Carnaval de Barranquilla

Quien lo goza, lo vive! He who lives it, enjoys it!

by Rose Larsen | KF19 Colombia | KF20 Dominican Republic

Barranquilla goes through something of a transformation in the months leading up to Carnaval.

Carnaval is the one period of the year when Barranquilla becomes a tourist destination.  For four days each February or March, the city fills up with travelers eager to experience what is known as “the best Carnaval outside of Brazil.”

Barranquilla’s flag displayed during the Batalla of Flores parade (image from http://www.carnavaldebarranquilla.org)

Pre-carnaval season officially starts a few weeks before Carnaval with an event in the central stadium, where the Carnaval king and queen are crowned, and the only rule of Carnaval is announced: party, dance and have fun until your body can’t take any more.

However, you can feel a subtle change come across the city long before this, as even in December the residents of Barranquilla begin to gear up for Carnaval season.

In every public plaza, groups of youngsters can be found practicing their dances and preparing for the parades that they will perform in. Seamstresses are busy sewing costumes, stands sprout up around the city selling colorful Carnaval gear, and restaurants prepare for the crowds to flow in.

Dancers in colorful costumes during the Gran Parada de Tradición, one of many parades during Carnaval

Not surprisingly, this is a busy time for Kiva’s local partner FMSD and other microloan providers – many clients take out loans to prepare and stock up for this busy season.

Carnaval itself consists of four days of music, dancing, drinking and general debauchery, as locals and tourists alike don wild costumes and release their inhibitions. It starts on the Saturday before Ash Wednesday with a 6-hour parade featuring giant floats and hundreds of “comparsas”, or traditional groups of dancers. The “Batalla de Flores” is the most popular Carnaval event and tickets are upwards of $200 for the best seats. Other parades on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday feature fewer floats but more groups of dancers.

A float in the Batalla de Flores parade (photo from http://www.carnavaldebarranquilla.org)

Each night, revelers have endless parties to choose from. Both planned and spontaneous block parties are found throughout the city, nightly events are programmed in the main stadium, and the bars and discotecas are filled. Traditional Carnaval music fills the air and you can’t walk one block without seeing someone in a marimonda mask or a negrita costume – the whole city, from small children to old ladies, gets in on the fun.

The Characters of Barranquilla’s Carnaval

As I started perusing the Carnaval gear sold all around the city, I noticed that certain characters and costumes were prevalent. Colombian friends began to explain to me the different characters I would encounter throughout Carnaval, each with a different history and a different type of dance. To give you an idea of how diverse and unusual Barranquilla’s Carnaval is, I thought I’d introduce you to a few of them!

La Reina de Carnaval y el Rey Momo – The Queen and King of Carnaval

Each year a king and queen are chosen to preside over Carnaval. The Rey Momo, based on the Greek god Momus, god of satire, and the Reina of Carnaval attend each parade decked out in fabulous costumes. A Children’s King and Queen are also chosen, as well as queens for each neighborhood of Barranquilla, and even a Reina Gay. The Carnaval queen, the most important figure, is generally picked from the city’s elite class – this year’s queen was the daughter of a senator.

Daniela Cepeda Tarud, the Queen of Carnaval; José Llanos, the King Momo of Carnaval; Cristina Amortegui and Daniel Silguero, King and Queen of Children’s Carnaval (all photos from http://www.carnavaldebarranquilla.org)

Marimondas

Marimondas are the clowns of Carnaval. The costume originated with poorer Barranquilleros as a way to make fun of the fancy, expensive costumes that members of high society tend to wear. Marimondas wear sacks over their heads, have giant flapping elephant ears, phallic noses, pants worn backwards, colorful vests and ties. The marimonda is one of the few Carnaval characters with origins entirely from Barranquilla  - with his silly, unchoreographed dance, he represents the joking, rowdy typical Barranquillero.

Marimondas

Cumbia

Cumbia, a popular type of music and dance, mixes the Spanish, indigenous and African cultures that collide in northern Colombia. The music features African drums and indigenous flutes, and a live band usually accompanies every comparsa.

Cumbia dancers and a cumbia band in one of the Carnaval parades.

The women wear long, full skirts and the men wear traditional striped costeño hats.  The dance is a flirtatious one, as pairs of men and women dance back and forth, the women moving only their feet and hips, keeping their upper bodies still – some even dance with bottles of alcohol balanced on their heads! A popular Carnaval activity is a “rueda de cumbia,” where revelers join a chaotic group of dancers circling a cumbia band.

El Garabato

The Dance of the Garabato is a dance representing the battle between life and death, and originated in Spain. A garabato is the traditional stick used by the Costeño farmer. For this costume, men wear black pants, a yellow shirt, and a red cape adorned with colorful sequins and designs, and have their faces painted white and red. They use the garabato to do battle with Death, usually represented by someone dressed as a skeleton. Women wear beautiful black dresses with red, yellow and green features, the colors of Barranquilla. Though this costume was close to disappearing at one point, a group of locals brought it back and each year, one of the first pre-Carnaval events is the Parade of the Garabato, which takes place on a Friday evening a few weeks before Carnaval.

Dance of the Garabato

El Son de Negro

The Son de Negro costume and dance derives from the African influence in the Caribbean coast. Africans were first brought to Colombia as slaves – the nearby colonial city of Cartagena was a center of the slave trade. This dance has its origins in the region near Cartagena on the banks of the Canal del Dique, a canal that connects Cartagena Bay with Barranquilla’s Magdalena River, where there are many Afro-Colombian communities. For this costume, boys paint their entire bodies and faces black, with their lips and tongues painted a bright red. They wear colorful flower hats and use their bright red mouths to make funny faces, imitating and making fun of the way slaves used to act towards their masters. Though my politically-correct San Francisco upbringing made me slightly uncomfortable around these costumes, ultimately I always had to laugh at the ridiculous faces that they pulled.

El Congo

The Congo is one of the oldest of the Barranquilla Carnaval characters. This warlike dance was first performed in Cartagena by slaves with origins from, as its name suggests, the African Congo, and soon became a part of Carnaval as well. The men wear bright satin clothes including colorful capes, but the most noticeable component of the costume is the tall headdress covered in fake flowers of every color. A long train trails down from the back of the headdress nearly to the ground. They also wear sunglasses and carry wooden machetes that they use during the dance.

Negritas Puloy

This costume has one of the funniest origins – it first became popular in the 1960s after an advertisement for a Venezuelan brand of detergent called Puloy featured these coquettish women. They wear curly black wigs and cute red dresses with white polka dots, along with matching headbands. The headbands and other accessories are big favorites among the women who watch the parades.

Negrita Puloy (photo from http://www.carnavaldebarranquilla.org)

Joselito de Carnaval & his widows

On the last day of Carnaval, a few new characters emerge. Joselito is a representation of Carnaval, and on the final day, Tuesday, he is found dead from too much drinking and partying! Open coffins with a dead Joselito lying inside are featured in the parades on Tuesday, though Joselito often rises from the dead to salute the crowd. Apparently this character is based on a true story of a man who disappeared during Carnaval and was found unconscious on the street. His family organized a funeral for him, but during the funeral procession he woke up and sat up in the coffin!

