My Fellowship workplan has been focused a little more on the technical side of things, with more application programming and appraisal analysis than borrower verifications. From such projects, and also because I come from a banking, lending and risk management background, it seems fitting to at least put forth some observations regarding the use of credit scores across the Kenya micro landscape. However, the way we approach credit scoring in the USA is almost opposite from current practices here, where aggregated financial data at the individual level could still be years away....
Continue Reading >>Stories tagged with Innovation
I always wondered how far microcredit actually helped alleviate the lives of the poor especially after the SKS Microfinance crisis in Andhra Pradesh. There has been a lot of criticism that this industry was full of profit motivated rather than socially focused players. So, I always wanted to understand what would make micro finance perform stronger socially.The reason I say my fellowship was rewarding is because I had all these questions answered through my eyes and ears in the process of being Kiva’s Eyes and Ears on field.
Two weeks back I was juggling between profile...
Continue Reading >>There is good reason why past Kiva Fellows at BRAC Uganda have been impressed with BRAC’s Empowerment and Livelihood for Adolescents (ELA) program.
I am not going to rehash what has been already been thoroughly covered – instead, I want to highlight a small group within the ELA program that is doing amazing work.
Meet the PV women...
Continue Reading >>Let me introduce you to Carmen, Maria and Lina, from the group “Siempre 10 Al Progreso”. They live in the same neighbourhood in Lima, Peru’s capital, so they have known each other for a long time. But since 2008 they share more than their neighbourhood: they belong to the same “alcancía comunal”.
An “alcancía comunal”, sometimes referred to as a communal bank, is a self-organized group of borrowers who guarantee each other’s loans. Most of the loans at Edaprospo, the organization where I am placed, are...
Continue Reading >>Last week I was lucky enough to join my Entrepreneurs du Monde (EdM) colleagues on a field mission in the Ioba province of Burkina Faso, a rural area that borders Ghana. There, in the town of Dano, is a small EdM office manned by Benoit Some, who covers EdM’s Burkina Faso social enterprise arm, Nafa Naana, in the area.
The small, roadside office doubles as a storage hub and retail outlet for energy-efficient and gas cookstoves (as described in my last blog post).
Continue Reading >>Visiting Kiva borrowers is always a special part of a Fellow’s experience. Fellows are the lucky ones who actually go out and meet the people that Kiva capital helps. In some cases we even get to meet the borrowers who we’ve lent money to directly – see Luan & Olivia’s terrific blog on True Connectedness!
As we ramp up Kiva Zip and assess our progress, we have had the additional pleasure of meeting the dynamic people and organizations that have been endorsed as trustees. These folks are from diverse backgrounds –...
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I lived the life of a Kiva Zip borrower for a day as I rafted down the Nile in Uganda. It all started last weekend when the brave expats of Nairobi and Kampala decided to meet in Jinja. Jinja is a quaint city in Uganda serving the best Rolex, and is also the place where the Nile originates. With every natural wonder of the world comes some adventure – a full day Grade 5 rafting trip at the Source.
As a first-timer to extreme action sports in the water, I decided to tune in to every emotion – the anticipation of a class 5 rapid, the heightened fear every...
Continue Reading >>By Icaro Rebolledo| KF18 | Peru
Meet my new friend Piero and our new castle! We randomly met whilst I was running by the beach and he was just hanging out; yet we immediately identified a fundamental issue uniting us on that Saturday morning… WE WERE ON A MISSION TO HAVE FUN! After a failed attempt to find a football, I asked…“Do you know how to build sand castles!?”; his eyes brightened and I interpreted that as a clear sign that he was an expert at it! So, excited he replied…“No! But you must know!?!?”. Well…I really could...
Continue Reading >>Eduarda Carmo Vaz | KF18 | Peru
For those of you who have never been in Peru on a 28th of June, you might have missed a very important fact: today is the NATIONAL CEVICHE DAY.
Ceviche, a dish made of fresh raw fish marinated in lemon juice and spices, is without a doubt the most famous Peruvian dish.
So what does a Kiva Fellow in Lima do on such a day? Logically, she goes to a “Ceviche Festival.”
One of the delicious ceviche stands.
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Continue Reading >>By Icaro Rebolledo| KF18 | Peru
Back at university, a friend of mine used to tell me that if I couldn’t cross the road walking (as opposed to running) then I should not cross the road. Personally, I thought he was just being lazy, but he had a point… so I started walking. However, here in Chiclayo (Northern Peru) I would argue that if you don’t run to cross the road, then you really are not 100% sure you’ll make it to the other side… so I have gone back to running, with a 100% success rate so far! ‘Unlearning’ a little has...
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