Showing 1-23 of 23 results
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Share Taxis Around The World: The How, Why & Design
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 26 April 2011
By Adam Cohn, Kiva Fellow KF14, Kigali, Rwanda Share taxis around the world exhibit a variety of names, including Poda-Poda, Tro-Tro, Marshrutka, Jitney, Bemo, and Bush Taxi. Similarly, the colors and designs of the share taxis vary wildly, right down to this Justin Bieber minibus in Kigali, Rwanda.
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Update from the Field: April Fools, Terrible Coffee + Getting Attached
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 4 April 2011
Compiled by Alexis Ditkowsky, KF14, South Africa We hope you enjoyed our April Fools post on Friday! While we were entertaining ourselves pulling it all together, we also found the time to attend to some serious matters: coffee in Colombia is no joke (in a bad way), some borrowers are easier to locate than others, and oftentimes Fellows must say goodbye to people and places before they’re ready to.
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Special Update from the Field: Beaches, Safaris + Cambodian Glamour Shots
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 1 April 2011
Compiled by Alexis Ditkowsky, KF14, South Africa Kiva Fellows are nothing if not creative. We’ve gone to elaborate lengths to convince you that it can be hard to visit borrowers and that when we’re not trekking for miles, we’re doing elaborate calculations or dealing with databases and reporting. In truth, it’s all a front for an extended holiday from our regular lives. You thought our recent Carnival coverage represented a change of pace? Think again!
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Update from the Field: Fun Facts, Field Visits + Back to Basics
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 21 March 2011
Compiled by Alexis Ditkowsky, KF14, South Africa For many Fellows, this week was about getting back to basics: the borrowers. In between fun facts about Kiva Fellowships, doing database detective work, and reflecting on the internal dynamics of Kiva's partner microfinance institutions, Fellows found themselves in the field again and again, much to their delight and often to the delight of borrowers.
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Realities Of Microfinance In Benin. (Part 1, The White Man)
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 16 March 2011
WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just to clarify, this is the sound of a small child bursting into tears at the first site of me. And once again it’s the sound that welcomes me as I enter a Beninese village, accompanying the loan agent to make sure my training has stuck. “Ha ha. Yovo yovo yovo yovo”, exclaims the mother (Haha. White man white man white man).
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Update from the Field: Videos, Epic Commutes + Going Beyond Microfinance
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 28 February 2011
Compiled by Alexis Ditkowsky, KF14, South Africa Another week, another incredible range of dispatches from around the world.
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Money, Money, Everywhere
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 25 February 2011
And so it was that, clinging desperately to the back of a moto taxi dodging its way to work on my first day, two thoughts struck me: Great, there’s an economy up and coming, this really is encouraging But hold on, in a country with such an active micro-enterprise economy, where is the need for Kiva funding?
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You never forget your first time
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 5 February 2011
As a Kiva lender turned Kiva Fellow, I will never forget my Kiva "first times", from my first loan, to receiving my first partial repayment, to receiving my first completed loan repayment notice. My latest first took place recently in Benin, West Africa, when I visited my first Kiva borrower.
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3 Kiva smiles from Benin
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 29 January 2011
One common theme when visiting Kiva borrowers in Benin is their positive attitude and broad smiles. Meeting these people makes my day, every day and I hope these pictures will make yours too.
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The Last Mile
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 7 January 2011
"The Last Mile" is one of the most debated concept in microfinance. Here is a real-life example from a recent borrower visit with ALIDe, Kiva's partner in Benin.
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Hello Officer (part 2)
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 8 December 2010
The vast majority of people relying on micro loans are extremely dedicated to repaying their loans on time. Here is how ALIDe, Kiva's partner in Benin, approaches borrowers with missed payments, balancing an understanding of specific situations with the desire to run a sustainable MFI.
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Hello Officer!
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 28 November 2010
A day in the life of a loan officer in Cotonou, Benin.
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Does “a path always exist”?
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 7 May 2010
In Fon, Alidé means “a path always exists (for the very poor).” This is a touching sentiment matched by the equally strong social mission of the Kiva field partner that bears its name. During my time as the Kiva Fellow placed with Alidé, I’ve been impressed with the institution’s passion and perseverance. When I meet [...]
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Party for your bank
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 26 April 2010
I like my bank in the US. The staff is nice, they have a lot of ATMs in New York City, they once gave me a fruit basket (long story)… But I would never think about getting together with other Wachovia customers to toast how much we like banking there. Yet that’s exactly what a [...]
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Fear vs. delight: The two sides to getting your picture taken for Kiva
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 2 April 2010
There are two responses Alidé’s clients in Benin have when asked to have their picture taken for Kiva: fear and delight. Generally, both paths end with laughter and a lot of pictures of me, the Kiva Fellow assigned to Alidé. Fear: They say that while Benin has about 50% Christians and 40% Muslins, 95% of the [...]
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Getting schooled at your bank
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 24 March 2010
In addition to loans (and savings accounts, social work, and coming soon – insurance) Alidé, Kiva’s field partner in Benin, offers formations, or training sessions, to its clients. Some are optional but there are three that are actually mandatory for a loan. The first class is an informational session, discussing credit in general and Alidé’s offerings [...]
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The working mothers of Benin (includes instruction video: how to strap a baby on your back)
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 14 March 2010
The one income family doesn’t exist in Benin. Just like their moms and their mom’s moms, Beninese women enter the work force as soon as they’re able and keep going no matter what. They’ll work through the rain, they’ll work through malaria, they’ll work while pregnant with all of their wares stacked on top of [...]
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Kiva partners become Kiva lenders
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 4 March 2010
Alidé’s Kiva coordinator spends a lot of time on the Kiva site, mainly from the back end, uploading profiles and journals. But she’s never experienced what it’s like to be a Kiva lender, an experience I wanted to give her thanks to the $25 Kiva gift certificate I’d received at training. Getting her to use [...]
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Not so micro credit
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 26 February 2010
One of the questions Alidé, Kiva’s field partner in Benin, asks clients when they’re applying for a Kiva loan or writing their journal update is What are your personal ambitions? What are your dreams for the future? Many of Alidés clients don’t have the luxury of thinking very far ahead (maintaining my business, reinforcing my [...]
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Power-outage season in Benin
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 17 February 2010
By Marie Leznicki, KF10 Benin About two hours into my first day at Alidé, Kiva’s field partner in Benin, the power went out. Do you have a lot of power outages in the United States? the Kiva coordinator asked me. We do. It was a tough question due to the resigned disappointment in her voice. No, [...]
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“No worries; we are always together”
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 20 August 2009
By Andrew Whiteman, KF8 My fellowship in Benin is nearly over. It has been ten weeks of hard work, but I have learned a ton and I have great stories to take back to the US. Some everlasting memories include taking a baboon for a walk (yes, on a leash), [...]
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Thank You – Beninese Style
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 12 August 2009
By Andrew Whiteman, KF8 in Benin One day, I walked into one of Alidé’s offices in Cotonou to work with the loan officers. Right inside the gate, in the outdoor waiting area, I saw about thirty women seated patiently in perfect rows. Everyone was wearing their best pagnes, brilliantly colored Beninese fabrics, so I could tell [...]
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A Holistic Approach
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 10 July 2009
Over the past two weeks, I’ve spent a fair amount of time at Alidé’s field offices. These offices are where the heavy lifting of Alidé’s work gets done. I often walk into an office to find fifty women waiting to be interviewed for a loan. Each office has about two or three loan officers, so, [...]
Showing 1-23 of 23 results
