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Showing 1-25 of 55 results
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A Promise to Readers and A Business Training Session
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 26 December 2009
I promise that not all my blogs will be about food. This will be a pretty hard promise to keep- especially when my very first post breaks that promise right from the start. I’m the newest Kiva Fellow at Paglaum Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Northwestern Mindanao, Philippines. I’m also a native Filipino who was born and raised [...]
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First-time in Calauit Island
Blog: First-time Traveler - 21 December 2009
As Alex the lion, Melman the giraffe, Marty the zebra, and Gloria the hippo escaped to Madagascar and to Africa, we also had a little escapade of our own into a small island in the Calamian group in Palawan, called Calauit. It’s a wildlife sanctuary created by the Philippine government. Since we had to catch the [...]
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Happy Birthday Balloons at a Christmas Party? Whose Birthday is it?
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 19 December 2009
By Prem Thomas, KF9, Philippines I thought my coworkers at the Center for Community Transformation (CCT) were just recycling balloons from the last birthday party to save money, but a coworker told me that “It’s Jesus’s birthday.” As I prepare to celebrate my first Christmas away from family, the Christmas spirit has become overwhelming with carols [...]
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Where to find Happiness
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 17 December 2009
I have just spent the last three days sweating, bumping, and meeting new borrowers out in the field. My butt is exhausted from sitting on endless metal seats transporting me from one borrower interview to the next. I have met some incredible women along the way, but I have reached a point at the end of [...]
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First-time in Coron
Blog: First-time Traveler - 16 December 2009
Coron is one of the must-see places in my list of destinations within my home country, the Philippines. Together with Busuanga, Culion, and several islands, they form the Calamian group of islands in the northern tip of the Philippine province of Palawan. Though not as hyped as Bali or Boracay or Phuket or any beach destination [...]
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A Lesson in Pottery
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 15 December 2009
By Edward O. Coambs Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation, Philippines Please give the video a few minutes to load, it is well worth the watch. Lorna Sagario has just shared her business with you. She makes clay pots for a living. When I came to center 35 to observe their weekly repayment meeting I was met [...]
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Signing off from the Philippines
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 14 December 2009
By Adam Preston, KF9, Philippines I was perusing through my IPhoto gallery when it occurred to me, I am almost done here. Since October, I have been working at the head office of Alalay sa Kaumlarun or ASKI. I have been on two week long field visits, a day trip to deliver relief goods to typhoons [...]
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Microfinance and Education
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 11 December 2009
by Josh Weinstein, KF9 Philippines I spent the last three days in “the field,” a term used to describe the front lines of microfinance where the money is distributed to the clients of the MFI. Beginning early Tuesday morning, I set out for the town of Valladolid, a rural municipality about 50 km from Bacolod City. [...]
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Another young boy!
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 9 December 2009
By Ujwal Kharel KF9 Hello everyone! My name’s Ujwal and I started as a Kiva fellow for CCT, Manila on Monday, December 07. For those fans of Prem, don’t worry he’s still here, and will be here for at least another month . I left Atlanta on November 23rd and flew to Kathmandu for the best detour [...]
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These are Former Street Dwellers?
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 1 December 2009
By Prem Thomas, KF9, Philippines They look like happy kids to me. As I mentioned in my first blog post, at the Center for Community Transformation Credit Cooperative (CCT) it’s not all about microfinance. I had the chance to take a look at some of the work CCT is doing with street dwellers (homeless) throughout the Philippines. Many [...]
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“Tis the season”….Filipino Style
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 30 November 2009
Mary Riedel KF9, Philippines …”Tis the season,” and, “twas the season” from the moment I arrived in the Philippines on October 3rd – a Kiva Fellow bound for Kiva’s Microfinance Partner ASKI. (Microfinance field partners, are a critical link in connecting Kiva lenders with Kiva borrowers. Check out this rad video to learn more about [...]
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Living Conditions of a Kiva Fellow
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 27 November 2009
By Ed Coambs, Philippines, Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation I have created this short video to show you what my room at Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation looks like. I have been so blessed because as I have talked with my other Kiva Fellows I learned how good I have it. I have hot water, [...]
