Caroline Birungi's Group

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to the Caroline Birungi group, consisting of Caroline Birungi, Teo Nassolo, Firida Nakagwa, Betty Nalumaga, Catherine Nakintu by Pearl Microfinance Limited in Uganda. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the 3 months of this loan, Pearl Microfinance Limited will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.

Dear Kiva Lender,

I am a Kiva Fellow and I'm finishing my Kiva Fellowship with Pearl Microfinance. I have been working in Kampala, Uganda with Pearl since February 2009. My daily tasks have mainly involved visiting the Kiva entrepreneurs and helping Grace, the Kiva Coordinator at Pearl, to improve the system that is used to post loans from Pearl on Kiva’s Web site.

First, I want to say - thank you for all your support for the entrepreneurs at Pearl Microfinance Limited!

Pearl has been working with Kiva for about 20 months. In that time, Kiva lenders have funded over 5,000 entrepreneurs and lent more than $1.5 million! You are receiving this message because you were one of those lenders.

Pearl is an interesting microfinance institution. Unlike many other microfinance institutions on Kiva, Pearl is a for-profit organization. Although this may make some people cringe, during my time here, I have come to see it as a tremendously positive thing. Pearl is constantly trying to make its processes as efficient and effective as possible. They are concerned about retention of clients and having a good reputation. I think this forces them to create loan products that are appealing to the clients.

Uganda’s microfinance market is very large. There are many clients and many providers. Although there are a large number of providers, the providers are not necessarily in multiple locations in Uganda. Pearl is one of the most widespread microfinance institutions in Uganda. It has offices in many different locations, and the credit officers are committed to using public transport or riding their motorcycles for hours to meet clients which makes the range even larger!

Until a few weeks ago, Pearl was not able to post loans from this huge geographical area on Kiva’s Web site. They could post only from their central location. While I was serving there as a Kiva Fellow, Grace and I were able to change the process so the Pearl employees can post from several locations in Uganda.

Pearls’ clients have been incredibly inspiring! I loved meeting them, hearing the ways that their lives have changed because of their loans, and meeting their children, who will grow up more comfortable because of the investments that their parents are making.

• Read about a hairdresser whose loans really changed her life:

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=62179&_te=mj

• Read about a Ugandan florist with many dreams:

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=94810&_te=mj

• Read about a woman who just went into the business of raising pigs!

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=96144&_te=mj

Although there are many wonderful stories that you hear, there are also stories of clients who fall sick or lose family members and cannot repay their loans. These stories are rarely reported on the Kiva Web site, because the Pearl entrepreneurs who cannot repay are members of loan groups, and when a group member cannot repay, the group covers for the individual.

Listen to one young lady speak about her mother, who fell sick and will be unable to repay her part of the group loan. Her mother has since passed on and the group has repaid Maritta’s portion of the loan. http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=68212&_te=mj

During my time here, Grace, the Kiva Coordinator, became very interested in getting involved in the lending team for Pearl. I hope that you will join this team to continue to get updates about Pearl from Grace and get the chance to communicate with other supporters of Pearl!

http://www.kiva.org/community/viewTeam?team_id=4661&_te=mj

Thanks again for all your support for Pearl!

Sincerely,

Stephanie Koczela

KF7 Uganda