My colleague, Elin and I held back our emotions during a meeting with Dan Olga , a new Kiva Zip trustee. ‘What would you do if your children had not eaten food the night before and your husband had not sent money?’ Dan described how mothers would do anything for their children, even sleeping with a truck driver for 200 shillings ($2.30), so that they are able feed their children. Siaya, where Daniel is from and where he has started the Smart Center, is frequented by truck drivers on their way to Uganda and Rwanda. ...
Continue Reading >>Stories tagged with Kenya
Exactly one month has passed since I arrived in Nairobi, Kenya. As a complete newbie in Africa, I had no idea what to expect when I first landed at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
Before my arrival, I had done some research about the country that was going to be my home for the coming months. A quick google search on Nairobi informed me that Kenya’s capital is the 12th largest one in Africa, the name Nairobi is a Maasai phrase that translates to “cold water” and it’s located 1,800 meters above sea level. My internet search also informed me that...
Continue Reading >>Expanding Access to Higher Education in Kenya:
In January of 2012, Kiva, a microlending platform that aims to alleviate poverty by connecting lenders with borrowers who do not have access to traditional banking, partnered with Strathmore University, Kenya’s premier, private college, to launch a groundbreaking partnership in the financing...
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