Mrs. Pham Kieu Oanh is the founder and CEO of the Centre for Social Initiatives Promotion (CSIP), a non-governmental and non-profit organization working to nurture social enterprises (SEs) in Vietnam to maximize their chances for success. CSIP is a critical partner providing intensive, early stage support to a select number of social entrepreneurs in the form of financial assistance, mentoring, networking, and promotional campaigns. Kiva is in the early stages of considering how we can partner with CSIP to help bring funding to social enterprises across Vietnam. What... Continue Reading >>

Fellows Blog Posts by Jon Fung

Mrs. Pham Kieu Oanh is the founder and CEO of the Centre for Social Initiatives Promotion (CSIP), a non-governmental and non-profit organization working to nurture social enterprises (SEs) in Vietnam to maximize their chances for success. CSIP is a critical partner providing intensive, early stage support to a select number of social entrepreneurs in the form of financial assistance, mentoring, networking, and promotional campaigns. Kiva is in the early stages of considering how we can partner with CSIP to help bring funding to social enterprises across Vietnam. What... Continue Reading >>

As someone who loves to eat, you have no idea how happy I was when I found out I was placed in Hanoi for my Kiva Fellowship. Vietnam has some of the absolute best food in the world. Vietnamese dishes commonly use lemongrass, fish sauce, ginger, mint, basil, bird's eye chili, and lime in all sorts of delicious combinations. These distinct flavors combined with French influences come together to create dishes so rich and varied in flavor that my stomach actually grumbled when I read the Kiva email saying that I would be spending the next few months in Hanoi. This may...
Continue Reading >>
Having spent my formative years in a moderately sheltered suburb, the first images that come to mind when I hear the word "commune" consist of a few dozen hippies living in the woods, probably sitting in drum circles, debating the evils of capitalism and how things should just be...like, freely shared amongst society, man. Also, drugs.
Jokes aside, the hippie subculture at...
Continue Reading >>
Having spent the last month living and working in Vietnam's capital city, I've learned some interesting things about Vietnamese culture that are worth sharing.
1. Traffic is chaotic, yet road rage doesn't seem to exist: By far the most obvious difference. While a driver's license is technically required in Vietnam, the traffic code is rarely enforced and driving is basically a free-for-all. Motorbikes are the predominant mode of transportation due to their low cost and maneuverability, and moto drivers will squeeze into every available...
Continue Reading >>
Ever since I found out I was accepted to the Kiva Fellows program, I've felt very fortunate. Fortunate to volunteer with an organization that does incredible work in the mission to alleviate poverty. Fortunate to be based in Hanoi, Vietnam, one of my top choices for country placement. Fortunate to spend three weeks in Cambodia (prior to Vietnam) in order to interview actual borrowers and hear about the positive impact Kiva's loans are having on their lives. And finally, fortunate that my time in Cambodia coincided...
Continue Reading >>