Joselito and some of his widows (photo from http://www.carnavaldebarranquilla.org)

Joselito’s counterparts are his viudas, or widows, men and women alike who don fancy black dresses, lace and high heels (and fake breasts in the case of the men!), and sob wildly, mourning his death, stopping only to pose for pictures! With the death of Joselito comes the death of Carnaval…at least until next year! See you all at Carnaval 2014?

A Day in the Life of a Loan Officer: Comparing Honduras, Colombia and the United States

By Rose Larsen, KF19 Colombia, with excerpts provided by Wesley Schrock, KF19 Honduras, and Luan Nio, KF18 Nicaragua/KF19 United States

Loan officers are the hidden heroes behind the Kiva model.

Lenders, borrowers, Kiva staff and Kiva fellows all show their beautiful faces somewhere on Kiva.org, and while Kiva’s field partners have profiles of their own, there is little explanation or clarity behind who actually, physically, goes to the clients’ businesses, evaluates their requests, delivers loans and picks up repayments (hint: it’s loan officers!). Likewise, loan officers have varying degrees of knowledge about (or interest in) what Kiva is – some are enthusiastic supporters, while others are just doing their job, the photos and borrower profile information just one extra step as they navigate the hundreds of borrowers that they work with.

Yet in my experience, no matter what their attitude is towards Kiva, these loan officers care deeply about their clients, are well known in their sector or neighborhood, and work long hours to ensure that anyone who wants a loan has the chance to apply for one.

I got to know quite a few while here in Colombia, as I accompanied a different loan officer on each trip to the field. Loan officers are often a Kiva Fellow’s best friend in the field, so I asked a few other fellows what their experiences with loan officers was like.

Unsurprisingly, just as all of our field partners vary immensely, the jobs and lives of the loan officers vary across different regions. To give you a better idea of what a somewhat hidden yet key part of the Kiva process looks like, we’ll travel around the world visiting three different microfinance institutions and getting to know three different loan officers, learning about why they do the work that they do, and seeing a little bit of their daily routine.

Loan Officer #1: Jarling, Loan Officer with COMIXMUL, Honduras

Kiva Fellow: Wesley Schrock, KF19 Honduras

MFI Background:  COMIXMUL is a savings and loan cooperative exclusively for women in Honduras. They are a new Kiva field partner and have yet to post a loan to the site (although they might have a few up by the time this blog is posted).   COMIXMUL hopes to fund three specific products on Kiva: agriculture loans, youth entrepreneurship loans and solar panel loans – all products for which traditional funding is limited.

Personal Background:  Jarling, who has worked as COMIXMUL loan officer for 3 years, is 30 years old, married, and has 2 children.  Previously, he worked as a sales representative for a drinking water company.   This sales and customer service experience made him an ideal candidate for COMIXMUL’s loan officer training program.  After successfully completing 2 months of training, Jarling was a full-fledged loan officer, responsible for building and maintaining his own loan portfolio.  Unlike his previous employer, COMIXMUL offers a competitive salary, a benefits package, and the opportunity for career advancement.

In the Office:  Loan officers work Monday through Friday from 8AM – 5PM and Saturday from 8AM – 12PM.  The day begins and ends in the office, which Jarling walks to and from.  Administrative duties, like making sure a client’s loan application materials are in order, require an hour or two at the start and end of each day.  Jarling works out of a shared office, but has his own small desk with a desktop computer.   While clients do not use email, all clients have mobile phones.  Hence, all client communication is done in person or over the phone.

In the Field:  The majority of the day is spent riding around on a COMIXMUL-owned motorcycle visiting existing clients or promoting the cooperative in an effort to gain new members.  Jarling might visit an existing client simply as a courtesy, but more likely because the client is delinquent, or wants to refinance an existing loan, or is seeking a new loan.  He manages a portfolio of 110 clients whose businesses include convenience stores, food stands or restaurants, new and used clothing stores, bakeries, and pastry shops.  The day’s schedule permitting, lunch is taken at home; however, he often has to lunch in restaurants or food stands.

*In the video, Jarling is meeting with a client, Maria, who runs two clothing stores.  COMIXMUL has helped her to expand her business; when she started with the cooperative 3 years ago, she had only 1 store.  Jarling paid Maria a visit because she was over a week late in making her December loan payment.  Given Maria’s excellent repayment history, the tone of the visit was friendly; Jarling just wanted to find out the reason for the delinquency.  Maria explained that she had extra holiday expenses, but promised to make the repayment the following week.  Taking her for her word, Jarling amicably departed.

Implementing Kiva:  Jarling has moved up the ladder at COMIXMUL: as a veteran loan officer he now serves an exclusively urban clientele.  His initial territory was a rural area, in which agricultural loans predominate.  From a loan officer perspective, an urban clientele is more desirable because urban areas are easier to serve – distances are shorter, mobile phone reception is better, and the routes are safer.   Given his territory, Jarling will only be working with one Kiva product, youth entrepreneurship loans.  COMIXMUL’s established processes mimic the Kiva model: loan officers are accustomed to taking client photos, writing client biographies, and tracking client progress.  Hence, he doesn’t anticipate that implementing Kiva will pose significant challenges.

Loan Officer #2: Mario, Loan Officer with Fundación Mario Santo Domingo, Colombia

Kiva Fellow: Rose Larsen, KF19 Colombia

MFI Background: Fundación Mario Santo Domingo (FMSD) has been with Kiva for over three years, and has been working in the microfinance sector for more than 30 years. They work primarily with borrowers on the Caribbean coast, in the cities of Barranquilla and Cartagena. Most of their loans are for traditional urban businesses like beauty salons, corner stores and fruit stands. They also have many other social projects, including trainings for entrepreneurs, affordable housing projects, and even an ecological high school for poor children on Isla Baru.

Personal Background: Mario has been a loan officer for FMSD for almost 21 years. He studied accounting and financial administration at a local university, and says that he never imagined working as a loan officer. However, one of his professors was also a director at FMSD and encouraged him to take the exam to become a loan officer. Mario lives in a northern neighborhood in Barranquilla with his wife and two children, and has been assigned a variety of neighborhoods in the southern sectors to work in. FMSD helped him buy a car through loans, so now he is easily able to cover the wide swath of city he has been assigned. Though it is challenging to deal with so many clients, and to often have to sort through difficult situations, Mario loves that his job allows him to work with people, and seeing people improve their lives through microloans makes it all worth it to him.

In the Office: Mario generally spends mornings in the office, working from 8 to 12:30 processing paperwork, organizing clients’ loan applications, and calling clients. His phone is constantly ringing with calls from both current and potential clients. He also attends weekly credit committee meetings with other loan officers and his boss, to discuss new clients and determine whether or not they will receive loans.

In the Field: Mario’s afternoons are spent in the field, visiting clients all over Barranquilla. After stopping home for lunch, he heads out in his car to visit new clients, check in on current clients and follow up with clients who have finished their loans. Mario currently manages 260 clients, visiting 4 or 5 per day when he needs new information from them, or up to 9 when he’s just checking in to see how they are doing. Another important part of an FMSD loan officer’s job is promotions, or attracting new clients – Mario is constantly looking around for new businesses near his current clients to offer loans to.

