspected. Through lender pages and meetings with other lenders, it seemed that Kiva’s women entrepreneurs had more of a following than men.
With this in mind, I thought I’d add a post on women in the Tajik workforce. In my experience, many Tajik women do conform to traditional gender roles. But, at the same time, (more…)
Mavluda’s poem and why you should get decked out in shiny hats
By Rosalind Piggot, KF10, Tajikistan
As I sat down at the living room table, former Kiva Entrepreneur Mavluda Muhidinova hurried to show me her work. 5 plate-shaped pieces of black material were already on the table: work in progress. Mavluda had been hand-stitching traditional Tajik men’s hats, which are part of her business as a hat maker.
Mavluda shows me the first hat she ever made
I was amazed when Mavluda pulled out the first hat she ever made. She had kept this green crochet hat since the early 1960s. “I came up with the idea for this hat myself. Here, men only wear the black hats.”
Tajik men's hats and ladies' wedding hats
“I am one of the few people in this city (Isfara) that actually makes the hats. (more…)
