Kiva.org

Mongolia’s XacBank Turns Loans into Savings

2012-02-16T09:36:00.000-08:00

Let’s talk savings. Imagine you are a seamstress living in central Mongolia -- like this Kiva borrower -- and your husband’s cab breaks down or you need to fix a leaky roof. How are you going to pay for that? Without savings, your options are limited to borrowing either from a bank or an individual. But that may require a long wait, making the need for cash even more dire.

If you had savings, however, this cash flow problem could be averted, or at least diminished. This is the goal of Kiva field partner XacBank. Based in Mongolia, it's offering Kiva clients voluntary savings accounts to smooth out life’s unexpected financial speedbumps.

While XacBank has been educating its Kiva borrowers about the benefits of savings accounts since 2010, it only recently launched a campaign to make saving a reality for more people. It's issuing gift cards to its Kiva clients, allowing them to open savings accounts with 9% of the interest they repaid on a loan. As a result, 3,000 Mongolian Kiva borrowers now have savings accounts where there were none.

The impact is visible. Early last year, XacBank client Gantsetseg B borrowed $2,050 via Kiva to grow her sewing business. She purchased more fabric, two new sewing machines and hired three additional people. After she repaid her loan on time, XacBank gave her a savings gift card, getting her started with an account and helping her expand her business to 10 employees and seven sewing machines.

Savings has become an important part of Kiva’s vision for a world where all people -- even in the most remote areas of the globe -- have the power to create opportunities for themselves and others.

To reward and highlight our field partners who offer voluntary savings accounts, we award them with the “Facilitation of Savings” social performance badge. The idea is to encourage more microfinance institutions and banks to do the same, and allow lenders who support savings to loan for this cause.

To learn more about our social performance badges and how we measure and reward our field partners for additional services they provide to their borrowers, check out this Kiva webinar:

A BrightTALK Channel<

Borrower photos courtesy of Xacbank, CGAP

Passport Series: The Forces Shaping Microfinance in El Salvador

2012-02-15T11:34:00.000-08:00

This is the first of a three part series taking a deep-dive look at El Salvador, its history with microfinance, Kiva's role in expanding opportunities for Salvadorans, and what it's like to participate in the country's economy as a borrower, lender and field worker. We hope you enjoy.

Nestled in the heart of Central America is El Salvador, the region’s smallest and most densely populated country. Home to 6 million people, El Salvador has long been shaped by social inequality and its susceptibility to natural disasters. But, now, a renewed focus on economic self-sufficiency -- paired with the country’s strong sense of community -- has the potential to redefine and rebuild Salvadorans’ future.

Kiva, recognizing both tremendous need and opportunity in the country, has worked with field partners in El Salvador since 2007. In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at El Salvador’s current political, economic and social issues. Through these lenses, we’ll discuss the need for microfinance and the role Kiva hopes to play in El Salvador going forward.

In the aftermath of the civil war -- fought largely on rural farm land -- Salvadorans have worked hard to rebuild the country’s crucial agriculture sector. El Salvador’s GDP dropped a staggering 23% during the conflict. But since the the peace accord, its economy has been growing steadily. Investing in sustainable rural agriculture has been key to strengthening food security, decreasing poverty and creating stable jobs.

Monument in El Mozote honoring casualties of the civil war.

Decades of inequality between the wealthy minority who ran the government and the impoverished majority led to a bitter 12-year civil war from 1980 to 1992. During the conflict, many of the people, institutions, and infrastructure necessary for development and economic prosperity were targeted and destroyed -- including bridges, power lines, independent farmers and university officials. In total, the civil war resulted in more than 70,000 deaths and $2 billion in damages. Even 20 years later, El Salvador’s economy and culture remain inextricably linked to these years of violent unrest.

Investing across sectors is critical to empowering the 36% of Salvadorans who live in poverty. The average annual income is $4,900, with many families relying heavily on remittances. Money from family members working abroad accounts for 18% of El Salvador’s GDP, tying its success to the world’s economy at large.

The economic conditions, social inequality and an increase in deportation of Salvadorans from the United States has led to a surge in gang violence. The transnational gang Mara Salvatrucha, known as MS-13, has a notable and destructive presence in urban areas where the economic divide is most pronounced.

On top of that, the global financial meltdown has deeply impacted the country -- compounded by a string of natural disasters. The economic divide is still prominent, with the income of the richest 10% of the population remaining 47 times higher than that of the poorest 10%.

Further hampering reconstruction is the fact that El Salvador is located along the Pacific Ring of Fire, in a region identified by the United Nations as being most affected by climate change. In 1998, Hurricane Mitch killed 240 Salvadorans and resulted in $400 million in damages. In 2001, a 7.6 earthquake killed 844 people, followed one month later by a devastating 6.6 quake that killed 315 and incurred $1 billion in damages.

In October 2011, tropical depression 12-e resulted in severe flooding and landslides, costing an estimated $1.5 billion. El Salvador’s vulnerability to extreme weather raises the importance of focusing on strengthening its farming sector. Sustainable agriculture increases a country's resilience across the board.

Kiva believes that helping El Salvador means not only encouraging business and self-sufficiency through loans. Our Strategic Initiatives team is always working to break the cycle of poverty -- in El Salvador and globally -- through creative partnerships that address issues like education, access to clean water and sanitation, and clean energy.

In El Salvador, we are particularly interested in fostering the growing network of women’s groups that have emerged to organize reconstruction efforts and support their communities. Working with successful systems already on the ground and encouraging innovative development, Kiva hopes to play an important role in building a peaceful, strong and more equal El Salvador.

Sources consulted and figures cited courtesy of CIA World Factbook, World Food Programme, New York Times, CGAP, USGS and MIX Market. Photos courtesy of Ahvega, SmithFischer, Shared Interest and CIA World Factbook.

Do You Know What Today Is?

2012-02-14T09:12:00.000-08:00

It’s the second day of Random Act of Kindness week -- otherwise known as Generosity Day. Thought I was going to say something else, didn’t you? Regardless, today is a day to celebrate connection, whether it’s with the barista who remembered your order, a supportive friend, your sweetheart, or a borrower in Tanzania. Being connected makes people stronger, more resilient and compassionate, which is truly worth celebrating.

Maybe you want to buy your barista flowers or send your friend a box of chocolates. Or maybe you want to celebrate your meaningful connection by encouraging those individuals to connect to even more people through lending by giving them a Kiva Card -- to “loan it forward,” so to speak.

However you decide to celebrate and thank the people with whom you are grateful to be connected, we want to hear about it. Tweet us, post on our wall, or write us at our (new!) email address, blog@kiva.org, to tell us how you celebrated February 14 -- whatever it means to you!

Innovating To Expand Opportunities

2012-02-13T10:32:00.000-08:00

This is the first of a multi-part blog series looking at how Kiva is getting creative with lending and partnerships to make an impact in exciting, new areas. Below, watch a short video introduction to the series with Kiva Director of Strategic Initiatives Michelle Kreger.

Imagine having limited or no access to higher education, nontoxic lighting, or clean water. These are realities faced by millions of people around the world every day. Kiva’s mission, now and always, has been to connect people through lending to change this picture.

We envision a world where every individual has the power to create opportunity for themselves and others. Working toward this reality, we challenge ourselves to find new ways for our lenders’ flexible, risk-tolerant capital to grow markets and reach even more people with innovative loan products. This is core to Kiva’s quest for deeper impact – one that is shared by our generous lender community.

In the coming months, this blog series will highlight important new work in this area spearheaded by Kiva’s Strategic Initiatives team. These efforts will expand Kiva’s footprint in exciting directions and continue evolving our work to alleviate poverty through microlending.

Through this series, we’ll introduce you to a new set of Kiva partners – from universities to social businesses, from mobile service providers to green technology vendors. For the first time, Kiva is working with partners other than microfinance institutions to offer different types of loan products. In doing so, we look forward to innovating how we partner with organizations and companies to give more people access to financial services and opportunities.

Designed to highlight both the challenges and potential of these new partnerships, this blog series will explore five areas where they are active:

1. Higher Education
2. Innovative Agriculture
3. Clean Energy
4. Water and Sanitation
5. Mobile Transactions

Blog posts falling into each of these categories will look at the types of funding that currently support individuals and organizations working in these fields, what more could be done, and how Kiva’s unique approach to microlending could make a difference. We will also be spotlighting Kiva partners and borrowers affiliated with these areas as they appear on the website – so stay tuned.

We sincerely hope you enjoy this series, and would love to hear your feedback along the way at blog@kiva.org.

Talk To Us!

2012-02-10T09:38:00.000-08:00

We have decided to establish the email blog@kiva.org specifically to hear from you on blog related content. We wanted to create a way for you to respond to, engage with and contribute to our blog. But before we get to chatting, there are a few issues we’d like to discuss.

1. Setting expectations: While we really want to hear from you, we might not be able to respond right away given the volume of feedback. We promise to do our best, but can’t guarantee a speedy reply.

2. Purpose: Please only send blog-specific emails to this address, whether you’re responding to a post or sharing a story. We’re excited to hear your travel stories, see your photos, and showcase your Kiva anecdotes and comments. That said, please send questions, operational concerns and other thoughts outside of the blog through our contact us page.

3. It’s Beta: This email address is something completely new for us, and we think it has tremendous potential to increase and build connections (which is what Kiva is all about), but if it doesn't work we will tweak it or try something else.

We can’t wait to hear from you at blog@kiva.org!

Kiva Bowl: The Results Are In!

2012-02-07T11:36:00.000-08:00

We kicked off our first Kiva Bowl on January 27 at 12:01am and watched as the New York Giants Lending Team and New England Patriots Lending Team recruited, rooted and lent. The Kiva competition was fierce, with 360 members joining their respective lending teams.

The Giants were able to recruit and impressive 150 new members generating $5,700 loans during the competition, but-- while the Giants were able to come from behind and defeat the Patriots in Indianapolis-- the winner for our Kiva Bowl is.....the New England Patriots! Their team grew by 210 members and lent a spectacular $7,350.

Karma points for everyone!

photo courtesy of Elvert Barnes

What Do Microfinance And Adventure Travel Have In Common? OneSeed Expeditions

2012-02-07T08:07:00.000-08:00

“When you can empower someone to do good through the basic human desire to explore, it’s a very exciting thing,” says two-time Kiva Fellow Chris Baker. Now founder of development-minded tourism company OneSeed Expeditions, Chris says his work is all about “exploring the world and investing in the people you meet” -- an idea that grew out of his experience as a Kiva Fellow.

There’s no such thing as a “typical” Kiva Fellow, but two traits tend to emerge: a passion for travel and an open heart. Chris embodies both -- so much so that when a mixup had him thinking he was headed to Afghanistan instead of Nepal for his fellowship, he didn’t miss a beat.

“I was pretty surprised, but absolutely game,” Chris says. “It would have been a very interesting summer.” There’s no better illustration of Kiva Fellows’ ability to make the most of every situation and working through challenges for the sake of sustainable impact.

But even Chris couldn’t have expected his life to be so transformed by his travels. During his fellowships in Nepal, working closely with Patan Business and Professional Women (BPW), he had the opportunity to meet many small-scale entrepreneurs and watch Kiva borrowers who were “completely upending constraints on opportunity,” he says. Thoroughly inspired, Chris decided to launch his own company that would make his experience with travel and microfinance accessible to more people.

“When it came time to structure OneSeed and our mission, it was my experience that confirmed for me that microfinance is the most efficient means of leveraging capital into impact,” Chris says.

An avid outdoorsman, Chris identified a sustainable and growing revenue stream in adventure travel in Nepal. To connect this to microfinance, he came up with the idea for a tourism service that allows travelers to invest 10% of the cost of their trips in businesses run by local women entrepreneurs.

“You take a once-in-a-lifetime adventure, and a local entrepreneur is able to launch or expand her small business,” Chris says. Combining his enthusiasm for traveling and the power of microcredit, OneSeed is an innovative twist on Kiva’s mission to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty.

Chris’ cultural sensitivity is manifest in OneSeed’s outline for its commitment to sustainability, which lists specific policies, goals and targets for minimizing carbon emissions in the workplace and while traveling; reducing waste and water consumption; establishing a green purchasing policy and ensuring that the local community benefits from their business. By prioritizing employment of local residents and providing employees with shares of the company, OneSeed is working within the existing ecosystem to become a catalyst for positive change through lending, awareness, support and respect.

OneSeed is gearing up to take its first expedition in Nepal in February. Find out more about the company and upcoming adventures at www.oneseedexpeditions.com.

Chris is just one of many Kiva Fellows who have dedicated themselves to making the world a better place following their experience in the field. Right now, Kiva is getting ready to send its 17th fellow class around the world to strengthen ties to its field partners. The deadline for applications for the 18th fellows class is coming up fast on February 12. Click here to learn more and apply!

Photos courtesy of OneSeed Expeditions

Kiva Scholar: Mobile Banking

2012-02-03T14:17:00.000-08:00

At Kiva, we value being in tune with the latest news and research about microfinance and poverty alleviation. This Kiva Scholar blog series is designed to share what we've learned with you! In this edition, we take a closer look at mobile banking's potential to change microfinance.

In many microfinance markets around the world, it is becoming increasingly common for clients to have access to mobile banking and other financial services directly on their cell phones. More and more people are able to conduct transactions simply via text message. M-Pesa, a mobile finance provider in Kenya, is a good example of this.

On the ground, this means that a microcredit client can receive a loan almost immediately through a text. She can then take the phone to a participating retail outlet that gives her cash for the credit on her phone. When it is time to make a payment, she is able to use the same method. This secure system reduces travel time, increases productivity and efficiency for both the bank and the client, and cuts costs on both sides.

The bridge between lending institutions and mobile service providers means more choice and the opportunity to reach people in less accessible communities. Innovation and accelerating financial inclusion raises interesting questions like how will this process unfold in different countries and unique markets? And, how will the regulatory approach taken by various governments affect the process?

We're excited to see how mobile banking will change the microfinance landscape and empower even more Kiva borrowers to build businesses and improve their lives.

Want to learn more about mobile banking? Check out these articles on the CGAP Microfinance Blog:

CGAP - Interoperability and related issues in branchless banking and mobile money

Will platform interconnection help mobile money and financial inclusion expand?

Welcoming Strathmore University, Kiva’s First University Field Partner!

2012-02-03T10:25:00.000-08:00

We are excited to announce Kiva’s first partnership with a university: Strathmore University in Nairobi, Kenya!

Students at Strathmore University will be able to access a variety of loans, funded by you, through this new partnership with Kiva. The different loans available will help pay for students’ tuition throughout their 4 year degree, help them through a period of cash flow difficulties without interrupting their studies, or fund the purchase a laptop necessary to their studies.

While Kiva began piloting student loans in 2010, this partnership marks Kiva’s first with an educational institution, and is one of our first non-traditional Field Partners, continuing our cycle of innovation.

Strathmore University is one of the leading private chartered universities in Kenya, and is a privately owned, not-for-profit institution. While there is no university ranking system in Kenya, Strathmore was ranked 3rd overall in Kenya and 1st among the private universities in 2011 by 4International’s Colleges and Universities web ranking. Demand for enrollment is high, but according to the University Secretary, an estimated third of students accepted for enrollment fail to enroll, usually as a result of lack of finances.

Strathmore University’s partnership with Kiva will contribute to their current efforts increasing financial aid to their student population. According to the university, they are currently managing over 12 financial aid programs, which support over 300 students or about 8% of the student population, but their goal is to increase this number to 20% of the student population within the next 3 years. In recognition of their efforts, Kiva has awarded Strathmore University the “Innovation” and “Anti-Poverty Focus” Social Performance Badges.

We can’t wait to see the first student loans on Kiva through Strathmore University! In the meantime, you can learn more about Strathmore University on their website, or more about the Kiva loans available to Strathmore students on their Field Partner page.

Thanks for helping students in Kenya “Stay In School!!”

Pictured above: Graduates of Strathmore University

Turning Wine Into Wherewithal

2012-01-30T10:53:00.000-08:00

If you're in the New York City area, join our New York lending team as it hosts its 3rd Annual Wine Tasting Fundraiser next weekend.

Photo: From last year's event

On Saturday, February 4th Kiva's vibrant New York lending community will gather to drink, discuss and donate.

Drink: Six different wines from countries where Kiva borrowers live and work.
Discuss: Talk about how you lend and goals for the new year, and hear firsthand from Kiva fellows about what it's like to work in the field.
Donate: 10% of the funds raised will be donated to Kiva. The rest will be added to the New York lending team's fund for future lending.
The event will be at Bottle Rocket Wine & Spirit located at 5 West 19th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues). For more information, visit the event's page: Wine Tasting Event.

Attendees please send us your photos and tweet us @Kiva!

Please Stand by

2012-01-30T10:42:00.000-08:00

We are experiencing some technical difficulties with some of the photos and videos on recent blog posts. We are working to correct this problem. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Welcoming MTZ, Kiva’s First Mobile Payments Field Partner

2012-01-27T14:15:00.000-08:00

“A Cashless Africa.”

This is a big statement. Yet, it is the simply stated dream of MTZ, Kiva’s first mobile payments Field Partner, located in Zambia.

MTZ is a mobile money/transactions organization that allows individuals to send and receive money over their phones. This model relies on a distributed network of agents, known within MTZ as Champion Agents. Fund transfers are made by converting cash into electronic value at one location, and converting the electronic value back into cash at another. Take a look at the way MTZ explains the process to its customers.

Kiva’s partnership with MTZ will give Champion Agents access to loans to fund fixed asset purchases, and set up expenses and working capital float to increase the size of the network of Champion Agents.

In additional to being Kiva’s first mobile payments Field Partner, MTZ is also one of Kiva’s first non-traditional Field Partners, continuing our cycle of innovation. For Zambians, especially the poor, mobile money presents a new method of sending funds that is potentially cheaper, more accessible, and more secure than money transfer services, bank transfers, or requests of friends to carry cash on buses. Mobile money has the potential to significantly push the boundaries of financial inclusion, in particular, by allowing poor individuals to securely store savings on their phone, receive insurance payouts, and receive/repay on loans. In recognition of their efforts, Kiva has awarded MTZ the “Innovation” and “Entrepreneurial Support” Social Performance Badges.

We are excited to welcome MTZ in partnership with Kiva, and to welcome MTZ’s first Kiva funded Champion Agents to the website! For more information on MTZ check out their website (including their guiding principles), and for more information on their partnership with Kiva please visit the Field Partner page.

Passport Series: Tanzania: Part 3: A Borrower Tells Her Story

2012-01-27T08:45:00.000-08:00

Our Field Partner, Tujijenge Tanzania Ltd., just shared with us an inspiring success story of one of their borrowers. Her name is Mwanaisha Katunzi and she recently spoke with Tujijenge staff about her experiences as an entrepreneur. We are delighted to share her story here with the Kiva Community.

Mwanaisha Katunzi in her store in Bunda District, Tanzania. Photo Credit: Tujijenge Tanzania Ltd.

Mwanaisha Katunzi has been a Tujijenge borrower since 2010. She lives in the Bunda District which is in Mara Region of Tanzania. She is 48 years of age and is married with 2 children who are in secondary school. Mwanaisha explained how she decided to become an entrepreneur;

“My husband is also a micro entrepreneur, he owns a used television shop. He buys them in Zanzibar and sells them here at Bunda. I realized that the money my husband makes does not meet family needs so I decided rather than depending fully on his income, I had better engage myself in small businesses to support my husband and so together confront life’s hardships.”

In 2008, Mwanaisha started a tailoring business;

“In my neighborhood, I always saw groups of small entrepreneurs like me gathering for weekly meetings, so I was interested. They would always look contented and not troubled with their business capital. I asked what the group was up to and they told me about Tujijenge Tanzania and its loans which I found had affordable loan conditions. I immediately joined the Songambele group."

Mwanaisha’s sewing machines - Photo Credit: Tujijenge Tanzania

Mwanaisha with some of her creations - Photo Credit: Tujijenge Tanzania Ltd.

Mwanaisha says she feels that becoming a Tujijenge borrower has had a very positive impact on her business and her family's life;

"The loans I have taken from Tujijenge have helped me a big deal. Together we are able to pay school fees for our two children and meet all our needs. Since I joined Tujijenge it has now been possible for me to purchase more rolls of fabric, vitenge, blankets and other equipments I use for sewing and my shop and I can boast that my shop never runs out of stock. I have one employee, a boy who helps me selling the clothes I make in the local market where I earn more profit. For example, I would always sell a blanket for 4,000 shillings from my shop here but when I take it to the market, it would go for 5,000 shillings. Therefore, I have scheduled my week such that on Tuesdays and Sundays I do not open the shop and I sell my products at the local market thoroughly. I want my shop to be full of stock all the time, I want to purchase a big closet for keeping my customers’ clothes, I also plan to purchase an over lock machine because I would always rent one from my competitors. I have so many dreams for my shop.”

Thank you Mwanaisha for sharing your story with us! To learn more about the amazing work of Tujijenge Tanzania check out their Kiva Partner page and website!

By the Numbers: Microfinance and... football?

2012-01-26T16:34:00.000-08:00

Superbowl Sunday is fast approaching! And as the Giants and the Patriots gear up to face off, we started wondering how the game on the field might tie into our work in the field. It’s a natural question when millions of people rally around something -- whether it’s a cause or the big game. How powerful could all those people be? When it comes to the Superbowl and Kiva, the answer is: very. Here’s some food for thought (to go with your hot wings):

Capacity of Lucas Oil Stadium: 70,000
Kiva’s user base: 1,056,402 - We fill over 15 stadiums, but could always use one more!

Number of 2011 Superbowl viewers: 111 million
Population of the 8 African countries Kiva helps serve: 99.4 million (if every watcher gave $1 - that would be 4.4 million $25 loans.)

Average cost for 30-second Super Bowl commercial: $3.5 million
Total amount lent in December 2011: $10.5 million (3 times more!)

Total amount spent on 2011 Super Bowl Commercials: $205.2 million
Total amount of loans made through Kiva: $280.3 million

Average price for 2011 Super Bowl ticket: $4,683
Average size of a Kiva loan: $385.49 (12 loans could be made for just one ticket!)

To harness some of this amazing fan power -- and in the spirit of friendly competition -- we’re kicking off the first ever KivaSuper Bowl. That’s right, it’s the New England Patriots Lending Team versus the New York Giants Lending Team! Whichever team lends the most between 12:01 am on January 27 and the last whistle blown at Sunday’s game wins eternal bragging rights and karma points.

This is your chance to support your team and do good for the world at the same time. Now that’s a winning combination!

Meet Featured Lender, Nancy

2012-01-24T12:43:00.000-08:00

Although we love allof our Kiva Lenders, this week we wanted to highlight the story of one lender whose lending milestone caught our attention.

