Fellows Blog

Stories from the field

Stories tagged with Peru

Dec 12, 2016 PE Peru
As a Kiva Fellow, each field visit to meet Kiva’s borrowers feels like an exciting, new experience! I compare it to reading a new book each time; and instead of starting at the beginning, you get to read the last page first. Today, I had the pleasure of visiting one of Kiva’s borrowers “Señora Carmen” at her farm in the idyllic Urquillos village in the Sacred Valley to see how her Kiva story turned out.

Outside Carmen's "White House": Carmen (extreme left), Diana (extreme right)
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Nov 11, 2016 PE Peru
Discovering the impact areas of Kiva's Field Partners (FP) is the most exciting part of my job as a Kiva fellow! Kiva’s FP Asociación Arariwa in Cusco - one of their oldest partners in the region - facilitates group loans. Their clients are spread out across the different communities in the Southern region of Peru.  We started early today to visit and verify a Kiva borrower in the town of Urcos - Zona Sur or South Zone of Cusco - closer to the city of Puno. The FP’s Kiva Coordinators pointed to an interesting pattern of livelihoods followed in...
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Nov 11, 2015 PE Peru
            Ebert is waiting for me at 7 am as promised, crouched by his motorbike, his hoodie cinched, looking like a benevolent bandit.  He hands me a helmet, I mount the bike behind him, and we're off to visit Avelino Perez, coffee farmer, way outside Pucará, Peru, as part of my borrower verification.  We stop once for gas and again when the bike stalls three times and won't start. 
            "I told the boss this bike had problems," he grumbles, shaking his head.  He has a... Continue Reading >>
Oct 10, 2015 PE Peru

Whenever I travel outside Western Europe, the most common reaction is, "Wow, that must be really hard!" as if the developing world were little more than an array of obstacles, challenges, frustrations, and difficulties--unlike the unfettered convenience and ease of everything in the good old USA. 
 
Yet every time I settle back into the American Dream, I find myself pining for any number of things that were easier or better elsewhere.  But when I describe most foreign countries as "convenient," people look baffled.  So here are some...

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Mar 3, 2015 PE Peru
It was a beautiful Thursday morning in Lima, Peru; 85 degrees and sunny.  My commute to work was on a bus built for 40 people, but it was overflowing with people at almost triple it’s capacity.  After previous trips, I have grown accustomed to feeling like the proverbial  "sardine in a can" on my daily commute.  Despite the steamy bus conditions, I arrived at my destination, SENATI, which is a technical institute in the northern area of Lima called Independencia.  There are around 12 SENATI campuses in Lima, but the Independencia location is one of the largest...
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Aug 8, 2014 PE Peru
Photograph by Zach Land-Miller, KF23

To foreigners, Peruvians, and many Limeños alike, San Juan de Lurigancho is merely an underdeveloped, overcrowded, and unsafe district nestled into one of the peaks on Lima’s perimeter, called el cerro San Cristobal. Their exposure to the district is often limited to glimpsing its distant multi-colored homes from the center of Lima or driving through the area in order to reach the summit’s iconic cross, la Cruz del Cerro San Cristobal, where panoramic views of the city await.... Continue Reading >>
Dec 12, 2013 GO Global Update

For much of the world, food is fuel.  But far more than mere sustenance, food draws us together. It slows our pace and brightens each day.  Calling upon all five senses, cusine...

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Nov 11, 2013 GO Global Update, GT Guatemala, IN India, MX Mexico, PE Peru
In "Potluck fashion" the following blog post includes the perspective of 6 different Kiva fellows placed in 4 different continents.  Each fellow bringing something different to the table. Our work with Kiva in microfinance is so rewarding that celebration seems inevitable.  Thus, we thought it worthwhile to share a glimpse into recent holidays that we have witnessed around the world. ... Continue Reading >>
Oct 10, 2013 PE Peru
The majesty of Peru extends far beyond Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley. This country is teeming with cultural, historical, and geographical diversity.  The following post combines the perspective of three Kiva fellows recently in Peru.  Each offers a brief glimpse into a region where they served and a specific example of how micro-finance with Kiva is making a difference on the ground.

The Spanish conquerors oversimplified Peru into three geographic regions: 1. Sierra (mountain highlands), 2. Selva (broadleaf rainforest), 3. Costa (desert coast).  Although these... Continue Reading >>
Aug 8, 2013 PE Peru

Harris, EDAPROSPOs Kiva Coordinator. Taking a break for an impromptu photo shoot.


Yes, folks, I present to you, Kiva field partner EDAPROSPOs jack-of-all-trades Kiva Coordinator - HARRIS. (his official title is Asistente de Finanzas y Operaciones, aka Finance and Operations Assistant, for all you non-Spanish speakers reading this correspondence.)

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