The first week I came to MCDT, Justine, my supervisor, and Olivia, her supervisor, were looking at pictures of borrowers they were preparing to post to the Kiva website. They called me over to look at one person in particular, standing in the middle of a group of five and said, “You must meet Ruth!” They told me she was the embodiment of the entrepreneurial spirit and a real survivor. They told me how she’s living with AIDS and lost her husband to the disease 10 years ago. They told me how she as at least 5 businesses. I didn’t know quite what that...
Continue Reading >>Fellows Blog Posts by toepfer
These past couple of weeks at MCDT, my primary task has been interviewing women who will be getting their first Kiva loan (though not their first loan) in order to write up the brief introduction posted on the Kiva website. Keep an eye out for them! They’re terrific people and a terrific organization and I’m excited to be helping them get these loans.
I’ve been hearing so many stories doing these interviews, as you can imagine, it’s hard to select any particular one to share. But there was one yesterday that got to me and I thought I’d pass it along.
Fred, the...
Continue Reading >>Man, it seems like the Ugandan fellows have taken over the blog! I probably should wait my turn but I wanted to tell you about an encounter I had last Sunday.
One of the great sites in Kampala is the Kasubi tombs where the Buganda kings are buried, and so on Sunday in search of touristy adventure, I went.
It’s not a very big place overall, about the size of a baseball field (to use a comparison comfortable to me), with a few huts in it. The largest is where the kings are buried behind a fig bark cloth hung from the ceiling in a place referred to as the forest. I had to...
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This morning, I went downtown...
Hello from Uganda! I have been in Kampala for a week now and all is going very well, but I have to say I feel woefully underdressed most of the time. People on the street are by and large impeccably turned out. Looking around the Life in Africa office, the men are all wearing nice trousers and buttoned shirts, and the women are in lovely skirts and blouses. And it’s true everywhere. I have seen more beautiful ties since I’ve been in Kampala than I’ve seen in years. And women: no trooping through the streets in sneakers. You’ll be in dressy shoes wherever you are...
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