Meet Nancy from Minnetonka, MN, who made her 210^thloan this week!! She has been a member of Kiva since March of 2008, which meansthat she has averaged at least one loan per week over the four years. We asked Nancy why she makes Kiva loans and here iswhat she had to say:

“Kiva came to my attention during a time when I wasreevaluating how I might make a difference in the world. As a businesswoman,lending to entrepreneurs through microfinance is veryappealing. Since 2008 I have made loans all over the world atvery little personal risk. The money I have spread out in Kiva could besitting in a savings account making minimal interest, or it can be used toimprove the lives of people in need. The decision is a no-brainer!”

Well said! Thank you Nancy, for consistently supporting themission of Kiva.

Nancy is a part of the 'Atheists, Agnostics, Skeptics,Freethinkers, Secular Humanists and the Non-Religious Team', who also celebrated a huge milestone this week. Congrats to the entire team for reaching the $6M mark!

A big thanks to Nancy and the team for being exceptionalKivans.

Featured Volunteer: Margaret Wolfe-Roberts

2012-01-23T22:50:00.000-08:00

By Lindsay Monnet, Review and Translation Program Intern

"I'm proud to be part of a community that will respect and accommodate differences."

City: Asheboro, North Carolina
Language: Spanish
Team: Magnificent 7
Time with Kiva: Since June of 2010

How did you find out about Kiva?
I was researching terminology online as I often do for my work as a professional interpreter/translator and ran across an untranslated Spanish loan description with Kiva. I thought, “I could help with that!”

Why do you choose to volunteer your time with Kiva?
I love the way that translating for Kiva pops me out of my own reality into another so easily. Whether it’s discovering that solar energy systems are huge among coffee farmers in Guatemala, tracking down exotic birds on the Internet, or diving into a stunningly beautiful and seemingly endless photo-stream of traditional textiles and handicraft, I feel I’m on a magic carpet ride every time.
I also highly value the community among volunteers and staff, and the strong sense of connection I have with all of you “through the ether.” The cool Kiva drinking bottle when I hit 200 loans was a plus, too.

From where do you typically review Kiva loans?
My desk at my home office. I have a large south-facing window which is often sunny and looks out onto a beautiful river birch.

What is your favorite partner or region?
I like them all. I’m a member of the atheist/humanist lending group, so I have just started looking at the field partners more individually from that angle. But I appreciate any group focused on improving people’s access to resources: financial, social and personal.

Tell us about a memorable profile you have reviewed.
My most remarkable loan translated was to a person who appeared to have an intellectual disability. He has a business sewing Lycra pants for children. It reminds me of the time some friends carried a man in a wheelchair up two flights of stairs to a party. Similarly I admire women in non-traditional businesses such as the widow who runs an auto-parts store, and several loans recently discussed on the volunteer forum involving transgendered borrowers. I am inspired by a spirit of inclusiveness. I enjoy seeing people who fall outside the norm in some way making contributions to society, and I’m proud to be part of a community that will respect and accommodate many types of differences.

Where is your favorite place in the world to travel?
That’s a tough one since there are a whole lot of places I haven’t been yet. Perhaps it would be all the interpersonal and intrapersonal journeys that seem to take on greater importance as years go by.

Tell us an unusual or surprising fact about yourself.
I also volunteer as a mediator in court for cases between individuals, in both Spanish and English. It’s tough to say which I enjoy more—helping Kiva revolutionize global financial structures or empowering parties in conflict to resolve their differences successfully—they are both wonderful in their own way!

Photo provided by Margaret Wolfe-Roberts, Volunteer Translator

Check out Kiva's New and Improved YouTube Channel!

2012-01-23T20:37:00.000-08:00

We invite you to visit our newly revamped YouTube Channel - it's full of educational and fun videos about the Kiva Community!

You can view videos like this one to get to know Kiva Staff and learn more about how Kiva works:

Or check out cool Kiva TV spots like this one:

Or keep an eye on all the inspiring "Why I Kiva" videos that are made by Kiva supporters:

Click here to visit the channel!

By the way, DO YOU HAVE VIDEO SKILLS (or know someone who does)? Kiva is looking for an intern to create and manage engaging video content for us! Click here to read the position description and apply!

Kiva Year in Review

2012-01-18T16:46:00.000-08:00

It’s a new year, which means it’s time to look back and reflect on all that we have been able to accomplish together in the year that’s passed. It has been an extremely busy year of learning and growth, a year of many exciting firsts, meaningful milestones and inspiring numbers! Here are just some of the great things that we hope everyone will remember, and celebrate, about 2011...

Kiva 2011 Staff Photo

Exciting Firsts...

We introduced Social Performance badges, an innovative new way to highlight Field Partners that have demonstrated a commitment to social performance goals.

We established our first non-traditional partnerships with non-MFI organizations such as One Acre Fund in order to address market gaps.

We launched the Kiva Zip pilot program, a program designed to explore new approaches to person to person lending including electronic and mobile payment technology.

We introduced a new Star-Ratings system (now with half-stars), improving Kiva users’ ability to make informed loan-making choices.

We partnered with four new countries - Burkina Faso, Turkey, Yemen and Zimbabwe.

We joined forces with 26 new Field Partners across the globe including organizations in Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, Kenya and Iraq.

We began offering Student Loans in Vietnam, Tajikistan and Sierra Leone.

We started posting Green Loans to support initiatives such as bio-digesters in Indonesia, solar lights and energy efficient cookstoves in the Philippines, green housing in Mongolia and sanitation projects in Kenya.

With our partners we launched Kiva City, providing Kiva loan capital to small business owners in Detroit and New Orleans.

Kiva CEO and Co-Founder, Matt Flannery, received The Economist’s Innovation Award.

Kiva’s South America Team hosted our very first board trip. Kiva board members spent 3 days in Lima, Peru, getting an on-the-ground perspective on Kiva operations.

Meaningful Milestones...

The site reached 1 million registered users.

The Kiva Fellows blog "Stories from the Field" surpassed its millionth hit.

As of the end of 2011, fifteen amazing Lending Teams had made more than 1 million dollars worth of loans!

Our best holiday season on record - through a combination of strong loan supply, huge support from existing lenders, lots of new users, free trials, and Kiva Cards, Kiva facilitated over $10.5 million of lending in December. This is the first month above $10m in Kiva history.

Kiva Headquarters moved to a new downtown San Francisco location to accommodate our ever-expanding team. We filled 42 positions in 2011 which brings us to a grand total of 85 staff members!

Ten inspiring Lending Teams hosted fabulous events in ten different cities around the world in honor of Kiva's 6th birthday. A total of 751 guests attended the events and raised more than $120,000 for Kiva!

Inspiring Numbers...

A loan is now made every 4 seconds on average - that is more than twice the rate of a year ago!

$90 million of loans generated on Kiva during the year, which is a 26% increase on the 2010 total.

81 Kiva Fellows spent 41,080 hours working with Kiva Field Partners around the world. Since the inception of the Kiva Fellows Program in 2007, Kiva Fellows have now spent a combined total of 5,441 weeks working with Kiva Field Partners - that’s over 100 years!

Partner Operations enjoyed the support of volunteer hours equivalent to 53 full-time staff members through the Kiva Fellows Program and Review & Translation Program.

Kiva Staff visited 52 different countries around the world.

The Customer Service team responded to 50,277 emails and phone calls from lenders.

Over 109 thousand Kiva Cards sold.

Kiva was assisted in all areas of operations by over 450 amazing volunteers - (Approximately 81 Fellows, 87 Interns and 285 Review and Translation Volunteers.)

There were 45 participants from over 20 countries at our annual Latin American and Caribbean Field Partner Summit, which was held in Costa Rica.

What a year it was, and we can’t wait to see what 2012 has in store. Thank you for being a part of our community and helping us to reach new heights each and every year!

Passport Series: Tanzania: Part 2: Microfinance

2012-01-16T15:01:00.000-08:00

This month’s Passport Series is all about Tanzania. Tanzania is home to Africa’s highest mountain, some of the world’s most ecologically significant wildlife reserves and its own unique style of hip hop! Follow us throughout the month of January as we learn about Tanzania, its microfinance sector, and the work that Kiva does there.

The Microfinance Sector of Tanzania

The microfinance sector in Tanzania is growing, but remains relatively untapped compared to several of its neighbors in East Africa. Both Kenya and Uganda have similar population sizes yet much larger and more developed microfinance sectors. According to Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), in 2010 there were thirteen reporting microfinance institutions (MFIs) from Tanzania with a total loan portfolio of USD $63.7 million. In that same year there were twenty-seven MFIs reporting to MIX from Kenya and twenty-five from Uganda with total loan portfolios of USD $1.2 billion and USD $256 million respectively. In Tanzania there were about 222,000 active borrowers in 2010 and almost 239,000 depositors, saving about USD $53 million. In contrast Kenya had over one million active borrowers and over seven million depositors, saving about USD $1.5 billion in the same year.

Poverty in Tanzania is highly concentrated in hard to access rural regions making it especially difficult for microfinance and other forms of poverty alleviation to reach a large percentage of the population. Several of the influential players in the microfinance sector are looking to overcome this rural obstacle by expanding the reach of mobile banking to a greater portion of the population.¹ Mobile banking allows microfinance clients to receive loan disbursements and make payments through their cell phones, reducing the need for costly trips to MFI branches.

The Tanzanian financial sector is overseen and regulated by the Bank of Tanzania (BOT), which presides over commercial banks, non-bank financial institutions, regional banks and rural unit banks. The BOT issues licenses which determine the services these organizations are allowed to provide, in which geographic areas they can operate, and their required minimum capitalization. As a result the microfinance industry is dominated by non-deposit taking institutions such as Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), which do not fall under the BOT’s authority. Most of the largest microfinance providers in Tanzania operate out of the major city of Dar es Salaam, and lack the capacity for extensive rural outreach to microfinance clients.

An Innovative Solution for Rural Farmers

As access to rural farmers increases in Tanzania, organizations like the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) are funding projects to create innovative solutions to common rural credit problems. The Agricultural Marketing Systems Development Programme (AMSDP) and the Rural Financial Services Programme, two IFAD funded projects, have combined to create a warehousing receipt system that allows local farmers to store their crops during the harvest season in order to sell them at a later date for higher prices. This not only often results in the doubling and sometimes tripling of profits by selling their product when the supply is much lower, it also allows farmers to receive credit against their stored crops at generally reasonable interest rates. By using their harvest as collateral farmers can obtain a loan, they otherwise may not have qualified for, to help with business expansion, household improvements, education or a variety of other expenses.²

The microfinance institution Mbinga, a Kiva Field Partner, is also working to provide innovative solutions for rural Tanzanian farmers through specialized products specifically designed for their clientele. (More on Mbinga in the following section)

Kiva Field Partner in Tanzania

Based out of Dar es Salaam, Tujijenge Tanzania Ltd was founded in 2006 to provide credit, savings, life and medical insurance products to under-served people in Tanzania. Tujijenge has recently expanded their reach to several regions including rural areas. Tujijenge offers a variety of products to serve a diverse clientele operating businesses such as restaurants, second-hand clothing stores charcoal sales, kiosks, and hair salons. Tujijenge typically loans to groups of fifteen to thirty-five business men and women and requires a mandatory savings of twenty percent of the expected loan amount. Tujijenge has earned three social performance badges from Kiva for the products and services they provide to their clients in addition to their traditional financial services. The badges they have earned are: client voice, entrepreneurial support, and innovation.

Mbinga Community Bank Ltd (MCB) opened its doors in July of 2003. The bank is licensed by the BOT as a regional unity bank with its headquarters in Mbinga town. The mission of MCB is to provide financial services for the promotion of economic prosperity and self-reliance among the rural and urban disadvantaged communities in Ruvuma region. Kiva chose to partner with MCB because they operate in a coffee-growing region of Tanzania and disburse agricultural input loans to coffee farmers. These loans will have a bullet repayment at the end of the term, meaning repayment is not due generally until farmers are able to harvest and sell their products. This specialized repayment system is a very innovative and client-focused loan product. MCB faces high operating costs due to their concentrated rural operations as well as higher risk from significant portfolio exposure in agriculture. Because Kiva offers 0% interest loan, our funding will be channeled into expanding agricultural lending in order to cover more rural villages which MCB would not be able to do otherwise. As a result of the Ruvuma region’s distance from Dar es Salaam and rural nature, as well as the Tanzanian microfinance market’s general immaturity, MFI competition for clients in this are is virtually non-existent. Mbinga has earned five social performance badges from Kiva for the products and services they provide to their clients in addition to their traditional financial services. The badges they have earned are: anti-poverty focus, vulnerable group focus, entrepreneurial support, facilitation of savings, and innovation.

1. http://idbdocs.iadb.org/wsdocs/getdocument.aspx?docnum=35379430

2. http://www.ifad.org/events/microcredit/eng.pdf

Click on here to make a loan to a borrower in Tanzania!

Stay tuned for Part 3 of our Passport Series to read about the work that Kiva is doing in Tanzania.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr Day

2012-01-14T10:59:00.000-08:00

Civil Rights March, 1963 Photo Credit: National Archives

“The Curse of poverty has no justification in our age…The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty” – Martin Luther King, Jr, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?

Here at Kiva, we are all excited to have a long weekend, but we feel that Monday should be more of a day on than a day off. Monday is a day to celebrate a man who dreamed big, a man who thought that we can and must do better, and who left the world a better place than the way he found it.

So on Monday, we empower you to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr by making a Kiva loan to help alleviate poverty and inequality.

Introducing Kiva Meetup

2012-01-11T15:26:00.000-08:00

Kiva is very excited to announce the Kiva Meetup Everywhere page!

Meetup is the world's largest network of local groups and will serve to connect Kiva lenders around the world in their own communities.

Kiva enthusiasts are already connected on-line through lending teams and group discussions on message boards, but rarely do they have the opportunity to meet one another in person. Now for the first time, Kiva lenders are creating off-line communities as an opportunity to share in their Kiva experience. Meetup provides a networking opportunity for Kivans (that's you!) to come together.

The first Kiva Meetup event is the Kiva Resolutions Kickoff on Tuesday, January 17th in various locations across the globe! Visit the Kiva Meetup Everywhere page to find or create a Kiva Community near you and start thinking about your lending goals for 2012.

This year, we would love to see our off-line communities grow and develop in the common interest of Kiva's mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Create or RSVP to a Kiva Meetup in your city!

Passport Series: Tanzania: Part 1: Country Profile

2012-01-09T08:28:00.000-08:00

History

Tanzania is a nation in East Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean and several countries including Kenya and Mozambique. Modern day Tanzania is made up of the islands of Zanzibar and a mainland area previously known as Tanganyika. Tanzania is one of the earliest inhabited areas on Earth; fossil remains of humans and pre-human hominids have been found in the country dating back over two million years. Waves of migration from all over Africa contributed over the centuries to the region’s over 120 ethnic groups. Cultural influences from outside of Africa arrived as early as the first millennium AD in the form of travellers and merchants from the Persian Gulf and western India.

Historic buildings in Zanzibar - Photo Credit: CIA World Factbook

Portuguese traders claimed control over the East Coast of Africa (including the area that is now Tanzania) in the 16th century, violently enforcing a monopoly on Indian Ocean trade. The local people rose up and overthrew the Portuguese in the late 18th century with the assistance of one of their main trading partners, the Omani Arabs. The revolution did not lead to lasting autonomy for the local tribes however, as the Arabs proceeded to claim dominion over the region in the 19th century. The Arab’s seizure of control over the area was motivated by the emergence of the lucrative Arab-led slave and ivory trades. These trades had a devastating effect on the people of East Africa, destroying families and communities and disrupting long standing patterns of political organization and economic production. The area was further destabilized when it became a colony of Germany in 1885. After World War I, the region was taken over by Britain under a League of Nations mandate.

A slave memorial in Zanzibar - Photo Credit: CIA Factbook

Shortly after achieving independence from Britain in the early 1960s, Tanganyika

and Zanzibar merged to form the nation of Tanzania. Julius Nyerere served as the first President of Tanzania from 1962 to 1985. One-party rule ended in 1995 with the first democratic elections held in the country since the 1970s. Zanzibar has maintained semi-autonomous status which has led to two contentious elections since 1995, which the ruling party won despite international observers' claims of voting irregularities. The formation of a government of national unity between Zanzibar's two leading parties succeeded in minimizing electoral tension in 2010.

Geography

Map of Tanzania - Photo Credit: CIA World Factbook

Tanzania is composed of 26 regions. Dodoma, in Central Tanzania, has been the country’s capital since 1996. Dar Es Salaam previously served as the country’s political capital from independence to 1996. It remains the country’s commercial center as it is the main seaport for the country and its landlocked neighbors. Northeast Tanzania is mountainous and is home to Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest point in Africa. The country is bordered by three of the largest lakes on the continent: Lake Victoria (the world's second-largest freshwater lake) in the north, Lake Tanganyika (the world's second deepest) in the west, and Lake Nyasa (also known as Lake Malawi) in the southwest. Central Tanzania comprises a large plateau, with plains and arable land. The eastern shore is hot and humid, with the islands of Zanzibar lying just offshore. Zanzibar consists of two main islands (Unguja and Pemba) and several smaller ones.

Mount Kilamanjaro - Photo Credit: CIA World Factbook

Tanzania contains many large and ecologically significant wildlife parks, including the famous Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti National Park in the north, and Selous Game Reserve and Mikumi National Park in the south. Gombe National Park in the west is known as the site of Dr. Jane Goodall's studies of chimpanzee behavior.

A Tanzanian wildlife park - Photo Credit: CIA World Factbook

Economy

Tanzania is one of the world's poorest economies in terms of per capita income, however, Tanzania has averaged 7% GDP growth per year between 2000 and 2010 fueled by strong gold production and tourism. The economy depends heavily on agriculture, which accounts for more than 40% of GDP, provides 85% of exports, and employs about 80% of the work force. Recent banking reforms have helped increase private-sector growth and investment, and the government has increased spending on agriculture to 7% of its budget. Continued donor assistance and solid macroeconomic policies supported a positive growth rate, despite the world recession. In 2008, Tanzania received the world's largest Millennium Challenge Compact grant, worth $698 million.

Demographics and Culture

Tanzania’s population (approximately 43 million) is concentrated along the coast and isles, the fertile northern and southern highlands, and the lands bordering Lake Victoria. The relatively arid and less fertile central region is sparsely inhabited. About 80% of Tanzanians live in rural communities. Zanzibar’s population is about 1.3 million (3% of Tanzania’s population).

The Tanzanian flag - Photo Credit: CIA World Factbook

Tanzanians, together with their socio-linguistic cousins in the Comoros Islands and the East Africa coast (from modern-day southern Somalia to northern Mozambique), created Swahili culture and language, which reflect long and close associations with other parts of Africa and with the Arab world, Persia, and South Asia. As with the Swahili language, Swahili culture has a Bantu core that has been modified by those foreign influences.

Zanzibar Harbor - Photo Credit: CIA World Factbook

The first language typically learned by a Tanzanian is that of his or her tribe, with Swahili and English learned thereafter. Current statistics on religion in Tanzania are unavailable because religious surveys were eliminated from government census reports after 1967. Religious leaders and sociologists estimate that on mainland Tanzania the Christian and Muslim communities are approximately equal in size, each accounting for 30 to 40 percent of the population. The remainder of the mainland population is said to practice various other faiths including indigenous religions. Zanzibar is believed to be more than 99% Muslim.

The music of Tanzania stretches from traditional African drumming and percussion and the string-based taarab to a distinctive hip hop known as bongo flava. Bongo flava developed in the 1990s, mainly as a derivative of American hip hop, with additional influences from reggae, R&B, afrobeat, dancehall, and traditional Tanzanian styles.

Check out this video for a taste of bongo flava!

Stay tuned next week for an exploration of Tanzania’s microfinance industry!

Kiva Scholar: January 5, 2012

2012-01-05T15:14:00.000-08:00

At Kiva, we value being in tune with the news, research, and latest findings of Microfinance and poverty alleviation, so we are making an effort to bring you more of the latest information on these topics!

In this edition of Kiva Scholar we look at what it means to be client-centric in the field of financial inclusion.

Photo Credit: CGAP Microfinance Blog

The Decade of the Client

source: CGAP Microfinance Blog

What does it mean to have a client focus for a financial institution aiming to serve poor people? Why is client-centric financial inclusion important and how do we achieve it? Alexia Latortue from The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) discusses the importance of these questions and the new found attention this topic is receiving within the microfinance industry.

From the article...

“An exciting dialogue is underway that is leading to a collective agreement that putting clients at the center of all decisions is key. Importantly, we are starting to add texture and detail to what this means. The stakes are high. If we get it right in financial inclusion, perhaps, 10 years from now, the 2010s will be described as The Decade of the Client.”

Kiva Welcomes Friendship Bridge!

2012-01-02T14:25:00.000-08:00

Written by Casey Cline, Kiva Fellow

Kiva is extremely excited to welcome Friendship Bridge (FB) as its newest field partner in Guatemala. FB was established in 1990, having first worked in Vietnam and then shifting its focus to Guatemala in 1998. Their mission is to provide not only microcredit, but also education, to women so that they can create their own solutions to poverty for themselves, their families, and their communities. Headquartered in Lakewood, CO, FB has a staff of six in the U.S. and a team of 80 in its six branches, two satellite offices, and headquarters office in Guatemala. Intentionally employing staff that represent the demographics of its clients, FB’s employees are 68% women and 67% indigenous. In addition, 10% of the staff is former clients.

FB targets impoverished women living in rural areas in of Guatemala that are characterized by extreme poverty and high levels of illiteracy. On average, a FB client is 38 years old, earns $1.74 per day, has 2.6 years of formal education, has a household size of 6.15 and is likely to speak only their indigenous language. FB employs a unique approach called Microcredit Plus that, aside from providing small, short-term loans, focuses on education in a variety of areas including business, money management, self-esteem, and health and children’s education.

FB is thrilled to partner with Kiva, not only for the exposure to a new audience of socially minded investors, but also because of Kiva’s low [zero] cost of financing will allow FB to offer more wide-ranging and complete products and services to its clients. Friendship Bridge was a Kiva partner in the past, and has now returned to the website after a hiatus.

Friendship Bridge Clients - Photo Credit: Friendship Bridge

One of the alternative products that FB launched just weeks before initiating its relationship with Kiva is an organic agriculture loan. While the product is still in a trial phase with one small family farm, the technical assistance that is provided through FB’s relationship with AGTEC (a joint project through the Borlaug Institute and Texan A&M) and the encouraging early results have the FB staff extremely excited about its potential for a positive impact not only on the lives of the families involved, but also on the local environment as more sustainable farming practices are utilized.

Special thanks to Cynthia McMurry, Portfolio Manager for Central America, for her hard work getting FB on board, and to Casey Cline, Kiva Fellow, for helping FB to get up and running!

To learn more about Friendship Bridge, please visit their website, their partner page, or their first borrower profile.

