Through motivating stories, informative videos, intriguing sound bytes and interesting first-hand accounts, this week’s update is quite the smorgasbord of stories from the field. Through accounts of first business loans and stories about successful community banks, Fellows in Georgia and Peru show us the effects of our loans; through sights, sounds and narratives, Fellows in...
Continue Reading >>Fellows Blog Posts by dgorgani
Ah yes, the chicken bus. Aptly-named for the high number of chickens that utilize its services, whether in a cage, with a string tied around their legs or simply held tightly by their caretakers. Chicken buses (or camionetas, at least here in Guatemala) are the primary form of inter-city transport throughout Central America.
Generally obsessed with public transportation both as a hobby and a necessity (Kiva Fellows really get around), I decided to write a follow-up to the post I published during my last Fellowship about public transportation in Santo Domingo...
Continue Reading >>This week’s update from the field covers a number of Fellows’ experiences as they work on adapting their MFIs’ innovative products to Kiva lenders, as they continue to develop Kiva’s newest and most innovative initiatives, and as they continue to visit borrowers – in this case borrowers whose loans they themselves financed! ...
Continue Reading >>Kiva is expanding. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. Kiva has been expanding constantly, both from the perspective of size and the perspective of product diversity, since it was established in 2005. Still, Kiva’s expansion in the past year has been lightening fast – I went to Fellows Training in January and I already sometimes feel behind the times. In the past year Kiva has expanded into the fields of educational loans, loans for water systems, green energy loans, and many more, not to mention the huge development that is Kiva Zip. But...
Continue Reading >>Compiled by David Gorgani | KF17 + KF18 | Guatemala
It’s official – the Fellows have taken to the field! This week’s update touches on many different Fellows’ experiences visiting Kiva borrowers in the field and traces the similarities and differences we face in our borrower visits, all with a strong undertone of inspiration. Let’s face it folks, this is why...
Continue Reading >>As we begin to get a feel for our new placements and our new countries, we Fellows have also begun to ponder items ranging from local business realities to simply why we love what we do. The nine posts in this update give a great deal of insight into the work of a Fellow, local culture in the locations in which we are placed, and most importantly,...
Continue Reading >>Compiled by David Gorgani | KF17 + KF18 | Guatemala
This week’s update from the field features the rare mix of the first post from the new class of Fellows and one of the final posts from the finishing class of Fellows. This interesting juxtaposition captures both the intense shock of a new arrival in a very new atmosphere knowing that it will be home for the next four months, as well as the...
Continue Reading >>Compiled by David Gorgani | KF17 | Dominican Republic
The KF17 Fellows are heading home. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, many of KF17′s Fellows have already ended their service and many more will be ending theirs within the next few days. Through retrospective contemplation on what we have and haven’t accomplished in the past four months, through appreciation for what we have...
Continue Reading >>David Gorgani | KF17 | Dominican Republic
Today marks the 51st anniversary of the assassination of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina, the strong-handed dictator who ruled the Dominican Republic from 1930 until his assassination in 1961. Otherwise known as El Jefe (the boss), El Benefactor, El Chivo (the goat) and La Chapita (bottle cap), Trujillo was known for his deep egocentrism. Here are some examples of Generalissimo Trujillo’s... Continue Reading >>Compiled by David Gorgani | KF17 | Dominican Republic
This week’s stories from the field span topics ranging from ill-equipped law enforcement to the “luxurious” living places of Kiva Fellows. Two of this week’s posts – “Lost in Translation” and “Home is Where the Fellow Is” – compile material from Fellows around the world to give some insight to the...
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