Posts tagged ‘www.kiva.org.’
This Is Urban Poverty in Tajikistan
By Chris Paci, KF16, Tajikistan
“Be careful,” called Rahim from somewhere above my head. It was pitch black, and I felt for each stair with the toe of my shoe, slowly working my way up to where Rahim stood. Shards of fallen concrete snapped beneath my boots.
Rahim was standing in front of a door and fiddling with his keys. “Sorry, we have no lightbulbs in the stairwell. It’s difficult to see,” he apologized, just as the lock snapped open with a crack that echoed down the dark stairwell. Without so much as a pause, he swept me inside his apartment and sat me down on a sagging armchair with a stained floral pattern. “Please, make yourself comfortable! I’ll be right back with some tea,” he said, disappearing abruptly.
Downsizing Development: How a Soccer Ball Could Change the World
Lauren Barra, KF16 Kenya
As several of my colleagues have outlined here, here and here the power of simplicity is particularly evident in microfinance. These borrowers’ success makes me wonder – how else can “thinking small” translate to big changes in international development?
A few weeks ago I got my answer. My roommate Amy emailed with exciting news – “I got the internship!!” After weeks of cover letters, interviews, and language proficiency tests, Amy secured a marketing internship with sOccket, an innovative new social business focused on bringing renewable energy to the developing world. As one reporter noted,
Every great once in a while, you come across something that makes you slap your head and say, “That’s…just…brilliant.”
Continue Reading 26 October 2011 at 22:00 Lauren Barra 3 comments
Girlie’s Peanut Butter: Borrower Verification in the Philippines
By: Jill Hall, Manila,Philippines
As I stepped out in the oppressive humidity of a Manila morning, my spirit was excited and ready to leave the protection of CCT head office’s wonderful air conditioning because this was the day I got to do another borrower verification.This day’s journey is particularly exciting because the reward at the end of the two-hour bus side in Metro Manila traffic, is Caloocan City, a place where nature begins to meet houses and instead of high rises and smog you plunge in to lush green hills and palm trees. It is there that I will find the lady that makes peanut butter.
Continue Reading 23 October 2011 at 21:54 The Musings of a Sponge 6 comments
A Day in the Life Part I: Kiva Coordinator
By Allison Moomey, KF16, Burkina Faso
I was a fan of Kiva long before I realized there were real people who make those profiles miraculously appear on Kiva’s website. Likely, you’re a bit more aware. Or perhaps you’re like me, and you’ve just never thought about it. If so, this is like the Santa revelation… there aren’t gnomes behind the screen, but instead hard-working, committed groups of people. Either way, this is the first in a series of posts dedicated to them and all that they do!
There are so many people behind the posting of a single profile, and this is just part one in a series of posts to give each a bit of exposure. We’ll begin with the person running the Kiva show at the MFI-level: the Kiva Coordinator (in Kiva-speak, the KC). Now, this position looks different at each MFI. At some larger partners, the KC may solely be doing Kiva work. At many- like Kiva’s fabulous first partner in Burkina Faso, Micro Start- it’s just one of many things on his/her plate.
Continue Reading 14 October 2011 at 07:47 Allison Moomey 4 comments
Meeting Karsinah: Maximizing My Social Return on Investment
By Laurie Young, KF 16, Indonesia
For you mathematicians out there, what’s the probability that out of the 43 VFI borrowers that were on Kiva.org at the time a random sample of 10 borrowers was drawn for visits that I would need to make, one of the selections would be one of the three groups I had lent to? Well, obviously good enough that it happened! Imagine my excitement when I received my Borrower Verification (BV) sample and saw one of the groups in my Kiva portfolio!
This is my story of meeting Karsinah, a Kiva borrower that I had chosen to lend to a few months ago and how Kiva loans provide a social return on investment to lenders.
Continue Reading 13 October 2011 at 03:00 laurie4485 11 comments
Say a Little Prayer for the Portfolio: 5 Questions about Christian Microfinance in Rwanda
By Kathrin Gerner and Whitney Webb, KF16, Rwanda
Before coming to Rwanda, we both had no idea what it meant to work for a Christian bank. Islamic banking, yes, that is something we had heard about before. But Christian banking?
To find out more, we interviewed the staff at our host microfinance institutions, Amasezerano Community Banking, Vision Finance Company and Urwego Opportunity Bank, and asked them five questions.
Continue Reading 10 October 2011 at 03:00 Kathrin Gerner 5 comments
Loan Use: Not As Simple As You Might Think
By Chris Paci, KF16, Tajikistan
For many Kiva lenders, loan use – or what an entrepreneur plans to do with the funds he or she receives – is their most important consideration in deciding which entrepreneurs to support. On the Kiva website, it’s the single most prominent piece of information supplied about any featured entrepreneur. As it turns out, though, predicting what borrowers will use their loans to do is more complicated than you’d think.