A Friendship Bridge Entrepreneur - Photo Credit: Friendship Bridge

Kiva's Annual Marathon Boasts Great Food, Great Loans

2011-12-29T01:35:00.000-08:00

Edited by Daniel Hinds, Review and Translation Program Intern

Naomi (Kiva Senior Director, Global Partner Operations) catches up with long-time volunteers Dan and Connie (Baobab). Photo credit: Lindsay Monnet.

Did you know that a group of almost 300 dedicated volunteers review every loan before it is posted to Kiva.org? In fact, every loan description on the Kiva website is carefully edited or translated by one of these volunteers to ensure an accurate borrower profile, and to ensure a positive experience for Kiva borrowers and lenders alike.

Each year, there is a peak of interest in lending on Kiva’s website around the holiday season. To prepare for this peak, Kiva’s Volunteer Editors and Translators pull out all the stops to get Kiva borrowers onto the website and ready for funding, culminating in the annual Kiva Editing and Translation Marathon. This is an event that offers everything from delicious, locally-sourced food to great company and fulfilling work.

This year’s Kiva Editing and Translation Marathon was a huge success and a great opportunity for members of the Kiva community to come together and share their stories and experiences.

In its fourth year, the marathon brought together a total of around 50 Kiva volunteers and staff in person and online. At the gathering at Kiva HQ, in between editing and translating, talking about puzzling terms and interesting profiles, and eating and drinking, Kiva staff and volunteers shared many memories.

Dara engages with Kiva intern Emily and fellow volunteer Tracy, while Marty edges closer to 1,000 translations. Photo credit: Daniel Hinds.

Marathon Highlights

Participants from the San Francisco and Seattle marathons were all represented, in addition to all the remote Skype participants who logged in from across the US and Canada.

We were impressed to see translators and editors in later time zones attend the chat for an hour or two. A special thanks to these people for staying up late to attend the marathon!

There were many highlights from the Skype chat:

We found out that the Spanish term arepas means "a flat, round, unleavened patty made of cornmeal or flour which can be grilled, baked, boiled, or fried," and that a boubou in French refers to a large, sleeved robe worn by men in West Africa.
The French expression vendu en famille had the translators scratching their heads. Tamara K. and Team Leader Véronique F., both in the Kiva San Francisco office, came to the rescue and found the answer on the Volunteer Forum; "en famille" means "from the person's house," and is equivalent to the French "en domicile.

Team Leaders Kent and Véronique pose with past Volunteers of the Month, Marty and Connie. Photo credit: Patricia Wada.

And from the Kiva San Francisco Office marathon:

An impressive turnout of 25 or so Kiva staff who came out to support and meet the volunteers, as well as try their hand at translating and editing
Delicious snacks like empanadas, hot spiced cider, mini-cupcakes and various dips and chips provided by the Volunteer Coordinators
Empanadas from El Empanadero Factory, run by Kiva borrower Julio and recommended by Kiva Volunteer Dan K.
Cupcakes from a multi-talented Kiva staff member at Christina Marie Pastries
The new Kiva Headquarters on Howard Street!

Skype chat highlights compiled by Lindsay Monnet. Additional highlights contributed by Daniel Hinds and Lindsay Monnet, Review and Translation Program Interns.

Welcoming Relief International Iraq to Kiva

2011-12-27T10:21:00.001-08:00

photo credit: Relief International

Please join me in warmly welcoming Kiva’s newest field partner, Relief International-Iraq, to Kiva.org!

Relief International-Iraq (RI-Iraq) first began lending activities in 2006, and now operates 10 branches throughout the country. With a significant group lending portfolio, RI-Iraq serves over 9,700 clients a with a low average loan size of $959. They serve a 34% female client base, one of the highest ratios of women served among all microfinance institutions in the country. I was unfortunately unable to visit the head office of RI-Iraq Suleymaniya, Northern Iraq. Luckily, RI-Iraq’s new Kiva Coordinator, Csilla Budai, agreed to contribute her impressions of her new employer for this blog post:

I have the pleasure to currently work in two buildings and get to know two distinct teams who work very well together. One is the staff of RI-Iraq, always noisy, busy with loan clients and loan officers. And the other being headquarters for the MFI program in Iraq.

Spending time with the staff of RI-Iraq is great. I can best describe the office as a vibrant bee-hive that starts buzzing every morning at 8. While at first sight for an outsider their work can look chaotic, soon one can realize they are very serious about their work and pay close attention to their clients. It's a well-oiled machine with about 10 Loan Officers, Junior Supervisors and Supervisors who are both good friends and respected colleagues.

The building has two rooms; one is the waiting room for clients, where you sense the anticipation of the applicants. And the other one is the room of the Office Manager where final, approved loan contracts are signed and the important final papers are printed for closing the loan application process, making the approved amount available for disbursement.

Loan Officers and Supervisors are in and out of the building visiting clients before their loan can be approved. Initially, clients are only in contact with the Loan Officers who work with the clients on their application, double check the provided information and collect paperwork supporting the loan application. Once it's all put together, before a loan can be given to the loan committee for approval, the client is visited by the Loan Officer and the Loan Officer's Supervisor. I also had the pleasure to be on a few of these visits, and the impressions I got were only positive. I liked how well the clients and Loan Officers knew each other, making the clients feel comfortable with the entire process. I was also impressed by how fast the applications were processed. I often recognized visited clients sitting in the waiting room just a few days later, waiting for their turn to sign and finalize their contracts.

I was also very happy to see that—at least here in the Sulaymaniya office—more than half of the Loan Officers are women, which I think also helps female clients to be more at ease. I personally am eager to see how Iraq, and the status of Iraqi women will develop in the next few years—and I do hope there will be positive developments. For now, although regional differences certainly exist:

1. Women experience economic discrimination in access to, and in terms of, employment and occupation, credit, and pay equity for performing similar work or managing similar businesses as men. Government efforts to combat economic discrimination against women are minimal and unsystematic.

2. The security situation disproportionately affected women's ability to work outside the home.

3. Weak labor laws and the lack of an equal opportunity employment law left women vulnerable to arbitrary dismissal.

4. Conservative societal standards impede women's abilities to exercise their rights.

Iraq was at one time not too long ago an example in the region for high literacy rates, and education was also provided for women. Indeed, primary education was compulsory for women and men equally. But in terms of employment, the work place was reserved for men. Then during the war with Iran, and later with Kuwait, women were actually needed, and their work was needed to help support their families. To still fit with the traditional roles society dictated, and also do well as a mother and wife, having a sewing machine at home was answer for what women could do. Even when it was not used to generate income as such, women were able to meet their own and their families' clothing needs as well as make the items needed in the household, like curtains, bedding, etc.

Thank you, Csilla!

To learn more about RI-Iraq, you can visit the institution’s website, the Relief International Facebook page, RI-Iraq’s Kiva partner page , or their first Kiva loans.

Passport Series: Philippines: Part 3: Weavers

2011-12-27T09:01:00.001-08:00

This month’s Passport Series is all about the Philippines! The Philippines is truly a cultural melting pot, a quality that is reflected in its many languages, vibrant celebrations and its food! Follow us throughout the month of December as we learn about The Philippines as a nation, its microfinance sector, and the work that Kiva does there!

Weaving is a traditional craft in the Philippines that has been practised for centuries by indigenous tribes. Weaving skills have been passed down through the generations and are employed to create a wide range of products from hats and handbags to rugs and roofs. A variety of materials are used including nipa palm fronds and fibers from abaca plants (a species of banana tree native to the Philippines). Many Kiva borrowers in the Philippines use their loans to develop their weaving businesses. Here are just a few examples of borrowers creating beautiful and useful woven products...

Erlinda - Photo Credit: Joanne Gan

Erlinda is from Negros Occidental, Philippines. Her primary business is weaving nipa palm to make roofing materials – and she makes over 1,000 of these pieces in one week. She pours the profits of her business into the educational expenses of her six sons – hoping, like most parents around the world, that they will have a brighter future.

Evangeline P. - Photo Credit: Community Transformation Credit Cooperative.

This is Evangeline P. of Camarin, Caloocan City. Evangeline buys scrap fabrics from neighboring garment factories and weaves each thick strand to fashion them into beautiful foot rugs and placemats. She has been in this industry for 15 years and enjoys her work. She earns 250 Philippine pesos a day.

Encarnacion C. - Photo Credit: Ahon sa Hirap, Inc.

Encarnacion C. lives in the Antique province in the Philippines. She attended a Department of Trade and Industry training course about handicraft making ten years ago. After the course, she started a small business weaving sleeping mats using pandan leaf (a kind of palm). Now she makes other kinds of handicrafts such as hats, native bags made from abaca fiber, placemats made from twigs, and other decorative pieces. Many souvenir shop owners visit Encarnacion's village to buy her products.

Ruth A. - Photo Credit: Gata Daku Multi-purpose Cooperative

Ruth A. is from Zamboanga del Sur, Phillipines. To make a living, Ruth owns & operates a business weaving and selling sawali (woven bamboo wall) to local businesses and community members. Ruth has been engaged in her business for over three years and her rugs are very popular. She is earning approximately 3000 Philippine pesos a month.

Leonora C. - Photo Credit: Center for Community Transformation Credit Cooperative

Leonora C. lives in Cavite City, Philippines and is the mother of six children. Leonora operates a rug and textile making business. Her products range in size from small coaster size pieces to much larger items such as doormats, braided quilts and bed covers. Her regular customers are her neighbors and the local community. She uses her loans to buy raw materials including fabrics, thread and newspapers for patterns. She earns a minimum of 200 Philippine pesos in sales each day.

To make a loan to a business in the Philippines, click here!

Kiva Welcomes Finance (SS) Ltd!

2011-12-26T11:40:00.000-08:00

Written by Mac Parish, Field Support Specialist, Anglophone Africa

Please join me in welcoming Kiva's newest partner, Finance (SS) Ltd!

Finance (SS) Ltd. operates out of Juba, South Sudan, and is currently playing an important role in extending credit to a market where the UN estimates that less than 2% of the population has access to formal financial services. FSL is currently the second-largest MFI in the country, and in their words, their mission is “to contribute to the economic rebuilding and stabilization of South Sudan by providing quality financial services to low income entrepreneurs through a sustainable microfinance institution with a national scope.” The organization currently provides group loans and salary loans, and they are in the process of developing additional targeted loan products.

As the newest country in the world, lots of people have their eyes on South Sudan in recent months. Thirty years of war have left the country with some of the highest illiteracy rates and infant mortality rates in the world. The majority of the roads in Juba were built after 2008, and some of the city still looks like the countryside. Much of what people consume in-country is imported from Uganda, which makes the cost of living extremely high.

The first microfinance institutions began operations in South Sudan in 2003, and the industry has historically struggled with high delinquency rates and high costs. However, the potential for impact is huge.

During my time in Juba, I was fortunate to meet with a variety of borrowers, one of whom was named Jacob. An older man, Jacob has run a general store for the past 10 years. He enthusiastically described to me the impact that Finance (SS) Ltd. loans have had on his business and his livelihood.

Jacob in his shop outside of Juba, South Sudan

He used his most recent loan to purchase water and sodas to sell out of his freezer, which he had purchased with a previous loan from Finance (SS) Ltd. Excited about the potential that microfinance presents to expand his business, he told me that he is thankful for Finance (SS) Ltd's support, and that he plans on using the increased income generated by his business to send his children to more school.

South Sudan's unstable history makes it difficult for microfinance institutions to secure funding a reasonable cost. As such, Kiva loans will provide FSL with the liquidity it needs to extend loans to its clients. Also, Kiva's risk-tolerant capital will help mitigate some of the potential pitfalls of working in a post-conflict country.

Finance (SS) Ltd. has seen rapid growth over the last two years. Their portfolio at risk (PAR) has reduced drastically, as their outreach has increased. After spending a week with the management team, I would attribute much of these changes to the excellent staff that FSL has on the ground.

Kiva is very happy to be extending our reach in South Sudan, and to be providing our lenders with the opportunity to make even more of an impact on the lives of the residents of the newest country in the world.

To lend lend to Finance (SS) Ltd. clients, please click here!

Kiva Featured on Project for Awesome!

2011-12-23T08:47:00.000-08:00

A big thank you is due to all the Kiva fans who have made videos about our organization for Project for Awesome. The Project for Awesome campaign is an annual online event which was first launched by famous video-blogger brothers Hank and John Green in 2007. Every year in December, Project for Awesome participants create and upload homemade YouTube videos about their favorite cause or charity. The Project for Awesome website then streams the videos and raises money (through donations and auctions) that goes to the most popular causes and charities nominated by project participants. This year the project has raised over $70,000!

We’ve been really excited to see so many great videos posted about Kiva and wanted to share some of our very favorites on our blog. One of the videos featured below was created by Paige Finch, a fifteen year old from Knoxville, Tennessee. We got in touch with her and asked what it was that made her excited about the work that Kiva does and she told us the following,

"I think what's really great about the work [Kiva does] is the whole "teach a man to fish" aspect of it. Rather than giving a family meals for a short period of time, for example, people who give loans on Kiva are helping people continue to make their own money, which can lead to long-term sustenance for them and their families. I think it is very smart that people can give loans as opposed to permanent donations. I think the fact that their money will not simply disappear from their sight is an aspect of Kiva that probably encourages many people to give."

We’re always so grateful for people like Paige who get behind Kiva’s mission and help to raise awareness about our organization. Here’s Paige’s video along with two more of our favorites:

Thanks to all the creative people who are helping spread the word about Kiva through Project for Awesome! Click here to check out more videos.

Passport Series: Philippines: Part 2: Microfinance

2011-12-22T14:19:00.001-08:00

Microfinance Sector in the Philippines

The microfinance sector in the Philippines has grown extensively over the past ten to fifteen years. According to Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), in 1996 there were two microfinance institutions (MFIs) operating in the country compared to ninety-three today. The total loan portfolio in 2010 was slightly more than USD $630 million with about three million active borrowers. That translates to an average loan amount of just over USD $200.00 per borrower. There are also about 3.7 million depositors in the country with over USD $450 million currently being saved. In comparison, the most populous country in the region, Indonesia, has a population about 2.5 times greater than the Philippines yet only about 410,000 active borrowers and a total loan portfolio of about USD $275 million. Vietnam, with a similar population as the Philippines, has a total loan portfolio of USD $4.7 billion with about 8.5 million active borrowers.

Microfinance in Mindanao

Mindanoa is the most southern of the three Filipino regions, with a year-round tropical climate and beautiful beaches. It also has a long, almost five-hundred year history of conflict dating back to the Moro Wars starting in 1578. In recent years turmoil and conflict have continued within the region as four separatist groups contend with the Filipino government. In 1996 the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) (one of the four main separatist groups) signed an agreement with the Filipino government that gave the predominantly Muslim area a degree of self-rule, setting up the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). While the creation of the ARMM was considered a victory for the separatists the region has continued to see skirmishes and kidnappings related to political and religious objectives.¹

This tumultuous environment has made practicing microfinance in the region somewhat challenging. However, despite the difficulties and higher cost of serving this area several organizations have made it a point to continue to do business within the ARMM region providing financial access to some of the most under-served populations in the country. Two prominent microfinance networks in the Philippines, the Microfinance Council of the Philippines and the Mindanao Microfinance Council are working with MFIs to ensure Mindanao residents have access to a full range of microfinance services. Currently there are eleven MFIs working in Mindanao, five of which are Kiva Field Partners. The networks are working to bring more capital to the area by encouraging the participation of larger organizations that are better positioned to absorb possible losses as well as partnering with international groups such as Kiva and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA).²

While Mindanao continues to be a volatile region, making microfinance more difficult and more expensive to provide, MFIs and cooperative networks are working hard to bring opportunity and stability to the area. As Ruben de Lara, president of the Microfinance Council of the Philippines, says, “The poor will always remain poor as long as their needs are not met. They need all the support they could get”.²

Kiva Field Partners in the Philippines

Kiva currently partners with seven MFIs in the Philippines all of which offer an array of credit as well as nonfinancial services.

Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation, Inc. (NWTF) was founded in 1984 and began as a non-governmental organization that aims to help women achieve self-sufficiency and self-reliance, particularly in Negros Occidental’s low-income and depressed urban and rural communities. It sought to increase women’s awareness of their economic potential, to increase their skills and productivity and to improve their quality of life. NWTF has earned five social performance badges for the work they do in addition to the credit products they offer their clients. The they have earned are: Anti-Poverty Focus, Family and Community Empowerment, Entrepreneurial Services, Facilitation of Savings, and Innovation.

An NWTF borrower - Photo Credit: NWTF

Community Economic Ventures, Inc. (CEVI) started as a micro-enterprise development program that aims to offer more dynamic and sustainable projects to its clients. In 2000, CEVI was registered as a non-stock, non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO). Since its inception over 10 years ago, CEVI has established microfinance services in 12 provinces and cities across the Philippines, for a total of 26 branches. CEVI continues to explore methods to increase outreach to people in impoverished regions, including communities that have been financially excluded based on ethnicity and religion. CEVI recently earned three social performance badges including Anti-Poverty Focus, Entrepreneurial Support and Facilitation of Savings.

Alalay sa Kaunlaran, Inc. (ASKI), was established in October 1986 to help combat issues like poverty and unemployment. Kiva chose to work with ASKI because they reach clients who have no previous formal credit history and no savings accounts. Even though their clients are involved in productive activities, many live in poverty and some live in extreme poverty due to exclusion from financial services. Small farmers in particular are vulnerable to these circumstances. ASKI has earned three social performance badges including Client Voice, Entrepreneurial Support and Innovation.

An ASKI borrower - Photo Credit: ASKI

Founded in 2004, the Center for Community Transformation Savings and Credit Cooperative (CCT) is dedicated to transforming the lives and communities by providing services to the poor through a holistic development approach. CCT reaches micro-entrepreneurs, service workers, itinerant vendors, orphans, indigenous peoples, landless agricultural workers, fishermen and women and abandoned children in urban poor communities. In addition, the Center for Community Transformation operates training and development programs, clinics and disaster relief operations. CCT also runs a generic pharmaceutical distribution business called Tindahan Para Sa Bayan which allows micro entrepreneurs to access low cost medicine while funneling any extra income to social service projects. CCT has earned five social performance badges for the work they do including Anti-Poverty Focus, Vulnerable Groups Focus, Client Voice, Family and Community Empowerment and Facilitation of Savings.

Gata Daku Multi-Purpose Cooperative (GDMPC) was formed in March 1992 and registered with the Cooperative Development Authority on August 13, 1992. Being a cooperative, GDMPC engages borrowers in decision-making, representation, and profit sharing. Two poverty focused programs support the majority of GDMPC’s clients, which are the rural, poor, and women. Kiva’s support enables GDMPC to reach these clients in a country where rural poverty is all too common. GDMPC has earned the Client Voice, Entrepreneurial Services, Facilitation of Savings, and Innovation social performance badges for the great work they continue to do.

Hagdan sa Pag-uswag Foundation, Inc. (HSPFI) is a non-stock, non-government organization established on September 7, 1987. HSPFI is a development organization offering microfinance services as well as capacity building, community development and transformation. With eight branches spread out over the provinces of the northern part of Mindanao, HSPFI offers a mandatory savings program, insurance programs, and leadership/business trainings to their clients. HSPFI has earned two social performance badges for Entrepreneurial Support and Innovation.

An HSPFI borrower - Photo Credit: HSPFI

Paglaum Multi-Purpose Cooperative (PMPC) was organized in February 1992. Because PMPC is a cooperative, each member can contribute savings, take loans and earn profits as the institution increases its reach and profitability. PMPC is serving largely the rural poor in the Philippines, including the Subanon tribe—one of the few remaining indigenous peoples. Further, PMPC also provides micro-insurance, off-grid solar power, rice harvesting services and sponsors a children’s savings plan, as well as preschool-through-college education for the children of indigent families. PMPC has earned six social performance badges for Anti-Poverty Focus, Client Voice, Family and Community Empowerment, Entrepreneurial Services, Facilitation of Savings, and Innovation.

1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1695576.stm#mnlf

2.http://davaotoday.com/2010/07/10/microfinance-group-wary-of-conflicts-in-the-armm/

Click on Field Partner to help make a loan to a borrower in the Philippines!

Stay tuned for Part 3 of our Passport Series to read about the work that Kiva is doing in the Philippines.

Featured Volunteer: Andrea Rosenberg

2011-12-21T15:26:00.000-08:00

By Daniel Hinds, Review and Translation Program Intern

"It was devastating ... to think about a person who had no access to education."

City: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Languages: Spanish and Portuguese
Team: Latino Linguists
Time with Kiva: Since December of 2008, almost 3 years ago!

How did you find out about Kiva?
I have no idea how I heard about Kiva, but it was probably through NPR. Much later, I was doing research for my thesis in Colombia and I went to the website. I made a couple loans before I realized I couldn’t afford to make many loans on a student’s budget. So I put in an application to translate, and here I am!

Why did you choose to volunteer your time with Kiva?
I’ve always enjoyed volunteering. I’m especially fascinated with Latin America after traveling there for a couple years. Translating for Kiva was the perfect combination of my interests, my passions, and my unique language skills.

From where do you typically review Kiva loans?
I’m usually on my sofa or in bed. And pretty soon, I will be translating from my sofa in Argentina!

What is your favorite partner or region?
Latin America is definitely my favorite – especially Colombia. But I try to spread my love around the world by lending all over. Speaking of which, I’ve been really interested in Hluvuku-Adsema (Mozambique) lately because they are Kiva’s only Field Partner in all of Mozambique.

Tell us about a memorable profile you have reviewed.
All of the profiles are remarkable. For instance, many of Hluvuku-Adsema’s profiles talk about the level of education of the borrower – often having only completed 7th or 8th grade. Recently, I reviewed a profile where the borrower had been completely unable to attend school due to familial hardships. It was devastating for a person like me, holding two master’s degrees, to think about a person who had no access to an education.

Where is your favorite place in the world to travel?
One of my favorite places to travel is Bolivia. Seeing Bolivia in turmoil moved me deeply, making me feel very invested in their country’s future. Places I hope to travel to some day include India and Namibia.

Tell us an unusual or surprising fact about yourself.
While reading a Colombian novel in Bolivia, I realized my dream to be a literary translator.

Photo provided by Andrea Rosenberg, Volunteer Translator

NFS Series: Women's Empowerment Part 3: Social Performance Partner Badges

2011-12-16T11:55:00.000-08:00

In celebration of the launch of Kiva’s new Social Performance Badges, we have decided to dedicate Part 3 of Women’s Empowerment to our Field Partners who excel in offering products and services specifically designed to support women. Women’s Empowerment fall under the Family and Community Empowerment Badge, one of seven new badges that Field Partners can earn.