On the day I spent with Mario, we spent time with 3 clients and stopped in to say hello to 2 more. One visit was with a seamstress who was asking for a non-Kiva loan (any loan over $1500 is provided with FMSD’s other funding source, although it has a higher interest rate), another visit was with a new Kiva client, a woman selling lotions and perfumes out of her home, and the final visit was to check in on a client who wanted a new loan but couldn’t find a co-signer to back the loan.

Implementing Kiva: Mario is a great believer in Kiva, even though taking photos of clients and filling out Kiva forms adds some extra time to his work. Though there are many other banks and NGOs providing loans in Barranquilla, Mario says that working with Kiva distinguishes FMSD from the rest.

Making a difference: There is no doubt that the loan officer job is very difficult. Mario struggles to maintain positive relationships even with clients who are constantly late with repayments. But he knows that he is making a difference not only in the lives of individual clients, but in Colombia as a whole. When FMSD first started giving out loans in 1984, it was the only player in the field. Now, many commercial banks and other organizations are giving out loans too, and Colombia is becoming more developed. He notes that by offering his clients, many of whom are very poor, access to financial services, he is giving them more confidence in themselves. They see that someone trusts them to take out a loan and this encourages them to follow their dreams and work hard to improve their lives.

But don’t take my word for it, check out what Mario has to say about whether a loan officer’s job is fulfilling or not:

Loan Officer #3: Nick, Loan Officer with ACCION San Diego, USA

Kiva Fellow: Luan Nio, KF19 United States

MFI Background: ACCION San Diego is one branch of a microfinance institution that operates all across the US as well as internationally. They are new to Kiva, with just four months on Kiva’s site and 23 loans so far. They help small business owners and entrepreneurs in the San Diego area get funding, which can be complicated for new businesses in the US, and also offer business training and workshops on important subjects like marketing, finance, and legal issues.

Differences between US partners and international partners: Luan is unique in that she worked with a partner in Nicaragua as a member of KF18, and now is serving in the US in KF19. She offers some perspective on the differences in loan officers’ roles in the US versus a less developed country:

Based on my experience between Nicaragua and the US, the main differences I can see are as follows:

• More use of technology here, especially when communicating with clients. Loan officers here are more often in the office than in the field because they use e-mail and phone more, and they have fast cars and highways so site visits don’t require much time. Everyone here has internet and some people (including loan officer Nick) have 2 computer screens.
• Both clients and loan officers here fully grasp the idea of Kiva and are able to exploit it to the fullest. ACCION SD, for example, aims to do mostly videos for both new borrower profiles as well as for journals. Kiva clients here may use their Kiva profile for marketing, though we haven’t seen this yet since ACCION SD is just getting started with Kiva.
• Here, Kiva lenders and Kiva borrowers often live in the same country, so the borrower-lender connection might be stronger. You can actually visit the business you lent to in person here. It is therefore easier for loan officers to “sell” Kiva to clients.

Conclusion

As the three profiles show, while the main functions of loan officers’ jobs around the world are the same, their lives can vary immensely.

Their jobs are divided between time in the office and time in the field, but the amount of time spent in each depends on a variety of conditions:

• Where their borrowers are located – loan officers with borrowers who are more spread out or in rural areas with bad roads spend more time in the field. All three loan officers profiled spend less time in the field than some of their counterparts, because they work mainly in urban areas.
• Levels of technological development in the country – in Honduras and Colombia, mobile phones are widespread, cutting down on some visits as loan officers can call most of their clients for quick questions, and are also able to schedule appointments in advance. In less developed areas with little access to phones, loan officers must visit clients every time they have a question, and may arrive at the client’s house when the client isn’t home. In the US, even fewer visits are required as many items of business can be taken care of via phone and email, which most borrowers have access to. Also, roads are better so trips to the field don’t take as long.
• Microfinance Institution (MFI) policies – Because FMSD clients repay their loans by going to a bank and transferring the money to FMSD, loan officers don’t have to visit clients for repayments. ACCION San Diego clients also mail checks into the MFI. This means much less time in the field than organizations that require loan officers to pick up repayments (even when it’s just a few dollars a week).

Still, in the end, these loan officers in North, Central and South America do have a lot in common – they are all dedicated to their clients, which means that even if following Kiva’s extra rules and procedures (filling out extra paperwork and taking photos of their clients) adds some time to their day, they are each happy to put in the extra work so that clients who normally wouldn’t get a loan finally have access to credit. There are hundreds or perhaps thousands of loan officers around the world who work with Kiva clients, and from what I’ve heard from other fellows, it’s safe to say that Jarling, Mario and Nick are not atypical in their commitment to their clients.

So the next time you read a detailed borrower profile, spot an especially well-framed photo or receive an interesting journal update, think about all the work put in behind the scenes by a hardworking loan officer!

Special thanks to Jarling Ramírez, Mario Moreno and Nick Miluso for agreeing to let a Kiva Fellow follow them around all day, even though they are all incredibly busy!

Support these loan officers and the organizations they work for by making a loan to a borrower from COMIXMUL, FMSD or ACCION San Diego. Want to meet some loan officers in person? Read more about the Kiva Fellows Program, and then apply to be a Fellow!

The Happiest Country on Earth

Rose Larsen | KF19 | Colombia

After traveling for almost a month over Christmas holidays, I was struggling to figure out why I was so happy to be back “home” in Barranquilla, the hot, humid, chaotic city on the Caribbean coast of Colombia that I’ve been living in for the past 4 months. I had just visited places of incredible beauty like:

Montezuma, Costa Rica

Isla Ometepe, Nicaragua

and Medellin, Colombia.

But as much fun as I had, none of these places measured up.

Then I read the news and everything made sense.

According to the Global Barometer of Hope and Happiness, Colombia is the happiest country on earth and Barranquilla is the happiest region in this happiest of countries.

Though a study of just 54 countries defining an entire population by one overly simplified emotion should perhaps be taken with a grain of salt, this is good news for a country that is still overwhelmingly known for kidnappings, guerillas and Pablo Escobar. The most common reaction when I tell people I’m living in Colombia is, “Isn’t it dangerous?!” – and this from people who have traveled through Honduras and El Salvador, countries #1 and #2 on the list of homicide rates by firearm.

But while stereotypes about Colombia are exaggerated, the country is far from perfect, and its notorious history will never be completely erased.

So that leaves me wondering, why is a country with 37% living below the poverty line, between 3.9 and 5.5 million internally displaced people, and the world’s leading coca cultivator (source) so happy?

Most Colombians remember when they couldn’t leave their town or city because so much of the country was controlled by guerillas or paramilitary forces. There are still parts of the country out of government control. And I’ve seen for myself that many live in makeshift homes, slums and even on the streets.

Still, right from the start, I noticed how cheerful and happy Colombians tend to be. Life here, particularly on the coast, is colorful and warm. Happy, upbeat music like the local vallenato or more regionally popular salsa blares from parked cars, shops and homes; traffic is a mess but there is very little road rage; and the people dress mainly in bright colors.

Colombians are huge partiers – every weekend of the year you can find at least one city or region celebrating some kind of festival. Particularly famous is the Feria de las Flores in Medellin, the annual national beauty contest in Cartagena and of course, Barranquilla’s Carnaval!