Take the Long Way Home: A Loan Officer’s Journey
By Claire Markham, KF16, Kenya
Before I arrived in Nairobi, I had heard on multiple occasions about the fundamental role loan officers play in making an MFI function. Loan officers are the backbone of the organization; they are intimately familiar with their clients and the challenges they face and they go to extraordinary measures to meet client needs. I was able to fully appreciate this on my recent borrower visits in Mombasa with two of SMEP’s loan officers: the one who supposedly travels the most, and the one who supposedly travels the least.
Continue Reading 29 September 2011 at 13:00 clairemarkham 6 comments
Lean on Me: The Impact of Responsive Loans in Coastal Kenya
Lauren Barra, KF16, Kenya
“A startling new statistic from the World Health Organization,” the BBC announcer sounded from my taxi’s radio. “There are only two registered medical professionals for every 1,000 Kenyans…” As I drove through the bustling, overcrowded streets of downtown Mombasa, I took a deep breath and was reminded once again – my work here is not going to be easy.
The BBC announcer continued to explain that this data is even more sobering for poor, uninsured Kenyans who rely on government-funded hospitals. A recent economic survey showed that only 19 public health officials and 18 doctors are available per 100,000 Kenyans. Public doctors are often overwhelmed with patients and it’s not uncommon for Kenyans to pass away waiting to receive essential care. Insured patients have the option to go to a private facility and have a much better chance of receiving quality care. Few Kenyans in this region can afford traditional health insurance plans and families suffer devastating setbacks if one member falls seriously ill.
Continue Reading 28 September 2011 at 13:44 Lauren Barra 6 comments
Borrower Verification–Part II (Mom, I Don’t Feel So Well)
“80% certainty is pretty good”, I thought, as I sent the information to Kiva’s home office in San Francisco.
“Yea, pretty good. But is it good enough?”
Would it be good enough for you?
(excerpt taken from Part I of Borrower Verification)
In a word….no. That is, it wasn’t good enough. Again, it’s not that anyone was making unfounded accusations or looking for something that wasn’t there. I say this because although Kiva does make a great effort to avoid any association with activities ranging from “less than 100% honest” to “blatantly fraudulent”, there’s really not a culture of doubt, suspicion or looking for fraud under every rock. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. It’s just that in the Borrower Verification, there’s no room for uncertainty, and although 80% isn’t so bad for a junior high math quiz, it just doesn’t cut it for an official audit.
So with that, I headed back to the beginning. Data was gathered, details were compared and facts revisited to ensure consistency. Camera? Check. Loan details? Check. Photo of borrower? Check. Snack, small amount of cash, sun block and rain jacket? Check. Check. Check. Check.
Continue Reading 25 September 2011 at 07:00 Jason Jones 8 comments
Borrower Verification–Part 1 (Locked Out)
Borrower Verification. Anyone who considers them-self to be a regular visitor to the Kiva Fellows Blog has most likely come across this topic on more than one occasion. It’s a common task to check off on the official TO-DO LIST of the average Fellow, and I, as a current member of the group, am no exception. Since most of us cringe ever so subtly at the sound of such titles as “auditor” or “microfinance cop”, however, we seem to try to put a more positive spin on the whole idea. After all, who wants to dwell on the shady side of the industry? As a collective group, we’re typically strong believers in the economic growth and productivity associated with supporting entrepreneurship on a micro level, as well as the benefits that come from supporting a “bottom-up” approach to development, one that provides struggling entrepreneurs with a way to lift themselves out of poverty. It’s that whole idea of “hey, stop your whining and pull yourself up by your bootstraps!” mixed with a softer-socially conscious-love your neighbor- peace, my brother-spread the wealth-fight the man-can’t we all just get along-teach them to fish-mentality. Ahhhh……such a harmonious blend.
Continue Reading 24 September 2011 at 07:00 Jason Jones 8 comments
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 Kiva Parachute: Landing in Rwanda
By Whitney Webb, KF16, Rwanda
Things became real when I stepped out of my NYC apartment for the last time and hailed a cab to the airport. It was one thing to say (repeatedly) “I’m moving to Rwanda to do a fellowship in microfinance. I’m so excited. And a little nervous.” It’s quite another to pack up your bags and actually board a plane to Rwanda, or Indonesia, or Paraguay, etc… I’m guessing more than one of us Kiva fellows had the inevitable panic attack prior to and during departure.
Continue Reading 14 September 2011 at 02:53 Whitney Webb 8 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
Beginning of a Tajikistan Journey
By Chris Paci, KF16, Tajikistan
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Seeing a disheveled American with two huge suitcases standing by the side of the road, the taxi driver cuts the wheel, bombs horizontally across four (blessedly empty) lanes of traffic, and screeches to a stop in front of me. I open the passenger door and stuck my head inside. “To the Tsementzavod bus station, how much?” I rap out. He names a price. I counter. After three rounds of this ritual bargaining, we settle on a number, and I hop in.
