Showing 1-18 of 18 results
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Safe Passage at the Border between Ecuador and Peru
Blog: Hole In The Donut - 7 February 2012
As my time in Ecuador grew to a close I vacillated over the best way to make the border crossing into Peru. Although it was possible to take a bus directly south from Cuenca to Peru, the trip would have required an eight to ten-hours bus ride to Zumba, changing to a Chiva (open sided [...]
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Producto Creer: How for a Bank Doing the Right Thing Can Pay Off
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 20 December 2011
By Emmanuel M. von Arx, KF16, Guayaquil (Ecuador) My host and Kiva´s partner organization Banco D-MIRO provides over ten different types of microloans to borrowers in and around Guayaquil: among them loans to finance housing improvements, school expenses, medication, and loans awarded specifically to employees, young clients with a business idea but no experience, and – as Ecuador´s only microfinance institution – discount loans for HIV-positive micro-entrepreneurs.
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A Typical Day in the Life of a Kiva Fellow: Loan Officer Training (Video Blog Post)
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 6 December 2011
By Emmanuel M. von Arx, KF 16, Guayaquil (Ecuador) Video posts on a "typical day" in the life of a Kiva Fellow are a time-honored tradition on the Fellows Blog. Without any more words, here is my contribution to the video series of documenting a typical day in the life of a Kiva fellow. Like all previous contributors to the series, I am keenly aware that there is no “typical day” for Kiva Fellows.
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Visiting an HIV-Clinic in Guayaquil (Part II)
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 15 November 2011
By Emmanuel M. von Arx, KF16, Guayaquil (Ecuador) One of the great joys and privileges of being a Kiva Fellow is to go along with loan officers when they are meeting Kiva borrowers and new clients. One of my most memorable outings was a visit of an HIV-clinic in a public hospital in Ecuador´s largest city Guayaquil. In the first part of this blog post I recounted how I drove with Nahin Alvarado from Banco D-MIRO´s headquarters on Guayaquil´s Isla Trinitaria to the HIV-clinic at Hospital Abel Gilbert.
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How to Spend 24 Hours in Guayaquil
Blog: GoBackpacking - 4 November 2011
veryone I talked to said the same thing — spend as little time in Guayaquil as possible. I took their advice into consideration, and did the opposite by purposefully spending a long weekend in Ecuador’s largest (and arguably, most dangerous) city. Despite Guyaquil’s size, it’s got very few hostels. I booked a hotel in the [...]
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Visiting an HIV-Clinic in Guayaquil (Part I)
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 2 November 2011
"Don't be scared to shake the hand of a client with HIV or to drink out of his glass. You cannot get infected that way." This was the message that Nahin Alvarado repeated over and over during a training session in September with a group of twelve new and somewhat incredulous loan officers of Banco D-MIRO, when I first met him.
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What´s Easier Than Getting Robbed in Guayaquil?
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 18 October 2011
By Emmanuel M. von Arx, KF 16, Ecuador As much a therapy session as a blog entry, this is the narrative of a recent robbery incident in Guayaquil: It happened two hours ago and my co-workers and I can still feel the shock in our bones. This day had begun like a normal day: At 7.30am Rubi Chaca - the Kiva Coordinator of Banco D-MIRO -, her 16-year old intern Joel Kenny Matias, and I had met outside of the bank´s headquarters, where we were picked up by Roberto, the official driver of the bank.
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7 Safety Tips for Riding the Buses in Ecuador
Blog: GoBackpacking - 18 October 2011
Safety tips to help you protect yourself and your belongings when riding the buses in Ecuador.--------- Join Travel Blog Success today and learn to build a better travel blog. Membership includes 27 tutorials, 12 expert audio interviews, private support forum, and much more.
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Guayaquil, Ecuador – Dangerous Destination or Paranoia?