A parade during Cartagena’s 11 de Noviembre celebration

Dancers in a parade for Manizales’ Feria de Cafe

Most significant has been how warmly I’ve been welcomed into this culture. I never worry about getting lost or not knowing when to get off the bus – the moment I ask for help people scramble over each other to give me advice and make sure I get where I’m going. Neighbors, colleagues and new friends have been so welcoming, and the Kiva borrowers I’ve met have been smiling and friendly, happily posing for the pictures and videos I’ve taken and sharing stories about their lives and businesses.

Kiva borrowers in Cartagena

Kiva borrowers in San Juan Nepomuceno

I have no answers as to why Colombia is so happy, but I have some hypotheses.

One is that Colombians have been through A LOT in the past 50 years, dealing with the FARC, drug cartels, paramilitary forces and the seemingly uncountable murders and kidnappings that accompanied them. Colombians had to stay positive to get through such tough years, and now as violence is decreasing, the economy is growing and tourism is booming, there is a lot to be happy about. Unlike Americans, Europeans, and residents of many other parts of the world currently experiencing economic downturns, Colombia’s future looks bright!

Another possible reason for such high levels of happiness is the strong culture of family that is prevalent across all of Latin America. That could also explain why Latin America has the highest level of happiness of all regions of the world, almost twice as high as the runner up. Colombians are very family centric, celebrating holidays with huge family gatherings and depending on their families to help them out in rough times.

Then, of course, there is the natural beauty that surrounds Colombians at all times. Colombia is home to mountain ranges, Amazon rainforest, tropical Caribbean beaches, and fertile valleys. The cities are vibrant and varied, with an increasing level of culture as Colombia’s economy and international investment grows. From the farms of the coffee region to the clubs of hip Medellin to the beaches of Parque Tayrona, Colombia is filled with breathtaking spots.

Parque Tayrona, Caribbean coast

Valle de Cocora, Salento, Coffee Region

Or maybe it’s more simple than all of that – Colombia’s soccer team was in fifth place in the World Cup rankings for 2012!

Whatever the reason may be, living in Colombia has taught me to relax, see the bright side of things, and be more friendly and open. I think all of us in less happy nations such as the United States (#31 out of 54), Italy (#45) or the United Kingdom (#38) have a lot to learn from Colombians.

 

From left to right: Rose Larsen, KF19/20; Colombian clown; Kiyomi Beach, KF 17/18

Twelve Days of Christmas from Kiva Fellows

By Kiva Fellows | KF19 | All Over the World

A Happy Holidays to the Kiva family everywhere!  May your celebrations be filled with foods and flavor, smiling faces, natural beauty, light and memories… here are some gifts from around the world courtesy of the Kiva Fellows 19th class:

On the Twelve Days of Christmas my Kiva Fellow gave to me…

Day 1: A Turtle Heading Out to Sea!
Marion Walls | Tujijenge and Barefoot Power | Tanzania

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Watching Green Turtles hatch on a beach near Mafia Island in Tanzania was magical, and heartbreaking, because they looked so vulnerable. They’re tiny little things – no bigger than the palm of my hand – so the 15m of beach is an epic journey but they scramble forward determinedly despite the obstacles.  I was thrilled to see this little guy heading out into the world!

Day 2: Two Washington War Memorials
Christina Reif | Kiva Zip (Washington D.C.) | United States

The Korean War Memorial (left): Nestled between juniper bushes which represent the rugged terrain of Korea, 7ft tall statues of soldiers – wary of a suspected ambush – give the visitor a haunting feel of the a soldier’s reality.

The Vietnam Memorial (right): As I stood taking the picture I overheard the veteran say: there were 18 of us and only 9 came back. It was said matter of factly, a story told many times before, a piece of history that never loses its emotional impact.

Day 3: Three Colorado Microbrews
Rachel Davis | Kiva Zip (Denver) | United States

Here are three beers from three Colorado breweries, enjoy!

Day 4: Four Kuki Carolers
Eileen Flannigan | WSDS-Initiate | India

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What are these Kuki’s most excited about this holiday?  “The caroling bus!”  This tradition only happens every two years because of the cost of renting the buses, which each family in the village (200+) contributes to all year.  On Christmas Eve the buses tour all the neighboring villages as a symbol of peace, unity and good old fashion fun!  At midnight, the elders go home and the youths visit each house in the village to “offer them a song”, which include tribal songs, classic Christmas songs and even Justin Bieber’s “Mistletoe”.

When I asked them what they would like to say to Kiva lenders around the world, they joyfully said they wanted to “offer a song of thanksgiving”.   Through giggles and jolly spirits, these Kiva borrowers sing “Joy to the World”, dressed in their holiday best, which is all weaved from their own hands.   They graciously wrap me in these special threads and awake my heart with the “Christmas spirit”.

Day 5: Five Gorgeous Costa Rican Birds
Jane Imai | EDESA and FUNDECOCA | Costa Rica

What speaks of Costa Rica more than a bunch of beautiful, tropical birds? Costa Rica boasts a huge biodiversity when it comes to wildlife, including almost 900 species of birds. Here are some of ones I was able to see while I was here:

• Blue macaw (wild, La Fortuna)
• Scarlet macaws (wild, en route to Monteverde)
• Violet sabrewing (wildlife refuge, La Paz Waterfall Gardens)
• Yellow-naped parrots (free roaming pets known as Lola and Paco, San Jose)
• Keel-billed toucan (wildlife refuge, La Paz Waterfall Gardens)

Day 6: Six Delicious Dishes from Kyrgyzstan
Abhishesh Adhikari | Bai Tushum & Partners | Kyrgyzstan

1. Lagman: Noodle dish with beef and pepper
2. Mante: Dumplings filled with ground beef and onions
3. Turkish Kebab
4. Russian style roast duck with apples
5. Plov: Fried rice mixed with meat and carrots
6. Traditional Kyrgyz soup with meat and potatoes

Day 7: Seven Candles for Día de las Velitas
Rose Larsen | Fundación Mario Santo Domingo (FMSD) | Colombia

Día de las Velitas (Day of the Little Candles) is a holiday in Colombia honoring the Immaculate Conception.  Every year, on the 8th of December, at 3AM, Colombians light candles and put them in colorful lanterns outside their homes. This day is also the (unofficial) launch of the Christmas season.

Day 8: Eight Filipino Christmas Lights and Festive Faces
Keith Baillie | Roaming Mindanao | Philippines

 

Christmas preparations start early in the Philippines. Since November, carols are played on the radio and offices and homes have put up Christmas decorations. Groups of children roam around singing carols, hoping for a handout. Here are some pics of Dipolog’s tree lighting festival – with monsters for kids, sculpted and living angels, fireworks and popular bands.

Maayong Pasco! (Bisayan for Merry Christmas!)

Day 9: Nine Jordanian Herbs
Taline Khansa | Tamweelcom | Jordan

One of the most exciting and lively areas in Jordan is the downtown Amman “Balad” region. The streets are filled with a multitude of elements that stimulate the senses from perfumeries making custom concoctions to falafel hole-in-the-wall restaurants. My favorite places are the small shops selling bulk herbs and spices (for super cheap!), some of which I recognize and others I’ve never heard of. The merchants will often allow you to smell or taste the products and may offer some advice on use and preparation techniques.