Continue Reading 8 September 2011 at 08:00 cpaci 11 comments
Observing Kiva’s Raison d’Etre in my First Field Visit
By Claire Markham, KF16, Kenya
Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to spend a day with a loan officer visiting three different Kiva borrower groups. Though these were fairly routine visits for the loan officer, they were far from ordinary from my perspective; they allowed me to observe real examples that confirm why Kiva does what it does.
Continue Reading 7 September 2011 at 14:00 clairemarkham 6 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
Of Chinese Proverbs and Gambian Donkeys
by Tim Young, KF15, Senegal
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Give a man a donkey and you feed him for at least five years, providing the donkey is well treated and doesn’t get sick.
On a recent trip to the Gambia, Kiva Fellow Tim Young visited a fascinating project, which has for the last 10 years or so has been fighting poverty, by helping the local people help their working animals.
Continue Reading 31 August 2011 at 10:44 letimyoung 3 comments
Isabukuru Nziza, ACB! A Kiva Field Partner in Rwanda Celebrates Its Fifth Anniversary
By Kathrin Gerner, KF16, Rwanda
Birthdays are celebrated around the world, and Rwanda – the tiny East African country of 1000 hills wedged between the Congo, Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi – is no exception.
For its 5-year anniversary, the staff of Kiva’s field partner Amasezerano Community Bank (ACB) left its offices in Kigali for the shores of beautiful lake Kivu (unfortunately not named after Kiva) at the Congolese boarder. The trip was an occasion to remember key events in ACB’s history – mostly joyous, sometimes somber – but above all to celebrate.
Continue Reading 31 August 2011 at 08:19 Kathrin Gerner 11 comments
Possunt quia posse videntur
In this post, Kiva Fellow Tim Young, fortiter in re, suaviter in modo, shares some observations from a Fellow’s work in the field.
Continue Reading 25 August 2011 at 10:18 letimyoung 5 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
One Dollar Per Day – A Beginner’s Guide (Part 1)
By Jason Jones, Kiva Fellow, Nicaragua
(This entry is the first in a two-part series. The second will be published in the coming week.)
I have a running debate with my girlfriend regarding the Nicaraguan class system. Usually, it comes up as we’re driving around Managua. We’ll be cruising around a particular neighborhood when one of us will begin speculating as to the economic classification of the area, based solely upon its outward appearance. For example, I always claim that the neighborhood I currently call home is “middle class”, basing my assessment on such factors as select individuals owning their own vehicles, most houses having non-dirt floors, and in the majority of cases, at least one family member finding him/herself with the luxury of reporting to work on a daily basis. My girlfriend, on the other hand, looks around at the number of individuals sleeping on the sidewalk at any given moment or the neighborhood’s reputation for being especially high in crime and subsequently assigns it a rating of “upper lower class”. Of course, being as though neither of our respective opinions is actually based upon any real economic study or indicator, we are probably both wrong. That being the case, however, I continually find myself speculating about such things, especially when I hear someone use that well-known phrase of “One Dollar Per Day”.
It’s difficult to get very deep into any poverty-related discussion these days without this phrase making an appearance. It’s cited in anti-poverty campaigns all over the world, it’s touted by numerous celebrities and spokespersons, it makes its way into most studies of the official variety and it’s even listed in the FIRST objective of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals. One dollar per day. There it is. Sometimes, it’s listed as “A dollar twenty-five per day” or “Two dollars per day”, and the scale can certainly change depending on the source. What remains consistent, though, is the idea. And in this case, the idea is really just a tool by which to measure one’s economic activity.
So what does a life based upon one dollar (or one and a quarter or two) per day really look like? That’s mainly what I ask myself. Beyond that, how does one go about living on one dollar per day? Could I personally live on one or two dollars per day? In all fairness, I should probably mention that I’ve never actually tried, nor do I have any real desire to do so (I suspect I’m not alone on that one). I mean I do try to keep things relatively “simple” on the average. I go from point A to point B on two wheels rather than four. I afford myself very few “luxuries” such as new clothes or cutting edge electronic devices (nope, no smart phone for this guy…..mine is ignorant at best). Come to think of it, I’ve all but stopped going to any restaurant that charges more than four or five dollars per entrée. But despite such “drastic approaches” to life, even my modest rent of two dollars and fifty cents per day automatically disqualifies me from the official dollar per day club. Throw in another five or so for food, one for gas and another for such things as phone and internet, and I’m not even close to the cutoff. Based upon those numbers alone, I’m living a life of luxury.
Continue Reading 6 August 2011 at 07:00 Jason Jones 5 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
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
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
This. Is. Africa! Some stories of a Kiva Fellowship
Tim looks at some of the different aspects involved in being a Kiva Fellow, from meeting innovative borrowers to appearing on TV!
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!
