Kiva Fellow Quotes for a 2011 Calendar

[Guest]

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[cjp1973]

Please add quotes as you find them in this thread!  The kiva fellow quotes are a great way to highlight the work that they do.  So instead of trying to wade through hundreds of blogs in September, please leave the quotes as you find them.  Make sure you include the blog it comes from, to make sure information and names are accurate.

[waywardcats]

Here are a couple of suggestions:

‘Connecting people through lending,’ precedes ‘alleviating poverty,’ in Kiva’s mission statement. I have come to believe that the goal might actually be of a higher as opposed to a simple aesthetic preference. I mean, maybe we could eradicate poverty individually, but with the concerted effort of a community it can be done more effectively. In a community one can share ideas, efforts, problems, solutions and risks.

Unsung Heros by KF9 Fellow Shereef Zaki

***

People are not merely numbers or statistics and their problems are not inputs into functions. Their problems are real and have voices. Voices that are not full of sob stories, but that are pragmatic and eager to get things done. They do not need economists in white coats to solve their problems, nor do they need bags full of money. They merely need to be  enabled to pursue their ideas, plans and dreams.

Tchau Moçambique by KF8 Fellow Cameron Morris

-Kerry-

[charity]

Those are great quotes and I am glad this thread was started as a way to get a good start on next years calendar!  I will have to keep this in mind as I read the Kiva Fellow blogs!!
Thanks!
Charity

[waywardcats]

They work and endure, without expecting an instant fix. “Get-rich-quick” is not an option. They know tomorrow and the next day and the next may not be any easier than today, but they persevere. They battle through Malaria, and worse. They are business people, entrepreneurs, innovators. They are working for their children, for all children to come.

A Rough Start by KF9 Fellow Rebecca Corey

[greg3912]

 “Ahorre sus centavitos para poder contribuir cuando sea necesario” she’d often tell me, which essentially means, save wisely in order to contribute when called upon.  This principle, beyond an important basis for our financial decisions and the reason I became a Kiva lender, drills down to the basis of a community.  Giving and receiving connects people.  Kiva makes that happen.  We can all contribute.  We are all in need.

My Kiva Fellowship Kicks off in 5 Hours by Dennis Espinoza heading to Cameroon, including quote attributed to his grandmother .

[waywardcats]

there is a certain sadness that most of these borrowers have. for some it’s buried deep beneath stoicism and the victories of subsequent success, but for others it’s brimming at the surface, and you get the feeling that one more slight push would send them into the chasm. when i take their photos, they never smile – and i thought of asking them to, but i don’t want to if there’s nothing to smile about. the truth is, life has been hard for them.

The People Who Borrow by Jane Lim, KF9 Mongolia

[waywardcats]

I am truly honored to work with the incredible organization that is Kiva, because say what you might about its flaws, I have personally seen how the river of loans from Kiva lenders leads to reaching new areas untouched by the financial system.  I am humbled to have had the chance to meet these newest borrowers, and I can’t thank Kiva lenders enough for allowing our MFI partners to push frontiers and cross into the lives or the worlds’ most rural poor.

Suzy Marinkovich, KF8 Peru & KF9 Bolivia in why me?

[Diane R]

This is a side-comment, but if you haven't gone yet to read Suzy's piece "why me?" from which Kerry pulled the above quote, please do.  I am still wiping away the tears.


--Diane.

[David2051]

This is a side-comment, but if you haven't gone yet to read Suzy's piece "why me?" from which Kerry pulled the above quote, please do.  I am still wiping away the tears.
--Diane.

Wow!  That was well worth the effort took to read.  I posted to the link to that on some of my teams.  I don't see how anyone could read that without feeling the urge to lend!

[Jan & John]

oh my, can that girl write and bring the tears! 

and how badly we needed to hear those words, today for sure.

-jan-

[dh]

This comment was left by I. Moreau on one of Thomas Gold's Kiva Fellow blog entries

kiva donne de l’espoir, et là je ne parle pas des gens qui empruntent mais bien de moi qui prête.

Kiva gives hope, and here I'm not talking about the borrowers, but about me, a lender.

http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2009/10/29/les-bijoux-en-toc-au-service-du-developpement-economique/

[Edit to add link.]

[waywardcats]

I'm not sure about the permissions for this one, but I thought I would record it here in case it can be used:

The ECC (Community Credit Enterprise) gives me something to work for, I can advance and excel on my own, whereas without it I feel stuck inside the house

Kiva borrower Betina Ugalde Suárez

Taken from 1:56 into video posted on the blog by KF Alana Solimeo, KF9, Costa Rica
Women and Microfinance in Light of Machismo in Costa Rica

-Kerry-

[waywardcats]

Microfinance can give a person options, something that wouldn’t have been possible without access to a loan.  I believe that you can draw a direct line between options and dignity– the ability to not only assess your priorities, but to have the tools to do something about it.

