Herbal tea and witch doctors

Clara Vreeken, KF 14, Bolivia

Clara volunteered as Kiva Fellow in Bolivia. She worked for the micro finance institutions IMPRO, Pro Mujer and Emprender. In this blog she elaborates on health issues in Bolivia – Bolivians prefer to drink herbal tea and listen to witch doctors instead of seeing a doctor – and she says goodbye as the end of her Kiva Fellowship has arrived.

What women want in Bolivia

Clara Vreeken, KF 14, Bolivia

Clara volunteers as Kiva Fellow in Bolivia. She works for the micro finance institutions IMPRO, Pro Mujer and Emprender. She visited a lot of borrowers, of whom many women.

Francisca has to fight hard taking care for her large family and has a heart of gold by inviting me at her home. Rosa was beaten by her ex husband and became stronger by having her own shoe business. Not only women have hard times surviving in Bolivia, also men suffer. Read the story of Carlos the taxi driver who almost died. And what happens with women who do not show up on repayment meetings?

Performing meaningful work for Kiva while learning a new culture

Clara Vreeken, KF 14, Bolivia

Clara volunteers as Kiva Fellow in Bolivia. She works for three micro finance institutions. She verifies borrowers’ data, implements changes and informs the lenders about Kiva’s entrepreneurs. In this blog she elaborates on her tasks as a Kiva Fellow.

Mud torrent, climate change and food crisis in Bolivia

Clara Vreeken is a Kiva Fellow in Bolivia, where she works for IMPRO, Pro Mujer and Emprender. Last week mud torrents destroyed 400 homes in the capital La Paz. Climate change in Bolivia leads to less food production, hunger and protests in the streets.

Bolivian Kiva borrowers: buying a cow, selling food, acquiring sewing machines and constructing rooms

In this second blog of Clara Vreeken, you can meet the Bolivian borrowers of Kiva’s field partner IMPRO: Pascuala and Santos buying a good-quality dairy cow, Maria selling food and renting small accommodations, Juan Carlos and Mery buying more sewing machines and Mery’s mother Maria constructing rooms. 43% of IMPRO’s clients live from 1 dollar or less per day. IMPRO serves clients in rural areas (11%) and in two big cities (89%). 45% of IMPRO’s 2147 clients are women.

The world of Kiva and my first experiences with borrowers in Bolivia

By Clara Vreeken, KF 14, Bolivia
Blog 1: My name is Clara and I have started my Kiva Fellowship last week at the field partner IMPRO in Bolivia. IMPRO is a small non-profit organization that has been offering micro credit to the working poor in the cities of La Paz and El Alto in Bolivia since 1995. In this first blog I describe how Kiva works by using the example of IMPRO in Bolivia.