Posts tagged ‘Women’
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…)
Microfinance and Violence against Women
Around the world, women continue to suffer from domestic and partner violence. Economic empowerment through microfinance is one way to reduce violence against women.
Happy Woman’s Day in Mozambique
Unlike much of the rest of the world, Mozambique did not hold any holiday for Easter. However, April 7th was a national holiday to celebrate the day of the Mozambican woman. In spite of having the 11th lowest Human Development Index in the world, Mozambique does not score poorly in women’s rights when compared to its peers. Every year on this day, events are held across the country to celebrate what has been achieved already in terms of gender equality, but also to remind Mozambicans that there is still a long way to go.
Kiva Lebanon: A New Look at Women in the Middle East
Amal runs an electrical goods shop
The portrayal of Arab women in the media often leads to the common perception of Middle Eastern women as socially and professionally restricted, and often considered to be second-class citizens. In fact my first-hand experience has proven these stereotypes to be true on several occasions. However, when discussing the elusive “Middle East” region, it is important to acknowledge the varying levels of women’s rights and engagement across and within countries. Since arriving in Lebanon almost two months ago, I have been pleasantly surprised by the active and prominent role women play throughout Lebanese society. From the leadership and staff of Kiva partner, Ameen s.a.l, and its borrowers, to my new Lebanese friends who are avid runners, there is definitely something different and encouraging about Lebanon’s women.
Video: Follow Your $25 to Vietnam EPISODE 3!!!
Dear Lender,
If you’re tuning in for the first time, you’re in for a treat! Watch as a group of women in a remote province of northern Vietnam receive access to credit for the very first time. Feel their hope, hear their fears, and share in the laughter =)
This is the last of a 3-part video blogging series in which I attempt to give you a snapshot of the person-to-person experience you would have if you were to follow your $25 Kiva loan to Vietnam. I hope you enjoy!
The Alofa’aga Blowholes of Savaii
The western concept of “private property” does not exist in the communal village life of Samoa. In a traditional Samoan village, many generations of a family live together where food and material items are shared among everyone.
I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!
Although lard has always been a popular alternative to butter, and a readily accessible by-product of pork, I have somehow managed to remain a lard simpleton—until now! Upon approaching the home of one Fundación Paraguaya borrower, Gloria Elizabeth Cabrera de Echeverria, I expected to find a typical despensa (general store) or home tailoring store, instead I was kindly greeted by the lingering scent of rendered pig-fat!
Women and Microfinance in Light of Machismo in Costa Rica
Alana Solimeo, KF9, Costa Rica
I’m not here to cry wolf. I know that the subordination of women exists to much more oppressive degrees around the world.
I am also aware that my ability to identify phenomena here as ‘machismo’ has everything to do with my perspective, that of a female born into a world where I have virtually no boundaries, where glass ceilings are slowly being pushed further and further away from my upper limits by the women that precede me. But I am here to tell my stories, and I’ll do so cautiously. This one is about my personal experience with machismo and the notions I’ve gathered spending my time with women and families in rural Costa Rica. (more…)
“Nuestra Capital Semilla” (Our Seed Money)
By Sheethal Shobowale, KF9, Peru
My first loan disbursement outside of the Asociación Arariwa office took place in San Sebastian, an area of Cusco about 15 minutes away from the office.
This group meeting was my ideal picture of group microfinance. Banco Comunal de Maria Auxiliadora is a group of 11 low-income women from Cusco, engaged all all different types of businesses, from cosmetic and grocery sales to artesanía. They had failed to make their repayments on time in their last loan cycle but this time, Valentina, their loan officer was determined for them to succeed.
(more…)
Typical
by Joel Carlman, KF8
As a parting shot from my Kiva Fellowship, I put this short video together to represent what a “typical” Kenyan woman’s life is like. It doesn’t even begin to do justice to any of the great Kiva borrowers, but it’s at least my best attempt at immortalizing all of them! Enjoy.
Joel Carlman recently finished his time as a Kiva Fellow with Kisumu Medical & Education Trust in Kenya.
A Glimpse of the Borrowers
By Hanh Tran, KF8 – Fund for Thanh Hoa Poor Women (FPW) – Vietnam
Visiting borrowers during the past three weeks has taught me that interviews can take place just about anywhere– standing in the middle of a noisy market, sitting on very short stools near a street stall or squatting on someone’s kitchen floor.
Earlier this week, Ms. Ha, a credit officer at the Fund for Thanh Hoa Poor Women (FPW), offered to take me to three repayment meetings. I grabbed my bag – which nowadays contains my handy Flip video camera, a notepad, my pocket dictionary, and borrower group photos – and we set off.
An hour later, we found ourselves at a lively market in Dong Son District. Searching for borrowers in between the rows of colorful fruits and vegetables, fresh cut flowers and delicate china turned out to be quite the task. With Ms. Ha’s expertise, we managed to track down all six women belonging to the 11-Don Son Group.
