Fellows Blog

Stories from the field

Stories tagged with Kenya

May 5, 2015 KE Kenya
Meeting borrowers may be the best part of being a Kiva Fellow. It's an incredibly enriching experience where we get to learn about the borrowers' lives; they all have businesses, homes, families, hopes, and dreams. Each of the dozens of farmers I met in Kenya had their own unique stories and here are a few of my favorites.

Benedate wants to help her neighbors improve their farms


Benedate is an entrepreneurial farmer with a variety of income streams to support her six children including maize,... Continue Reading >>
May 5, 2015 KE Kenya
Conducting Borrower Verifications is one of the main responsibilities for many Kiva Fellows. A BV is essentially an audit of a borrower to ensure that they're a real person using their Kiva loan for its stated purpose and to assess its impact on their life. Needless to say, there's quite a few adventures to be had while spending three weeks on the road to do twenty BVs in Western Kenya. The following is an entry from my personal journal recounting one particularly trying day on the road.
May 4, 2015
Homa Bay, Kenya

We had a plan for my last set of...
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Apr 4, 2015 KE Kenya

It was early Thursday morning, and I was in Kibera on a borrower visit with one of our trustees and two other Fellows. It was around 10AM when I take out my phone to check the time. I see a text from my sister asking if I know anyone in Garissa. Garissa? Why would she be asking me about a random city in Kenya? I shut my phone thinking I’ll respond later so...

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Mar 3, 2015 KE Kenya
For three days in February, I visited Kiva borrowers in Nyanza Province near Lake Victoria in the southwest of Kenya. The visits took me to the city of Kisii and the nearby towns of Nyamira and Kenyenya via countless pickup truck, boda-boda, and matatu rides. Although it was invaluable to see a side of Kenya other than my base of Nairobi, the remoteness of the region gave me a new appreciation for the hard work that Kiva partners put in to service our clients.

A typical farm road in Kisii County
... Continue Reading >>
Nov 11, 2014 KE Kenya
For my Kiva Fellowship I was very lucky to have been placed with One Acre Fund, one of Kiva’s Field Partners in Kenya. I have been in this beautiful country serving as a Fellow for a month and a half, learning about microfinance and its impact at a local level and... I think it’s time for an update!

About One Acre Fund

One Acre Fund is a non-profit organization that supplies smallholder farmers with the tools and financing they need to grow their way out of hunger...
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Oct 10, 2014 KE Kenya

One of the best parts of the Kiva Fellowship is the anticipation while awaiting the location of your placement, which could be nearly anywhere Kiva loans are available. Wouldn’t it be great to stroll by the Taj Mahal on the way to work, gallop on horseback through the plains of Mongolia, or take in a sunset on a Samoan beach?


... Continue Reading >>
Oct 10, 2014 GO Global Update, KE Kenya


Resourcefulness is perhaps the most essential trait for any entrepreneur.  In Nairobi’s Kibera district, the largest slum in Africa, that trait is apparent everywhere you look.  In an environment where most residents earn no more than $2/day, resourcefulness is the means for survival, and entrepreneurship a vessel for hope. 

Traveling around Nairobi, and Kibera in particular, evidence of this “scrappiness” permeates the sights.  Security spikes made of broken shards of glass line the walls of housing compounds.  Houses are quickly erected... Continue Reading >>
Oct 10, 2014 KE Kenya
“What if I told you that we provide 0% interest loans for you to grow your business?” was usually the most controversial question during my speaking engagements.
 
“What’s the catch?” usually followed up my statement. “There is no catch, we are just trying to really outreach to entrepreneurs that need small loans and don’t have access to credit, we trust you will appreciate this loan and repay it back”. Silence filled the room while I continued to explain…
 
Sounds too good to be true? Well is it too good and it is also true… Kiva Zip is really... Continue Reading >>
Sep 9, 2014 GO Global Update

I have been in Kenya for almost 4 months now for my fellowship. Some of my time was spent in Nairobi, and some in western and rural parts of the country. Getting around by motorbike (“piki piki” or “boda boda”) is a way of life in Kenya. But I’ve never seen a female driver. Granted, it’s not an everyday occurrence in the western world either, but motorcycles in general are also not nearly so common.

Arriving in Kisumu, I thought I’d give it a try. After moving into my apartment I stepped outside to head for a grocery store. I saw a man with a kind face starting up his boda... Continue Reading >>
Aug 8, 2014 KE Kenya
Check out Kiva's most recent Exposure post, featuring inspiring stories of borrowers doing everything from sheltering orphans to creating a safe space for HIV-positive people:

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