A Pragmatist’s Guide to Microfinance Mohammed Al-Shawaf, KF9 Palestine

[Jan & John]

You as a lender are making a difference, but when you hit that lend now button, your not acting alone to help this borrower out, you’re joining a team.

Signing off from the Philippines - By Adam Preston, KF9, Philippines

[waywardcats]

When Teresa told me how thankful she is for what she has, it suddenly dawned on me that her new house, business, loan and hopes of sending her children to university made her one of the lucky ones. It doesn’t bear thinking about how many other desplazados don’t have these opportunities. As I put my motorcycle helmet on and we headed off, I couldn’t control the tears I’d been choking back since almost the beginning of our interview. I remember feeling overwhelmingly thankful that Teresa is able to get the help she deserves so much with FMSD and, now, Kiva.

Echoes of Violence Rob Packer, KF10 Colombia

[waywardcats]

Often when you commits to something, you comprise yourself in some form or another: time, money, etc.  Often, when you hope, you have to wait for what’s to come.  With Kiva, you can commit to providing hope for Kiva entrepreneurs, without compromising or waiting.

Giving Hope and Commitment by Jeremy Lapedis, KF9, Guatemala

At the end of one borrower interview, after hesitantly asking the question about hopes and dreams, I was told, “I once had a lot of hopes and dreams, none of which I have been able to realize.”  By beginning to administer Kiva loans to those in obvious need in Chillanes, I am hoping we can at least start to provide a small piece of the support they need in order to help them help themselves.

A Community in Search of Progress by Josh Wilcox, KF10 Ecuador

[Jan & John]

To give a microfinance borrower a loan is to declare a vote of confidence in the equality of all mankind and a beautiful way to close the cognitive and emotional distance imposed on individuals separated only by geographic space between the developed and developing world, not by intelligence, competence or ability.

Two eyes, two arms. Just like you. by Adam Kogeman, KF10, Cambodia

[Mona]

But what you won’t see in its balance sheet or even in its Kiva partner page is the single greatest reason for FATEN’s success: it sees the life behind the loan.

Mohammed Al-Shawaf
Kiva Fellow

in: Kiva Field Update - News from Palestine, 12 Feb 2010

[waywardcats]

Attending this routine meeting opened my eyes to how personal and dramatic microfinance can be, but also how the model promotes strong community bonds. Entrepreneurs had taken loans to support their own small businesses, bu they became united in the process, looking out for the financial stability of all members.

Not Your Average Courtroom Drama by  Sara Strawczynski, KF10 Rwanda (Urwego Opportunity Bank of Rwanda)

[AccountAbility]

I am not sure where to best post this, but I was impressed with this blog by John Briggs, a Kiva Fellow with LEAP in Liberia:

http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2010/03/22/d-day-in-liberia/

With captioned pictures he goes through the process of how a group loan is signed up with Kiva and monies disbursed.  I was particularly struck by the comment that the borrowers sign picture releases -- nice to know when we get around to the 2011 calendar.

Dan

[waywardcats]

I’d be lying if I said I’m a full believer in microfinance.  Each time I hear a client say they’re taking out their fifth loan to restock their shelves, I wince and wonder why they aren’t yet able to sustain such a small business without such small loans.  I want so much to hear that the loan will go toward some innovation, I want to hear that they’re seeking to do more with their business, I want to hear that they dream of financial independence and they plan to step out of their fetters.  I want to believe this work will do more than alleviate  poverty, but really transform it into comfort or wealth.

And now and then, I realize it’s not my dreams that they’re fulfilling.

Endless loan applications and interest payments can seem like their own shackles, but far more repressive is the fear of not knowing if your children can eat breakfast, or start school next year.  When a borrower finally knows that she can provide for her family, she has broken free from the fear of uncertainty.

It might not look like change the way I picture it, prettily packaged in home furnishings and bank accounts, but it’s personal transformation all the same.  Like Christophe told me, it’s a question of vision.  To twist his words: “When you look at your life and it looks like your vision, it’s then that you feel rich.”

Microfinance skeptics? Rethink your vision of success. By Taylor Steelman, Burundi (KF10)

[waywardcats]

One of the most important similarities that I have seen is that entrepreneurs and small business owners around the world are generally working with the same overarching goal in mind: to improve the lives of their families.

3 Different Countries, 3 Remarkably Similar Businesses by Meg Gray, KF11

[waywardcats]

One of the most amazing parts of my fellowship was meeting Kiva clients and hearing their stories.  They are hardworking, generous and truly grateful for your faith and support through Kiva Loans.

It’s the Little Things that Count by Matt Raimondi, KF11

[waywardcats]

Microfinance, and Kiva, in particular, have begun over the last few years to facilitate a transaction—a loan—between peers.  Through lending, we—as Kiva lenders—are able to give people half a world away a helping hand, and the borrowers in turn are able to escape poverty with honor and dignity: on their own esteem.

Tough Conversations by Eric Burdullis, KF12