Our next stop was to the home of a first time borrower, Ms. Phuong. Once there, I spent time with a group of four women, asking questions and listening as they gossiped and teased each other.
The final meeting for the day was at a local Women’s Union center where I was able to catch a few short interviews as group members dashed in to make their monthly repayments and rushed back to work as quickly as they came.
If I could, I would spend hours talking to each borrower. I realize the questions that I am able to ask during the short amount of time I have with the women only offers a glimpse into their lives – a small chapter of the full story. Yet, in those few moments, there is a connection. The hours pass by quickly and at the end of the day, I have footage, pictures and pages of notes. Here are a two of their stories.
(more…)
What about the men?
An interesting issue was raised this week when I mentioned to a friend that more than two thirds of microfinance clients around the world are women. My friend posed the question: how are men reacting to this?
As a Kiva Fellow and a Kiva Lender, one of the things I value most about microfinance is it’s ability to raise the status of women.
A Kiva borrower, working side by side with her husband in her grocery shop in Nepal
Close to Home
Total chaos can be beautiful. Horns honk at me from left to right and the vibrations jump from one ear to the other. A river of motorbikes (xe oms) race past my taxi window. There appears to be no traffic lights, no speed limits and few rules. I stop to listen and start to see life—life as it is lived in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Having spent some time in Hanoi as an undergraduate, the bustling sounds of the Old Quarter are familiar and comforting. The streets lined with booming businesses of every sort are images that come to mind when I think about microfinance and entrepreneurship in Vietnam.
As I left Hanoi for Thanh Hoa, where I will be based as a fellow during the next three months, I wondered what entrepreneurship would look like in Vietnam’s second poorest province. During the foggy morning as my train rushed by brilliant shades of green across Vietnam’s lush rice paddies, I could not help but be captivated by the tranquil countryside. It’s raining as I leave the train station and my first sight of Thanh Hoa is a gray, damp and serene scene. (more…)
BRAC – like Risk, but without the risk
The concept of risk has been discussed by many, and often, over the past year, as citizens around the world voice their concerns about the global recession. Mortgage risk, loan risk, credit risk, bailout risk, risk assessment, risk of spending too much, risk of spending too little, and on and on. A lot of risky business (and not the underwear dance kind) has been going on and we are paying for it now in all too literal a way.
There is another kind of risk though; one that I think some of you may be familiar with. That’s right, it’s Risk, as in epic board game, world domination style Risk.
I have been thinking about this particular kind of Risk lately due to the fact that while working with the Kiva field partner BRAC, I cannot escape how much the organization makes me think of the game, with its trademark little army men taking control of continents and sweeping across the globe in the attempt to gain complete domination of the two dimensional board game-world.
Only in BRAC’s case, the army is not little plastic figures, but a human, benevolent BRAC army of Bangladeshis, Afghanis, Sri Lankans, Pakistanis, Southern Sudanese, Ugandans, and Tanzanians. And this is just the beginning – the army is growing, sweeping the globe, out to conquer the poverty of the world, one country at a time.
The figures in green represent BRAC, those in red...poverty.
Okay, my analogy may be getting out of hand at this point. “Out to conquer the poverty of the world” is definitely too melodramatic, but the quantity and quality of BRAC’s global work to improve the lives of those living in poverty is undeniably striking.
Created in 1972 as a small-scale relief and rehabilitation project that was designed as a response to the consequences of the liberation war in Bangladesh, BRAC has since evolved into the largest southern NGO in the world.
With its programs in Asia and Africa, BRAC provides services to more than 110 million people. These services include: microfinance, health, water and sanitation, education, adolescent education and life skills, agriculture, livestock, and other social development programs.
Poverty is a simple word for a complex beast – BRAC works to improve the quality of people’s lives using a holistic approach, with strategically linked programs that address the causes of poverty from multiple angles. This might mean that within a microfinance group, there will be a health worker providing medical supplies for her group members or that down the street from a microfinance meeting a client’s daughter will be learning about gender issues at an adolescent club.
“For a Woman, this Floor is Everything”
Thursday, Oct 16th
Ingrid's House
Santo Domingo
At 2:30pm yesterday I watched the Caribbean ocean rush past the airplane windows as we descended towards the Santo Domingo tarmac. After a quick bustle through customs, an exchange of US dollars for pesos (oh and no lost bags!) I was quickly collected by two Esperanza International employees. Tricia, (Esperanza intern coordinator), had housing, dinner, and a stop a the supermarket already planned out for me. She and I went off and ate burritos, talked about college experiences in the DR and US, and compared notes on what we are thinking of for grad school (Tricia, by the way, speaks English rather flawlessly, has an undergraduate law degree, and plans for further studies of international trade).
Tricia drove me around part of Santo Domingo (SD), accurately noting that the city offers pretty much the similar amenities you’d find in a US city: KFC, TGI Fridays, Kia/Honda/Mitzubishi dealerships, gyms, overpriced gas, supermarkets, an Apple-affiliate store, an upscale mall, and very nice housing for $550/month. Unsurprisingly, SD has wealthy , poor, and middle-income neighborhoods throughout.