The nine bulk herbs in this picture are: Two kinds of sage, Melissa, Rosemary, Artemisia, Rose, Guava Leaves, Marjoram, and Hibiscus… Happy Holidays from the Middle East!

Day 10: Ten Bags-a-Brimming With Honduran Coffee
Wesley Schrock | Roaming Fellow | Honduras

Kiva borrower Miguel, a coffee farmer from Trojes in Honduras, stands in front of a wet processing station.  In the lower left-hand corner note his ten bags of pulped, fermented, and dried coffee beans ready for roasting.

Day 11: Eleven Indian Ingredients and Spices
Irene Fung | People’s Forum and Mahashakti Foundation | India

Having spent close to three months in India, I must say I have not had one bad meal.  The food is always flavorful and delicious.  While working at Mahashakti, I have been fortunate to have lunch with the staff every day, prepared by the office caretaker, Radha Kanta, or just Rahda for short.  Since many of the staff travel from branch to branch at a regular basis, they stay at the office overnight.  Radha prepares meals for the traveling staff and me.

One day I learned to make a traditional Odisha dish – Simba Rai – from the following ingredients (pictured from left to right): Garlic, Turmeric, Radha in action, Ginger, Masala paste and powder, Green Chili, Potatoes, Green beans (Simba), Chili powder, Mustard seeds, Tomatoes, Shallots, and we’re ready to eat!

Day 12: Twelve Bright African Futures
Holly Sarkissian | Alidé in Benin and WAGES in Togo

The smiling faces of twelve bright futures for the children of Kiva borrowers in Togo and Benin!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

FROM THE KIVA FELLOWS!

VIDEO BLOG: Sewing, Weaving and Shoemaking in Small-Town Colombia

Rose Larsen | KF19 | Colombia

San Jacinto de Bolivar, San Juan Nepomuceno and El Carmen de Bolivar are three tiny towns located in the same department of Colombia as Cartagena, though they are almost entirely ignored by the hordes of tourists who descend upon the “jewel of the Caribbean” each year.

The streets of San Jacinto de Bolivar

San Juan Nepomuceno’s church

Just outside of town, San Juan Nepomuceno

Characterized by unpaved roads, lovely churches and way too many “motos,” these towns are also home to some of the most interesting Kiva borrowers I’ve had the chance to meet. Most of FMSD’s clients are city-dwellers who make their living selling catalog products to friends and neighbors, running beauty salons, or manning small general stores, and while these livings are just as viable and important to fund, my trip to the Bolivar district allowed me to meet many fascinating women who specialize in the production of handicrafts or handmade items, depending on their own artistry and hands to make their living. Their deftness with their craft impressed me, so I thought I’d share what I saw with all of you!

Mochilas y bolsos (the Purse-maker of San Jacinto)

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How to Make a Hammock: Two Visits in San Jacinto

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A Couple of Shoemakers from San Juan Nepomuceno

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Though each business was very different, I saw some similarities across all three.

- All were run by women, though husbands would sometimes help out with part of the business.

- Each woman depended on her own hands to work her product, and had learned technical skills in her craft. Most of these skills are passed down from mother to daughter.

- All three women emphasized that the rest of their town was helped by the injection of capital that came from the Kiva loan. While the loan helped each woman directly by allowing her to grow her business, it went even further. In Nellys’ case, she was able to buy more fabrics from her aunt, who ran a weaving business, and also supplied more products to her husband and other vendors to resell. Rosiris talked about saving up enough to pay an assistant, since weaving hammocks is time consuming work. And Fanny already employed a few assistants as well as 12 resellers who would hawk her shoes in town.

In fact, after hearing all these stories and seeing FMSD’s local loan officers greet passersby, it was clear that these towns were as tightly knit as the weave in Rosiris’ hammock!

Rose Larsen is a member of the 19th class of Kiva Fellows, serving in Barranquilla, Colombia with Fundación Mario Santo Domingo. Become a member of FMSD’s lending team, lend to one of their borrowers today, or apply to be a Fellow!

My Return to Playa Blanca – The Story of Isla Baru

Rose Larsen | KF19 | Colombia

For me, this story starts two years ago, long before I ever dreamed of doing a Kiva fellowship. At the time, I was working at a small travel agency in San Francisco and took a much-needed vacation to Cartagena, which I had read was a UNESCO World Heritage site composed of colonial houses, bright colors and beautiful beaches.

Colonial center of Cartagena de Indias

The best beach in the area was reputed to be Playa Blanca, so I booked a tour, spending one night sleeping in a cabaña and enjoying the white sands, clear waters, rustic environment (no electricity or running water!) and fresh fish.

Playa Blanca

All I knew about Playa Blanca was that you had to take a boat to get there, and that from 1pm – 3pm, the exact time that most tours allowed their passengers to frolic on the beach, the place was overrun with aggressive vendors pushing massages, oysters, bracelets and handicrafts on the tourists. Where these vendors came from I had no idea, as they all seemed to melt away as soon as the big tour boats left, but I didn’t really care – I was just glad they were finally gone.

Fast forward two years. Back in Colombia serving as a Kiva Fellow, I joined the staff of my Kiva field partner, Fundacion Mario Santo Domingo (FMSD), on a trip to visit some of the development projects that the Foundation funds – first stop, Isla Baru, the impoverished island that is home to one of the world’s most beautiful beaches, Playa Blanca.

• • •

Baru, an island about the size of Manhattan, is home to about 10,000 residents who live in one of its three towns – Ararca, Santa Ana and Baru. Though tourists generally arrive by boat directly to the beautiful shores of Playa Blanca, everyone else takes the ferry. This journey took us over an hour as we passed through poor, undeveloped neighborhoods in northern Cartagena, traveled down bumpy, unpaved roads, and waited for over 30 minutes to load onto the ferry. If residents of Barú wish to travel to the mainland for work, cheaper goods or emergencies, they must make this long, arduous, and expensive trip (the ferry charges a few dollars per car).

Pasacaballos, the ferry crossing to Baru

Though it is clear that the towns in Baru are very poor and lacking in many amenities, the island is much more developed today than it was 20 years ago. Part of that is thanks to a boom in the Colombian tourism industry and its interest in developing the island further, and part is due to the work of FMSD, which has two very impactful projects on the island.

Instituto Ecologico Barbacoas

Our first stop on Isla Baru was the Ecological School, which was founded 14 years ago by FMSD and its partners to provide decent schooling to the local children. Today home to 719 children and 41 teachers, the school offers high quality, free education within an ecological and afro-Colombian context, teaching the students to preserve the beautiful natural island that is their home and embrace their local culture.

I was impressed with the simple, calm campus. Shaded by local trees, spread across ample grounds and scattered with open-air classrooms under palm-frond roofs, it was a tranquil paradise of learning. The students, who range from pre-kindergarten to 11^th grade, were able to take advantage of a healthy breakfast and lunch each day, a computer lab, a nursing station, a campus store run by students, a modern dance studio, and courses in music, handicrafts and English.

