Journal entries that make an impact

[Guest]

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[Jan & John]

Some really wonderful journals today from Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Afghanistan ...

and from Nigeria - I count a total of 12 journals in the first 3 pages and all with the name of Patience. 
These ladies all have different last names - but wow - 12 of them  

Carrying on from there, I counted no less than 26 ladies by the name of Rose.  Also different last names. 

All these ladies have paid off their loans.   

Without doing a ton of research - I am wondering if they are visiting the LAPO borrowers in alphabetical order  

This is way too funny...
why have I not noticed this happening before...
I have too much time on my hands today obviously...
  jan

[Turtle]

Jan, that's just Great! 

I know there's still a lot of feeling that there should be a lot more journals...but aren't the ones that have been appearing lately just fantastic??  I've been really loving the new & improved teaser journals from Jose Jiminez (?  though I always appreciated his new photos), as well as long entries coming out of Peru & Guatemala, and many, many more. 

Afghanistan's MFI Ariana is also doing outstanding work - brief, but meaningful journals VERY quickly, and quite regularly.  I've been noticing it for a while, then was so happy to encounter it personally.  My 2 loans with them were not only dispursed within a day a funding (21st & 23rd Oct. - despite what the profiles now seem to say!) - and yesterday, I received updates on them both!!  Perhaps I'm over-excitable, but I was absolutely THRILLED to hear they're both doing really well.  (http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=70404 & http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=70403).


Anyhow, thanks for pointing me toward some more great ones, Jan 

[wthepoo]

Hi,

I want to chime in...

When I joined Kiva, I was mainly reading complaints here on how few journal updates everybody received so my hopes have not been too high. But either I have been lucky, or I chose the "right" MFIs, or the situation has improved massively over the last few months... I have received quite a bunch of very nice journal updates, many long before the loan has been (even half) repaid and letting me hope for more.

Especially Ariana - already mentioned by Turtle - has posted a lot of (mostly) nice updates, lately (I received updates from them on 7 of my 10 loans, usually after 3 or 4 months).

Other MFIs I received updates from pretty quickly and/or regularly (maybe of interest for those still disappointed about their "journal frequency"):
* IMON (teaser: http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=52772);
* DINARI (http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=57913);
* HKL (http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=55308);
* Friendship Bridge (http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=55165);
* Pearl Uganda (http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=48124);
* IMPRO (http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=56731);
* HOPE/Nadiya Ukraine (http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=55371; "just" very briefly and "just" on 2 of 10 repaid loans, so far, though).

Best wishes,
Wolfgang.

[Turtle]

That's brilliant, Wolfgang!


Slightly off-topic, but has anyone else seen the new SELFINA journals up right now?  They're all on newly 100% repaid loans & all feature this section, before the actual entrepreneur's update:

"As you may not know, it is very costly to go out to journal about every single entrepreneur at their business as Tanzania is a large country, borrowers are scattered all around, road infrastructure is poor, and petrol prices are very high. In addition, it is also important to note that SELFINA goes through great means of verifying that the entrepreneur has a legitimate business prior to accepting them as a client by (1) requiring the women to have collateral and guarantors (2) receiving letters from the local district council recognizing the legitimacy of the business and (3) conducting surprise visits to verify the nature of their business.

Thus, SELFINA has recently implemented a more sustainable way in which to update the lenders on their individual entrepreneur by interviewing/journaling them when the entrepreneur comes into the office to pay their final monthly loan payment.

However, your loan was paid back prior to the implementation of this process, thus, in order to further reassure you, the lender, that your money is going to the right place, I went into the field to meet some of these borrowers and here are their stories….."


Interesting to see things from the MFI's side of the whole Kiva process - I wonder if such changes are being required with all the work going on to improve Kiva's sustainability/transparency/etc....  [Edit - I just realised that a KF6 is or has recently been with SELFINA...it's nice to see results that the MFI really can put into practice ]

I really hope this means even more great updates from SELFINA will be coming more regularly soon.  Transparency, interesting insights, & detailed updates - what fantastic progress for an MFI that had a journal rate of like 0.2% when I first loaned with them (now > 5% - still low, but swiftly rising)

Yes, yes, I know that curiosity gave the cat kittens...well, I want a kitten soon anyway ;-)

[P, B and J]

In addition to all the great stuff in the above posts, there is another Kiva Fellow that is doing a wonderful job and who deserves special mention here too.  I received an update on one of the Bosnia and Herzegovina borrowers I had lent to recently.  But Milena didn't stop there, she also took the time to send a lender message to the lenders of that loan as well as giving a shout out to them at the end of the video she made!  She's done more videos which she also linked to.  I think this is indeed bringing the lender and borrower connection as close as they can!  Milena, thank you again and you're doing a wonderful job!!! 

 

Hello!

I’m a Kiva fellow stationed in Bosnia, and I recently visited a woman that you lent to through Kiva. This impromptu lesson in fashion can be seen at: . There is a shout-out to you at the end of the video!

If you’d like to see more of the videos I’ve made since coming to Bosnia,

This video features a lesson on sheep reproduction and an attempted dog attack:
fellowsblog.kiva.org/2008/11/03/sassy-sheep-farmers-in-bosnia/

And this video features some pictures and video about the Srebrenica massacre, featuring a heartbreaking interview with a Kiva borrower whose husband was killed in the genocide and whose life has never fully recovered:
fellowsblog.kiva.org/2008/11/17/thoughts-on-the-srebrenica-massacre-in-bosnia/

Thanks for lending through Kiva! The Kiva Fellows are trying to bring the lender-borrower connection as close as we can.

Cheers,
Milena

Loan page for Hanka: http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=67884

[Jan & John]

I really think we are seeing a big impact from the newest class of Kiva Fellows.  Obviously, Kiva makes changes to the training which then improves with each class.  This is wonderful.
jan

[Diane R]

One of the Kiva staffers told me at the Birthday Party in SF that KivaFellows were starting to be sent into the field with video cameras, so we may start seeing more videos in Journal entries!

--Diane.

[AccountAbility]

I hope that a single picture option is there as an option for those of us who are not geared to viewing videos in all settings where I log in. 

Dan

P.S.  It's does seem a little strange to be using videos in journals when they are concerned that internet connections in the field are so slow and undependable.

[Jan & John]

was nice at the end to see the photo of KFers Diane & Charlie and Mary - you too can be in the movies if you use a real photo on your lender page.

also makes me wonder about the permissions to publish.  We were told that the new class of Kiva Fellows was going into the field prepared to get the borrowers to sign release forms. 

jan - who also wonders if the Moo was for Michael

[AccountAbility]

was nice at the end to see the photo of KFers Diane & Charlie and Mary - you too can be in the movies if you use a real photo on your lender page.

also makes me wonder about the permissions to publish.  We were told that the new class of Kiva Fellows was going into the field prepared to get the borrowers to sign release forms. 

jan - who also wonders if the Moo was for Michael

And then we can have a video calendar next year?   

Dan