To my Boston and New York friends, and even those who have seen Italians drive; Dominicans in Santo Domingo are in a whole other league of… well…let’s call it, “traffic navigation techniques.” 1) Flashing headlights means “you better know that I am NOT stopping for you, under any circumstances” 2) Merge now, look later 3) use your horn like your voice box (they are cheery sounding for the most part), 4) the police at traffic lights might as well be on their lunch break. 5) Using your brakes is very wimpy. Anyway, as far as driving goes, I give WORST or maybe MOST TALENTED award to the Dominicans. I am not sure which to call it…
Flash forward to 6:00am today, Thursday. I get together some outdoor work clothes–jeans, sneakers, t-shirt. Tricia has arranged for me to go out of the city and see an Esperanza project in action. Co-worker Pablo (an Argentinian, previously with Habitat for Humanity) picks me and Mark (volunteer from Seattle) up by 7:00am, and we head out for a day of floor-building.
We drove about an hour outside of the city, to a small underdeveloped community where we met Ingrid: an Esperanza microfinance client (but not specifically a Kiva.org borrower). Esperanza has just started to explore housing loan products within their micro credit operations. Mark, who has been here for about two months already, explained that Esperanza’s most creditworthy clients (those who have regularly paid back different loans over several years) are now able to request housing-improvement loans. These loans can be more risky for clients, since they do not add to small business profits. However, these improvements are vital to family well being and health.
It is important to understand the state of housing in poor communities, such as Ingrid’s. First, the “best” accommodations, (and she described this to me) what one would aspire to, is made of concrete blocks, solid roofing, a cement floor and a small cement patio in the front. Forget multiple stories, doors between rooms, indoor plumbing, or glass windows. A good house is shelter, in this context, a shelter that will last and that can be cleaned at will. No cement flooring means a dirt floor-for bedrooms, kitchen, and the infant who wants to crawl around. Cement, by contrast can be readily scrubbed, swept, and cleared of bugs and chicken poop. As for concrete blocks, these are much more durable than the cheap alternatives: tin siding or wooden board siding. Both tin and wood slats do not endure over time. I recall how on my first trip to the DR, my host mother and daughter cleaned the floor eight to ten times a day–it was an amenity not at all taken for granted. That family also had over time upgraded from tin siding to half-concrete block (bottom) and half wooden slats (top). The roof, as I recall, was tin, and any rain that fell echoed like cascading gravel over our heads.
Ingrid explained that she feels cautious about the housing improvement loans–her past success with micro loans has meant quite hard and dedicated work. She cooks and sells local fast food. For her to now cover both her current business loan and a housing loan will mean a constant and careful consideration of her finances, and of course, lots more hard work. She explained her vision as “paso a paso” or step by step–doing what she can as her means allow, and being careful. Eventually, she hopes she can improve all aspects of the house, but for now, the floor takes priority.
Making the cement
Anyway, the floor construction began very quickly after our arrival. A local mason, Ingrid, her husband, and between three and four of Ingrid’s fellow community bank members (all women) came to lend a hand and provide moral support. Then three more Esperanza volunteers arrived (American) with two more Esperanza employees. Esperanza volunteers worked in front of the house mixing sand, concrete dust, and water together for the there rooms inside–where Ingrid’s husband and the mason dumped and smoothed the mixture. All the commotion in front of Ingrid’s house made for a constant stream of neighborhood visitors–most notably the local children who alleviated our down-time with dancing lessons and clapping games.
Smoothing the Concrete
At one point, an older grandmotherly woman also stopped by, and offered me her story with microfinance. Unlike Ingrid, this woman had not been able to continue beyond one micro loan (with a different organization) because her sister (and business partner) had fallen too ill to work, and soon after she herself had suffered thrombosis in her left arm–which now hangs useless at her side. She told me that there was no way for her to ever return to a microfinance program, because it is impossible for her to work. This woman watched the floor construction for a while longer, and then told me that with all her difficulties, she prays quite a lot. Prayer, she said, is her lasting comfort.
What a view!
The floor work was done by 3:15, we had started at 9:00am. As we said goodbye, Ingrid took the time to thank all of the Esperanza volunteers and employees. She asserted, “It is just a floor, but for me, for a woman, this makes all the difference.” I believe her words reflected an important observation in the microfinance communities around the world–women will work for the whole family, for meaningful and long term visions.
In all Ingrid’s project took only a few days to complete: Mark and Pablo had discussed the loan with her on Tuesday. She had received the loan, moved her furnishings to a temporary location; the work was started and completed three days later. Tonight, she and her family will let the concrete dry, and they will move back in tomorrow. Imagine if remodeling your own kitchen only took three days and less than $500.…I guess you just have to say “context is everything.”
As for me, I head out tomorrow (Friday the 17th) for Santiago. I’ll be staying there and initiating my Kiva work at the Esperanza-Santiago office!
More to come soon!
Cuidanse, que vayan bien
Kalie
