Kiva Blog Update

Kiva Blog Update,

Social Performance in Action: Personal growth and microfinance

While many microfinance organizations are established to provide financial products and services to the underserved, and then add non-financial support services to improve their clients' ability to effectively use them, one Kiva Field Partner in Peru did it the other way around.Manuela Ramos was founded exclusively to advance the rights of women in Peru. The fact that discrimination against women ...

Kiva Blog Update

Kiva Blog Update,

Kiva releases 2011 Annual Report online!

In the six years since Kiva started, 760,663 lenders have loaned a total of $310,382,400 to 776,907 entrepreneurs in 59 different countries. Wow. Now, for the first time ever, we're releasing an Annual Report online, going deep into what Kiva accomplished over the course of the last year. 2011 was full of milestones, meaningful firsts and inspiring achievements as we connected more people through ...

Kiva Blog Update

Kiva Blog Update,

Kiva borrower Efia Crandon on the power of micro-lending and motherhood

"But mommy why?"This was Kiva borrower and Smucci Founder Efia Crandon's favorite question to ask her mother as a child."I always wanted to know why things were the way they were, if they could change and how," she says. "I used to drive her a bit crazy with all my questions." But no matter how many she asked, her mother always answered.As Efia grew up, she realized that sometimes there isn't a si ...

Kiva Blog Update

Kiva Blog Update,

New Field Partner: Barefoot Power brings solar to rural Tanzania

Join us in welcoming our new Field Partner Barefoot Power -- a company dedicated to bringing solar light and electricity to the regions in Tanzinia that need it most.Worldwide, 1.6 billion people live without electricity. Instead, they depend on kerosene lamps or candles, which cause millions of respiratory illnesses and fire-related deaths and injuries every year. But, as a social for-profit ...

Kiva Blog Update

Kiva Blog Update,

Passport Series: Credit's amazing affect on Viet Nam's hardest workers

Imagine waking up at 5 a.m., working for six hours in a rice field, then having to go sell goods at a crowded market for another six? As I sit here writing this in an air-conditioned office, I can't help but feel like my workload is trivial by comparison.Rice -- commonly referred to as the "gift from God" -- is a staple of the Vietnamese diet and national economy. In the country's most bountiful r ...

Kiva Blog Update

Kiva Blog Update,

Kiva Innovations: Financing for a cleaner, greener future

Energy drives every aspect of our lives. Lighting, refrigeration, hot water, and stoves are so pervasive that they almost fade from our daily consciousness. Yet, in many developing countries, an enormous fraction of the population has no access to sustainable energy.This lack of access keeps people poor. Thus the term energy poverty.Almost every daily task -- from preparing food to doing laundry t ...

Kiva Fellows Update

Kiva Fellows Update,

Clean Water and Safe Streets: What do we take for granted?

By Adria Orr | KF17 | Samoa Of course, home doesn’t look like this… A huge part of choosing to move to another country, even temporarily, is leaving behind the comforts of home. There are several levels to this–the ease of familiar environs, the social security of friends and family, relatively cushy lifestyle (hot water, I’m thinking of you), and of course, sometimes, your ...

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  1. Kiva Fellows Update

    More than Just Fun in the Philippines

    By Jamie Greenthal | KF 17 | Philippines Doing my best “waki” pose under the ubiquitous tourism poster in Manila. The attractiveness of a location can be defined in many ways.  When talking to friends and family or reading guidebooks, superlatives often convince us that a place is worth (or not worth) visiting.  I’m sure you’ve heard of spots that are described as having “the…

    Posted by jlgreenthal

  2. Kiva Fellows Update

    Home Is Where the Fellow Is

    Compiled by Micaela Browning | KF17 | Mozambique Fellows love to talk about the work they do in the field. From A.W.O.L. clients to inspiring coworkers to business trips that take us to the furthest reaches of the globe, discussing our 9-5s rarely gets old. Since our workdays, in actuality, rarely fit nicely into that allotted timeframe, we often find ourselves living a decidedly nomadic…

    Posted by gringacarioca

  3. Kiva Fellows Update

    Lost in Translation

    Compiled by Philip Issa | KF17 | Palestine We’ve all had these moments: Trying to impress a native speaker with our ability to speak their language, we compose an elegant sentence in our minds, open our mouths, and… proceed to swallow our feet whole. Indeed, we Kiva Fellows have had no shortage of these incidents – we’ve twisted and tortured whole phrases so that they come…

    Posted by Philip

  4. Kiva Fellows Update

    Clean Water and Safe Streets: What do we take for granted?

