Fellows Blog Posts by David Picciao
A key component of Kiva's efforts to connect people throughout the world is to partner with trustworthy and high-impact organizations. While there are many notable microfinance institutions, not all meet Kiva's standards of being a Kiva Field Partner. Not Just Microcredit Kiva Field Partners go beyond providing sustainable microcredit services. In order to highlight their outstanding efforts to serve their community's needs, Kiva created the Social Performance Badges. Using the Social Performance Task Force's definition of “social... Continue Reading >>
3 Must-Know Insights on Kenya, Football and the FIFA World Cup
Kenya is not one of the first 10 countries that come to mind when you think of a top class footbball team. It didn't qualify for this year's World Cup in Brazil. In fact, Kenya has never qualified to the FIFA World Cup. Rather, Kenya is well known for its world class rugby sevens squad and elite long distance runners.
Yet, many...
Continue Reading >>Before I became a Kiva Fellow I was only an occassional lender with some dangerous assumptions about Kiva borrowers. These assumptions perpetuated my ignorance of borrower's creativity and business prowess. More importantly, they limited me from increasing my lending portfolio and thus limiting my impact on people's lives. It has taken me 2 months in Kenya to appreciate how savvy and creative... Continue Reading >>
If you are privileged enough to visit Nairobi, you can decide to approach the city out of fear and simply visit the airport, hotels, and expat bars.The other more rewarding option is to enjoy the vibrancy and rich culture of Nairobi (aka "Silicon Savannah") by using public transportation to navigate the capitol.
Make sure to remember a few things to lower your chances of over-paying, getting lost or getting stressed:
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Death and taxes....and traffic:...