By Megan Bond, KF15, Ecuador

“Money is freedom and confidence and choice. And choice is dignity.”

-       Jacqueline Novogratz, The Blue Sweater

Eight years ago, Manuel told me, their house was very different from the one I was standing in. The walls were made of compressed earth and the roof was constructed out of dried straw. Manuel, his wife Cristiana, and their six children struggled on a daily basis to make ends meet. Looking for a change, they sought their first loan...

…by Jason Jones, KF15, Nicaragua

I read an article the other day that discussed the inevitable end of the American soap opera.  It cited the rise of the various mid-day talk shows, reality shows, etc., for the fact that most viewers now prefer to tune into something other than their favorite daytime drama between the hours of 1 and 4 PM.  It seems that the classic icon of the 1980’s is slowly meeting its inevitable demise.  But although this lack of interest may be the case for the 300+ million individuals living in the large nation located between Canada and Mexico, I...

By Nick Hamilton, KF13 Haiti and Dominican Republic, KF14 Colombia

This is the second of a three-part article on ‘The Pros and Cons of Microfinance – A View From The Field’. The first part concentrated on the pros. The second will focus on the cons.

Most of the cons described below demonstrate one thing; microfinance assists on a micro level but is unable to affect macro-level influences. The latter are the main reason that people are impoverished in the first place.

During my time in Haiti and the Dominican Republic I generally found...

By Nick Hamilton, KF14

I have just come to the end of a 3-month Kiva Fellowship with Interactuar, Kiva’s Field Partner in the state of Antioquia, Colombia. I was blown away by this organisation. ‘The Google of Microfinance Institutions,’ I kept thinking to myself. 

Before coming to Colombia I had a firm belief that microloans alone weren’t enough, and that support services such as...