    By Adria Orr | KF17 | Samoa Of course, home doesn’t look like this… A huge part of choosing to move to another country, even temporarily, is leaving behind the comforts of home. There are several levels to this–the ease of familiar environs, the social security of friends and family, relatively cushy lifestyle (hot water, I’m thinking of you), and of course, sometimes,…

    Posted by adriaorr

  5. Kiva Fellows Update

    Update from the Field: Kiva’s new coffee partner and female empowerment in the Middle East

    Compiled by Isabel Balderrama | KF17 | Ecuador Palestinian female borrower and FATEN customer Rima, pictured along with family Having been in the field for a little over three months now, KF-17 fellows’ posts begin taking a retrospective look at what has been accomplished over the past few months while working with their assigned Kiva partners worldwide. From having played a role in getting…

    Posted by IsabelB

  6. Kiva Fellows Update

    Empowering Women in Palestine

    Philip Issa | KF17 | Palestine A couple of years ago, Mohammed Al-Shawaf, a Kiva Fellow serving in Palestine previous to me, wrote a thoughtful post on the complexities of implementing a women’s empowerment agenda through microfinance. Having served my placement at the same MFIs as him, I’ve had the opportunity to learn more about FATEN and Ryada’s women empowerment initiatives…

    Posted by Philip

  7. Kiva Fellows Update

    Coffee Time: Welcoming La Unión Regional Huatusco to Kiva

    Kiyomi Beach | KF17 | Mexico Nursery for coffee plants. Once these plants reach a certain size they will be planted in the fields and be producing at full capacity in about three years. La Unión Regional de Pequeños Productores de Café Huatusco (La Unión Regional) is Kiva’s first non-microfinance institution partner in Latin America.  It’s a member-owned coffee cooperative dedicated to…

    Posted by kiyomibeach

  8. Kiva Fellows Update

    Update from the Field: Thoughts on Wealth, Religion and History, Foods from the Field, and a Day in the Life of a Fellow

    Compiled by David Gorgani | KF17 | Dominican Republic A shot of a typical market in Tajikistan. As our fellowships wind down and as the first batch of KF17 fellows packs up to head home, the time has arrived to reflect on our experiences in the field and on the realities faced on a daily basis by the people living in the countries in which we’ve spent the past 3-4 months.  Whether…

    Posted by dgorgani

  9. Kiva Fellows Update

    Confessions of an American at a Christian Microfinance Institution in the Philippines

    By Jamie Greenthal | KF 17 | Philippines A towering statue in Jagna, Bohol. I must admit that I’ve avoided writing this post for two months.  It’s been particularly challenging since the topic has been the “elephant in the room” of my mind.  Until now, I’ve been hesitant to communicate how I used to feel about religious businesses because I’ve been working at one.  In the…

    Posted by jlgreenthal

  10. Kiva Fellows Update

    Sweet Deliciousness

    Compiled by Michael Slattery | KF17 | Togo Despite the often upbeat tone of fellows’ posting on the blog, I’ll be the first to admit that the position entails some universal hardships.  There is the occasional social isolation that leaves you Saturday night at home with a book and bottle of the local plonk, despite apparently leading a life of swinging exoticism and sun-drenched…

    Posted by functionkey

  11. Kiva Fellows Update

    The Evolution of Economy: A New Definition of “Rich”

    The evolution of the global economy is fascinating. The definition of a “rich country” has changed significantly throughout the centuries. I was having lunch the other day with a Canadian friend, and she was comparing the good aspects of Honduras and Canada. She pointed out Honduras’ cheerful environment, paradisiac beaches and fresh food, especially fruit. Here in Honduras, I can buy 30…

