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Showing 1-25 of 104 results
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Escape of the Week: Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda
Blog: The Adventures of D - 11 January 2012
Escape of the Week: Volcanoes National Park, RwandaLess than a two-hour drive from the rolling hills of Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, is Volcanoes National Park. Also known as Parc National des Volcans, it spans 77-miles in the Virunga [...]d travels 'round
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Same Continent, Different Worlds: Part 2
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 2 January 2012
By Kiva Fellows in Africa, KF16 Compiled by Tejal Desai Ow de body! Are Sierra Leone and Rwanda still danger zones? What challenges do Ugandans most commonly face? Kiva Fellows from KF16 bring you another unique perspective from the diverse and vast continent of Africa! We patched together an overview of each of our placement countries that includes: basic socioeconomic stats, common stereotypes (and to what extent they are true or false), greatest challenges, most common loan products at our respective field partners, and the borrowers' most common use of their profits.
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Check out the Muzungu’s Best of 2011!
Blog: Kampala Days (Diary of a Mzungu) - 1 January 2012
If 2011 was busy, 2012 looks set to be busier still! Here are a few of 2011′s highlights (if you don’t hate me by now …) TRAVELLING – Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Ethiopia, Turkey – and of course, Uganda. Kenya - The Naivasha Relay (84km from Nairobi to Lake Naivasha) is one of the highlights of Nairobi [...]
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Update from the Field: Expanding the Reach of Microfinance, Downsizing Development + Why We Kiva
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 31 October 2011
Compiled by Kathrin Gerner, KF16, Rwanda This week, you have no fewer than 14 new articles to choose from on the Kiva fellows blog: Let the fellows take you along on borrower visits across the world. Learn how Kiva field partners expand the reach of microfinance in Rwanda, fill the microfinance donut hole in Sierra Leone and improve social performance in Uganda. Find out what poverty is like in urban Tajikistan and rural Burkina Faso. Get inspired by one of the creative ways to bring renewable energy to the developing world in the form of a soccer ball.
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Going the Distance: Expanding the Reach of Microfinance in Rwanda
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 24 October 2011
By Whitney Webb, KF16, Rwanda One of the biggest challenges of providing access to financial services to those living in poverty is the actual logistics of expanding the services into some of the most remote areas of the world. 92% of Rwandans live in rural areas.
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Say a Little Prayer for the Portfolio: 5 Questions about Christian Microfinance in Rwanda
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 10 October 2011
By Kathrin Gerner and Whitney Webb, KF16, Rwanda Before coming to Rwanda, we both had no idea what it meant to work for a Christian bank. Islamic banking, yes, that is something we had heard about before. But Christian banking?
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Update from the Field: Going Pilot to Active, Meeting Borrowers + Technology and Social Performance
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 19 September 2011
Compiled by Kathrin Gerner, KF16, Rwanda It has been a busy week for bloggers. The 16th class of Kiva fellows (KF16) hits the ground running and invites you to share their first experiences in their host countries across the globe. Arrive in Georgia just in time for harvest season. Continue to Sierra Leone to watch a new Kiva field partner go from pilot to active. Jump out of a plane in Rwanda - but not without a few parachutes - and learn more about agricultural loans. Bump into a Kiva borrower in Ecuador. Travel to Burkina Faso - a poor country rich in culture.
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Agriculture Loans: What Makes Them So Different?
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 16 September 2011
Agriculture loans are considerably different products than most micro loans. Agriculture loans include unique risks and potentially higher costs of servicing. In this article, Adam Cohn explains those differences, and how Kiva and Kiva lenders like you can help out poor farmers in Rwanda.
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The Kiva Parachute: Landing in Rwanda
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 14 September 2011
By Whitney Webb, KF16, Rwanda Things became real when I stepped out of my NYC apartment for the last time and hailed a cab to the airport. It was one thing to say (repeatedly) "I'm moving to Rwanda to do a fellowship in microfinance. I'm so excited.
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Updates from the Field: Costs of Kiva, Donkey Shares + the Law of Diminishing Marginal Returns
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 5 September 2011
Over the course of their fellowship, each Kiva Fellows class gleans a better understanding of innerworkings of microfinance and how a microfinance institution (MFI) can tip the scales of success.
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Isabukuru Nziza, ACB! A Kiva Field Partner in Rwanda Celebrates Its Fifth Anniversary
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 31 August 2011
By Kathrin Gerner, KF16, Rwanda Birthdays are celebrated around the world, and Rwanda – the tiny East African country of 1000 hills wedged between the Congo, Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi – is no exception. For its 5-year anniversary, the staff of Kiva’s field partner Amasezerano Community Bank (ACB) left its offices in Kigali for the shores of beautiful lake Kivu (unfortunately not named after Kiva) at the Congolese boarder. The trip was an occasion to remember key events in ACB’s history – mostly joyous, sometimes somber – but above all to celebrate.
