HomeMicrofinance • Article

Thank you, TLM lenders!

July 27, 2009
Cissy

By: Cissy

Last week I was able to meet some Kiva clients while doing borrower verifications. Shanty, one of the Kiva Coordinators, and I decided to print out their Kiva profiles and show them what the world had seen.

Although they get an explanation of what Kiva is when they sign the client waiver, many TLM clients have no knowledge of the internet. To see a printed out profile with their pictures, along with some of the faces of people who had loaned to them, was very exciting for these clients!

Fret Passu’s Group and Oliftataf 44-B Group handled the printouts as if they were gold and swatted away the children’s hands when they tried to touch it. Members of Sesawi B1 Group and Sesawi A2 Group excitedly pointed each other out in the profile pictures. We left the profiles with them and I know these will be treasured items.

When Fret Passu (pictured below, on right with mustache) saw his profile he said, “Even though I am sitting here in this dirty shirt, people all over the world know who I am!”

Members of Fret Passu’s Group and Oliftataf 44-B Group

Members of Fret Passu’s Group and Oliftataf 44-B Group

Members of Sesawi B1 Group and Sesawi A2 Group

Members of Sesawi B1 Group and Sesawi A2 Group

Thank you to all of the generous Kiva lenders who helped these people acquire their cattle loans!

Cissy DeLuca is working with Tanaoba Lais Manekat Foundation (TLM) in West Timor, Indonesia. Feel free to join our rapidly growing lending team and follow us on twitter!

/>

By: Cissy