By introducing the Social Performance Badges, Kiva has attempted to create a spotlight on those MFIs that do great work for their clients by providing nonfinancial services in addition to their general credit products. The seven badges are Anti-Poverty Focus, Vulnerable Group Focus, Client Voice, Family and Community Empowerment, Entrepreneurial Support, Facilitation of Savings, and Innovation. Highlighting Field Partners that excel in these areas gives lenders the ability to search for a loan by specifying the social performance strengths that they value most.

BRAC Uganda borrowers group.

Twenty-four Kiva Field Partners, on four continents, have earned top marks for offering support services for women’s empowerment. All of these partners went on to earn the Family and Community Empowerment Badge. Women’s empowerment is a critical aspect in the fight against poverty. While women are often the marginalized by poverty, experience suggests that women can be an excellent investment in the fight for sustainable change. Research shows that when a woman is able to contribute to her family’s income, at least 80% of her contribution goes toward creating a better future for herself and her children.

To that end, many of our Field Partners have created programs specifically targeted towards women and girls. BRAC Uganda, for example, has initiated the Empowerment and Livelihood for Adolescents (ELA) program in an effort to help build the life skills, financial literacy and self-confidence of rural adolescent girls. ELA programs can consist of features including:

Adolescent clubs—Safe spaces where girls can meet and interact and engage in skill building, sports, and other recreational activities.

Adolescent leaders—Older adolescent girls (of at least nineteen years of age) trained by BRAC to manage and lead the clubs and the training courses.

Life skills training courses—For all club members to build social skills and avoid early marriage.

Income-generation skills training—Older and out-of-school girls can select one income-generating training area of interest that is designed for the local economy. Central to this feature is training in basic market analysis and help in selecting training that suits a girl’s interests and skills.

Appropriately designed microfinance—Includes adolescent female loan officers, smaller loan amounts than those given to adults, and a minimum borrowing age of sixteen.

Community participation—Information about the program is provided to communities, including parents and guardians, to help them understand it and to encourage them to support their adolescent girls.#

Koperasi Mitra Usaha Kecil (MUK) from Indonesia is another Kiva Field Partner that excels in offering support services for women. With Kiva’s help MUK is able to provide funding for women to expand the scale of pig breeding through “Pig Breeder Group Loans.” MUK also offers to its clients, business training, veterinary services, and nutritional and social assistance to children under five years of age and women who are pregnant and breast-feeding.

Empowering women around the world has proven to be one of the most effective ways to achieve sustainable poverty alleviation. Kiva works hard to partner with socially-minded organizations that concentrate on multiple client needs.

Stay tuned for our forth and final installment of the Nonfinancial Services Series in January about Enterprise Services.

You can make a loan to a borrower served by a Field Partner that has been granted the Family and Community Empowerment badge and support women’s empowerment.

Passport Series: Philippines: Part 1: Country Background

2011-12-13T12:53:00.000-08:00

This month’s Passport Series is all about the Philippines! The Philippines is truly a cultural melting pot, a quality that is reflected in its many languages, vibrant celebrations and its food. Follow us throughout the month of December as we learn about The Philippines as a nation, its microfinance sector, and the work that Kiva does there!

History

The Republic of the Philippines is a nation in Southeast Asia. In prehistoric times, Negritos were some of the archipelago's earliest inhabitants. They were followed by successive waves of Austronesian peoples who brought with them influences from Chinese, Malay, Hindu, and Islamic societies.

An era of Spanish rule had its beginnings with the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in 1521. In 1543, the archipelago was named Las Islas Filipinas in honor of Philip II of Spain. Miguel López de Legazpi arrived in the Philippines in 1565 and consolidated Spanish rule in the islands, which remained a colony of Spain for more than 300 years.

A series of conflicts began at the end of the 19th century as the Philippines struggled for independence. The Philippine Revolution led to the short-lived First Philippine Republic. This was followed by the Spanish-American War, and the Philippine–American War. In the aftermath, the United States emerged as the dominant power. Aside from the period of Japanese occupation (1942-1945), the United States retained sovereignty over the islands until the end of World War II when the Philippines gained independence. Since independence, the Philippines has struggled to maintain a stable democratic government. Two presidents of the Philippines were forced from office by "people power", one in 1986 and one in 2001. The country has been plagued by government corruption, Islamic rebel insurgencies and a protracted guerrilla campaign run by the communist New People's Army (NPA).

The flag of the Philippines - Photo Credit: CIA World Factbook

The design of the flag of the Philippines dates back to 1897. The blue band stands for peace and justice, the red band symbolizes courage, the white equal-sided triangle represents equality; the rays recall the first eight provinces that sought independence from Spain, while the stars represent the three major geographical divisions of the country: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. In wartime the flag is flown upside down with the red band at the top.

Geography

A map of the Philippines - Photo Credit: CIA World Factbook

The Philippines is located in the Western Pacific Ocean. It is the second largest archipelago in the world comprising 7,107 islands. The islands are divided into three main geographical divisions: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Its capital city is Manila, a thriving metropolis bursting with life and jeepneys! Jeepneys are the most popular form of public transportation in the country. They were originally made from US military jeeps left over from the war. They are known for their flamboyant decorations and have become an iconic symbol of Filipino culture.

Jeepneys - Photo Credit: JJ Casas

The country’s location on the Pacific Ring of Fire and its tropical climate make the Philippines prone to earthquakes and typhoons but has also endowed the country with natural resources and made it one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world. Most of the larger islands are traversed by mountain ranges, with narrow coastal plains, wide valleys, volcanoes, dense forests, and mineral and hot springs.

A rice paddy in the Philippines - Photo Credit: John Rauschkolb III

Economy

A newly industrialized country, the Philippine economy has been transitioning from one based on agriculture to one based more on services and manufacturing. The Philippines’ GDP was $351.4 billion in 2010. Primary exports include semiconductors and electronic products, transport equipment, garments, copper products, petroleum products, coconut oil, and fruits. Although the country once boasted one of the region's best-performing economies, the Philippines is saddled with a large national debt and tens of millions of people live in poverty. The economy is heavily dependent on the billions of dollars sent home each year by the huge Filipino overseas workforce.

Filipino Fishermen - Photo Credit: John Rauschkolb III

Demographics and Culture

The Philippines is the world's 12th most populous country, having an estimated population of about 100 million people. The majority of the population lives on just 11 of the country’s islands. The Philippines has the highest birth rate in Asia, and forecasters say the population could double within three decades. An additional 11 million Filipinos live overseas. More than 90% of the people are Christian as a result of the nearly 400 years of Spanish and American rule. Although the great majority of Filipinos have Malay heritage, numerous other ethnicities and cultures are found throughout the islands reflecting the country’s history as the trading hub of SouthEast Asia. Many Filipinos have some Asian mainland, Spanish, American, Arab, or Indian ancestry. The official languages of the Philippines are Filipino (based on tagalog) and English. Around 70 other native languages are spoken.

The fiesta is an integral part of Filipino culture. Filipino fiestas are raucous celebrations, often including parades, dancing, singing, costumes, games and bountiful amounts of food. Each city and barrio has at least one local festival of its own, usually on the feast of its patron saint, so that there is always a fiesta going on somewhere in the country. But the biggest and most elaborate festival of all is Christmas, a season celebrated with much pomp and pageantry.

Games being played at a Filipino Christmas party - Photo Credit: Joanne Gan

A dance performance at a Filipino fiesta - Photo Credit: Joanne Gan

Cuisine

Filipino cuisine is one of the most eclectic in the world. It has evolved over several centuries from its Austronesian origins to a mixed cuisine with many Hispanic, Chinese, American, and other Asian influences adapted to indigenous ingredients and the local palate.

Popular dishes include: lechón (whole roasted pig), adobo (chicken and/or pork braised in garlic, vinegar, oil and soy sauce, or cooked until dry), mechado (larded beef in soy and tomato sauce), kare-kare (oxtail and vegetables cooked in peanut sauce), sinigang (meat or seafood in sour broth), pancit (fried noodles), ballfish (fried fishballs with sweet vinegar sauce) and lumpia (fresh or fried spring rolls).

Kiva's video curator, JJ Casas, buying ballfish in the Philippines - Photo Credit: JJ Casas

A typical Filipino feast with chicken adobo in the middle - Photo Credit: Dolores Desengano Esguerra

Pansit - Photo Credit: Dolores Desengano Esguerra

Stay tuned next week to hear about the Philippines' microfinance sector!

Kiva Launches Social Performance Badges and Increases the Information Available for Your Lending Decisions

2011-12-11T17:10:00.000-08:00

We are excited to announce that Social Performance badges are now available on the Kiva website. What does this mean for you, the lender? First, the badges give you even more of an “insider’s” view into the work of our Field Partners. Many of Kiva’s Field Partners are going above-and-beyond in serving the needs of their communities, and Kiva wants to shine a spotlight on those partners so we can all acknowledge their efforts and learn from their work.

Second, the badges are an easy-to-use tool for you to quickly identify a Kiva Field Partner that is supporting communities in a way that is more meaningful to you! The Social Performance badges give you more insight into the positive impact a Field Partner is attempting to have within their community. We hope the badges will enable you to easily find Field Partners that are working in areas that speak to you, and this can in-turn inform your lending decisions.

What is Social Performance?

Social Performance is defined by the Social Performance Task Force as “the effective translation of an institution’s mission into practice in line with accepted social values.” Kiva is always looking to partner with microfinance institutions (MFIs) with a strong social mission as we know you want to support MFIs creating the most good. Social performance, or the ways these MFIs put their mission into practice, can be measured many different ways. Kiva has created Social Performance badges to give you insight into the areas of social performance that Kiva’s Field Partners have demonstrated a commitment to.

Social Performance is a relatively new and exciting topic within the microfinance industry. We’ve scheduled a webinar to walk you through using the badges on the Kiva website, and also give you a little background on the role social performance plays at Kiva. There will be an open question and answer time for you to ask any questions you may have.

The webinar will take place Wednesday, December 14 at 10am (Pacific Standard Time.)

Click here for instructions to join the webinar.

What are Social Performance badges?

Social Performance badges recognize Kiva Field Partners with a demonstrated commitment to one or more of the following social performance strengths:

Each Field Partner receives one badge for each of the areas to which they have demonstrated a commitment. These badges can be found on the loan page in the About The Field Partner section, and on the Field Partners page beside the Risk Rating. For more detail on a Field Partner’s social performance efforts, click on the individual Field Partner you are interested in.

How do I use Social Performance badges?

There are two ways to use Social Performance badges when making a loan on Kiva:

When choosing a loan: When browsing borrowers to lend to on Kiva, you can also consider the social performance strengths of the Field Partner facilitating the loan. The strengths will be represented on the loan page in About the Field Partner, with each badge representing a unique social performance strength. To learn more about each strength, simply click on the badge.

When choosing a Field Partner: If you are a lender who likes to research Field Partners before selecting a borrower to lend to, you can easily identify Field Partners with strengths in a social performance area that you care about. Simply browse the social performance strengths listed on the Field Partner page to identify a Field Partner whose social performance strengths are aligned with the issues you care about. For more detail, click on the name of the Field Partner you are interested in to read a description of this organization’s social performance efforts.

We know that you value transparency when it comes to the lending choices on Kiva. Social Performance badges are another way we are increasing the availability of information to our lender community, to further empower you when making your lending decisions.

How can I learn more?

Join us in our series of eight Social Performance webinars!

The first webinar will take place on Wednesday, December 14 at 10am (Pacific Standard Time), and will focus on introducing Kiva’s social performance badges.

We will then dedicate a short series of webinars to the social performance strengths, describing how Kiva defines and evaluates each strength, and giving some examples of the work our Field Partners are doing to be recognized in this area. Each webinar will include a presentation by Kiva’s Senior Director of Social Performance, JD Bergeron, and an open Q&A time for you to ask any questions you may have. We will be announcing the schedule of these webinars on this blog, so that you can choose to attend those addressing the areas you are most interested in, if you are unable to attend them all.

We hope to see you there!

Please Welcome Kiva Guest Blogger, Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, author of The Dressmaker of Khair Khana!

2011-12-09T18:00:00.000-08:00

Kiva is excited to introduce Guest Blogger and Kiva Supporter, Gayle Tzemach Lemmon. She is the author of the New York Times Best-Seller The Dressmaker of Khair Khana, a book which tells the incredible true story of a real-life heroine, a young Afghan entrepreneur whose business created jobs and hope for women in her neighborhood during the Taliban years. Gayle is a Contributing Editor-At-Large for Newsweek Magazine and The Daily Beast, reporting on economic and development issues with a focus on women; and the deputy director of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Women and Foreign Policy program. A former Fulbright scholar and Robert Bosch Foundation fellow, she serves on the board of the International Center for Research on Women.

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

We are delighted and honored to have Gayle write for our blog. To celebrate her contribution and the coming holiday season we are running a corresponding “Call for Comments”. As part of the “Call for Comments”, 25 people will be awarded a copy of The Dressmaker of Khair Khana! Please read on to learn more.

Written By Gayle Lemmon.

My inspiration comes from the entrepreneurs I write about. Whether in Afghanistan, Rwanda, Bosnia or the US, the entrepreneurs I meet share a tenacity to keep going no matter the obstacles because they have families counting on them and failure is impossible when there are loved ones to feed.

In a lot of ways these women remind me of the women I grew up with. My mother was a single mom who worked two jobs to give me every opportunity possible. We never talked about how little we had or how hard it was for her, because we just got on with the challenges and the adventures before us.

When I meet women entrepreneurs, their doggedness and perseverance to trudge through, around or over their challenges is what keeps me thinking that anything is possible. And inspires my conviction that more people should know about these unsung heroines and inspiring founders. So many people see women as victims to be pitied, rather than survivors to be respected. These job creators and changemakers prove them wrong.

I first went to Afghanistan in December 2005 and in the course of writing a story for the Financial Times I met Kamila, a young woman who had just turned down a job with the international community so that she could start a business consultancy to teach entrepreneurship skills to men and women around her country. She believed business was the key to Afghanistan's future, because it would sustain Afghanistan's economy long after the international community left and enable Afghans to support themselves. She also said that business was even more important for women because earning an income earned respect.

When I asked Kamila how she had learned all this, she said that this was actually her third business. Her first venture was a dressmaking business she started during the Taliban times to support her five brothers and sisters at home counting on her to provide. The living room workshop grew to employ more than 100 women, and at a time of economic desperation when women could not even be on the streets by themselves, these young women became breadwinners who created a lifeline for families all around their neighborhood.

This story became The Dressmaker of Khair Khana, a book I just wrote that celebrates these intrepid young women who created jobs and opportunity against all odds at a time of despair. And it became my inspiration. It is just one story that stands for so many entrepreneurs who are out there fighting for their business’s and their family's future with unstoppable determination. These entrepreneurs are rarely heard of, because they are too busy with their work to occupy the spotlight. And we don't count what we don't see. But they are there. And communities like Kiva.org help to bring them much-needed resources.

This holiday season it is my privilege to shine a spotlight on entrepreneurs who make sacrifices and take risks for the people they love - the businesswomen braving the odds and thinking big. Every day, Kiva is helping people invest in the dreams and abilities of women just like Kamila.

Kiva recommends pairing Gayle’s book and a Kiva Card as an uplifting holiday gift. What could be better than giving the gift of an inspiring story along with the means to act on that inspiration?

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon - Click Here to Buy Now!

Kiva Cards - Click Here to Buy Now!

We would also like to invite readers to participate in a “Call for Comments” for the chance to receive a copy of Gayle’s book. All you have to do is respond to the following question, “What is the most inspiring gift you have ever received?”. Authors of the top 25 answers will be awarded a copy of Gayle’s book! Click here to enter.

Thank you Gayle for your wonderful contribution to our blog! To read more of Gayle’s work follow @gaylelemmon on Twitter, or go to http://www.gaylelemmon.com and http://www.facebook.com/TheDressmakerOfKhairKhana

Inspiring Gift “Call for Comments” Terms and Conditions

By telling us “what is the most inspiring gift you have ever received,” registered users on Kiva.org can enter to qualify for one of 25 copies of Gayle Lemon’s book The Dressmaker of Khair Khana!

Terms and Conditions of the Inspiring Gift “Call for Comments” (the “Promotion”):

Eligibility:

To be eligible to qualify for a copy of the book The Dressmaker of Khair Khana, all of the following rules must be satisfied by the participating entrant (the “Entrant”):

1) The Promotion begins at 12:01 am Pacific Time on Friday, December 9, 2011 and ends at 11:59 pm Pacific Time on Friday, December 16, 2011. Kiva’s computer clock will be the official timekeeper for the Promotion. All eligible submissions must be made within this time period.

2) Entrant must be a current, registered Kiva member who is in compliance with the Kiva Terms of Use.

3) Entrant must be at least 18 years old and a resident of the United States of America.

4) To be entered into the Promotion, Entrant must electronically submit a response to the question “What is the most inspiring gift you have ever received?” via the form at https://docs.google.com/a/volunteers.kiva.org/spreadsheet/viewform?hl=en_US&formkey=dHR4akdGVlBkcFkxY2llaGJnNVM1ZGc6MQ#gid=0

5) Only one submission per Entrant is permitted.

Selection of Top Responses and Award of Books

1) A panel of Kiva staff (the “Panel”) will review the Entrants eligibility and the answers submitted and select the top 25 responses. Entrants who submit the top 25 responses qualify to receive a complimentary copy of the book The Dressmaker of Khair Khana.

2) All determinations with respect to eligibility to participate in the Promotion and judging under this Promotion shall be made solely by Kiva based on its internal systems and criteria. All Kiva determinations and decisions shall be final.

3) The Panel will judge submissions based on the following judging criteria (the “Judging Criteria”):

1. Inspirational nature

2. originality

3. appropriateness, and

4. whether the submission adheres to these terms and conditions.

4) Kiva will notify qualifying recipients of awarded books by email (to the email address on record with Kiva) by December 21, 2011. No substitution or exchange of the awarded book shall be permitted.

5) Kiva will use reasonable efforts to deliver awarded books to qualifying Entrants to the physical mailing address (no PO boxes) provided as part of the Entrants’ submission. Please understand, however, that Kiva is not able to guarantee that winning Entrants will receive their awarded books, whether due to impossibility or other reasons beyond Kiva’s reasonable control (for example, loss of the book by the shipper or incorrect delivery by the deliverer).

General Provisions:

1) By entering the Promotion, you as an Entrant fully and unconditionally agree to be bound by these terms and conditions.

2) By entering the Promotion, you as an Entrant agree to Kiva's use of your name and location (city, state or province, and country), and, if you have a public Kiva lender profile with a picture, your image, in our materials in connection with the Promotion.

3) Any individual user determined to have submitted more than one (1) response under this Promotion will be immediately disqualified from this Promotion without notice.

4) The Promotion is not valid where prohibited by law, and is subject to all applicable Federal, state, provincial, and local laws and regulations.

5) By participating in the Promotion, each Entrant agrees to release and hold harmless Kiva and its subsidiaries, affiliates, partners, representatives, agents, successors, assigns, employees, officers and directors, from any and all liability, for loss, harm, damage, injury, cost or expense whatsoever.

6) Except where prohibited, as a condition of participating in the Promotion, each entrant agrees that any and all disputes which cannot be resolved between the parties, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with the Promotion, or any promotional credit provided, or the determination of qualifying credit recipients shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of court action, exclusively by arbitration pursuant to the commercial arbitration rules of the American Arbitration Association then effective. Further, in any such dispute, under no circumstances will an Entrant be permitted to obtain awards for, and hereby waives all rights to, claim punitive, incidental or consequential damages, or any other damages, including attorneys' fees, and Entrant further waives all rights to have damages multiplied or increased.

7) All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these terms and conditions, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of California, U.S.A., without giving effect to the conflict of laws rules thereof, and any matters or proceedings which are not subject to arbitration as set forth in these terms and conditions, shall take place in San Francisco, California.

KIVA RESERVES THE RIGHT TO TERMINATE THE PROMOTION OR CHANGE THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE PROMOTION AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE. ANY ATTEMPT TO UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION AND PROCESS OF THE PROMOTION IS A VIOLATION OF THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND APPLICABLE LAWS. PARTICIPATION IN THE PROMOTION CONSTITUTES ACCEPTANCE AND AGREEMENT TO THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

Celebrations of the World Through the Eyes of Kiva Fellows

2011-12-08T22:30:00.000-08:00

The festive season is officially here! The holidays remind us that one of the joys of being part of the Kiva community is hearing about the unique cultural and religious celebrations that occur all around the world and all throughout the year. Through our Kiva Fellows, we get a personal glimpse into the traditional worlds of our borrowers. Here are just a few of the fascinating events that our Fellows have experienced and shared with us...

Mongolia’s Tsangaan Sar, (Lunar New Year Celebration)

The Mongolian Festival of the Lunar New Year, Tsagaan Sar, is celebrated in or around February depending on the Mongolian lunar calendar. In Mongolia, the Lunar New Year is all about respecting one’s elders. According to custom, the younger members of the family must visit the eldest person of the family, usually the grandfather, at the beginning of the Lunar New Year. When hosting a Lunar New Year gathering, one needs to serve traditional food. It’s expected that steamed meat dumplings will be served along with milk tea, salad, bread and candy. Each guest must also be offered three shots of vodka. Ceremonial bread is piled up in five layers to make the traditional Ul Boov .

Traditional Mongolian steamed dumplings - Photo Credit: Amber Barger

Kiva Fellow, Amber Barger and friend, with a traditional Ul Boov and other treats.

To read more about Tsangaan Sar, go to Kiva Fellow Amber Barger’s Blog Post.

Perú’s Inti Raymi (The Sun Festival)

In Cuzco, Perú, there are numerous holidays during the winter months of June and July. One of these is Inti Raymi (the Sun Festival), an Incan tradition marking the beginning of a new year with the winter solstice. This festival honors of the god Inti, one of the most venerated gods in Inca religion. Hundreds of thousands of people converge on Cuzco from other parts of the nation, South America and the world for a nine day celebration. Every day has different events including colorful processions, theatrical presentations, street fairs, and people dancing in the streets. In the evenings, live music from the best of Peruvian musical groups draws the crowds to the Plaza de Armas for free concerts.

A vibrant Inti Raymi procession - Photo Credit: Lee Bruner

Kiva Fellow Lee Bruner, dressed and ready to join an Inti Raymi procession with staff from Kiva’s Field Partner in Peru, Asociación Arariwa - Photo Credit: Lee Bruner

To learn more about Inti Raymi, go to Kiva Fellow Lee Bruner’s Blog Post.

The MassKara Festival of Bacolod, Philippines (The Festival of Smiles)

Every year, during the third week of October, the city of Bacolod, in the Philippines, celebrates the MassKara Festival and decorates its streets with smiling faces. These faces symbolize the resilience and strength of the community. The festival features a street dance competition where people from all walks of life troop to the streets to see colorfully-masked dancers moving to the rhythm of Latin musical beats. The major activities of the festival are diverse and include the MassKara Queen beauty pageant, drum and bugle corps competitions, food fairs, sports events, musical concerts, agriculture-trade fairs and garden shows.

