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Showing 26-44 of 44 results
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Faces: How We Connect.
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 18 May 2011
By Eric Rindal, KF15, Sierra Leone “To touch a person’s heart, you must see a person’s face.” (quote from My Name is Asher Lev – Chaim Potok) Lending on Kiva.org is a very personal experience. Reading a borrower’s profile, understanding a glimpse of their life, and seeing their picture, kindles, in one way or another, [...]
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Sierra Leone – a friendly welcome and a taste of paradise
Blog: Heather on her travels - 4 May 2011
This guest post from Tom Volpe celebrates Sierra Leone’s Independence day with a friendly welcome and the most beautiful beaches in West Africa. Sierra Leone is probably better known for the 2006 film Blood Diamond than for its stunning beaches, but as the country celebrated the 50th anniversary of its independence from the UK in [...]
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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: 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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Blast from the Past: KF7 turned microfinance professor visits Colombia to do field research
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 29 March 2011
What happens to Kiva Fellows once they finish their placement and get released back into the world? This is a question I have asked myself many times as I look ahead beyond my placement in Colombia--luckily I will be part of KF15 and won't have to make those decisions for a few months! Many of the current fellows will be heading to grad school in the fall, going back to their old jobs, or looking for new jobs in international development.
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Last Week in the Field: “Christmas”, Trekking, Adversity + Good Company
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 21 February 2011
Compiled by Alexis Ditkowsky, KF14, South Africa Members of the 14th class of Kiva Fellows have officially hit their stride. While we never know where the next dispatch will come from or what interesting topics the Fellows will cover next, we always know we'll be transported, entertained, and edified.
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Are Microfinance Organizations Empowering Entrepreneurs?
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 22 October 2010
By Becky Myers, KF12, Sierra Leone Illiteracy and a lack of basic business skills are one of the primary reasons why many economic activities fail. In Sierra Leone, illiteracy rates hover around 71% for females and 48% for males, one of the worst in the world. Basic business skills of many entrepreneurs are also largely lacking. Interviewing borrowers reveals that the majority of entrepreneurs commingle business transactions with personal activities. Business transactions are largely tracked mentally, translating to unknown sales, expenses and, crucially, profit.
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Education and Microfinance
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 16 September 2010
By Becky Myers, KF12, Sierra Leone A recent article from Nicholas Kristof (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/23/opinion/23kristof.html) argues that among the poorest families in the world, 2% of income is spent on educating children whereas larger percentages (6% in Indonesia and 8% in Mexico) is spent on alcohol and tobacco.
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Commercializing Microfinance
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 2 September 2010
By Becky Myers, Kiva Fellow, Sierra Leone For the past few weeks in Sierra Leone, I have spent time working with my microfinance organization to explore potential commercial loans. In today’s financial environment, where grants can fluctuate wildly and loans like Kiva’s are a rare gem, the organization is focused on scaling up its business.
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Finance in Freetown
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 12 August 2010
By Becky Myers, KF12, Sierra Leone Shuttling around Freetown, Sierra Leone, provides an immediate sense of the city’s vibe. The west side of town houses a cluster of NGO’s, government aid organizations and UN offices. The east side of town is home to row after row of tightly packed residential buildings and is by far the most populated area of the city. The downtown area consists of The Bank of Sierra Leone, The Houses of Parliament and various other government offices.
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Not talking about atrocities
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 16 July 2010
By Aaron Kaye, Kiva Fellow, Sierra Leone I’ve been living in Sierra Leone for the past couple months and have never in my conversations with Sierra Leoneans broached the subject of the fighting and civilian atrocities that shook the country during the late 90s. I discussed the topic only when friends or colleagues here brought [...]
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Deciphering all the honking
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 2 July 2010
By Aaron Kaye, Kiva Fellow, Sierra Leone Sierra Leone is a dangerous place to drive. But this isn’t for lack of communication on the part of the drivers. The chaotic streets of Sierra Leone’s captial, Freetown, are constantly buzzing with honking taxi horns and motorbike horns. I had always thought that honking was a universal [...]
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Sierra Leone’s Amazing Beaches
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 18 June 2010
By Aaron Kaye, Kiva Fellow, Sierra Leone What comes to mind when you think of Sierra Leone? Many people know virtually nothing about the country or perhaps might be able to point to Blood Diamond, the recent film that dramatized the horrible fighting that shook the country in the last decade. Having lived in Freetown, [...]
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Casual Fridays in Sierra Leone
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 4 June 2010
By Aaron Kaye, Kiva Fellow, Sierra Leone In some workplaces in the west, “Casual Fridays” are a way for office workers to dress down a bit from more formal dress codes. In Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital, office workers have their own version of alternative dress once a week: African Fridays. Each Friday many office workers [...]
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Freetown’s Poda Poda Deliver
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 14 May 2010
By Aaron Kaye, Kiva Fellow, Sierra Leone In Kenya they’re known as matatu. In Turkey they are referred to as dolmus. Here in Sierra Leone they’re poda poda. Whatever they’re called in whatever place you’ve traveled or lived, the simple minibus represents an effective, if crowded means of basic urban transport. Additionally, these vehicles represent an instance [...]
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Holiday Greetings – KF9 on Christmas
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 25 December 2009
By KF9, All Over The World Merry Christmas! This holiday season Kiva Fellows are celebrating Christmas all over the world, in all sorts of different ways. Whether it be traveling, feasting, or working hard to bring you some additional Kiva magic over the holidays, it’s safe to say we’re all thankful to be serving as Kiva [...]
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Gud Road, Light, Klin Water– Sierra Leone “101″
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 22 October 2009
By Jenny E. Kim, Sierra Leone My taxi driver Sharif is a 001– he eats 0 breakfast, 0 lunch, and 1 dinner. First started by university students in Freetown, classmates used the labeling system to identify those who were able to share meals and those who could not. The system is a reminder that in Sierra Leone [...]