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The Adventures of D — A Retrospect
Blog: The Adventures of D - 4 July 2011
Oh, my little blog. It’s been around since before I decided to take my career break and travel. It’s been around since I one sleepless October night in Atlanta when, around midnight, the words to the start of my story I wanted to share just popped into my head. Then, I was up. Out of [...]
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Update from the Field: Zulu Weddings, More Country-Specific Microfinance + Fighting Crime
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 4 July 2011
Compiled by Kathrin Gerner, KF15, Togo Learn about the tradition of Zulu weddings in South Africa. Find out how Kiva's partners adapt the concept of microfinance to fit their country's specific needs: from loans targeting borrowers affected by emigration in Ecuador, over a preference for group loans in El Salvador, to lending coupled with various training programs in Rwanda. Finish off your weekly reading by learning about crime-fighting Kivans in Nicaragua.
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Update from the Field: Instability, Trust + A New Home
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 6 June 2011
Compiled by Kathrin Gerner, KF15, Togo This week, the fellows continue to get their bearings in the field.
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Escape of the Week: A Silverback in Rwanda
Blog: The Adventures of D - 2 June 2011
I remember this day like it was yesterday, although it was almost a year exactly since this photo was taken. It was me, Anna, JD, Adam, Jason, and Mary, along with William, a representative from the Rwanda Development Board. We had been invited to visit Rwanda for a little more than five days to see [...]
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Update from the Field: Farewells, Mistaken Identities + Micro-Microfinance
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 2 May 2011
Compiled by Alexis Ditkowsky, KF14, South Africa We've officially hit the point in the Kiva Fellows cycle where the current batch says goodbye just as the latest group is getting their bearings at Kiva HQ. Fortunately, there are a number of posts this week to help us through the transition and cheer us up. If you're interested in a comprehensive image gallery of the hot designs for share taxis in Rwanda, we've got you covered.
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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: Earth Day, Celebrations + Exceeding Expectations
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 25 April 2011
Compiled by Alexis Ditkowsky Kiva Fellows observed Earth Day by sharing projects initiated by their partner microfinance institutions and host countries and by celebrating Kiva.org's first batch of "Green Loans". The upbeat mood also extended to anniversary parties at MFIs in Jordan and Armenia, enthusiastic endorsements to travel to Colombia, and reporting on a great opportunity for Kiva clients in Mongolia. Fellows also visited with borrowers in the Philippines, South Africa, and Armenia, and took us on a typical commute in Mexico City.
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Happy Earth Day from Kiva Fellows around the Globe!
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 22 April 2011
Compiled by Caree Edson, KF 14, Armenia One of the unfortunate sight-seeing adventures that you never sign up for when you travel (especially in developing countries) is the unseemly amount of trash cluttering the otherwise beautiful landscapes. In Armenia, it isn’t possible to see the horizon through the smog most days and the streets are covered in cigarette butts and litter. I found no exceptions to this as I inquired from other Kiva Fellows about the dire situation in their countries. Environmental education and reform are simply not a top priority in many countries.
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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: Social Quirks, Justin Bieber + Lots of Carbs
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 28 March 2011
Compiled by Alexis Ditkowsky, KF14, South Africa While it may have been a slower "official" news week than usual, I can assure you that the Fellows are keeping busy. One Fellow spent hours searching fruitlessly for borrowers in the jungle, another has been suffering from serious gastrointestinal issues (aren't you glad he didn't post about that?), and the rest of us have been plotting something very special for the end of the week.
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Hissing, High Fives & Apologies; Some Habits I Have Acquired In Rwanda
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 22 March 2011
Caitlin Ross, KF14 Rwanda - During my 5+ months here in Rwanda, I’ve made myself at home in Kigali, and adapted to the Rwandese lifestyle. I have also picked up some…interesting habits, many of which will not translate when I return home to the US in June. Below are a handful of quirks that I have acquired during my crash-course in Rwandese culture...
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‘Round the World Music (The List)
Blog: The Adventures of D - 11 March 2011
Once traveling has been completed, there are few things more precious than the memories of the experience. I am always giddy when something unexpected triggers a magical moment of Delicious Travel Recall. It can be something as little as sitting outside on a breezy warm night grasping a cup of hot beverage that takes me [...]
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Celebrating Women around the World!
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 7 March 2011
Contributions from Kiva Fellows around the globe, compiled by Mei-ing Cheok. The beauty of microfinance is that it gives people at the wrong end of the income spectrum opportunities to step out of the poverty trap. It also provides women the confidence and security that comes from earning their own income, leading to greater gender [...]