One great feature of the school is its vocational program. By 9^th grade, each student picks a vocational focus – handicrafts, seamanship, or tourism, the three main industries of the island. The final three years of school are spent focusing on this vocation, preparing them for life after school, as most will spend the rest of their lives on the island.

Some samples of the handicrafts work that some of the students have done

Clínica Julio Mario Santo Domingo

A few minutes down a bumpy, pot-hole-riddled road in the middle of Santa Ana, we came upon the Foundation’s other project in Baru – the health clinic.

The Clinic

Founded 18 years ago, the clinic brought healthcare and health education to a place that had no existing medical entity of any kind. Now, it cares for the health of the entire island, along with another branch in the town of Baru.

I was amazed at the range of services that were provided: medical consultations, dentistry, a clinical lab, hospitalization, 24-hour emergency service, a 24-hour ambulance that even travels to Cartagena in cases of extreme emergencies, a pharmacy, radiology, surgery, and a maternity ward.

It is staffed by 6 young doctors who have just finished their studies and are required to do a year of service, as well as 2 more experienced, permanent doctors. The clinic also utilizes something that they call “telemedicine,” using telecommunication technologies to consult specialists based in places like Cartagena and Bogotá. This gives the residents of Baru access to some of the best doctors in Colombia, something which previously would have been unimaginable for an isolated, undeveloped island.

The clinic has changed the lives of everyone on the island. It cares for pregnant women, newborns, children and adolescents, all the way through to elder care. Besides providing basic healthcare, it also works with other organizations to introduce family planning programs, giving out contraception and teaching the youth population about sexual and reproductive health. Today, the birthrate in Baru is lower than the Colombia national rate.

When I was there, the clinic was bustling with visitors, who were there for check-ups, to pick up medicines, and for consultations. It was heartening to see, in a town of unpaved streets, wandering livestock and dilapidated houses, a modern medical facility.

Baru’s Future

Big changes are ahead for this little island. Work on a paved highway was recently begun – it will travel from the ferry crossing all the way through the towns to Playa Blanca. The residents are now pushing for a bridge to be built to replace the ferry, which is slow and expensive. This bridge would change things completely for Baru, bringing access to police services for increased security, as well as saving time and money.

It would also facilitate an increase in tourism, which is already growing as new resorts are planned. This is a double-edged sword. The development of tourism has enticing rewards in the form of rich foreign tourists, a new source of income for an impoverished people. But as with anything, too much of a good thing can ruin it, as has happened in Machu Picchu, the Great Barrier Reef and even nearby Cartagena. Is Colombia prepared to preserve the tropical natural beauty of the island in the face of giant development projects? Are the residents ready to be invaded by huge hotels, hordes of tourists, and the crime waves that accompany them? Only time will tell.

•       •       •

After a long and exciting day visiting the school and the clinic, meeting locals and hearing about Baru’s problems and its potential, I found myself back in a familiar spot:

This time, I looked around me with greater understanding, and greater appreciation. The many beachside restaurants and cabañas were projects by enterprising locals, and though their predatory sales tactics were still annoying, I now understood that tourism provided one of their only opportunities to generate income. I knew that after spending the day hawking their wares, they would make the long journey on foot down a newly constructed highway to the town of Baru or Santa Ana, a place where you might find a free-range pig burrowing in the mud outside of a modern full service medical facility.

Rose Larsen is a member of the 19th class of Kiva Fellows, serving in Barranquilla, Colombia with Fundación Mario Santo Domingo. Become a member of FMSD’s lending team, lend to one of their borrowers today, or apply to be a Fellow! 

A Day of Promociones: Promoting Kiva’s Product in the Field

Rose Larsen | KF19 | Colombia

It is fair to say that every Kiva Fellow is excited about “going out into the field.” Meeting the local entrepreneurs who are using microfinance to grow their tiny businesses is the primary reason many of us gave up jobs, apartments, and lives in our home countries to volunteer our time abroad for 4 months.

What we are looking for is a personal connection, the ability to put a face to the erudite name of microfinance. We are dying to hear firsthand how, through Kiva, someone has been given new opportunities, and has used these to improve their life. A more extreme version, perhaps, of that desire for connection that drives so many people to lend through Kiva each day.

After months of hearing moving stories about meetings between Kiva Fellows and Kiva borrowers, I was surprised to hear that the majority of my first day out in the field here in Colombia would be devoted to something called “promociones.”

¡Bienvenidos a Barranquilla!

Rose Larsen | KF19 | Colombia

My first glimpse of Barranquilla, Colombia was of wide avenues lined with tropical trees bearing unfamiliar fruits; a busy, congested city sprouted up in a tropical coastal jungle. Having lived my entire life in the cool, foggy embrace of San Francisco, my first few weeks in Barranquilla have involved quite a bit of adapting.

Since most people’s picture of Colombia seems to involve guerillas, kidnappings and cocaine, I thought I’d share what life is REALLY like, here on the Caribbean coast of Colombia.

Borrower Visits: Uncle Alex’s Tips from the Field

By Alex Connelly | KF17 | Colombia

(Bogota Graffiti Wall)

After 2 months in the field I have finally landed in Bogota, Colombia’s decidedly hip capital city and the location for the rest of my fellowship. Up until know I’ve been bouncing around the country visiting borrowers, living mostly out of a (admittedly very large) backpack and becoming a discerning connoisseur of Colombia’s budget-hotel system. Before shifting my focus to my work here in Bogota, I’ve decided to pass on some tips picked up from my 25 Borrower Visits, both for future Kiva Fellows and for anyone else interested in the process of verifying those profiles on your computer screen.

4 Things You Didn’t Know About Medellin

By Alex Connelly, KF17, Colombia

(Rooftops of Medellin)

After living and working in Medellin for over a year (most recently as a Kiva Fellow), it seemed a good idea to write a post filled with all the hard-won insight that only 12 months on the ground can give you. Unfortunately Betsy McCormick (KF’12) beat me to it, in an awesome post entitled – aggravatingly enough – “First Impressions of Medellin”. So instead, as a tribute to the city I’ve left but will always love, here are 4 Things You Didn’t Know About Medellin!

Updates from the Field: Loan Sharks, Snapshots + “the Country with a Smile”

Each Kiva borrower enjoys his or her own borrower profile page. We’ve all seen these pages: they acquaint us with the borrower’s story, plans for the future, country, and a photo in their business or home. Borrower profiles present us with a clear snapshot of the ebbs and flows of a borrower’s life. But how can we begin to flesh out what’s beyond the edges of the screen? On the Fellow’s blog, of course!

This week Kiva Fellows bring us a little closer to our borrowers. We try to walk in the shoes of those living under a dollar a day in Nicaragua. We learn about the power of accredited microfinance institutions for the average Ecuadorian. We get a glimpse (and a sample!) of traditional El Salvadorian fare. We marvel at brilliant images of borrowers in their element in Chile and Colombia. And finally we depart Latin America for Senegal, where a Latin phrase can teach us about entrepreneurs the world over: they can, because they think they can. And they do, just as soon as they have the capital to do it.