Kiva Fellow, Ed Coambs, with a MassKara dancer - Photo Credit: Ed Coambs

To learn more about MassKara, read Kiva Fellow Ed Coambs’ Blog Post.

Thanks to the Kiva Fellows for opening a window for us into these exciting worlds!

Kiva Cards - The Perfect Holiday Gift!

2011-12-08T14:30:00.000-08:00

Looking for a meaningful gift for your loved ones this holiday season? A Kiva Card is the answer! Kiva Cards are an easy way to "give a Kiva loan" to a friend or family member. They get to choose the entrepreneur they would like to support with a loan.

There is no more unique gift than giving someone the opportunity to participate in the microfinance movement in a personal way, and there is no easier way to give the gift that really does keep on giving. The beauty of giving a Kiva Card is that the gift can be loaned again and again, each time helping another enterpreneur work their way out of poverty.

How Do I Buy Kiva Cards?

(1) Go to http://www.kiva.org/ and click on "Gifts" at the top of the page.

(2) Follow the instructions to purchase Kiva Cards. You can choose to send your Kiva Card by email, snail mail, post it to the recipient's Facebook wall or print it and deliver it yourself.

We hope that you take advantage of the joy and inspiration that Kiva Cards can bring to this special time of year. Happy Holidays!

NFS Series: Women's Empowerment Part 2: Women's Empowerment and Microfinance

2011-12-08T09:50:00.000-08:00

Part 2 of Women's Empowerment is written by Mary Ellen Iskenderian from Women’s World Banking (WWB). She will be discussing WWB's role in women's empowerment and how WWB relates to microfinance and our borrowers. For more on Ms. Iskenderian and Women's World Banking click on Part 1 of our series: Economic Empowerment.

Here's part 2 of our guest blog post by Mary Ellen Iskenderian:

WWB’s role in supporting women’s empowerment around the world:

Can you imagine if the only product that your bank offered you was a loan? Or trying to live without a bank account and having to conduct every payment with cash? Or seeing your entire business and all the assets you had painstakingly accumulated jeopardized by the costs of caring for a sick child? Around the world, the poor need access to the same array of financial services to manage these risks and opportunities that are afforded to everyone else. Microfinance institutions (MFIs) have the capacity to provide these services to poor and low-income women in a convenient and affordable way and open a new world of possibilities for low-income women and their families.

Jeruk Manis 2 is a borrowing group from Indonesia on Kiva right now!

Women’s World Banking has been empowering women around the world for more than 30 years by giving them access to fundamental financial products that allow them to build a secure financial future for themselves and their households. Today, as the industry becomes more advanced and sophisticated, WWB is committed to reaching those unbanked poor women who still need access to basic financial services, and to making sure that clients are getting the broadest range of affordable services possible.

Innovation in Product Design: Savings and Insurance

One of the most important products we can offer women is access to a safe place to save. WWB knows from its research that poor women, those living on less than US$2 a day, are inherent savers but are forced to save informally in unreliable ways: under a mattress, or through buying livestock because they don’t have access to savings accounts. While their financial lives are complicated; juggling subsistence needs, emergency expenses, and school fees, with an unpredictable income, they still manage to save on average 10 to 15 percent of their income.

Beyond meeting the basic financial needs of the poor, several studies have shown that access to formal savings accounts can lead to female empowerment, and changes in behavior that affect health and nutrition. A study in the Philippines showed that access to certain savings products increased women’s economic empowerment, including decision making power over purchases, family planning, and children’s education.

Any product we develop has to work for women – it has to be confidential, and convenient. WWB client research confirmed that low-income women are interested in a better alternative: a savings program that is secure, convenient, has low-fees and is confidential. For example, women need a way to make small, frequent deposits without taking time away from their child care duties or from running their businesses.

WWB is testing ways to use local merchants to accept deposits through point-of- sale terminals. We are also building on mobile phone banking with products that resonate with women so this technological innovation becomes a real tool for savings. We know that for poor families, money that is in the house gets spent on immediate needs, so allowing women to deposit regularly, including weekly, can really help them save.

Microinsurance has been another major initiative of WWB, as it has become widely accepted that specialized insurance products for women are absolutely vital to protect a woman against business losses due to health emergencies. As of 2010, WWB has worked with Microfund for Women in Jordan to provide insurance to 11,000 client policies on which 270 claims have been made, 40 percent of them related to maternal health issues.

Microinsurance Program in Jordan

WWB knows that women need products that help them build a secure financial future. When women use the services of Women’s World Banking network member MFIs to take advantage of financial products, they witness powerful results.

For quick links to each part of the series click on Introducing Kiva's Nonfinancial Services Blog Series .

In part 3 of Women's Empowerment we'll discuss how Kiva Field Partners can help by targeting women clients and designing products specifically to meet women's needs.

Kiva Webinar Series: Part 4: Introducing Social Performance Badges

2011-12-02T11:54:00.000-08:00

We are introducing an exciting new feature to the Kiva website - social performance badges for our Field Partners. Listen in on Part 4 of Kiva's Webinar Series to learn what these badges are all about and how to use them as you lend on Kiva.

Introducing Social Performance Badges

Kiva Webinar Series Part 4

Presented by: JD Bergeron

DATE: Wednesday, Dec 14 2011

TIME: 10am PST/1pm EST

Just follow the simple instructions to sign up:

Step 1: Go to http://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/6575/39243

Step 2: Click the "Attend" button below the webinar details.

Step 3: You'll be asked to register or log into your account. If you haven't attended a Kiva webinar before, you'll need to register for a BrightTalk account. This will allow you to listen to the upcoming webinar and any webinars we have held in the past.

Step 4: Once you have entered all of your information and agreed to the terms of use and privacy policy, click "Proceed" and you will be taken to the webinar page.

If you are unable to attend the live webinar, a recorded version will be available on the Kiva Blog. You can also view past webinars. Click on the links below to view past webinars in our series:

Part 1: “How Kiva Chooses Field Partners.”

Part 2: “What Kiva is Doing Beyond Funding Business Loans.”

part 3: "Why Kiva Doesn't Lend in Certain Countries"

We will continue to offer the chance to vote on future topics and allow you to pose questions specific to the subject matter in advance of the webinar. Please be sure to follow us on Facebook so you don't miss the chance to help shape future Kiva Webinars.

We look forward to this discussion on the 14th!

Hot Off the Press - 2012 Kiva Calendars!

2011-12-02T09:36:00.000-08:00

The 2012 Kiva Calendar

We are excited to announce that the 2012 Kiva Calendar is now available for sale at the Kiva Store! This year the Calendar was produced by a creative team made up of lenders from Kiva Friends and Kiva staff and volunteers.

This glossy calendar brings together colorful photography, inspiring borrower stories from all over the world and quotes from the Kiva community. It is an uplifting holiday gift that will keep on giving throughout the year.

A peek inside the Kiva Calendar

The Calendars are only $5 each or $14 for five! Get them before they sell out... Click here to order!

NFS Series: Women's Empowerment Part 1: Economic Empowerment

2011-12-01T10:21:00.000-08:00

Women’s World Banking (WWB) provides financial services through a network of 39 high-performing microfinance institutions (MFIs) all committed to serving women. Collectively, they reach more than 26 million low income people, 80% of whom are women. They are committed to helping MFIs move away from providing only loans toward providing a broader array of financial products and services, including savings and insurance, that help the poor build financial safety nets. Their network of financial organizations from 27 countries around the world provides small loans, sometimes as modest as $100, to people to start their businesses. Women's World Banking is focused on ensuring women have access to these micro-loans.

Mary Ellen Iskenderian is President and CEO of Women’s World Banking, the world’s largest network of microfinance institutions and banks. Ms. Iskenderian joined WWB in 2006 and leads the WWB global team, based in New York. Prior to WWB, Ms. Iskenderian worked for 17 years at the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank. Prior to this, she worked for the investment bank Lehman Brothers. Ms. Iskenderian serves on the Board of Directors of Kashf Microfinance Bank in Pakistan and is a permanent member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She acted as a topic leader for the “Girls and Women” action area for the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting and served as an advisor for “Girls and Women” for the 2011 CGI Annual Meeting. Ms. Iskenderian holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a Bachelor of Science in International Economics from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

Here's part 1 of Women's Empowerment from guest blog speaker Mary Ellen Iskenderian: Economic Empowerment Through Access

Women's Borrowing Group from Pakistan

More than 1.3 billion people globally live in poverty; the majority of them are women. The United Nations International Labour Office reports that women face substantially lower employment rates, have very little control over property and resources, are more prone to working in the informal sector with lower earnings. Women, by virtue of being poorer and having fewer assets are more likely to be excluded from the financial sector. It is clear that in order to ensure the poor have access to financial services, we must reach women. Not only do they represent a large share of people who should be incorporated into the working population, but they are also an attractive segment for risk management and returns. Women are more reliable borrowers because they often follow a more conservative investment strategy which, in turn, results in lower default rates for microfinance institutions (MFIs). And on a larger scale, how can we expect to be a productive society if half of the population is excluded from the economy? There is clear evidence that those countries with the greatest disparity in economic opportunity between men and women lag in GDP growth.

There are significant multiplier effects to serving women. The poorer a household, the greater the likelihood that the family will rely on the woman’s earnings as its most important source of income. Throughout the developing world, women are responsible for the well-being of their families, and research has shown that women are also more likely to invest additional earnings from their businesses in ways that have a longer-lasting and deeper impact on the lives of their families, such as health, improved housing, children’s education and the nutritional status of the family¹. With access to financial services, women are more likely to be able to send their children to school for the first time, feed all family members three meals a day, or make seemingly small home improvements that can actually have a significant effect on the health and well-being of a household— such as replacing a mud floor with a cement floor. The impact of a woman’s access to financial products and services is felt outside of her immediate environment and can extend to her family, community and society.

Beyond the tangible economic benefits for women when they have access to financial services, there are empowerment outcomes. For women who have been shutout of the formal economy, the opportunity and the tools and means of production make them economic agents for the first time. The positive effects on women’s confidence and skills, their expanded knowledge and the formation of support networks through group meetings and market access can lead to enhanced status for all women in a community. In some societies where women’s mobility is constrained and there is little opportunity to meet women outside their immediate family, there have been significant changes. Women who have been able to build strong businesses gain respect in their households and may then act as role models for others, leading to a wider process of change in community perceptions and increasing men’s willingness to accept change.

At Women’s World Banking we are committed to providing access to financial services for both financial and personal empowerment outcomes. We work with institutions to create products that have the greatest financial and social impact possible by creating products that work for women. We have to design product offerings in a way that takes into account women’s needs. For example, opening a savings account may be the first time a client has assets in her own name. We know from our research that women value confidentiality in a savings account. Men and women often have different financial priorities and, it can be in women’s best interest not to share the amount they have saved with their husbands. For this reason, plastic debit cards may be preferred to pass books that show activity and balances.

We also proudly work with network members to develop marketing materials and forms that illiterate women can understand so they don’t have to ask a family member or neighbor for help. Marketing materials are designed so that women who can’t read can still understand how much they need to deposit each week to save for school fees or home improvements and understand the power of compounding interest.

Expanding women’s property rights can provide tremendous empowerment effects. Inequality of property distribution is marked—women make up approximately 52 percent of the world’s population but own only one percent of the world’s land.² Research in Southern India found that the rate of domestic violence against married women dropped from 49 percent for non-owners of property to 18 percent and 10 percent respectively of those who owned either land or a house. In some countries, when a woman is widowed the family takes the home or land, leaving her with no shelter, no way to generate income for her family. MFIs can work with women to help get their name on the title as a condition of a housing loan.

As the microfinance sector has continued to evolve, we have recognized that true empowerment requires more than just access to loans. Women must be able to build and protect assets and do so in their own names. They need access to savings accounts, pensions and insurance. This is our vision of financial inclusion – the ability for women to build a secure financial future.

WWB - Investing in Women, Transforming Lives:

Stay tuned for Part 2 of women's empowerment on WWB’s role in supporting women’s empowerment around the world.

For quick links to each part of the series click on Introducing Kiva's Nonfinancial Services Blog Series.

1. A number of studies in Africa, Latin America and South Asia have shown that women spend a greater proportion of their income than men on household well-being. For discussions of studies of the relationship between women’s assets and household well-being, see Chant (2003); Gammage (2006); and Quisumbing and McClafferty (2006). 5 See, for example, Kantor (2000); Mayoux (2000); Hofstede, Contreras and Mayta (2003); and Richardson, Howarth and Finnegan (2004)

2. Joni Seager, 1997, The State of the Women of the World Atlas, Penguin Books, London.

Continuing to Think Outside the Box

2011-11-29T09:31:00.000-08:00

You never need to look far for inspiration at Kiva. Every day hundreds of borrower profiles are added to the website, giving us a glimpse into the lives of individuals working hard to ensure a better life for their families. And every day, thousands of individuals around the world contribute their own funds to these loans as a way of saying, “I believe in you. You can do this.”

So, when we at Kiva take a step back to ask ourselves, “Are we doing enough? How can we increase the impact being created?” we are never at a loss for inspiration to push our imaginations and efforts even further. If a woman who has never stepped into a bank dares to take out a microloan to start a vegetable stand, or a classroom of middle-school children hold a fundraiser for their Kiva lending account, then you can be sure we are inspired to think outside the box and explore new ways to make an impact in the lives of our borrowers and lenders.

Kiva is rooted in the belief that everyone wants to support, and contribute to, the well-being of others. And it was with an entrepreneurial spirit, and commitment to innovation, that we were able to bring this belief to life. Continuing to nurture a culture of innovation is not easy, but it is a priority at Kiva. As we explore new ideas and pilot projects, we are excited to share them with you, our growing community. We thank you for cheering us on, having patience as we try new things, and standing by our side to celebrate the successes and learnings.

Here are some of the things we are currently doing to continue the cycle of innovation at Kiva:

New Types of Loans and Field Partners: Over the past 12 months Kiva has introduced Student Loans to support education, Green Loans to support environmental initiatives, and Kiva City to empower U.S. communities to jumpstart small business growth through Kiva loans. In the last month, Kiva has also added its first non-traditional Field Partner, One Acre Fund, which works to help meet the seasonal supply needs of smallholder farmers in Kenya. Kiva is currently in the process of bringing onboard two more non-traditional Field Partners, and is in conversation with several others, that will enable us to extend our Green initiative and move into supporting clean water for all.

Kiva’s new partnership with One Acre Fund highlights our commitment to innovation.

Meet Lorna and her son who are benefitting this new partnership - Photo Credit: Ebrahim Kigame, One Acre Fund

Recognizing the Innovative Work of our Field Partners: We know you care about making an impact, so we have been working hard to create a way for lenders to better understand our Field Partners’ innovative work to better serve their communities. In a few weeks we will be launching a new Social Performance feature, which spotlights the additional efforts Kiva’s Field Partners are making in the areas of training, expanded financial and nonfinancial product offerings, and increased reach into marginalized populations, to name a few. We are excited to bring more awareness to the innovative efforts of our Field Partners, while also offering our lending community additional information to support their funding decisions.

Piloting New Ideas: Our newest innovation project, referred to as “Kiva Zip”, focuses on the lender and borrower connection. Currently in the early stages of development and testing, Kiva is excited to be looking at new technologies, including mobile payments, to expand our reach to borrowers while also minimizing costs. We have a long road of learning ahead of us, and we look forward to you joining us on the journey.

As we reflect on the Thanksgiving holiday (here in the US) we want to thank you for giving us the courage to try new things, some of which you’ve seen, and some that we’re excited to share with you soon. While you continue to support us, we’ll continue to innovate, and iterate – always with the goal of further advancing our social mission.

Stay tuned!

(And don’t forget to think outside the (gift) box this holiday season by giving the gift of a Kiva Card!)

Latin American and Caribbean Field Partner Summit

2011-11-28T15:11:00.000-08:00

Every year for the past four years the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) Portfolio Team here at Kiva hosts an annual summit with our Field Partners in the region to discuss relevant topics, share successes and concerns, and have a little fun as well. This year the conference was held in San Jose, Costa Rica and included 45 people representing about 20 Field Partners. Representatives from Kiva included: Giovanna Masci, Tim Hassett, Naomi Baer, Cynthia McMurry, Nicolas Lafaye, Lindsey Freedman, and Betsy McCormick. The LAC Kiva Summit took place the Sunday before a major regional microfinance conference so representatives from our Field Partners were able to attend both. The Kiva staff members reported that all 45 participants arrived early Sunday morning with an incredible amount of enthusiasm to share their stories and talk about their Kiva experiences!

Giovanna Masci, Regional Director - The Americas, speaking at the Summit

Topics for the day included sharing successes and challenges over the last year, how Kiva measures social performance and how that may affect our Field Partners, and innovative ways Field Partners are taking advantage of the catalytic power of Kiva funds. Among some of the more interesting successes were MiCredito from Nicaragua and Interactuar from Colombia. Kiva’s low cost and risk tolerant capital allows MiCredito to provide an innovative agriculture loan product. The product was designed for students of an agriculture university and allows them to buy the materials for their first plot of land, including farm animals, crops, etc. The hope is that the loan will not only provide students with hands-on training, but also teach them good credit management skills from a young age. Interactuar has developed an incredibly strong model of providing very high quality, professional training courses and one on one technical assistance to low-income entrepreneurs in the Antioquia region of Colombia. Their training facilities provide entrepreneurs with real-life training experiences in a variety of fields including gastronomy, cosmetology, small scale tourism and hotel operations, small grocery store management, and administration and systems management. Entrepreneurs are trained by experts in a simulated business environment.

Representatives from 20 Field Partners at the LAC Summit

Throughout the workshop Field Partner representatives shared stories and gave presentations about what works best for their specific lending goals, clientele and regions. They shared how they have overcome the technical challenges of working with Kiva, and asked questions about how others set up the infrastructure for Kiva operations. The LAC Summit has become an additional resource for our partners by connecting MFIs with each other so that they can share best practices. Our Field Partners have formed relationships with colleagues they would otherwise not have access to, and are able to collaborate on common points of interest that are specific to working with Kiva. Bringing our Field Partners together for region summits is one of the many ways Kiva works to support the on-going success and innovation of our Field Partners.

Betsy McCormick, Field Support Specialist - North America, Central America and The Caribbean, presenting at the LAC Summit

If you would like to support a borrower from one of our Latin American or Caribbean Field Partners head over to our Lend page and choose a dynamic entrepreneur today!

Kiva is Thankful!

2011-11-24T11:20:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving Kiva is thankful for...

All the amazing Borrowers who inspire us every day.

Our wonderful and loyal Lenders who help Kiva flourish and grow.

Every generous soul who is giving away Kiva Cards this Holiday Season.

All our hard-working Field Partners who make Kiva possible.

Each and every Kiva Blog and Kiva Fellows Blog reader, Kiva Facebook fan and Kiva Twitter follower.

All our tireless Volunteers, Kiva Fellows and Interns whose energy keeps our heart ticking.

The many organizations and individuals who support Kiva in exceptional ways.

Every person who has ever helped spread the word about Kiva and the transformational power of microfinance.

Kiva is grateful for YOU!

Thank you for everything you do to help us achieve our mission everyday.

Kiva Staff Photo

Passport Series: Dominican Republic: Part 3: Banks of Hope

2011-11-21T14:25:00.000-08:00

Kiva’s Field Partner in the Dominican Republic, Esperanza International, uses a “group lending” format when providing microfinance services. Esperanza borrowers (80% of whom are women) are divided into solidarity groups of five entrepreneurs from the same community. Multiple solidarity groups within a region then join to create what Esperanza calls a Bank of Hope. These Banks of Hope receive their micro loans, go through business training, and then make loan payments together as a unit. The individual members provide support to one another throughout the process. If a member cannot pay in full or on time, the other group members are responsible for making the payment. Esperanza has found that this system cultivates meaningful social bonds, trust and accountability among its borrowers. Esperanza’s Banks of Hope have an impressive 97.1% repayment rate!

Each Bank of Hope gives itself a name that represents what is important to its members. Read on to get to know a few of the groups better!

Women of Union and Peace (Mujeres de Union y Paz)

In this Group: Rosa, Francisca, Rosa*, Alexandra, Zunilda, Teodocia, Gloria, Dignorah, Juan, Ana, Rosalvi, Ana*, Germania, Guillermo, Ruberto

*not pictured

The members of the Women of Union and Peace Bank of Hope live in the rural areas surrounding San Pedro de Macoris, a coastal Dominican city located an hour’s drive east of the country’s capital Santo Domingo. Their homes are surrounded by vast sugarcane fields. The group’s coordinator, Rosa, is a single mother of two who has been running a used clothing business for over eight years. During this time, Rosa has taken out and repaid eight Esperanza loans which she has used to develop her business. She is currently using her ninth loan to increase her inventory. Rosa plans to use her profits to finish building a home for her family.

Fighting to Live (Luchando Para Vivir)

In this Group: Wanda, Bernarda, Dominga, Maria, Jenniffer, Marisol, Isidro, Yuleidy, Maria, Altagracia

The Fighting to Live Bank of Hope is based in Santiago, the second biggest city in the Dominican Republic, an area famous for its tobacco and beef production. Wanda, the group’s coordinator, is currently using her first Esperanza loan to develop her jewelry business. She buys silver jewelry from wholesalers and sells it in her neighborhood by visiting clients such as secretaries and bank tellers at their places of work. She will use her business profits to build a water cistern in her house and her dream is to finish high school.

Blessing of Working Women (Bendicion de Mujeres Trabajadoras )

In this Group: Reyna, Niulca, Luz, Odalis, Ydelina, Ventura, Yomaira, Priscila, Cristina, Yojana

The Blessing of Working Women Bank of Hope is located in San Pedro de Macoris, a city famous for its sugar cane industry and for producing great baseball players. Reyna, the group’s coordinator, runs a food stand where she sells sandwiches, hot dogs, burgers and juices. Reyna is currently paying back her first loan with Esperanza which she used to buy supplies including meat, bread and vegetables. She plans to use her profits to reinvest in her business. She wants to be a successful businesswoman and to one day attend university.

To make a loan one of Esperanza’s inspiring Banks of Hope, click here!

NFS Series: Education Services Part 3: Tamweelcom and Education

2011-11-17T11:31:00.000-08:00

What good is a business loan if the recipient doesn’t have a solid understanding of how the loan works, how to balance revenues and costs, or how to manage the financial aspects of their life in general? While access to financial services is a critical ingredient to the fight against poverty, understanding how to manage and successfully utilize those services is just as vital. Kiva understands the importance of education, particularly financial education, and we value Field Partners that incorporate this aspect when assisting entrepreneurs. In Part 1 and 2 of Education in our series on nonfinancial services, Monique Cohen from Microfinance Opportunities (MFO) explains how financial education can be offered through a Microfinance Institution (MFI), and how this education is delivered to clients. In part 3 of Education we highlight a Kiva Field Partner, Tamweelcom based in Jordan, who excels at providing their clients hands-on, practical business training and financial education.

