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Blog: Ciao Bambino! - 18 March 2011
People refer to a vacation in Africa as a trip of a lifetime. And it is. Traveling to this continent is a big trip in every way — the preparation, expense, travel time required to get there — are consequential. What really makes it a trip of a lifetime, however, is the wondrous experience of being in a place where you are able to witness the very essence of our world in the most powerful and authentic way, i.e. one that is raw and unadulterated. What you experience life changing ...
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Family Safari in Africa FAQ
Blog: Ciao Bambino! - 8 March 2011
My dream of taking a family safari in Africa was fulfilled last week; we just returned from a 9-day vacation in Kenya and Tanzania. We visited the Masai Mara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, and Lake Manyara national parks. I learned so much during the planning and execution of this trip — my head is spinning with all the details and tips I want to share. Our trip was absolutely phenomenal in every way — a true experience of a lifetime.
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A Kiva Fellow’s Photo Album: Six Months Along The Equator
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 22 February 2011
By Tara Capsuto, KF12 Ecuador / KF13 Kenya I recently concluded my Kiva Fellowship that has spanned 6.5 months, 5 of Kiva’s MFI field partners, 2 continents, countless long haul buses, and roughly 12,000 miles of travel. As a member of Kiva Fellow’s 12th class (KF12) I headed to Ecuador in July, 2010 to work [...]
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Giant bunny rabbits, small loans
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 1 February 2011
By Tara Capsuto, KF13, Kenya This blog really is about giant bunnies. It’s also about asset financing and how loan groups are working together, with the help of Juhudi Kilimo (one of Kiva’s field partners) to raise rabbits and boost their incomes. Juhudi provides an innovative, agriculture-based, micro-asset financing loan product to assist smallholder farmers [...]
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How to Be a Local in Kenya
Blog: GoBackpacking - 31 January 2011
There's nothing more Kenyan than eating chunks of pure enriching glutinous animal fat!---------Join Travel Blog Success today and learn to build a better travel blog.Membership includes 12 lessons, community forum, audio interviews, and a blog.
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Mobile Payments: the Devil is in the Details
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 21 January 2011
By: Tara Capsuto, KF 13, Kenya Only 4 million Kenyans have bank accounts. Over 10 million people – approximately 40% of the adult population — in the country now use the M-PESA money transfer service. The rapid growth of mobile payments in Kenya in recent years has been hailed as the key to unlocking financial [...]
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Magnificent Mountains
Blog: Canada's Adventure Couple - 14 January 2011
What is it about mountains? Why are we so obsessed with those great, foreboding hunks of rock? They’re challenging, dangerous and so far removed from the warm sanctuary of our living rooms they may as well be on another planet.
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Pic of the Week: Breakfast in the Serengeti
Blog: Solo Traveler - 13 January 2011
The Pic of the Week is drawn from photos submitted to the Solo Travel Society Facebook Group, providing an opportunity for solo travelers to share with us a favourite photo from their travels. This week’s pic by Solo Travel Society member Pat was taken in the Serengeti in Kenya.
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Kiva Fellows: Kicking off 2011 Around the World
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 1 January 2011
By Kiva Fellows, Various corners of the globe Around the world, Kiva Fellows are kicking off 2011 in all sorts of different ways. Here’s what a handful of KF13-ers are doing to ring in the New Year. Enjoy and Happy 2011!
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Top 10 Literary Travel Books of 2010
Blog: AlpacaSuitcase - 28 December 2010
One of the pleasures of travel is reading a good book set in the country you are visiting. A well-written book adds context to the things that you are seeing everyday and allows you to understand more of the culture. David Bennett at Quillcards, left a comment on this blog when talking about how learning about a country enhances your experience of it. He used the phrase “knowledge puts depth into a flat landscape,” which I think is a great way to sum it up.
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From Rwanda to Kenya: Why Lend Through Kiva
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 22 December 2010
By Jennifer Coronel, KF13, Kenya In the summer of 2009, I spent a few weeks in the small East African nation of Rwanda. I was there as a student as well as an observer, one who could testify to others about conditions in Rwanda today. Like in any country, various standards of living could be found, from upper-class mansions to poverty-stricken slums. However, never before had I seen these extremes exist so closely together. More often than not, poverty is the result of circumstances difficult to change.
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Voices from Nairobi: Justice for Kenya?
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 22 December 2010
By Tara Capsuto, KF 13, Kenya Kenyans breathed a collective sigh of relief on Dec 15th when the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced the much anticipated list of Kenyan leaders suspected of organizing the violence following the disputed 2007 election that left 1,200 Kenyans dead and an estimated 500,000 more displaced from their homes. The [...]
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4,107 Beans: A Kiva Fellowship in Numbers
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 8 December 2010
By Katie Morton, KF12, Yehu Microfinance Trust, Kenya When I landed at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in July, I was determined to learn, absorb, and live like a Kenyan. It turns out this wasn’t the most realistic goal given barriers like the timeframe of 90 days and the whole mzungu factor. But I tried anyway (which entailed a whole lot of beans).
