Cambodia
Compiled by Kathrin Gerner, KF16, Rwanda
Six on a Motorbike in Cambodia (by Dave Weber)
This week on the Kiva fellows blog: Hop on a poda-poda or an okada to try out an adventurous way to get around Sierra Leone. Find out why loan use in Tajikistan is not as straightforward as you may think. Learn how the principle of “trust but verify” is applied in Georgia. Explore the clever efforts of an Ecuadorian Kiva partner to craft an agricultural loan...
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Bolivia
Compiled by Jim Burke, KF16, Nicaragua
We are Kiva Fellows. This is the stuff we like. Here is an insider (often critical, or satirical but always true!) view of what it means to be a Kiva Fellow and promote access to financial services around the world. From alpaca fur to FSSs to ziplock bags, these are the things we like and thrive on.
#1 Being the first foreign person that somebody has ever seen in their life
Dave Weber, KF16, Cambodia...
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Costa Rica
One of FUDECOSUR’s 45 Village Banks - Pueblo Nuevo, Región Brunca, Costa Rica
Ecuador
By Marcus Berkowitz, KF16, Ecuador
Farmers are tough cookies. As it turns out, they’re even tougher to finance effectively. Those who work in agriculture are faced with a unique set of conditions that make most traditional microfinance methods unfeasible for them. This post examines some of the reasons why farmers stand apart from other borrowers, and explores the clever efforts of an Ecuadorian Kiva partner to craft a loan product that is appropriate to their needs.
The partner is the Cooperativa de Ahorro y Credito San Jose de Chimbo, (Cooperativa San Jose...
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Tanzania
by Rebecca Corey, KF16, New Orleans, USA
In 2009 when I told friends and family I was moving to Tanzania to study international development and to work for Kiva in the field of microfinance, or the furnishing of small loans to the working poor, we all had certain pre-formed ideas about how impactful and necessary my work was sure to be. We understood that in terms of GDP, literacy, infant mortality, and other common measures, Tanzania is a “developing” country, Third World, periphery. In another word: poor. As a recent college graduate, I had established ideas about poverty...
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By Marcus Berkowitz, KF16, Ecuador
“Do you know how to ride a motorcycle?” asked the stranger seated directly in front of me, his voice muffled by his helmet.
I thought it a little late to ask, seeing as I was currently gripping his belly from behind as we flew, several mph faster than strict necessity would dictate, around a precipitously tight corner on the edge of the western cordillera of the Andes.
“No,” I said, “I’m supposed to put my hands over your eyes, right?”
Luckily he didn’t hear me. Or at least was kind enough to pretend not to.
It...
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By Emmanuel M. von Arx, KF 16, Ecuador
What do a song and a wheelchair ramp have in common? If you are a corporate lawyer in Ecuador, you may know the answer. Everybody else, please read on.
Only recently I learned that my host and Kiva´s partner organization Banco D-MIRO has its own company song! It combines a memorable piece of poetry with a rather inspired composition. To quote some of its infectious text:
Somos tu familia, tu lugar – Somos el apoyo de tu andar – Somos credibilidad y porvenir. – Banco D-MIRO, siempre contigo – Siempre...
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El Salvador
Compiled by Kathrin Gerner, KF16, Rwanda
Indonesia (by Laurie Young)
This week on the Kiva fellows blog, start your journey in Indonesia and read about some early lessons of a Kiva fellow. Then continue on to the Americas to take part in El Salvador’s independence day celebrations, find out how to start a business with 26 cents in Honduras, learn about the different levels of development of Bolivia and Sierra Leone, and finally go on an adventurous...
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Eric Rindal – KF16 – Bolivia
After Jeffrey Sachs started talking about ladders, rungs, and poverty, many wondered if there would be an end to poverty. The way he saw it was that if a developing country could just make it to that first “rung” on the ladder, they would reach the global economy and lift themselves from poverty. He augmented this with “clinical economics,” treating developing countries like patients by offering a unique diagnosis, by properly addressing a country’s need. I am not going to analyze Sachs’ book, rather I will compare the differences...
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Honduras
By Sandra Pina, KF16, Honduras.
What would you do with 5 lempiras (26 cents)? Toss it it in your coin jar? Tip your barista? What if I told you that with 5 lempiras, a bit of business savvy and determination, you could start your own business. Skeptical? Of course you are. I was too, until I met Ever.
Ever is from Teocinte, a small community of 30 families located in the municipality of San Rafael. It took six hours to reach Teocinte from ODEF Financiera’s main office in San Pedro Sula. Three hours from S.P.S to Gracias and then another 3 hours from Gracias to...
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