Kathy Guis, Kiva Sr. Field Support Specialist, training Tamweelcom staff member, Abrar Sowi

Tamweelcom is a non-profit company owned by the Noor Al-Hussein Foundation (NHF) and was established to pioneer the field of micro-enterprise support and development. They disburse loans to small business projects and provides training, marketing and community-oriented programs consistent with its commitment to social responsibility. Tamweelcom's mission is to provide financial and nonfinancial services to low-income communities, to improve their social and living standards by adopting and implementing international microfinance best practices. Their focus on nonfinancial services has earned the non-profit a 3+ rating from Planet Rating. The rating signifies that the organization has a “Clear intent to reach social goals; while social performance management systems are being implemented”.

In order achieve these social goals Tamweelcom provides training, marketing and scholarship programs to its clients. They have designed these services to prioritize client needs and support a success-oriented, sustainable work environment. These programs include: Business to Business Linkages, “Aman” (Safety) Insurance, school educational grants, business development training, the Loyalty Card with membership rewards, free medical days providing medical services to clients and their communities, partnerships with e-commerce websites to sell client products online; as well as Souk Ayyadi, a marketing program that promotes retail sales for clients through permanent showrooms and bazaars throughout Jordan.

The Business to Business Linkage program is a client network that enables their clientele to develop personal projects and marketing capabilities through shared expertise and cooperative use of materials and skills. This is a very hands-on approach to business training and an efficient use of their clientele as they can take advantage of the experience and talent their clients have to offer each other.

The Tamweelcom team!

School Educational Grants provide educational scholarships to the children of the institution’s poorest clients. As of December 2008, 1,000 grants of 16.5 JOD (23 USD) each were disbursed, equivalent to 1.7% of the net income. Awarding grants to deserving children not only promotes education, but also allows borrowers to concentrate on making sure their profits can be diverted back into their business or other life priorities.

The Souk Ayyadi Services aim at helping clients sell their products through occasional bazaars in different locations and two permanent showrooms in Amman and Aqaba. In 2008, 335 clients displayed their products in permanent showrooms in Mecca Mall (Amman) and Aqaba and reached 120 clients. This technique is another hands-on option for clients to both gain valuable sales and marketing experience with the support of staff nearby, as well as begin to develop a customer base for their products.

Kiva works hard to partner with organizations that prioritize the social needs of their clients in additional to their financial needs. We understand that a combination of financial and nonfinancial services is the most effective way to promote sustainable poverty alleviation and we are proud to work with such a talented and diverse group of partners.

Stay tuned for our third installment of the nonfinancial services series on Women’s Empowerment with Mary Ellen Iskenderian from Women’s World Banking!

To read the previous sections of this series click on Introducing Kiva's Nonfinancial Services Blog Series.

Kiva’s Review and Translation Program Interviews Some of Kiva’s All-Star Staff! (Part 3)

2011-11-16T16:30:00.000-08:00

Written by Staci Chirchick, Review and Translation Program Intern.

Every month, Kiva’s Review and Translation Program (RTP) produces an informative newsletter for its volunteers. It is full of stories and updates about Kiva’s many programs, staff and volunteers. In recognition of Kiva’s 6th birthday, the newsletter recently featured interviews of some our long-term staff members who talked about their involvement with RTP. We’ve decided to share the interviews with our blog community because we think they provide unique insights into the world of Kiva! We’ll be posting one interview a week for three weeks. We invite you to follow along as we get to know:

Naomi Baer, Senior Director, Global Partner Operations (Part 1)

Michelle Kreger - Regional Director, West Africa, Middle East & North Africa (Part 2)

Sam Mankiewicz - Chief Technical Officer (Part 3)

Here’s Part 3!

Sam Mankiewicz - Chief Technical Officer

Sam Mankiewicz

1. How did you first get involved with Kiva, and what different hats have you worn since then?

I knew Matt Flannery from college, and the summer after senior year we were interns together at the same start-up. After that, we went our own way for a few years. At the end of 2006, I was offered a job back in the Bay Area, so I moved back. Somewhere around December I got word about Kiva and tried connecting with Matt to see if he needed any volunteer engineers to help out every now and again on the website. However, as I was waiting to hear back from him, the company I was working for was imploding from within. So I decided to ask Matt about joining the team full time instead of just helping out on the side. At that time, I was joining a tech team of only three people, and now it has reached 35.

I've worn a *lot* of "hats" during my time with Kiva. The first big challenge was taking the huge momentum from lenders and backing that up on the engineering side. I think one of my most lasting impacts has been setting up the two-week release cycle for the website. At the time that I started, the team was in the middle of a major overhaul, and as software projects are wont to do, it was going a little longer than scheduled. It took us about six to eight weeks to clean everything up and get the new version deployed. Since then (over four years ago), there has almost always been a new version of the website deployed every two weeks.

2. What one thing at Kiva still makes your heart race?

I continue to be impressed, amazed, and inspired by the collective passion and talent of the people that come on board. Kiva seems to attract Renaissance people who are multi-dimensional. These people have not only multiple interests, but also are incredibly strong in those different areas. This serves us well because Kiva is not a pure microfinance company, nor is it a pure international development company, nor is it a pure technology company; it is a little bit of all of the above. This makes for a much richer and more dynamic team that is able to work cross-functionally. In other words, our whole is greater than the sum of our parts.

3. What has been one of the most challenging things you have had to overcome at Kiva?

Kiva is not nearly as simple as it may look from the outside. What that means for engineering on a day-to-day basis is that we have to find ways to wrangle that complexity. We have to be able to package it in an easy-to-use way for our lenders, borrowers, and field partners. But at the same time, everything starts off at a certain degree of complexity, so it can be really tempting to add even more complexity. Even simple things, for example star ratings for field partners. There are so many pieces of data that go into the rating. For instance: how do you know if the rating is fair or not? What is the right data to collect? How do you balance that information across the entire portfolio? The biggest challenge is keeping all of the information we put out simple and manageable.

4. How have the volunteers affected your role at Kiva?

I have a very long history with Viva [Kiva’s editing and translating platform]. Because of that the volunteer editors and translators have never been very far from my mind. Whether it was the early days when it was still called the Volunteer Management System (VMS), to the year-plus it took to build and launch Viva, to the day that we launched Take 5 [a self-serve editing/translation system] , the volunteers have never been far from my mind. I remember when Naomi and I decided to add the stats page to Viva; it was amazing how such a simple thing could be so motivating for the volunteers. I have been involved with Viva through its entire life cycle and even though it's no longer a part of my main responsibilities, I always somehow come back to it.

If you are interested in volunteering with RTP, check out their page on our website!

Featured Volunteer: Marty Greenstein

2011-11-16T15:57:00.000-08:00

Lindsay Monnet, Review and Translation Program Intern

"I saw the poverty firsthand and found myself wondering if I had reviewed any loans of the people I met. It just hits home a little more."

City: Stockton, California
Languages: English and Spanish
Team: Magnificent 7
Time with Kiva: Since March of 2007, over four and a half years ago!

1. How did you find out about Kiva?

A friend told me about it around five years ago, and I really liked the concept. I went to the website, and thought, "That’s perfect, I can help out even more."

2. Why did you choose to volunteer your time with Kiva?

I was a Spanish major in college and lived in Spain, but did not really keep up with my Spanish after college. I thought it would be the perfect way to help people and also keep up with my Spanish.

3. From where do you typically review Kiva loans?

I actually do it mostly at work. I work in the sports department at a newspaper and so I have quite a bit of down time, waiting for games to finish. Translating gives me a chance to fill some of it.

4. What is your favorite partner or region?

They’re all good, but I like the ones from Peru, because I visited Peru last year. While I was there, I saw the poverty firsthand and found myself wondering if I had reviewed any loans of the people I met there. It just hits home a little more.

5. Tell us about a memorable profile you have reviewed.

I remember getting an email from a family friend who was looking independently through the Kiva website and came across my name on a loan I had translated. I remember thinking how cool and weird it was that someone saw my name, and how neat it was to see that I am making a concrete difference.

6. Where is your favorite place in the world to travel?

Pretty much the whole world. I have been to four continents, so I have a few more left. I try to travel as much as I can.

7. Tell us an unusual or surprising fact about yourself.

This is probably my "go to" one: I’m a twin. But it’s funny, my brother and I are completely different, pretty much exact opposites.

Photo provided by Marty Greenstein, Volunteer Translator

One Million Hit Wonder!

2011-11-16T09:00:00.000-08:00

On the web since May of 2007, “Kiva Stories from the Field” reached a milestone on Thursday, November 10, 2011. The blog, produced entirely by Kiva Fellows, recorded its one millionth hit!

Since the program began, over 400 Kiva Fellows have served more than 185,000 hours in nearly 60 countries around the world as unpaid volunteers for Kiva. Fellows serve as Kiva’s eyes and ears on the ground, and are required to be flexible as they perform a variety of roles to benefit Kiva’s lenders, borrowers, and partners.

Although their other functions supporting partners and borrowers are better known, it is the Kiva Fellows blog that allows every member of the Kiva community to gain access to Kiva’s impactful work in the field on a day-to-day basis. With that access comes a deeper understanding of places we haven’t been (as well as places we have) and the vantage point to appreciate the impact of microlending in those environments. Most importantly, fellows open a window for us into the lives of Kiva’s borrowers and the tireless work of all the other individuals in the field that make this remarkable organization function.

While the blog gives fellows an audience for their thoughts and reflections on their experiences, we gain the greater gift. Through their writing we can all imagine ourselves working alongside them as poverty alleviation pioneers.

Last week I asked Kiva staff members to identify a few posts that they remember as having a significant impression on them. Here are a few of the posts that stood out:

“WWYD with 5 Lempiras?” by Sandra Pina, KF16, Honduras

“Why I Can’t Give Abozu My Camera”, Abby Gray, KF6, Togo

“Bad Roads, Interest Rates, and MFI Sustainability”, Meg Gray, KF9, Nicaragua

“This is Urban Poverty In Tajikistan”, Chris Paci, KF16, Tajikistan

“From Borrower to Branch Manager”, Karen Buxton, KF10, Liberia

“Contradictions, Complications, Juxtapositions, and Genocide”, Julie Ross, KF7, Rwanda

Which posts had an impression on you? Visit Kiva’s Facebook page to share your favorites with us!

Jacob Schultz

Manager, Kiva Fellows Program

The Kiva Board Visits Lima, Peru!

2011-11-15T12:20:00.000-08:00

Written by Lindsey Freedman, Field Support Specialist (FSS), South America

Kiva’s South America Team of Giovanna Masci (Regional Director, Americas), Nicolas Lafaye (Portfolio Manager, South America) and Lindsey Freedman (FSS, South America) were honored to host the very first Kiva board trip in Lima, Peru from October 16-19. Joined by board members Tabreez Verjee, Julie Hanna, Geoff Davis, and Amy Klement along with Matt Flannery (Co-Founder and CEO), Premal Shah (President), and Tim Hassett (Vice-President, Global Partner Investments), the trip was designed to give our board of directors a first hand, on-the-ground perspective on Kiva. This included meeting our borrowers, a deep dive into the inner workings of a few of our partner MFIs and exposure to the operational challenges that partnering with Kiva presents. We kicked off the trip on Sunday afternoon with a breakdown of our roles in the region, which quickly turned into a marathon four hour meeting that set the breakneck pace for the rest of the week.

Kiva board members and staff outside the Microfinanzas Prisma head office - Photo Credit: Lindsey Freedman

We spent Monday with Microfinanzas Prismas (MFP), beginning the day at their head office. MFP is operationally one of our strongest partners in South America, and provided the board with invaluable insight into the heart of an efficient, well-run, large MFI. Diego Concha, the director of MFP, took us through a presentation of MFP’s history and his vision for Kiva’s role in the organization moving forward. I had previously asked the Kiva Coordinator, Betsabe, to show the board how she uploads loans, focusing specifically on the many human elements required to get a loan on to the website: from the loan officer collecting the information from the borrower, to emailing it to her, to the time it takes to upload the loan itself, etc. In the middle of her presentation the Internet cut out, providing an unexpected but incredibly useful real-time example of the technical difficulties that our partners face on a daily basis. After a delicious lunch at the MFP office, we headed out to a branch office to observe several individual loan disbursements. As an added bonus, there was a group loan disbursement happening at the same time and the board was able to interact with the members of the group and ask about their loan. We then broke out into two groups and headed out to meet several Kiva borrowers.

Kiva board members and staff during their meeting with Microfinanzas Prisma - Photo Credit: Lindsey Freedman

Tuesday began with a visit to Edaprospo’s offices, also in Lima, where we met with Director William Espinoza, Director of the Board, Marcial Abad Pachecho, the Kiva Coordinator, and several loan officers. After a lively discussion that ran the gamut from financial stats to internal operational challenges, we broke for coffee and sandwiches and then split into two groups and headed to the outskirts of Lima to meet Kiva borrowers.

Kiva staff and board members with staff of Edaprospo - Photo Credit: Lindsey Freedman

Kiva staff and board members with staff of Edaprospo - Photo Credit: Julie Hanna

Through countless visits with borrowers, the most important lesson I’ve learned is that the story you are expecting to hear is most often nothing like the one you actually do. Such was the case with Juana Eulogia Pizarro Peréz, a woman who has a junkyard and re-sells the “chatarra” (junk) that people bring her. Oblivious to the constant rumble of dump trucks rolling up and down the road outside her home, we stood outside and chatted about the loan. In the course of our conversation we learned that the trucks belonged to a clay mine located just up the road from her house. The owners of the mine had tried to get her to vacate her home – without legal grounds - and give up the land so that they could expand the mine’s operations. Their efforts became so intense that she was forced to hire a lawyer and spend all of her savings defending her right to stay. She succeeded, but the whole process took seven years and at the end of it she was in dire financial straits; Edaprospo’s loan helped her get back on her feet.

Premal Shah, Kiva President and Juana Eulogia Pizarro Peréz - Photo Credit: Matt Flannery

Juana Eulogia with recycling materials - Photo Credit: Matt Flannery

Kiva board members exploring the junkyard - Photo Credit: Matt Flannery

A local child finds treasure in the junkyard - Photo Credit: Lindsey Freedman

Kiva CEO, Matt Flannery, taking in the surroundings while a local child plays in the junkyard - Photo Credit: Lindsey Freedman

The visit wasn’t all serious though: I wandered away for a minute to check out the rest of the property, and when I came back Premal was teaching Bollywood dance moves to Juana Eulogia. Click here to watch the lesson!

Wednesday was a wrap up and brainstorming session. Julie Hanna, Kiva’s board chair, asked us to name issues that we felt were most critical to Kiva’s success in its field operations and she scribbled them down on giant sheets of paper as we shouted them out one after another. Based on the comments, it was obvious that our intense three-day introduction to Kiva operations had made quite the impression. Afterwards, Julie asked us to circle the three we felt were most critical as a jumping off point for the board meeting to follow. The split was unsurprisingly divided up fairly evenly between day-to-day operational challenges and big picture ideas for Kiva moving forward.

Kiva board chair, Julie Hanna, with a Kiva borrower - Photo Credit: Julie Hanna

I believe that the board came away from the trip with a much deeper understanding of operational challenges in the field, and that those challenges will help to inform their strategic decisions in the future. When asked what the trip meant to her, Julie said the following:

Meeting our entrepreneurs and borrowers, and seeing the impact Kiva's work has had on their lives is a deeply meaningful gift. Their dignity, resourcefulness and ingenuity is life affirming. I come away wanting the world to know these unsung heroes in the same way. I also come away proud and humbled by the skill, tireless efforts and competence of our partners and team at Kiva. From a board perspective, our time in the field has provided invaluable learnings that will serve Kiva for a long time to come.

From a personal standpoint, it was fascinating to see the board members work to address and improve so many facets of the existing Kiva model while simultaneously looking many years ahead. Spending several days with them solidified for me what a unique team Kiva has across the board, and I am proud to be a part of it.

To find out more about Kiva’s wonderful board members, click here!

Passport Series: Dominican Republic: Part 2: Microfinance

2011-11-14T13:42:00.000-08:00

This month’s Passport Series is all about the Dominican Republic! This vibrant Caribbean nation offers a rich fusion of European, African and indigenous cultures and boasts hundreds of miles of tropical coastline. Follow us throughout the month of October as we learn about The Dominican Republic as a nation, its microfinance sector, and the work that Kiva does there!

Microfinance Sector in the Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic microfinance sector is relatively large compared to other Caribbean nations reporting to Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX). According to MIX, as of 2010, the Dominican Republic has a total microfinance loan portfolio of $584.5 million USD with 365,114 active borrowers, far exceeding the portfolios of the next two largest reporting nations; Haiti ($56.9 million USD) and Jamaica ($14.7 million USD). In addition, there are more than 318,000 depositors with over $539 million USD in the bank.

Dominican Borrower - Photo Credit: Nick Hamilton

Currently there are thirteen Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in the Dominican Republic reporting to MIX, including Esperanza International, an active Kiva Field Partner. These institutions are working to reduce the large income gap between the rich and poor that exists in the country by offering financial services to clients such as women and rural farmers who may otherwise not have access to them. As the industry grows so have the overall loan portfolios of the MFIs working in the country, however it is important to note that the average loan size per borrower has stayed relatively consistent over the years. This may indicate that MFIs are targeting more, generally poorer, clients in need of smaller loans versus less clients borrowing larger amounts.

Housing and Microfinance

There is currently a significant lack of adequate housing in the Dominican Republic mostly due to poor economic conditions as well as a surge in Haitian refugees after the earthquake in 2010. According to Habitat for Humanity, there is a 600,000 unit deficit in the country, fifty-five percent of which is poor quality housing rather than homelessness.¹ As a result there has been a strong push among the country’s microfinance institutions to offer housing loans to clients. Several large programs have begun to support this sector in an attempt to help boost the availability of housing loans. Patrimonio Hoy, the housing microfinance program of CEMEX, has extended a program to five countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, including the Dominican Republic, to offer a partial credit guarantee of up to $10 million USD from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and help over 750,000 people throughout the region finance a home. In 2009 the Development Innovations Group (DIG) was contracted by Agence Française de Développement (AFD) to deliver a week-long training course on housing microfinance to Dominican microfinance practitioners. The course, presented in Spanish, provided a general mapping of the state of practice for housing finance for clients as well as challenges facing many practitioners within the field.² In addition, ACCIÓN, a major player in the microfinance industry, has placed a growing importance on access to housing loans for microfinance clients. As of 2008, the ACCIÓN Latin American and Caribbean housing loan portfolio was more than $230 million USD and nearly 108,000 borrowers.³ Building on the existing microfinance infrastructure and delivery system, housing loans have become an important aspect of the overall microfinance industry of the Dominican Republic.

Kiva’s Field Partner in the Dominican Republic

Esperanza International Dominican Republic, a partner of HOPE International has been a Kiva Field Partner for almost five years. Esperanza International started official operations in the Dominican Republic in 1999, and currently has nine branch offices in the country as well as two in Haiti. The organization’s key principles are:
• Address the root causes of poverty, especially those impacting children,
• Focus on families and communities as the agents, planners, implementers and evaluators of the development efforts,
• Improve the capacity of people to learn from their experiences of development, to be empowered by that process and to lead more fulfilled lives,
• Free people from the bondage and oppression of cultural, social, spiritual and economic forces that inhibit becoming all that is intended,
• Build alliances and partnerships with other institutions with compatible goals,
• Lead to more technically appropriate and sustainable activities and practices that contribute to self-sufficiency and self-reliance,
• Encourage systems that ensure accountability and integrity, and
• Improve the leadership, management and organizational skills within the families and communities of a project area.

Kiva Field Partner, Esperanza International - Photo Credit: Nick Hamilton

In addition, Esperanza International offers several nonfinancial services including pre-paid health insurance plans, a life insurance program, business planning and literacy programs. These services help ensure that clients have every opportunity to succeed when they begin as a business owner.

1. http://www.habitat.org/intl/lac/57.aspx
2. http://www.developinnovations.com/Programs/Key-Programs.aspx#DR
3. http://www.accion.org/page.aspx?pid=704

Click on Esperanza International to help make a loan to a borrower in the Dominican Republic!

Stay tuned for Part 3 of our Passport Series to read about the work that Kiva is doing in the Dominican Republic.

NFS Series: Education Services Part 2: Education & Microfinance

2011-11-10T10:44:00.000-08:00

Part 2 of Education services is written by Monique Cohen from Microfinance Opportunities (MFO). She will be discussing financial education services and how they relate to microfinance and our borrowers. For more on Ms. Cohen and Microfinance Opportunities click on Part 1 of our series: Financial Education Services.

Here's part 2 of our guest blog post by Monique Cohen:

Consider a woman dependent on a small, variable income to provide for the needs of her household. Upon being offered a micro-enterprise loan, she might have trouble understanding the total cost of the loan. She might not know how much she can afford to pay per month, or how to prioritize this expense among many other demands on her small income. With the benefits of financial education – whether via training, flip books, radio programs, videos or another source – she can learn how to plan for the loan using a budget that takes her payments into account. And she would not be the only one to benefit from that financial education – the microfinance institution (MFI) would gain a more reliable and less risky client, who is more likely to repay her loan on time. Ultimately, financial education and microfinance go hand in hand – both MFIs and consumers benefit.

Education without the opportunity to use it is a lost opportunity. Many financial literacy skills cannot be put into practice without the chance to actually use them by having access to appropriate financial products and services. No matter how much money someone is able to save, he or she will need a safe place to store it – such as a savings group, deposit-taking MFI, or bank.

We have found that there are four factors that make financial education most effective:
• Quality and frequency of the education
• Relevance of the education to the target population
• Opportunity to use the education
• Appropriateness of the financial products being offered.

So then, having access to services like savings and loans is critical for newly learned skills (like putting a little money aside each week) to become regular behaviors (like making a weekly deposit in a savings account).

Of course, education combined with opportunity is good for MFIs, as well. It gives them access to skillful money-managers who are looking for financial services that meet their needs. In Mongolia, for example, Microfinance Opportunities (MFO) worked with XacBank to develop a financial education program for teenage girls. In after school sessions, girls are encouraged to practice saving their money, and they also have the chance to open their own account at XacBank. Designed specifically for 14-17-year-old girls, the Temuulel (“Aspire”) account has a pink passbook and offers prizes for meeting small savings goals. Between the start of the financial education program and an impact assessment 15 months later, the number of Temuulel accounts more than doubled – from 2,400 to nearly 6,400¹.