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After the Deluge – Election Violence and a Tropical Storm in Mindanao
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 26 November 2009
By Eva Wu, KF9 Philippines The world has been abuzz with Monday’s news of the election “massacre” in Maguindanao, Mindanao. About 50 lawyers, journalists and relatives of local politicians were abducted and brutally killed because of their affiliation with an opposition politician. This horrific event is being followed closely by the international media, including the New [...]
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Are These Borrowers Legitimate?
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 25 November 2009
Ed Coambs KF9 Philippines, Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation What will the field hold for me today as I go out to complete my first Kiva mission. I have been asked to spend time completing ten borrower verifications. The idea is first introduced to me during my fellowship training. The borrower verification process is one of [...]
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My Field Trip to Tuguegarao City
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 22 November 2009
By Adam Preston, KF9, Philippines In addition to being a very hard word to spell, Tuguegarao (pronounced too-gig-a-raou), is the location of one of the ASKI branches that posts their clients on the Kiva website. It’s also the destination of my second trip to the field. One part of my job as a Kiva Fellow is [...]
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“Ok. Next question…”
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 18 November 2009
Mary Riedel, KF9, Philippines “…What do you think your biggest challenge will be if you become a Kiva Fellow?” I heard this question twice during my interview process with Kiva. On both occasions I was sitting at my kitchen table in San Francisco, working from home (experiencing some cabin fever), and planing to meet up with friends [...]
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The Savings behind the Interest
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 13 November 2009
By Eva Wu, KF9 Philippines Having followed the recent debate over Kiva’s transparency and the P2P model, the main critique that stuck with me was that there should be more transparency on Kiva’s partner MFIs. This resonated with me because I believe that Kiva has, on the whole, picked out partner MFIs that do amazing work [...]
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Weekend in training
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 12 November 2009
By Ed Coambs KF9 Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation The morning starts early, its 5:30 and I rise to church bells and a new day’s adventure. At 6:30 I will be leaving with Raymond, Presy and Masa to introduce Kiva to five Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation branches (NWTF). NWTF partnered with Kiva in July of [...]
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CCT Borrowers Often Work in the Sidelines
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 7 November 2009
By Prem Thomas, KF9, Manila, Philippines After visiting many Kiva CCT borrowers, I noticed a trend that the primary business requiring a loan is not the only source of income. In the Philippines side jobs are referred to as “sidelines” or “extra income”. I have met a teachers who also sell clothing, farmers who rent out [...]
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The Most Bizarre Client Interview (Part 2 of 2)
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 7 November 2009
By Eva Wu, KF9 Philippines Bizarre is probably not the best word to describe this client interview, but without a doubt we were intrigued and utterly fascinated by the alien-looking blob we saw sitting pretty before us. Corroi, HSPFI’s Kiva Coordinator and I found ourselves staring at a live (or semi-live) sea cucumber during a visit [...]
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Hey, Joe
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 5 November 2009
By Adam Preston, KF9, Philippines The Filipinos are a very generous people. So generous, in fact, that if they don’t know your name, they will even give you a name – and that name is Joe. I am greeted in this way no less than 3 or 4 times in a day, coming from men and [...]
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The Most Beautiful Client Interview (Part 1 of 2)
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 4 November 2009
By Eva Wu, KF9 Philippines I experienced a lot of firsts during my week in the field visiting HSPFI’s Camiguin Branch. Some good, some intense, all of it exciting. Amongst all these firsts, I’m convinced that I witnessed on Camiguin Island both the most beautiful and the most bizarre client interviews that I’ll get to conduct [...]
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The Show Me Game!
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 30 October 2009
By Prem Thomas, KF9, Manila, Philippines One of the great parts of being a Kiva Fellow in the Philippines is the access it gives you to other countries with relatively inexpensive domestic and international flights. Cebu Pacific is one of a handful of budget airlines in the Philippines that allow you to fly internationally to places [...]
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The Big Blue
Blog: Timothy Allen on BBC Earth - 29 October 2009
An encounter 20 fathoms under the South China Sea
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What’s Masskara?
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 28 October 2009
By Ed Coambs, Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation, Bacolod Philippines It is time to smile! That’s right Bacolod, Philippines has a festival that is committed to smiling. After all the city is also known as the city of smiles. I have had the distinct please of witnessing bright colors, load music and smelling chicken [...]