The Top 10: My favorite borrower photos from Colombia and Chile

Kiva Fellows come from a vast variety of backgrounds, both in regards to their professional experience and hobbies. When the Kiva Fellows Program Team is trying to decide where to send people they try to decide what MFIs would benefit most from that fellow’s individual experience, and also what special projects they can work on to benefit Kiva’s mission and/or the MFI. As part of my fellowship i was asked to help add to Kiva’s library of borrower images, which are used for marketing and communications purposes by Kiva. With camera in hand I have set out to take some simple portraits of clients in their homes and businesses. Here are 10 of my favorite from both Chile and Colombia, hope you enjoy them!

Update from the Field: Unsung Heroes, Community Alliances + and Mission Statements Made Reality

Compiled by Kate Bennett, KF15, Ecuador

The Pros and Cons of Microfinance – A View From The Field: Fixing the chain on the way to a repayment meeting in Haiti. Poor roads thwart borrowers and MFI loan officers alike.

This week in the field fellows across the world explore the factors that make microfinance and its successes a reality. In Kenya, we meet the actors who reach out to borrowers everyday, at any and all degrees of their own discomfort. In Nicaragua, we discover that high aspirations can be met with equally powerful results. In Senegal, a series of well-dressed strangers introduce us to the rest of the community, and the lesson that any organization seeking to serve the community must truly know the community. Between Colombia, Haiti and the Dominican Republic we gain insight about the pros, cons, and the conditions for success in microfinance. Throughout these stories, we’re led into homes, gardens and local festivals; down roads, rivers, and a few wrong turns; and we ultimately reach our destination: a deeper understanding of how- or really, through who and what- this work is made possible.

Nathan’s Office
Country: Kenya / Fellow: Nila Uthayakumar (KF15)
“It takes humility and tremendous patience to do the work that they do. A sense of humor is essential.” Nila sings the praise of the unsung heroes of microfinance: the loan officers.

A Rainy Day in Masaya
Country: Nicaragua / Fellow: Jason Jones (KF15)
How often does an organization’s mission statement really meet reality? Jason Jones finds that for his partner in Nicaragua and borrowers like Maura, Gloria, and Adelfa, lofty goals are realized everyday.

Kiva in the Community
Country: Senegal / Fellow: Tim Young (KF15)
As Tim Young begins to settle himself within his community, he learns that an microfinance institution’s presence in the local community must be deeply embedded as well.

The Pros and Cons of Microfinance – A View From The Field (A Three-Part Series)
Country: Colombia / Fellow: Nick Hamilton (KF14)
Part One of this through three-part series considers the strengths and benefits of microfinance. Part Two part two weighs its drawbacks and weaknesses. Part Three proposes a set of institutional and environmental factors that contribute to the success of microfinance.

~
Updates from the past month:
Personal Connections, Supply and Demand + A Culinary Excursion
Farewells, Mistaken Identities + Micro-Microfinance
Earth Day, Celebrations + Exceeding Expectations
Trash, Delicious Treats + Community Outreach
Cute Pigs, New Toilets + Everything is Relative
~

Plus more pictures from the past week:

Colombia, by Nick Hamilton

Senegal, by Tim Young

Nicaragua, by Jason Jones

Kenya, by Nila Uthayakumar

The Pros and Cons of Microfinance – A View From The Field (Part 3)

This is the final installment of a three-part article on ‘The Pros and Cons of Microfinance – A View From The Field.’ The first concentrated on the pros of microfinance and the second on the cons. This third part will describe what I deem to be the optimum conditions for successful microfinance.

The cons described in Part 2 of this article may come across as quite negative, but at Interactuar (in Antioquia, Colombia – my second Kiva Fellowship) I saw many being countered and microfinance working particularly effectively.

The Pros and Cons of Microfinance – A View From The Field (Part 2)

This is the second of a three-part article on ‘The Pros and Cons of Microfinance – A View From The Field’. The first part concentrated on the pros. The second will focus on the cons.

Most of the cons described below demonstrate one thing; microfinance assists on a micro level but is unable to affect macro-level influences. The latter are the main reason that people are impoverished in the first place.

The Pros and Cons of Microfinance – A View From The Field (Part 1)

The article will be published in 3 parts. The first will concentrate on the pros of microfinance, the second on the cons, and the third on what I perceive to be the best conditions for successful microfinance.

Update from the Field: Personal Connections, Supply and Demand + A Culinary Excursion

Compiled by Kathrin Gerner, KF15, Togo

As the 14th class passes the baton to the 15th class, the Kiva fellows are sharing their final thoughts and first impressions. Be inspired by the personal connections Kiva creates between lenders and borrowers in Nepal and Sierra Leone. Find out how a phenomenal harvest can prevent farmers in Nicaragua from repaying their loans. Discover the creative ways of assessing credit worthiness used in Uganda and around the globe. Sample local customs and cuisine, while reading about the Day of the Child in Mexico and taking a culinary excursion in Liberia. Lastly, share the experiences of Kiva fellows across three continents in Colombia, Ghana and Ukraine.

Video Blog: Interactuar – A Quite Amazing Organisation

By Nick Hamilton, KF14

I have just come to the end of a 3-month Kiva Fellowship with Interactuar, Kiva’s Field Partner in the state of Antioquia, Colombia. I was blown away by this organisation. ‘The Google of Microfinance Institutions,’ I kept thinking to myself.

Update from the Field: Earth Day, Celebrations + Exceeding Expectations

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. All in all, a very busy week as members of KF14 wind down their time in the field.

Colombia: Lose your perception of the past and come visit!

Ever since I first visited Colombia in 2007 up until today I constantly get asked one question over and over: “is it safe in Colombia?” After spending nearly 4 months I almost laugh as I have had zero issues, yet I have to take a step back and think about my perception of the country before I first visited. What was “that” Colombia in my mind? How many Colombians could I name? Shakira, Pablo Escobar, and Juan Valdez–the third being a fictitious character I remember from the Colombian coffee commercials of my childhood. How about the rest of the country? My mind would instantly focus in on the narcotics trade, violence, paramilitary groups, the FARC; after that, coffee and bananas. Why would I want to visit Colombia? After spending time here a part of me wants to scream to the world “come!!!!!!!” The people, the culture, the natural beauty–I can keep going on and on. The other side of me thinks I should keep my mouth shut and hide it for myself, but it is really too good to do that!

Update from the Field: Trash, Delicious Treats + Community Outreach

Compiled by Alexis Ditkowsky, KF14, South Africa

Let’s take a moment to vicariously consume baked goods in Colombia, coffee in Nicaragua, tomatoes in Ukraine, and a traditional meal in Nepal. Once you’re sated, you can read about the dismal state of trash collection in Guatemala, the lives of borrowers in Bolivia, what “mobile” savings really means in Indonesia, and how Kiva’s partner MFIs all around the world are providing life-enhancing services and engaging with the community in meaningful ways.

Conflict Generated Displacement and Microfinance: Helping People Build a New Life

Merys María Mejía Velasquez is always one of my favorite clients to see in the offices of Fundación Mario Santo Domingo (FMSD); I am always greeted with a huge and a warm welcome spewing with energy. Merys is a long time client of FMSD and has recently taken her first loan through Kiva to buy products to continue to expand her bakery. She enthusiastically attends the free workshops offered by FMSD and is constantly doing all she can to continue to grow her business. Unless you really got the chance to ask Merys about her history it is unlikely you would ever guess that she was displaced to Barranquilla by the violence of illegal, armed, far-right groups less than a decade ago, forced to restart her life from scratch.

