What do Miskito, Rama, Garifuna, Spanish, Creole, and English have in common? Well, nothing really, besides the fact that you can hear all of them within a block in Bluefields, on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua – a place where international organizations and tourists rarely venture. While a number of these languages are, in essence, subsets of others, I am hard pressed to come up with another place of such linguistic variety (no, Times Square doesn’t count). Bluefields is, without question, a sociolinguist’s paradise.
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I’ve just arrived at my fourth and final placement as a Kiva Fellow. Less than two weeks ago I was wrapping up work with ADEPHCA in Nicaragua and, following a week of whirlwind travel through southwestern Nicaragua, I arrived to start my first week with EDESA in Costa Rica. Based on initial impressions, ADEPHCA and EDESA have very little in common other than the fact they are both identified by somewhat confusing acronyms and are both quite small organizations in the world of microfinance. But that is where the similarities end. ADEPHCA is based out of Bluefields, Nicaragua: a town of...
Continue Reading >>Perhaps it depends on the context.
Now having served as a Kiva Fellow at three of Kiva’s partner microfinance institutions (MFI) in three distinct locations, I have seen a wide variety in the types of businesses Kiva lenders are funding. I have also seen many, many situations where one client has several businesses. In a recent blog post, Stephanie Koczela, a Kiva Fellow in Uganda, very articulately explained how and why microfinance clients often have a variety of businesses. As she describes, not only is this the reality, it actually makes a lot of sense and helps these clients...
Continue Reading >>Having spent two months in Bluefields, Nicaragua now, I have been struck by the near absence of two characteristics common in impoverished areas: illiteracy and child labor. This statement is based purely on my own observation. Unfortunately very little statistical data exists for this region. Nevertheless, what I have seen here in terms of these two particular, yet intimately related, challenges to development is one of very few things that gives me hope and even a little optimism for future development here.
When interviewing recipients of Kiva loans, I often ask the client how...
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You go and talk to them, of course.
But how do you know if they’re telling the truth? How long do you wait on...
Continue Reading >>Preface: I recently posted a blog describing some of the unique challenges people in Bluefields must deal with. I’d like to encourage those of you that haven’t already seen it, to first click here to get a bit of context before reading this post.
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I sat down to write this post at least five times. I want to tell people a little about Bluefields, Nicaragua and the challenges that exist here, but that’s not easy to do. Bluefields is unlike any place I’ve ever been, and I’ve travelled and lived abroad quite a bit. At one point, I thought I’d try to find some statistics to paint a picture of the poverty here. At another point, I just started rambling about...
Continue Reading >>My name is Megan Montgomery, and I am writing from Houston International Airport on my way out for five and a half months of adventures as a Kiva Fellow. I am in a unique position, as this is my second time to have the privilege of serving as a Kiva Fellow. I spent last summer working at Kiva Field partners Friendship Bridge and FAPE in Guatemala. I enjoyed the experience immensely, but felt there was still much to learn. Therefore, I head out once again to see microfinance in action, liaison between Kiva and partner MFIs, and hopefully help these MFIs learn more about Kiva and how best to...
Continue Reading >>http://kivanews.blogspot.com/2008/07/getting-to-know-our-field-partners_08.html
To see loans currently fundraising from ADEPHCA on Kiva.org, please click here.
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