Kiva Fellows Blogs - some excellent stuff recently

[Guest]

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[Peter S]

For anyone who hasn't checked out the Kiva Fellows Blog lately, there have been some truly insightful and inspiring reports in the past few days. Reading them is a great way of staying connected to what Kiva is achieving.

Felix Lam with Mekong Plus in Vietnam, with 2 reports dated Nov 19th
http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2007/11/19/from-vietnam-1/
http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2007/11/19/from-vietnam-2/
Felix has already shared some of his perceptions with us here on the Forum
..To her, and probably many other families, having a TV relieves them of the constant reminder that they are poor..

Tami Rowarn with Maxima in Cambodia, also Nov 19th
http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2007/11/19/dusty-face-and-sore-cheeks/
..We arrive back at the office, dusty and tired… and my cheeks ache from too much smiling..

Maren Misner with Microfinanzas Prisma in Peru, again Nov 19th
http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2007/11/19/peru/
..I’ve spent the week meeting with men and women who have made me rethink my definition of happiness, necessity, generosity, and love..

Darin Greyerbiehl with Maxima in Cambodia, Nov 16th
http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2007/11/16/do-what-you-know/
..Almost without exception, the loan recipients’ one clearly articulated, long-term objective seems to be to get the best possible education for their children..

Roslyn Wang with Sinapi in Ghana, Nov 14th
http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2007/11/14/kumasi/
with a great picture of her with a borrower:




My thanks goes to Felix, Tami, Maren, Darin and Roslyn for taking the time to communicate so engagingly some of the reality of what Kiva is all about..

Peter

p.s. it's possible to read them all together right now on the Fellows Blog front page, but I felt each one deserved its own link..

[Peter S]

more good stuff from the Kiva Fellows blogs

Felix Lam's third report from Vietnam, on November 23rd, with a report highlighting the amazingly varied work of Mekong Plus in areas other than microloans, including their quilt business, education scholarships, health education programs for women, road and bridge building, dental hygiene kits for kids, veterinarian training, incense manufacture, and a theatrical group.

http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2007/11/23/from-vietnam-3/


and..

Charline Yim reporting for the first time on her stint with FDM in Mozambique

"...I’ve had a chance now to work with all 16 of FDM´s loan officers, or promotoras as they call them here, and while each have their own distinct styles and ways of dealing with their clients, each has amazed me with their dedication to the people they serve..."

"...While I admit that there have been times when I’ve wondered if it is worth a four hour chapa ride holding someone’s flapping chicken on my lap to reach a single client (and another four hour ride back), finally meeting them and enjoying a moment to sit down with them and talk has always proved worth it..."

http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2007/11/23/mozambique/

[Peter S]

even more good stuff...  (hey Glenda, this one will interest you..  )

http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2007/11/26/arrival-in-uganda/

Drew Kinder just embarking on a 3-month stint as a Kiva Fellow with Share an Opportunity in Uganda.

I have never been a banker, I’ve never been to Uganda, I speak only English, and I have not been away from my family this long since my wife and I married thirty years ago.  Despite these limitations, and more, I fully intend to have a positive impact on Kiva’s mission in Uganda.  If I lose sight of why I am here, all I have to do is read the words on my ball cap; “Kiva.org… loans that change lives”

I like him already 

[felixlam]

Thanks Peter for the support and praise!  I'm glad someone else besides Kiva staff and fellows reads the blogs!

Best wishes,
Felix

[QueenOfHearts]

even more good stuff...  (hey Glenda, this one will interest you..  )

http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2007/11/26/arrival-in-uganda/

Drew Kinder just embarking on a 3-month stint as a Kiva Fellow with Share an Opportunity in Uganda.

I like him already 

Drew is an inspiration to us all....especially those of us who are a bit older and want to do something worthwhile in our retirement......

Queen

[QueenOfHearts]

I left Drew a comment on his blog....I sure hope he continues to make entries....I want to be like him when I grow up!!

Queen

[KivanSteven]

I just read his blog entry intro and I found he's from Buffalo, just a 10 minute drive from me.

[Peter S]

Drew Kinder has just posted again at great length from Uganda, with brilliantly detailed "back-story" on Kiva's Field Partner, Share an Opportunity, and the SAO Manager, Sam Mayanja Ssekajja

Above all else, Sam is an entrepreneur.  The first day we met, I peppered him with questions non-stop for four hours to piece together his story of perseverance and creativity in one of the most chaotic business environments I can imagine.
...
Convincing villagers to invest their meager cash savings in a cooperative society was not an easy task.  Uganda has a long and tarnished history of co-ops.  For several decades, warring factions plundered agricultural co-ops, stealing their stocks of cocoa, coffee, and cotton, and selling them in neighboring countries to finance armies.  Banks were robbed. No savings institution was spared.  Savings societies lost everything.

In 2000 Sam fearlessly ventured into this difficult business environment, selling founder’s capital in SAO’s first SACCO, many times to villagers who stored cash in buried coffee cans.   His first meetings were held under a tree.  Sam and a college intern crisscrossed the Zirobwe district meeting with small groups of men and women.
....
Once again Sam had an idea for expansion and no way to fund it.  His eyes sparkled as he related to me the serendipitous story of how the very same week in February 2007 when he launched the direct lending program (“I have to start”, he told himself), he received a letter from Kiva.org inviting him to apply for funding of direct loans to poor borrowers.

Since February 2007 Share an Opportunity Micro-Finance Ltd. has funded about 50 individual loans through Kiva, totaling approximately $US 50,000.  I will be calling on those borrowers and posting journals on the Kiva website to chronicle the impact of micro-finance on their lives.
....
[Sam] is very interested in “double bottom line” projects which are both profitable and environmentally friendly.  He sees a need for increased agricultural productivity; getting more food from existing cultivated acres, so farmers will be less likely to convert virgin, environmentally sensitive, land into marginal farmland.

As you can imagine, Sam is a natural born salesman.  Walking down the street beside him is like being with the mayor.  He greets everyone with a smile and a comment, and he knows every name.  In the rural community of Ngogwe he is affectionately known as “Uncle Sam”.  He was so smooth in negotiating a 45% discount on my hotel rate; everyone was smiling when the deal was struck.
...
Sam described how SACCO members are proud of their pass books.  For many, it is the first time in their life they ever had personal savings.  For many it represents the first official transaction they ever completed.  The picture on the pass book is sometimes the only one they ever owned.

Many members, especially women, refuse to take their passbook out of the SACCO office.  They are so proud of it and so fearful of losing it (or letting their husband have access to it), they insist on keeping it in the office safe.

Drew and Sam, two Kiva stars in their different ways.    All that and much more here...

Meet Samuel "Sam" Mayanja Ssekajja, Manager of Share an Opportunity Micro-Finance Ltd, Kampala, Uganda

[Catherine8915]

something that I was wondering about the Kiva fellows, the go around to people's buisnesses, talk to them and then journal about how the buisnesses are doing.

how do they get by the language barrier? do they travel with a translator or only travel to buisnesses that speak english?

thanks

[KivanSteven]

I do know they visit the entrepreneurs within the towns and villages accompanied by an MFI rep, most likely one that has the ability to translate the question for the entrepreneur and the answer for the Kiva fellow.  When you apply with Kiva Fellows one of the questions they ask are language abilities, so when they pair you up with an MFI I am sure they take language restrictions into consideration and make certain someone at the MFI that you will come into contact with on a daily basis is fluent in your given language.