Update from the Field: April Fools, Terrible Coffee + Getting Attached

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. We also learned about the “No Pago” movement in Nicaragua, the elections in Peru, what daily life is like for a Fellow in Bolivia, and how to sensibly and respectfully collect past-due payments in Ghana. Somehow there was even time to host a previous Fellow and a documentary film student in Colombia and to visit borrowers, eat chocolate, and stop for the view in Armenia.

Special Update from the Field: Beaches, Safaris + Cambodian Glamour Shots

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!

Blast from the Past: KF7 turned microfinance professor visits Colombia to do field research

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. But how many of us get the chance to continue on in the world of microfinance?

Why does most coffee in Colombia taste like dishwater?

I have been a big coffee drinker for some time now. As a do-it-all teenager with a large appetite for anything nocturnal, it was the powerful affects of the highly-caffeinated, instant variety that initially got me hooked. That all changed at university, however, when I first discovered the soothing delights of real, natural coffee.

Update from the Field: Fun Facts, Field Visits + Back to Basics

Compiled by Alexis Ditkowsky, KF14, South Africa

For many Fellows, this week was about getting back to basics: the borrowers. In between fun facts about Kiva Fellowships, doing database detective work, and reflecting on the internal dynamics of Kiva’s partner microfinance institutions, Fellows found themselves in the field again and again, much to their delight and often to the delight of borrowers. From Latin America to Africa to the Caucasus to Southeast Asia to Eastern Europe, meet Kiva clients, learn about their businesses, and check out all of the great photos.

Update from the Field: Carnival, Collaboration + Cheese-Making

Compiled by Alexis Ditkowsky, KF14, South Africa

This past week was all about collaboration: Fellows coordinating across continents to profile entrepreneurs and organizations who believe International Women’s Day should be every day and community members coming together to celebrate Carnival in all of its elaborate glory. We learned about public health in Peru, making cheese and cigars in Nicaragua, the impact of climate change in Bolivia, and the challenges faced by a microcredit saleswoman in Guatemala. Life as a Kiva Fellow is busy as always!

Update from the Field: Videos, Epic Commutes + Going Beyond Microfinance

Compiled by Alexis Ditkowsky, KF14, South Africa

Another week, another incredible range of dispatches from around the world. Several Fellows told their stories with video and pictures while others took time to reflect on the state of microfinance as a global industry and in their respective countries. And what would a week in the field be without getting to know a few borrowers? Plus, scroll to the end of the post for pictures you may have missed the first time around.

Kiva Field Partners: More than just microfinance

Kiva’s mission, to connect people, through lending, for the sake of alleviating poverty, is implemented in the field by partnering with microfinance institutions around the world.  All of Kiva’s Field Partners have a strong mission to alleviate poverty and expertise in doing so through the use of microcredit–they are the legs of Kiva that get the money loaned into the hands of the entrepreneurs.  Yet, in many cases the projects and mission of our Field Partners expand beyond microfinance–they are dedicated to enriching the lives of their clients in many ways.  A few examples from Kiva Field Partners across the world:

• The Christian Rural Aid Network (CRAN) runs the Child Education Support Scheme, a child aid and development program that provides access to quality, basic education for needy children living in deprived rural communities in Ghana.  CRAN also runs a program called Energy in Common that provides lighting for remote villages in Ghana, using the concepts of microfinance: it loans the equipment to villagers, who then pay back in installments.
• Fundacion Paraguaya runs a self-sufficient agricultural highschool; they focus on producing and selling organic vegetables, but also have cows and a small dairy plant.  The school also own a small hotel that is rented mainly for private functions, work meetings, and seminars. All students work and live on-campus: the freshmen do most of the basic work,  the juniors train the freshman and also working on specialized tasks, while the seniors serve as experts and supervisors. Depending on what each student chooses they can graduate with a single or dual-degree in agriculture and/or hotel management.
• FINCA Peru provides its members with training sessions on women’s rights and gender issues education. FINCA is part of the Women’s Empowerment Mainstreaming and Networking network (WEMAN), which aims to empower and improve vulnerable women’s lives, their families, and communities. Training is offered during weekly or biweekly bank meetings through dynamic and interactive programs that incorporate analysis, reflection and mutual learning to allow women to share their own experiences and change their attitudes and perceptions.

Here in Colombia Fundación Mario Santo Domingo’s (FMSD) work is focused not solely on microfinance, but the social development of Colombia as whole, as described by their mission statement:

To promote the common good and bring about social development on a national level through support for educational, cultural, charitable and health-related activities and programs, scientific and technological research, the creation of jobs and income, and all other activities that contribute to improving the quality of life of the general population, especially within the poorest communities.

FMSD has built a clinic, a ecological institute on Barú Island, and high schools for communities that likely would not have received any other form of help.  The hold numerous workshops each week ranging for business seminars to programs designed to improve the communication of families within their homes.  They have programs that offer street children better opportunities for their future, as well as programs designed to strengthen and maintain Colombian culture, such the events and costumes used as part of Barranquilla’s world famous carnival that will take place in 9 days.

Villas de San Pablo, Barranquilla, Colombia

One of FMSD’s largest and most ambitious projects is called Dreams and Opportunities, which is a program designed to construct strong communities with better housing options for poor families in Colombia.  They have constructed over 14000 homes to daye, and in 2008 plans began for two large communities on the northern coast:  Villas de San Pablo in Barranquilla and Ciudad del Bicentenario in Cartagena will housing 20,000 and 25,000 families respectively within the next decade.  The homes receive approximately a 40% subsidy from the local and national government and require only 10% down for a family to move in; they are able to take out a 7-10 year loan at low interest rate that they would never be able to receive from a commercial lending source.  FMSD does not only focus on building homes, but also a community surrounding them–playgrounds, parks, computer centers, and community areas are planned into the design from the beginning.

New, fully furnished home for the Alvarez family

Last Friday I had to opportunity to visit Villas de San Pablo for the dedication of a free house from FMSD for a family in need.  The Alverez family used to live in very poor conditions and experienced a tragedy where they lost 4 of their 8 children in a fire in their previous home.  FMSD worked with the national government and local Catholic church to provide a new, furnished home for the family.  The family will now have an opportunity to start over in a new, safer home thanks in part to FMSD.

Belarmino "Oscar" Alvarez meets with Beatriz Uribe, Minister of Housing and Environment (equivalent to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the US government) during the presentation of their new home.

Projects such as Villas de San Pablo allow organizations like FMSD to assist people in many aspects of their lives, as well as tie back to their microfinance mission;  loan officers are constantly reaching out to new residents to see if they would benefit from a loan to start or improve their current business.

Kiva’s Field Partners are doing much more than just providing loans, they are helping transform their communities and change people’s lives.

Interested in learning more about Fundación Mario Santo Domingo?  Visit their page on Kiva here!

John Gwillim is a Kiva Fellow currently serving with Fundación Mario Santo Domingo (FMSD) in Barranquilla, Colombia.