Some MFIs also see financial education as a way of increasing their customer base and securing customer loyalty. For example, Opportunity International Bank of Malawi (OIBM) uses financial education to create more stable borrowers. In a 2009 interview for Taking Stock: Financial Initiatives for the Poor, an OIBM representative commented:

 “Institutional performance goals are important when introducing financial education. On one hand, financial education is helping people gain knowledge on financial matters, but on the other hand, helping the institution because the borrowers are less risky, they become your good bet!”²

Finally, financial education can benefit MFIs and consumers by playing a role on the client-side of consumer protection. For example, MFO recently worked with Consumers International to develop a one-on-one consumer financial counseling handbook. The counseling sessions help recipients to better understand their rights when taking out a loan or opening an account – rights like transparency, and the ability to complain about mistreatment. The counselors also explain the responsibilities that come with those rights – such as asking questions about loan terms that a client doesn’t fully understand, as well as repaying that loan on time.

Financial education and financial access is a powerful combination. Outcome assessments that MFO conducted in Bolivia and Sri Lanka suggest that financial education leads to increased savings and higher rates of debt repayment. Financial education empowers people to choose financial services that work for them, while providing MFIs with skillful, confident clients.

1. Savings and Financial Education for Girls in Mongolia: Impact Assessment Baseline Study. Tower, Craig and Elizabeth McGuinness, with Jennefer Sebstad. 2010.

2. Taking Stock: Financial Education Initiatives for the Poor. The MasterCard Foundation, Microfinance Opportunities, Genesis Analytics. Toronto, CA: 2011.

In part 3 of Education Services we will discuss how financial education and financial literacy improves the lives of Kiva borrowers and Field Partners.

For quick links to each part of the series click on Introducing Kiva's Nonfinancial Services Blog Series.

Kiva's Review and Translation Program Interviews Some of Kiva's All-Star Staff! (Part 2)

2011-11-09T10:00:00.000-08:00

Written by Staci Chirchick, Review and Translation Program Intern

Naomi Baer, Senior Director, Global Partner Operations (Part 1)

Michelle Kreger - Director of Strategic Initiatives (Part 2)

Sam Mankiewicz - Chief Technical Officer (Part 3)

Here’s Part 2!

Michelle Kreger - Director of Strategic Initiatives

Michelle Kreger with Cameroonian Kiva borrowers

1. How did you first get involved with Kiva, and what different hats have you worn since then?

In 2006 I was living in Costa Rica and working a job that kept me busy during the day, but left me with tons of free time at night. I had been following Kiva in various blogs, and decided to reach to out see if I could do anything to help out from abroad. I ended up getting involved in some of the first Spanish to English translations. This was at a time, remember, when Viva [Kiva’s editing and translating software] didn’t exist – we logged right into the same site that our partners and lenders use. I loved working on translations from my couch in the rainforest; it made me feel a bit closer to home, and the “techie,” fast-paced world I had left behind.

In December of 2006 I moved back home to the Bay Area and happened upon a posting for volunteer Microfinance Partnerships Coordinator. I reached out and a few days later ended up sharing a yam sandwich with Chelsa Bocci [Kiva’s Community Marketing Director] at Atlas Café – this was my interview. We talked about what the job would entail, and I immediately said yes. And thus it began - for the first few months I volunteered part time, but this quickly turned into a full-time commitment. Having been tasked with finding new organizations to invest in, I decided to enroll in accounting classes so I could figure out what assets and liabilities were!

A few months in, Kiva offered me a contract position, and I was ecstatic – this was my absolute dream job. Soon thereafter, an opportunity arose to travel to Bolivia and Peru to try and get a few partners to sign up and work with us, and I snatched it up. There was not very much due diligence in place at that time, so basically I traveled around and tried to get MFIs to take a chance on our idea. A series of connections, research, and a whole lot of work led us to signing on 8 partners within the first few months of my visit to South America. We were all psyched.

Its now been 5 ½ years and I’ve learned a fair bit about accounting, how to do due diligence, and have traveled to over 35 countries for Kiva – first in Latin America, and later in Africa and the Middle East. As 2011 comes to a close I’m starting to look at how Kiva can leverage our social capital in even more impactful ways as part of our new Strategic Initiatives Group. If there’s one thing that has stayed constant about Kiva, it’s that it's never boring.

2. What one thing at Kiva still makes your heart race?

There is an energy around Kiva that is really magical – from lenders to volunteers to partners, borrowers and staff, Kiva attracts people who are passionate about creating change, and practical about doing it. The energy of everyone involved really keeps me going here. Just like me, everyone has their own story of how they got involved, and it may not be surprising to hear that almost everyone starts with some sort of volunteer engagement. Kiva’s not really a place you work – it’s a place that draws you in, and it quickly becomes hard to escape!

3. What has been one of the most challenging things you have had to overcome at Kiva?

For me, one of the most challenging things is balancing travel – especially in remote areas – with the demands of day-to-day life and work. It's not easy to take off on a jet plane once a month and still find a way to take classes, maintain relationships, go to the gym, and try to live a “normal” California life. These are, of course, things that most folks who travel have to deal with. But what’s different is that the places we go to are not your typical “business destinations”… They’re often buggy, have long bumpy bus rides, lack of electricity, and involve new languages and cultures. It's very exciting, but can also get tiring at times.

4. How have the volunteers affected your role at Kiva?

Kiva could literally not run without the support and work of all our volunteers. From editing and translating loans, to visiting partners out in the field, to coordinating communications and bringing together our community, volunteers really are the fuel that makes the Kiva engine run. In many ways the editors and translators are the closest to what we do – they “meet” each borrower as they review their stories, and are also the first line of defense for making sure the profiles represent the borrowers’ loans with accuracy, integrity and dignity. We are so grateful for all of the efforts of our volunteer teams!

If you are interested in volunteering with RTP, check out their page on our website!

Passport Series: Dominican Republic: Part 1: Country Profile

2011-11-08T09:05:00.000-08:00

History

The Dominican Republic is part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean. It is one of the nations that makes up the island of Hispaniola, (the other half being the nation of Haiti). The earliest known inhabitants of the Dominican Republic were the Taíno people. This indigenous civilization populated Hispaniola from the 7th century and was divided into five cheifdoms. Christopher Columbus arrived on Hispaniola on his first voyage in 1492 and the island became a springboard for the Spanish conquest of the Caribbean and the American mainland.

Two little Dominican friends - Photo Credit: Nick Hamilton

In 1697, Spain recognized French control over the western third of the island, which in 1804 became Haiti. The remainder of the island, which was at the time known as Santo Domingo, sought to gain its independence in 1821 but was conquered and ruled by the Haitians for 22 years; it finally attained independence as the Dominican Republic in 1844. In 1861, the Dominicans voluntarily returned to the Spanish Empire, but two years later they launched a war that restored independence in 1865. A legacy of unsettled, mostly non-representative rule followed, capped by the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas Trujillio from 1930-61. The civil war of 1965, the country's last, was ended by a U.S.-led intervention, and was followed by the authoritarian rule of Joaquín Balaguer which lasted from 1966–1978. Since then, the Dominican Republic has evolved into a representative democracy.

Economy

The Dominican Republic is the second largest economy in the Caribbean and Central American region (Cuba being the largest). Sugar, coffee and tobacco have long been its main exports and for many years agriculture was the country’s main source of employment. However, tourism and telecommunications have now also become major employers and key sources of revenue. The Dominican Republic has had free-trade zones with the U.S. and five Central American countries since 2007. The free-trade zones accounted for an estimated U.S. $4.08 billion in Dominican exports for 2010 (61.8% of total exports). The economy is highly dependent on the U.S. which is the destination for nearly 60% of its exports. Remittances from the US amount to about a tenth of GDP, equivalent to almost half of exports and three-quarters of tourism receipts. The country suffers from marked income inequality; the poorest half of the population receives less than one-fifth of GDP, while the richest 10% enjoys nearly 40% of GDP.

Geography

Map of the Dominican Republic - Photo Credit: CIA World Factbook

The Dominican Republic is located 800 miles from Miami between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The landscape of the Dominican Republic is mostly mountainous and includes the largest peak in the Caribbean, Pico Duarte. Many valleys separate the country’s four mountain ranges; the most fertile being the Cibao Valley which is the location of most of the country’s farms. There are also numerous lakes and coastal lagoons and four major rivers that drain the mountains after the rainy season. The nation includes many offshore islands and cays.

The majority of the country enjoys a tropical climate with year-round average temperatures of 77°F (25°C). The country has over 800 miles of coastline including many beautiful white sand beaches which are world renowned for their crystal clear water. The country’s largest city and capital is Santo Domingo which is located on the Southern Coast. It is a city of firsts - it was the first city founded in the Americas and home to the southern hemisphere’s first church, hospital, university, paved road and stone house.

A Dominican white sand beach - Photo Credit: Nick Hamilton

Demography and Culture

The Dominican Republic is inhabited mostly by people of mixed European and African origins (73%). Recent research has shown that 15% of Dominicans also have Taíno ancestry. The country’s population, estimated to be almost 10 million, is 95% Roman Catholic. It’s main language is Spanish, with English taught as a second language in many schools.

The Dominican Flag - The red ribbon says REPUBLICA DOMINICA while the blue ribbon displays the motto, DIOS PATRIA, LIBERTAD (God, Fatherland, Liberty) - Photo Credit: CIA World Factbook

Dominican culture blends Spanish, African and Taíno influences. Spanish influence is seen in the colonial buildings of Santo Domingo and Santiago (the country’s second largest city), as well as in art and literature. Spanish and African rhythms intertwine in Dominican popular song and dance, such as merengue and bachata, two musical styles that are now internationally popular. Many Taíno names and words are used in daily conversation and for many foods native to the Dominican Republic. Some words, such as Hamaca (hanging bed), have been officially incorporated into Spanish.

A Santiago Monument Showcases the Country’s European Roots - Photo Credit: Kalie Gold

Dominicans have celebrated Carnival throughout the month of February since the mid-1500’s. Since independence in 1844, the festival has taken on even more significance and splendour as Dominican Independence Day is celebrated on February 27th. The theme of the celebration is "upside-down world", so at this colorful event you can expect to see men dressing as women, livestock dominating their ranchers and the Devil ruling the world rather than God. Dominican Carnival is well-known for its extravagant costumes and masks that symbolize many religious and traditional characters such as Calife (a poet who pens verses mocking current politicians) or the famous Diablo Cojuelo (Limping Devil).

Stay tuned next week to learn about the Dominican Republic’s microfinance sector! To make a loan to a Dominican borrower, click here!

Race4Change Racing the East African Safari Rally to Raise Funds for Kiva!

2011-11-04T08:40:00.000-07:00

Race4Change.org is a philanthropic organization that harnesses the popular exposure of sporting events to raise funds for the economic empowerment of women in Africa. This year, the Race4Change team will run three classic Porsche 911s on the East African Safari Rally from November 19th to 28th, to advocate for the use of microfinance as a tool for the advancement of African women.

The brainchild of financial entrepreneur and philanthropist Dr. Steven Funk, Race4Change.org has been using the popular platform of East African rallying since 2009 to raise awareness of microfinance. Dr. Funk hopes that the story of his four champion drivers, including former World Champion Björn Waldegård and four-time US champ Travis Pastrana, on the notoriously difficult event will attract support and donations on the Race4Change website: the aim being that everyone from motoring enthusiasts to microfinance advocates can be drawn in, and help to make a difference.

Dr. Funk with one of the team’s Tuthill Porsches, known as “The Spirit of Kenya” - Photo Credit: Race4Change

All donations go directly to the Race4Change partner microfinance organisations: Kiva, Women’s World Banking, Kenya’s Jamii Bora and the Microcredit Summit. Nothing goes towards rallying, and every cent given is tax deductible! What could be better than having fun while changing the world? Go Race4Change!

NFS Series: Education Services Part 1: Financial Education

2011-11-03T11:06:00.000-07:00

As our series on nonfinancial services continues, our second guest speaker is Monique Cohen from Microfinance Opportunities (MFO). She will be discussing Education Services and how they relate to microfinance and our borrowers.

Monique Cohen is the founder and president of Microfinance Opportunities. With more than 25 years of field experience, Ms. Cohen is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading experts on clients and microfinance services. She founded Microfinance Opportunities in 2002 to dive deep into the study of how low-income individuals manage money and risk, and to provide them with the training and confidence they need to make wise financial decisions. Ms. Cohen spearheaded the groundbreaking “Global Financial Education Program” which builds the financial capabilities of the poor using a range of media tools and workshops.

Microfinance Opportunities develops ideas and solutions that help the financial community better serve the low-income consumer. Their commitment as a nonprofit organization is to develop a deep understanding of the financial realities and needs of low-income households in the developing world. By partnering with financial service providers, their research and expertise promotes the design and delivery of appropriate products and services — and as a result, attracts and retains consumers in increasingly competitive markets.

Here's part 1 of our guest blog post by Monique Cohen:

Families at all income levels share the same aspirations. They want to put food on the table, educate their children, secure a home of their own and plan for the future. To be poor is to have these goals with fewer resources and opportunities to achieve them. And while access to financial services has increased dramatically over the last few years, the pressures of uncertain income and rising costs make it difficult for many poor people to take advantage of these opportunities. Add in low levels of financial literacy – which can hamper the ability to make limited funds stretch through tough seasons – and making informed decisions about whether or not to take a small loan can understandably become overwhelming. This is where financial education can make a difference. Financial education provides people with the tools they need for good money management, and helps them to achieve their financial goals.

Many basic principles and concepts of money management are universal. At the same time, financial knowledge, experience and behaviors vary widely across individuals, households and populations, and are strongly influenced by context. For example, young people have less experience to draw on than older people. Someone who may not have previously had access to a microfinance loan may not understand the terms of what is being offered, or be able to calculate their ability to take on debt. And easy access to a cash loan can be tempting in a time of unexpected need (such as when someone is sick) even though borrowing may not be the best option for managing that particular situation.

This is where financial education comes into play. It provides people with the knowledge, skills and attitudes that they need to adopt good money management practices for earning, spending, saving, borrowing and investing. It empowers people to shift from reactive to proactive financial decision making. Ultimately, it enables people with the confidence and ability to take greater advantage of the financial services – formal and informal – that are available to them.

To bring financial education to a wide variety of learners, Microfinance Opportunities (MFO) developed a curriculum that contains nine topic-based modules.

Core Curriculum
• Savings – You Can Do It!
• Budgeting – Use Money Wisely
• Debt Management – Handle With Care
• Banking Services – Know Your Options
• Financial Negotiation – Communicate with Confidence

Specialized Modules
• Young People – Your Future, Your Money
• Remittances – Make the Most of Them
• Risk Management & Insurance – Protect Your Family’s Future
• Consumer Protection – Know Your Rights and Responsibilities

Based on extensive pilot testing and market research with microfinance institutions (MFIs) and banks, the curriculum was originally intended for use in classroom-based Training of Trainer (TOT) and consumer training sessions.

However, as we looked for ways to bring financial education to scale cost-effectively, we realized we needed to go beyond classroom training. In collaboration with partners like Faulu Deposit-Taking Microfinance Ltd. in Kenya, also a Kiva Field Partner, we began to translate training objectives into key messages, like:

• “Know your income sources, set a financial goal, and plan how to spend wisely.” (Budgeting)
• “Savings can help you invest, pay school fees, prepare for emergencies, and avoid
unnecessary debts.” (Savings)
• “There are many financial institutions providing various services. Choose the institution and
services that best meet your needs” (Banking Services)

Once we had trained Faulu on how to adapt and use our curriculum, they experimented with innovative ways to deliver those key messages. Their comprehensive financial education program now involves a mix of face-to-face client training, DVDs based on a popular television drama, comic strips, and booklets that promote savings and budgeting behavior. To take financial education beyond their branch buildings, Faulu has also created a cadre of community-based trainers (CBTs) – influential local leaders such as pastors or chiefs – to discuss financial education topics with their community.

Since 2006, MFO’s financial education messages have been used to reach more than 29 million people in 59 countries. In whatever form it takes, financial education is helping millions of people better manage their money as they look to the future.

In part 2 of Education Services Monique Cohen will discuss how financial education and financial literacy are being integrated with the credit operations of Microfinance Institutions.

For quick links to each part of the series click on Introducing Kiva's Nonfinancial Services Blog Series.

Featured Field Partner: IMON International

2011-11-02T17:41:00.000-07:00

An IMON Borrower - Photo Credit: IMON International

By Staci Chirchick, Review and Translation Program Intern

IMON aims to: Provide entrepreneurs with access to high-quality financial products and services such as business loans, agro loans, consumer loans, and micro leases; attract high-quality employees and promote their professional development; and maintain a sustainable and self-sufficient microfinance institution.

Highlights

Kiva Field Partner since: December 2007

Loans through Kiva: $5,546,650

Number of entrepreneurs assisted through Kiva: 4,712

Mission: “To promote sustainable economic development and improved quality of life in Tajikistan by insuring reliable access to financial services for the economically active members of the population.”

Transportation

IMON International has many entrepreneurs in the transportation sector. In Tajikistan, the infrastructure in place has been decaying for some time. There are no trains, or long-distance buses, and very few plane routes. To top that off, it is an extremely mountainous country, so car travel can take quite a long time. However, this is the way that most people get around. Kiva Fellow, Chris Paci says, "It's got to be tough to spend so many hours on the road every day, to pull 12- and 14-hour days to bring home enough money for their families, and, if they're long-haul taxi drivers, to spend nights away from their wives and kids. But even so, I've found my taxi drivers here to be entrepreneurial, energetic, endearingly dismissive of the rules of the road, and well worth the support from Kiva lenders!"

Rural Borrowers

One of the larger obstacles that IMON faces is the huge number of borrowers that live in extremely rural places. These villages tend to be very isolated and atop mountains with only gravel roads. IMON has been extremely innovative with how they reach these people. They have embraced technology by enabling internet access in all of their branches, which is extremely uncommon among microfinance institutions (MFIs). Last year, they implemented a repayment system through mobile pay kiosks, which are everywhere on the sidewalks of Tajikistan.

Too Much Microfinance?

One obstacle that IMON and other MFIs face is that microfinance has grown very rapidly. There are over 100 MFIs and a country population of only 7 million. This growth leads to a lot of competition between the MFIs to attract new clients. This can put the MFIs and the clients at risk because with so many options for loans, clients can easily become overindebted. IMON is fortunate in that they are one of the largest MFIs in the country, serving 36% of microfinance clients, making them more stabilized.

Women at IMON

IMON offers free financial literacy workshops geared specifically towards starting up new businesses for women. These programs are designed to empower women in Tajikistan’s conservative society.

Kiva’s Review and Translation Program Interviews some of Kiva’s All-Star Staff!

2011-11-01T11:05:00.000-07:00

By Staci Chirchick, Review and Translation Program Intern

Every month, Kiva’s Review and Translation Program (RTP) produces an informative newsletter for its volunteers. It is full of stories and updates about Kiva’s many programs, volunteers and staff. In recognition of Kiva’s 6th birthday, the newsletter recently featured interviews of some our long-term staff members who talked about their involvement with RTP. We’ve decided to share the interviews with our blog community because we think they provide unique insights into the world of Kiva! We’ll be posting one interview a week for three weeks. We invite you to follow along as we get to know:

Naomi Baer, Senior Director, Global Partner Operations (Part 1)

Michelle Kreger - Regional Director, West Africa, Middle East & North Africa (Part 2)

Sam Mankiewicz - Chief Technical Officer (Part 3)

Here’s Part 1!

Naomi Baer - Senior Director, Global Partner Operations

Naomi Baer

1. How did you first get involved with Kiva, and what different hats have you worn since then?

I joined Kiva in February 2006 as a volunteer, after being inspired during a trip to West Africa to explore microfinance. I've worn a couple of different official hats, creating Kiva's Review and Translation Program along with other early volunteers, running it as a staff member, and then moving into my current role overseeing Kiva's Global Partner Operations group. In reality, every member of Kiva's staff and intern teams wears dozens of hats every day, since Kiva is an organization that likes to encourage broad participation and always has a lot to do since we innovate and grow so rapidly!

2. What one thing at Kiva still makes your heart race?

Every morning, when I walk into the office, I walk past several people who have stunning photos from their trips abroad cycling through on their computer monitor. It's constantly inspiring to work with people who have such an interest in and exposure to so many parts of the world, and who find beautiful photos everywhere they go. The deep connection people have to the work we're doing and their passion to continually improve on what we do is what I love about being here.

3. What has been one of the most challenging things you have had to overcome at Kiva?

The holiday season at Kiva has always been a great challenge. The Review and Translation Program was born in December 2006, right after Kiva was featured on Frontline PBS on October 31, 2006. We quickly needed to ramp up the volume of loan profiles coming in from Field Partners as demand from lenders skyrocketed. With no real system in place, and a group of about 15 enthusiastic volunteers who were completely new to this Kiva thing, we had a lot of fun getting to know each other and working right through Christmas to keep the website full of loans.

Ever since, the holiday season has continued to challenge the organization, as we get so much publicity and interest at this time of year, particularly from new lenders who receive gift certificates. It takes a lot of work to get the website ready. The Kiva staff start preparing to create higher loan volume for the holidays early in the year, building up Field Partners. In the fall, we start working closely with the volunteer teams to get extra help during this busy season. We've had five great holiday seasons now, selling millions of dollars in gift certificates and seeing huge peaks in lending, and each year, it's exciting to face that challenge and see all that we can accomplish.

4. How have the volunteers affected your role at Kiva?

In every way! First of all, what truly drew me in to Kiva after I began getting involved was the contact with volunteers. Kiva editors and translators are some of the most interesting people I've known, with every kind of interest, so many bits of knowledge, and so willing to share. While I don't get to work with volunteers as much today as I did in years past, when I've had a long day of meetings, to get re-inspired, I often take a quick look at the Volunteer Forum [an online space used by volunteers to discuss all things Kiva] because I know there will always be a great thread out there. Besides providing inspiration, Kiva volunteers have shaped their own role in so many ways over the years, and consequently shaped how Kiva does its work. For example, when we started working with volunteers to edit and translate loans, they weren't asked to review the loans for "issues” [for instance, inconsistencies in loan details]. Kiva staff were still sending loans to fundraise on the website manually, and checking each loan before releasing it. Soon, however, the volunteers began sending emails to report problems, and we realized that volunteers were going to be those who knew our loans the best and could help us check them for policy compliance and consistency. So to me, Kiva volunteers are both the spirit and the core of how we work at Kiva, and have changed the shape of most of my days!

If you are interested in volunteering with RTP, check out their page on our website!

Featured Volunteers: Microloan Review and Translation Team Leaders

2011-10-31T17:04:00.000-07:00

Author: Daniel Hinds, Review and Translation Program Intern

Have you ever wondered how Kiva manages to post so many loan profiles on Kiva.org?

Behind the scenes, our dedicated worldwide teams of editing and translation volunteers review each and every loan description that comes in from the field and prepare them for posting. And with Kiva's success, these teams are growing.