Blog: Hole In The Donut - 16 October 2011
After checking into the Oro Verde Hotel in Guayaquil, Ecuador I asked for a map of the city center. The concierge hesitated for a moment before unfolding one on the countertop. He marked off the sites of interest: museums; the Malecon 2000, a broad boulevard dotted with gardens, restaurants, playgrounds and theaters that runs for [...]
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A Song and a Wheelchair Ramp for a New Bank
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 29 September 2011
By Emmanuel M. von Arx, KF 16, Ecuador What do a song and a wheelchair ramp have in common? If you are a corporate lawyer in Ecuador, you may know the answer. Everybody else, please read on. Only recently I learned that my host and Kiva´s partner organization Banco D-MIRO has its own company song! It combines a memorable piece of poetry with a rather inspired composition. A recording follows!
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What are Chances of Meeting a Kiva Borrower in Guayaquil?
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 14 September 2011
By Emmanuel M. von Arx, KF 16, Ecuador Taxi drivers were not in the forefront of my mind when I was walking out of Guayaquil´s international airport into the hot and humid air of this Ecuadorian port city. I had just been welcomed by Rubi Chaca who thankfully was driving me to my hotel. Rubi is the expert in charge of managing the loans made by Kiva lenders at Kiva´s partner organization Banco D-MIRO. Only minutes before, as my plane was approaching Guayaquil, I had been able to grasp the enormity of this sprawling city.
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AeroGal – Flying Aerolineas Galapagos
Blog: GoBackpacking - 31 August 2011
A review of my first flights on the Ecuadorian carrier AeroGal, short for Aerolineas Galapagos.--------- Join Travel Blog Success today and learn to build a better travel blog. Membership includes 27 tutorials, 12 expert audio interviews, private support forum, and much more.
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Guayaquil – The Quick Stopover from Cuenca to Puerto Lopez
Blog: Viva Latin America! - 8 February 2011
Having decided to miss out the big metropolis which is Guayaquil, we decided to attempt a brief detour into the city centre on a journey between Cuenca and Puerto Lopez. We caught a bus out of Cuenca at around 09:00 in the morning arriving in Guayaquil four hours later. I thought that we were going [...]
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Malecon 2000 – Guayaquil River Walk
Blog: Landlopers - 12 January 2011
While en route to the Galapagos last year, we spent time in the Ecuadorian port city of Guayaquil preparing for our expedition. On the return home, we had time to really explore the city and were thrilled to find one of the most impressive public...
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Parque Nacional Cajas & Around
Blog: The Road Chose Me - 50,000kms of ebb and flow - 17 May 2010
I pick up another backpacker and together we move south, through a market in Riobumba for lunch and into the city of Cuenca. I’m normally not much of a city guy but this one is really beautiful – the streets are clean, the people friendly and there is endless old architecture to admire. Unfortunately the [...]
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Parque Nacional Cajas & Around
Blog: The Road Chose Me - 50,000kms of ebb and flow - 17 May 2010
I pick up another backpacker and together we move south, through a market in Riobumba for lunch and into the city of Cuenca. I’m normally not much of a city guy but this one is really beautiful – the streets are clean, the people friendly and there is endless old architecture to admire. Unfortunately the [...]
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Neighborhood Favorite in Guayaquil
Blog: Landlopers - 18 March 2010
Returning home from the Galapagos, we overnighted a second time in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Since we had more time on the way back, we decided to follow a local recommendation for dinner and what a place this was! ‘Lo Nuestro’ is a quick and cheap cab ride from either the main tourist area or the major hotels. [...]
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Guayaquil to Montañita
Blog: One Year+ of Vagabonding through Latin America - 10 July 2009
7/5: I’m sick of freezing up here in the mountains. I’m heading to the coast! 7/6: Arrived in Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city. Although Quito is the capital of Ecuador and gets all the attention for being the center of arts and culture (and generally being a prettier city), Guayaquil is the economic hub of the [...]
Showing 1-18 of 18 results