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How Faulu Kenya learns from its clients and clients learn from each other
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 3 December 2010
By Tara Capsuto, KF13, Kenya Nestled in the hills of Kikuyu farmland, 500 of Faulu Kenya’s dairy farming, matatu driving, and kiosk-owning clients gathered for a half day of telling their microfinance institution (MFI) what they really think. Faulu Kenya’s mission statement is, “To listen and empower Kenyans by providing relevant financial solutions.” Faulu, whose [...]
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Deciphering a Treasure Map: How to Find a Kiva Borrower
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 27 November 2010
By Katie Morton, KF12, Yehu Microfinance Trust, Kenya Stepping outside of the office and into the nooks and crannies of an unfamiliar land is fun and exciting…at first.
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12 Greatest Places to Visit in Africa, Part 1
Blog: Canada's Adventure Couple - 5 November 2010
The African continent enjoys a vast and ever-changing landscape from lusciously fertile jungles through to the hot, arid desert. If you are visiting anywhere in Africa or better yet traveling through, there are some breath-taking places you won’t want to miss out on. Below are the first 6 great places to visit in Africa.12 Greatest Places to Visit in Africa, Part 1 is a post from: The Planet D: Canada's Adventure Couple
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Adventures in East Africa
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 1 November 2010
By Katie Morton, KF12, Yehu Microfinance Trust, Kenya A perk of the Kiva Fellowship is having friends who live and work in diverse locations around the globe. This is the story of some KF12s that met up and the ridiculous adventure that ensued.
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Five adventurous destinations around the world
Blog: Vagobond.com - 27 October 2010
Adventurous destinations are the stuff of travel dreams. This week, guest blogger Rebecca Kelly offers us plenty to imagine, work for, and dream of with five adventurous destinations from around the world.
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Velvet moments: travel photo of the week – Masaai women
Blog: velvet escape's blog - 13 October 2010
During my visit to a Masaai village in the Masaai Mara, Kenya, the ladies of the village came out to greet us. Read the accompanying post: “The Majestic Masaai Mara“. See other Velvet Moments: Impalas at the Serengeti, Tanzania Quebrada de Las Conchas, Argentina Bruges canals, Belgium Sacred Water Temple, Bali, Indonesia Positano, Italy The [...]
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The Mombasa Matatu: A “How To” Guide from a Daily Commuter
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 8 October 2010
By Katie Morton, KF12, Yehu Microfinance Trust, Kenya It’s 6:45 am, Lil Wayne is blasting in my ears and Tupac is staring me in the face. Welcome to my daily commute. Here's how to navigate the Mombasa matatu.
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The Definitive Travel Library Revealed
Blog: This is Ghana: All the stuff the guide books leave out...and more. - 17 September 2010
Greetings to fantastic readers and visitors to Ghana Guide and Blog. I don't know if you've heard of Wangari Maathai? She is a Kenyan environmentalist and all round bad-ass change-maker. Well, you'd say bad-ass if you were in Government in Kenya in the 90's, but we're using it in a positive sense here. As in, the kind of person you want on your team when you set out to change the world. What has Wangari Maathai done?
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African Nobel Prize Winner’s Book
Blog: A Traveler's Library - 17 September 2010
Destination: Kenya, Africa Book: Unbowed by Wangari Maathai A GUEST POST by Gayle Pescud I was in a modern bookstore for the first time in months in January, getting well and truly high on the smell of new books (we live in Bolgatanga, the Upper East Region of Ghana, 18 hours from Accra, the capital), [...]This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for related information, click on the link to A Traveler's Library
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Uh, Oh. No Triple AAA?: Rescued by a Kiva Borrower
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 10 September 2010
By Katie Morton, KF12, Yehu Microfinance Trust, Kenya Yehu Microfinance Trust’s tagline is "serving rural Kenya." So when my motorbike broke down en route to visit a Kiva borrower 25 kilometers away from the already remote town of Samburu, I was a little concerned. Luckily enough, we were on our way to meet Gilbert, a Kiva Borrower who owns the only motorbike hardware and repair shop in the area.
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Photo of the Week – Kenya
Blog: Ottsworld - 3 September 2010
Feeling the Rhythm – Samburu Kenya The colorful tribes of Samburu in Kenya seems to always be dancing. While on safari in Samburu Park, we stopped in one of the Samburu villages; an eye opening, music-filled experience. Each of the women took our hands and brought us into their tribal dance adorning us with colorful necklaces. To [...]
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Hi, I’m Katie: I’m a Kiva Fellow and Here’s Why
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 1 September 2010
By Katie Morton, KF12, Yehu Microfinance Trust, Kenya The Internet is out, so I’m writing my first blog post—one of the few things a Kiva Fellow can accomplish without access to the “series of tubes.” I’d like to introduce myself and explain a little about why exactly I wanted to move across the globe, give up access to reliable water pressure, and work for 12 weeks for free.