To keep this process working smoothly, several volunteers step up to the plate every year to lead teams of up to 30 Kiva Editors or Translators. These wonderful people support Kiva because they want to use their professional skills to make an impact, and because they love to volunteer with the dynamic, creative organization that's a leader in web-based micro-lending. And they do it all from the comfort of their home office, kitchen table, or neighborhood internet cafe. The Kiva Review and Translation Program truly could not function without these amazing volunteers, so let’s get to know them.

Amy is the Team Leader for the editing team aptly named No. 1 Editing Team.

Amy's Favorite Kiva Story/Moment: Realizing that my actions as a volunteer for Kiva have a direct impact on improving other people's lives.

Erica is the Team Leader of The Write stuff editing team.

Erica's Favorite Kiva Story/Moment: I tried to re-lend my Kiva credit last Christmas and couldn't hit submit fast enough! I had to keep trying until I finally was the fastest lender. It still amazes me to think of the number of people all over the world hitting submit at the same time on the same loan.

Kent is the Team Leader of the Only the Loanly editing team.

Kent's Favorite Kiva Story/Moment: As a fundraiser for another organization, I donated a Kiva gift card as one of the raffle prizes. My friend happened to win the prize. Months later, he put the gift card to use and made his first Kiva loan. He forwarded me a Kiva email with an excited message saying, "my loans are getting repaid!"

Mari is the Team Leader of the Kiva Comma Squad editing team.

Mari's Favorite Kiva Story/Moment: Ran into Kiva in class- a professor pointed me there and I immediately became hooked. Subsequently I've found out that all of the coolest people I am friends with were already in the know- better late than never! I also loved running into my first Samoan loan last week (RPCV Samoa 05-06), made me feel at home.

Margot is the Team Leader of the French translation team Qui Va Bien (get it?).

Margot's Favorite Kiva Story/Moment: Whenever Kiva comes up in conversation, everyone is always so excited by what the organization and borrowers are doing. It's nice to find an international development organization that everyone can get behind.

Veronique is the Team Leader of the French translation team Baobab.

Veronique's Favorite Kiva Story/Moment: Here are a few:
*Hearing one of my team members relate his encounter in Togo with a Kiva entrepreneur.
*Converting people to Kiva and getting so excited talking about it.
*Kiva always provides an interesting topic of conversation at parties; Developing technologies featured by Kiva borrowers yet not well known in the US, or “tontine”, “merry-go-round”, “cesta” aka “lending circles”.

Chris is the Team Leader of the Russian translation team Russiva.

Chris' Favorite Kiva Story/Moment: In Peace Corps Ukraine, seeing firsthand the benefits of microfinance and finding a community of supporters from around the world. I just googled 'microfinance' and Kiva is the top result.

Anna-Maria is the Team Leader of the Spanish translation team Magnificent 7.

Anna Maria's Favorite Kiva Story/Moment: I still remember vividly my introduction to Kiva. A friend sent me $100 to lend which is a wonderfully exciting gift to receive! Sifting through the profiles, I was enthralled with how easy and inviting Kiva made it to give.

Danielle is the Team Leader of the Spanish translation team Los Kivatores.

Danielle's Favorite Kiva Story/Moment: The sense of community that you feel with someone as soon as Kiva comes up in conversation! My favorite moments have been where people who were previously unaware of Kiva have gone off to investigate it further and reported back to me in glowing terms the fantastic work that Kiva does.

Jason is the Team Leader of the Spanish translation team Cambiamos.

Jason's Favorite Kiva Story/Moment: My favorite Kiva moment (so far) occurred just as I began editing loans for the first time. In editing the first group of loans on my own, it was exciting to then see those loans pop up on the website and feel like I was a part of the process! I ended up becoming a lender on a couple of the loans in that first batch and look forward to tracking their progress.

Karen is the Team Leader of the Portuguese/Spanish translation team Latino Linguists.

Karen's Favorite Kiva Story/Moment: So far, the best thing has been seeing loans I have edited going up on the Kiva site. I also enjoy it when I get a loan to edit from a person in a town I have actually visited!

Lisa is the Team Leader of the Spanish translation team Saliendo Adelante.

Lisa's Favorite Kiva Story/Moment: Hosting LA area translators and editors at my house at a translation marathon last year. It was nice to get to know some other volunteers in person, and we got into the holiday spirit eating Christmas tamales while we chatted with volunteers all around the world and put a dent in the big holiday loan queue.

Michael is the Team Leader of the Spanish translation team Mosaico.

Michael's Favorite Kiva Story/Moment: I think my favorite Kiva moment so far was being selected for this Team Leader spot. The idea that I can do something to help so many people and also meet amazing, inspiring folks (even virtually) makes me very happy.

Natalie is the Team Leader of the Spanish translation team Pocas Palabras.

Natalie's Favorite Kiva Story/Moment: I have been a lender with Kiva since 2007, and seeing it evolve and snow ball over this period has been amazing! But my favorite moment? As of today it is a toss up between: hitting the 'lend $25' button on my first loans to two groups in Mexico at Christmas 2007, my "Congratulations, You are a Team Leader" e-mail, and seeing my first edited loan go live to the site! Ask me next month, and I am sure I will have added a whole bunch more favorite moments to my list.

Yvonne is the Team Leader of the Spanish translation team Los Habaneros.

Yvonne's Favorite Kiva Story/Moment: A film crew came to Phoenix, Arizona, to film me for a Kiva B4B promo video. They interviewed me and then flew around the world to Cambodia to film one of my borrowers. We both got to send video messages to one another. It was an amazing experience, and I still get emotional to this day when I watch the video. That was when I knew without a doubt that I had to do whatever I could to support such an amazing organization. We're changing lives.

Please give our next class of Team Leaders a warm welcome as they kick off another fantastic year of supporting Kiva - one loan at a time.

Kiva love,
Kiva Review and Translation Program (RTP) Staff

P.S. Interested in using your professional editing or translation skills to help Kiva out? Check out our Volunteer Page to find out how.

Welcoming Al-Amal Microfinance Bank, Kiva’s First Field Partner in Yemen

2011-10-31T09:00:00.000-07:00

Please join me in welcoming Al-Amal Microfinance Bank, Kiva’s first field partner in Yemen, to kiva.org! Al-Amal Microfinance Bank began lending activities in 2009, and has since grown at an impressive rate. Today, Al-Amal is the largest Microfinance Institution in Yemen despite its newness. AMB has disbursed over 30,000 loans and serves clients out of 14 branch offices located throughout Yemen. As of August 2011, 28% of Al-Amal’s active borrowers were youth, and 58% were women.

Al-Amal is the first microfinance institution in the Arab world to offer exclusively shariah-compliant loan products (if you would like to learn more about Islamic Microfinance, CGAP provided an interesting survey of the market in 2008 entitled Islamic Microfinance: An Emerging Market Niche), and has received numerous awards for providing innovative Islamic loan products, most recently, the Islamic Microfinance Challenge 2010, for which Al-Amal competed against 132 other institutions from 43 countries; and the global award "Most Innovative Microfinance Product" in Geneva, Switzerland in 2011.

Al-Amal has shown itself to be both nimble and innovative in its approach to reaching its target clientele. In order to attract youth clients, the bank lowered guarantee requirements, and made its ID requirements more flexible, since many youth do not have official ID. But it is far more interesting to hear about Al-Amal’s challenges and successes and from the bank’s founder, Mohammad S. Al-Lai:

But the question you may be asking is: How is Al-Amal doing right now, given the political unrest in Yemen?

I was impressed by the Al-Amal team’s will to push forward with the Kiva training process during the week of September 19, in spite of the precarious security situation in Sanaa. Though of course, the decreased mobility and insecurity that result from the violence in Yemen have affected peoples’ desire to take on loans, Al-Amal continues to disburse, and their clients continue to seek to grow their businesses (as evidenced by Kumria, who took a loan to buy stock for her gift shop on September 14. And of course, one can only imagine that Al-Amal’s clients are happier than ever that Al-Amal can keep their hard-earned savings safe. After collaborating with their team over the past month, I do not doubt that Al-Amal will continue serving its clients’ interests far into the future, whatever the outcome of the current political unrest may be.

To learn more about Al-Amal, visit Al-Amal's website, their Kiva partner page, or their first Kiva borrower profiles. Welcome to Kiva, Al-Amal Microfinance Bank!

Geoff Davis Returns to Kiva's Board of Directors!

2011-10-26T12:04:00.000-07:00

Written by Fiona Ramsey

Kiva is honored to announce Geoff Davis has rejoined Kiva’s Board of Directors!

Geoff Davis is well-known within the microfinance space, having worked with Muhammad Yunus and Alex Counts in creating the Grameen Foundation, serving as CEO at the microfinance accelerator Unitus, Co-Founder of Unitus Equity Fund, working with several microfinance institutions on the ground, and of course first joining Kiva’s Board of Advisors back in 2006, before Kiva was even a year old!

We are thrilled to welcome Geoff back on board, bringing with him more than fifteen years of microfinance experience and expertise. To reintroduce Geoff to the Kiva community, we asked him a few questions to help you get to know him better.

Geoff Davis

Kiva: Your background ranges from building companies as an entrepreneur, including web and bio-tech companies, to working at and running microfinance and social enterprises, and today you are involved in organizations and companies that touch on environmentally and socially friendly waste management, social innovation and microfinance.

At what point did your focus shift to social enterprises, and was there an event or experience that really drove that shift for you?

GD: There was.

I had grown up loving business and loving entrepreneurship. I had even started a business in elementary school where I bought Red Vines licorice in bulk and sold them at school for twenty cents each, and thought it was the coolest thing ever. I tripled my money in a week as a 10 year old! I loved the idea of markets, and business, and entrepreneurship.

At the same time, my grandfather was one of the early administrators of the Peace Corps, so I had that ethos as well, and I knew that eventually I wanted to do something to do good in the world. Like many people I figured I would go through a business career, do well, amass some wealth and use that money to do good in the world.

The experience that shifted me away from that track started when I went to Mexico in the early 90s to start a microcredit program. In college, I had started a company that I sold shortly after graduating. Once the company sold, I decided to go down to Mexico to start a microcredit program and see how it all worked. At that time, nothing much was written on microfinance, it was largely unknown. I had heard about microfinance and thought it was totally cool, this combination of entrepreneurship, business, and helping people: the best of all worlds.

In Mexico I worked with an NGO that was an agricultural extension, helping very poor rural farmers improve their agricultural yield. They had wanted to add a microcredit component, so we teamed up and I helped build out their microcredit structure. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was doing something very different in that I designed it to cover its costs. It just seemed like an obvious thing to do, as an entrepreneur, even though the program was set up as a nonprofit. The program was successful, and it did cover its costs, and I was able to witness microfinance for the first time. It took microfinance out of the theoretical and made it very concrete, very real.

When I came back from Mexico I joined a biotech startup and was doing international business development for them, having a ton of fun. I was still involved in what was going on in Mexico on the side, but considered that as something cool I would always be a part of, but not the core of what I would do. One day I was just thinking through my life’s plan, thinking that I was young, I had a great potential career ahead of me, and I seemed to know how to do things in business and start-ups.

I was thinking about this in a quiet moment, just pondering things, when I had this lightning bolt thought that did not feel entirely my own, that said “You can spend your entire life doing something about that suffering. Instead of using the skills that you have to amass wealth, and then using some of that wealth to help people, you can use those same skills to do good in the world right now. Period. That can be your focus.” And you know, putting this into words is hard because it was like an existential thing, this jolt, but at the same time I somehow felt connected… I could imagine the three billion people in the world who live on less than $2 a day, who don’t have enough to eat, who wonder if they’re going to be able to buy medicine if their kids get sick. It felt silly to spend 10, 20, 30 years amassing wealth to only then try to do something about it. So I said “Ok, I’ll do it.”

Kiva: You have an extensive background in microfinance, including serving as the CEO and President of Unitus, and co-founding the Unitus Equity Fund.

For those who aren’t familiar with Unitus, tell us a little about Unitus’ original program of microfinance acceleration.

GD: Well, after this experience I left the biotech firm, moved to Washington DC, and worked with Muhammad Yunus and Alex Counts in setting up the Grameen Foundation – in 1997 – and did that for a number of years, which was great. Then I went back to graduate school, at Harvard, because the Kennedy School, which had a joint program with the Business School on Social Enterprise. This basically looked at how to apply business principles to social problems, which was what I had been doing, and wanted to keep doing.

I spent time thinking about microfinance, and in particular how to scale microfinance, because only 10-12% of the poor in the world had access to financial services at that point. Eventually I had this idea that if we could run a microfinance institution like a for-profit company – meaning that it would break even and potentially even make money – we should be able to finance it like a for-profit company. And if we could do those two things, we should be able to grow it like a for-profit company, enabling us to do something about the millions of people living in poverty who could benefit from microfinance but didn’t have access to it. The goal was that the number of people being helped by microfinance would be dramatically increased, scaling our fight against poverty.

Those ideas were swirling around when I met Mike Murray, who had been trying to do some things to impact poverty on a large scale, and eventually we started Unitus as a microfinance accelerator in 2001. The whole idea was to show that microfinance could be run profitably, and still have a focus on the poor, and positively impact the poor, and that it could grow much faster than it was.

We did that by combining best practices from venture capital, investment banking, and strategy and operational consulting, to grow microfinance institutions. We did a lot of analytical work around growth constraints within microfinance, and developed a rigorous methodology for analyzing and overcoming growth constraints. We would find the high potential MFIs that should be growing very rapidly – meaning that they were in a high density population area, with a good regulatory environment, and a fantastic team with a scalable product – and we would partner with them to unlock that potential, to accelerate their growth. We focused on getting them access to the capital that they needed, and building the capacity that they needed. The consulting arm of Unitus would build the strategic and operational capacity, a lot of HR work, management information technology, etc., and the venture arm and the investment banking arm would help them get the money that they needed.

The idea was that we would not change the world on our own with microfinance, but that if we could do this successfully several times – accelerate a microfinance institution to reach more of the poor – and publish the results, other people would start doing it and there would be a lot of copycats. And that is what ended up happening.

(Editorial note: Geoff Davis co-wrote a paper “Leading Growth in MFIs: Key Attributes and Characteristics”, published in 2006, which goes into more detail about the way Unitus identified MFI constraints to growth. Click here to download.)

Kiva: Is there a microfinance borrower whose story has most stayed with you throughout the years?

GD: Yes, in fact it is the story of the very first woman to receive a loan through the microcredit program I worked on in Mexico.

There was one woman in particular who was very interested in the program, and she was the first one to get a loan once we had the program up and running. When she applied for the loan, she came up and said, “I’d like thirty-five dollars please.” I thought “Thirty-five dollars? What are you going to do with thirty-five dollars? How are you going to make money on this?” She said, “I sell goat cheese in the market, and pasteurized goat cheese sells for twice the price as unpasteurized cheese. I am going to buy a specialized thermometer that will allow me to know when my milk has reached pasteurization temperature, so I can pasteurize my cheese and make more money.” I thought this was brilliant.

She started repaying right away, and a few weeks later I saw her again, and I asked her “How is your business going?” She said “It’s going great! I used to make 65 cents a day, now I’m making one dollar and 50 cents each day.” I thought this was amazing, and I asked her, “What are you going to do with all that extra money?” Now, every time I had seen her she had on the same outfit, the same shirt, the same skirt, same shoes, dirty and with holes, and it was so obvious that she only had one change of clothes, that I had even wondered how she washed them. Did she wrap a blanket around her while they were drying? I had also been to her home which had a thatched roof and dirt floor, she cooked on an open fire in the corner, and pigs came in and out at will. There were a lot of things I could imagine her spending the money on.

But she looked at me like I was asking the craziest question in the world, and said “Let me explain it to you. No one in my family’s history has ever gone to school. And now we can afford the bus fare to send my son to school, we can pay for his school uniform, which is required, and we can buy the materials – the paper and pencils – which we’ve never been able to afford. So now, for the first time in my family’s history, one of us can go to school. We are sending my son to school in three weeks.”

My jaw dropped. Thirty-five dollars had completely transformed this family’s life, and the lives of all the generations to follow. That was transformational not only for that family, but also for me. And I loved that she made that decision. Around this time in my life, I was thinking a lot about development, what ‘development’ meant, how it could be defined, and because of this experience I realized that development is simply choice. It’s expanding the freedom of choice. That woman had that extra money and she could have spent it on 50 different things, but she chose to spend it on something that would most benefit her children and her family. There was no NGO or government program telling her to send her kids to school, she was the one that said “This is what I want to do.” That was really impactful for me, that she now had the opportunity to make that choice on her own.

Kiva: You have served as a member of Kiva’s Board previously, at a time when Kiva was very young and your contributions as microfinance expert were invaluable. Kiva has grown a great deal since 2006, and you have gone on to do many other things since then. Was there a particular reason or opportunity that excited you to rejoin the Board?

GD: At first, when Matt and Premal reached out to me to ask me to rejoin, I literally said “You guys are doing fine, you don’t need me. It was great early on when I could help out, but you’re doing awesome now.” But the more we talked and the more I understood, the more excited I got.

I rejoined the Board for three reasons, on three different levels:

Personally, I really like Matt, Premal and the other Board members as individuals, as business leaders, as thinkers, and as social entrepreneurs. I enjoy spending time with them. I am enriched when I am around them.

Secondly, for the impact that is being created. The impact on the ground – the women and their families that are being benefitted by the $250 million, soon to be a billion – that’s big impact and a big structural change in the global financial system.

But what really excited me was the opportunity for Kiva to become a platform that is broader than simply traditional microfinance. Now Kiva works well: we know how to find partners, grow them, get loans disbursed to them. So the opportunity to now expand into green energy, water, health, housing, education, and to do more in the US, as well as to do more in other countries that haven’t previously been reached, that is really exciting for me – the opportunity to really view this as a platform for purpose-driven capital.

I have also expanded beyond microfinance now, and I am working in other areas, and I think Kiva really has the potential to really change the way the world works. From the individual level – I want to make a contribution – to the way businesses are funded, the way businesses grow, the way we think about business. To break down this artificial dichotomy between making money and doing good in the world. To really become a platform to magnify the impact that an individual has on the world.

Kiva: You are also serving on the Board of Directors at Vittana. How do you expect these roles to complement each other?

GD: I see these roles as highly complementary.

Microfinance is already well established: microfinance institutions know how to do microfinance, and there are lots of MFIs around the world and that makes it relatively easy for Kiva to find partners. But education microfinance is not the same thing. Some people think that credit is credit, right? But there is a big difference between a credit card and a mortgage; if you think of them like products, they are very different products in the way they’re designed, sold, and serviced. So in the education microfinance space, what we’re learning is that the back-end work with MFIs is very important in helping them with the product design, the launch, the pricing, and the servicing.

So what Vittana is really doing is creating education lending systems. Part of the way that’s funded is through a peer-to-peer model like Kiva, but that is one of multiple mechanisms that is being used to finance them. What’s really happening is building educational lending systems on the ground. Vittana is blazing new trails in educational lending in the same way that Kiva did in unlocking a new source of microfinance debt capital, and in that way I see these two board appointments as very complementary.

Kiva: Why do you Kiva?

GD: I Kiva, therefore I am.

We are extremely excited that Geoff has rejoined the Kiva team, sharing his wealth of microfinance experience with us. Geoff is excited to more directly engage with the Kiva community in an online sharing of ideas, and we are exploring different options, including a webinar. Stay tuned, as we hope to engage Geoff in a dialogue with the Kiva community soon.

Passport Series: Nepal: Part 3: Artisan Borrowers

2011-10-25T12:11:00.000-07:00

This month’s Passport Series focuses on Nepal! Nepal is the birthplace of Buddhism and home to the tallest mountains in the world! Follow us throughout the month of October as we learn about Nepal’s background, its microfinance sector, and Kiva’s presence within its borders.

Written by Guest Blogger, Abhinab Basnyat, Kiva Fellow in Nepal

Thecho village lies just six kilometers outside of Patan, a sub-municipality and headquarters of Lalitpur district. Thecho still has the charm of a village, albeit a rapidly changing one.

Kids playing on swings in Theco - Photo Credit: Abhinab Basnyat

Theco corn being dried for planting next year - Photo Credit: Abhinab Basnyat

A main road under construction in Theco - Photo Credit: Abhinab Basnyat

Thecho has a high concentration of the Newari artisan community. Laxmi, and Hera Devi are two female borrowers of BPW-Patan, who have been funded through Kiva in the past to support their woodcraft and artisan businesses.

Thecho artisans craft the bronze/copper deity statues that adorn households all over the world. Hera Devi, a mother of two, is involved in the very first step. She makes the white porcelain cast that etches the contours of the deity. She then layers it in wax to create a replica. Depending on the requested designs she will etch engravings. She has to be extremely careful as too much pressure will break the wax and she will have to start over. Once the design is complete the wax replica is handed off to someone else in the village to cast mud and cook it, then a metal smith will pour hot copper or bronze to create the metal statues that tourists often see all over Kathmandu valley.

Porcelain, wax, and metal materials used in deity crafting - Photo Credit: Abhinab Basnyat

Besides metal and wooden crafts, Hera Devi has been busy making makhmali (globe amaranth) garlands with her mother for Tihar / Diwali (festival of lights). Tihar extends over five days, and on the last day - Bhai Tika, siblings exchange blessings and the makmali flower garlands. The makhmali flower signifies longevity since it colors do not fade.

Hera Devi weaving with her mother - Photo Credit: Abhinab Basnyat

Hera Devi with her garlands - Photo Credit: Abhinab Basnyat

This is a seasonal undertaking for Hera Devi and she can prepare about twenty garlands in a day. She plants the flowers in her garden several months in advance to prepare for the festival demand. Once winter starts, she plans to sew sweaters as well.

Like Hera Devi, Kiva loans have helped support Laxmi's wood engraving and craft business. She works with her husband, Cheri Babu, who has been making etching and engravings on wood for over twenty years. They are currently creating a mast that will support a pati. Patis are public shelters like bus stands with an open face and a roof. These traditional rest-stops provided walkers a place to rest or even spend the night as they traveled. As patis have declined in use, these traditional masts have been more popular in stores and houses as they are aesthetically more appealing than concrete pillars.

Wooden stumps before carving - Photo Credit: Abhinab Basnyat

Laxmi carving wooden stumps - Photo Credit: Abhinab Basnyat

Completed carved masts - Photo Credit: Abhinab Basnyat

Lenders all over the world have provided micro-loans to women like Hera Devi and Laxmi through Kiva and its partner BPW-Patan. Each loan has helped kick-start and maintain borrowers' micro-enterprises. In doing so, they have provided critical support that has helped preserve Nepali artisan culture and heritage.

To learn more about BPW-Patan go to their Field Partner Page on the Kiva website and watch this beautiful video, produced by former Kiva Fellow, Chris Baker! For those interested in sustainable tourism, check out the wonderful travel company Chris is now running in Nepal, OneSeed Expeditions!