    Posted by scortesl

  12. Kiva Fellows Update

    The View from the Roof of the World: Life in Tajikistan

    By Benjamin Schelling, KF17, Tajikistan Ismoil Somoni Peak, formerly Peak Communism Tucked against well-known neighbors China and Afghanistan, Tajikistan remains virtually anonymous to much of the Western world. Most today know scarcely more about Central Asia’s smallest country than when the first British and Russian spies of “The Great Game” traversed the Pamir mountains in the mid to…

    Posted by benschelling

  13. Kiva Fellows Update

    Day in the Life of a Kiva Fellow

    Ever wonder what a day “in the field” actually looks like for a Kiva Fellow? I know I had so many questions before I touched down in Kenya, as did my friends and family back home. To answer these questions about where I’m working and what I’m doing all the way in Mombasa, I made a short video about a typical day in the life of a Kiva Fellow. While my day-to-day activities…

    Posted by devonafisher

  14. Kiva Fellows Update

    Update from the Field: Poetry, Poverty + Truly Epic Amounts of Food

    Compiled by Chris Paci | KF16 & KF17 | Ukraine Michael Slattery memorializes one of the smaller Togolese meals he's eaten; perhaps he was not hungry that day. May has sprung, and the Kiva Fellows of KF17 will soon be returning home – hard as that is to believe at times. In our own ways, we are all trying to knit our experiences together and figure out the themes that underlie all…

    Posted by cpaci

  15. Kiva Fellows Update

    The Price of Poverty: What the Poor Sacrifice Just to Survive

    Jen Truong | KF17 | Cambodia Poverty is terrible. It is unfair and merciless—I am certain many can agree to that. Often times people are born into it, other times poverty hits them out of nowhere, but the worst is when it oh so gradually creeps up into the lives of people absolutely undeserving of such a life. As my fellow KFer, Adria, mentioned in an earlier post regarding poverty, there are…

    Posted by jktruong

  16. Kiva Fellows Update

    Down the Hatch

    Michael Slattery | KF17 | Togo My favourite breakfast at the commonplace street-side caféteria. A three-egg omelette made with shallots, tomatoes and spicy green peppers stuffed into a baguette. The café au lait is prepared using instant coffee and sweetened condensed milk. French influenced and yet distinctly West African. Price, 450 FCFA for the sandwich and 150 FCFA for the coffee, or total…

    Posted by functionkey

  17. Kiva Fellows Update

    The Heart of Kiva – A Guest Blog from Mexico

    Emmanuel M. von Arx | KF 16+17 | Mexico Kiva is all about stories. What draws us all in and inspires us to lend are the stories of courageous micro-entrepreneurs that speak of hard-ship and success, challenges and dreams, love and dedication. Single mothers who request a loan to provide for their children; fathers who are able to finance their kids’ education with a business that was started…

    Posted by Emmanuel von Arx

  18. Kiva Fellows Update

    Update from the Field: Colorful Markets, Microfinance for Students + Springtime Flowers and Celebrations

    Compiled by Allison Moomey | KF16 & KF17 | Bénin Kiva fellows enjoy some time off during springtime holidays. Kiyomi enjoys a Semana Santa beach vacation in Mexico. Springtime has arrived and fellows around the world are celebrating the resfreshing new life springing from the ground. From millions of tulips in Turkey to smelling family members and friends in Mongolia, fellows have been busy…

    Posted by Allison Moomey

  19. Kiva Fellows Update

    Tulip Mania, Tulips are from Turkey not the Netherlands + Maya’s Only Florist + Fast Flower Facts

    By Kimberly Strathearn, KF 16/17, Turkey April 7 -29, 2012 is this year’s date for the 7th International Istanbul Tulip Festival which is organized by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.  Being a national symbol of Turkey, tulips have had a major role in Turkish arts and culture for centuries. Not to mention it is the current official tourism symbol. The Tulip Festival is held each April…

    Posted by act4impact

  20. Kiva Fellows Update

    Hello Spring: It’s Time to Celebrate

    Compiled by Kiyomi Beach | KF17 | Mexico Easter Egg Dyeing in Cameroon Whether shaking off the chill of winter, welcoming the rainy season, or experiencing any other climate change, the spring can definitely be a time to celebrate.  Some countries celebrate big which can mean local business owners have a surge in income from selling items related to the festivities.  Sales for new clothes,…

    Posted by kiyomibeach