Silicon Valley’s got nothing on Yaoundé

Raphael Ferry | KF18 | Cameroon

I’m not thinking in terms of number of patent filings, amount of venture funding, or angel investors by square foot (or meter), but on many other metrics, Yaoundé, Cameroon far outpaces the more obvious entrepreneurial hubs of London, Tel Aviv, Singapore, and Silicon Valley. Everyone here is an entrepreneur. That spirit is palpable. From papaya sellers, to cell phone credit merchants, to self-proclaimed podiatrists selling shoes, the streets of Cameroun’s capital are swarmed with people dealing in every product you can imagine.

The diversity of enterprises is impressive. You’ll find jeans, q-tips, phones, tomatoes, ties, boiled peanuts, soccer cleats, and grilled corn all on one block. And every seller is somehow creating value. From purchasing ginger in bulk to sell individually to preparing and grilling fish (a delicious meal but with obvious risks for delicate expats), these entrepreneurs are doing everything they can to provide for their families. It’s in busy streets like these that microfinance still has tremendous potential.

Outside ACEP Cameroun’s downtown office on Avenue Kennedy, Yaoundé

Fellows’ First Days in the Field

by Luan Nio | KF18 | Nicaragua

We think we are all well-travelled, educated and smart, with great interpersonal skills and able to handle difficult situations. But what does actually happen at a Kiva Fellow’s first day in the office?
Most of us have not worked in microfinance before, have never visited their destination country and sometimes don’t speak the local language as well as they might think.

Here are impressions from around the globe during our first day with our assigned Kiva field partner.

Work Hard, Play Hard

Natalie Sherman | KF17 | Cameroon

It’s been said, countless times, that one of the most rewarding experiences for us Kiva Fellows (as you might imagine) is meeting borrowers- those inspirational men and women who work hard, every day, to make a better life for themselves and their families.  To know this satisfaction is something I certainly expected before my placement here in Cameroon.  One thing I didn’t expect, however, was the pleasure and understanding I would gain from getting to know the staff of ACEP Cameroun– the partner MFI with whom I’ve been working these past four months.  As I say my final goodbyes and prepare to pass the proverbial torch to the next Fellow working with ACEP, it’s pretty much impossible not to reflect on the good times that we’ve shared together, both in and outside of the office.  From walking in the very first day, nervous and unsure, to watching ACEP’s inaugural borrowers go live on the Kiva website, to receiving their initial repayments- it’s been a journey of both intense work and intense…. celebrating!

Lost in Translation

Compiled by Philip Issa | KF17 | Palestine

We’ve all had these moments: Trying to impress a native speaker with our ability to speak their language, we compose an elegant sentence in our minds, open our mouths, and… proceed to swallow our feet whole. Indeed, we Kiva Fellows have had no shortage of these moments – we’ve twisted and tortured whole phrases so that they come out no better suited than to embarrass and offend.

So here are a few stories of us Fellows shattering our carefully constructed, professional identities with a spectacular “whoops!”

Hello Spring: It’s Time to Celebrate

Compiled by Kiyomi Beach | KF17 | Mexico

Whether shaking off the chill of winter, welcoming the rainy season, or experiencing any other climate change, the spring can definitely be a time to celebrate. Some countries celebrate big which can mean local business owners have a surge in income from selling items related to the festivities. Sales for new clothes, fabrics for costumes, candies, and specialty foods increase, which give some Kiva borrowers an extra reason to celebrate.

While we may all be familiar with some holidays or festivals, each culture celebrates what may seam like a familiar holiday differently. Some countries have celebrations that are uniquely their own, with the common threads being are family and fun. Lets see how a few of the fellows celebrated.

AMFO: High School Envy

Natalie Sherman | KF 17 | Cameroon

What do you get when you combine service learning, microfinance and the enthusiasm of youth?  Well, at the American School of Yaoundé (ASOY), you’d have yourself a pretty innovative and well-organized microcredit program… and the 12^th grade Global Issues class of Mrs. Kelly Vaughan Owens has done just that.

AMFO class participants and administrators sign loan disbursements.

We have Liftoff!

Natalie Sherman | KF17 | Cameroon

This week has been one of many firsts here at ACEP Cameroun.  Not only has the MFI’s partner page officially gone live, but the bank’s inaugural Kiva borrower, Nathalie, has just received her loan.  I watched with pride as ACEP’s Kiva Coordinator reviewed with Nathalie her disbursement paperwork and then walked her over to the cashier’s station.  It’s a sensation I’d liken to how one must feel when sending a son or daughter off to the first day of school- a mixture of joy, reassurance and perhaps just the tiniest bit of apprehension as to what lies ahead.

ACEP's first Kiva borrower, signing her disbursement paperwork.

Update From The Field: Client Visits In Bethlehem, A New Partnership In Cameroon + A Peek Into A Loan Officer’s World

Compiled by Allison Moomey | KF16 & KF17 | Bénin 

KF17 fellows have now made their way into the field, which means new workplaces, new countries, and new cultures for us all. Even more importantly it means fascinating new blog posts from every corner of the globe for you. Check out this week’s posts and join fellows as they observe microfinance in action Palestine, share about a great new partner in Cameroon, visit a village bank in Peru, and adjust to life in Togo. Then continue reading to learn about a cricket-raising business in Indonesia, microsavings in Mozambique, Senegalese politics, an apartment search in Mongolia, and a loan officer training in the Philippines.

New Kids on the Block: Meet ACEP Cameroun

Natalie Sherman | KF 17 | Cameroun

They have an air-conditioned waiting room, tiny espresso mugs, an executive director that knows how to make a good joke, and a long-standing record of excellent customer service.  They are a poverty-busting force to be reckoned with. Yep, there are some new kids in town.  Who are they?  ACEP Cameroun, one of Cameroon’s top four microfinance institutions, Kiva’s newest pilot partner, and the MFI I get to work with closely over the next four months of my Kiva fellowship.

ACEP Cameroun’s headquarters in Yaoundé

Aside from its pilot partner status, ACEP Cameroun is not really “new” at all.  The bank has been around since 1999, was privatized in 2005, and has grown to serve over 8,500 customers since.   With branches in Cameroon’s largest urban areas, Yaoundé (the capital), Douala and Bafoussam, ACEP provides loans to clients that are owners or managers of “Très Petites Entreprises” (TPEs), or “Very Small Businesses.”  Whether you are a tailor, a beignet vendor or a hardware store owner, you can apply for an ACEP small business loan to help with planning, to purchase equipment or for plain ole’ working capital.

Too Crude? Or, Just Reality.

Common Latrine in Northwest Cameroon

This photo may not be recognized immediately as a toilet, bathroom, or water closet. Or, it may be considered indecent for publishing on a civilized blog such as the Kiva Fellows Blog. Justifiably, blogs typically highlight the hardworking entrepreneurs who are fighting poverty. But in the interest of connecting Kiva lenders and blog readers to the true lives of Kiva and GHAPE borrowers, I have decided to share an image that many lenders and blog readers may have never seen.

Updates from the Field: Poverty Assessments, Bush Taxis + Meeting “My” Borrower

Last week the Fellows Blog gave us glimpses into life on the ground for Kiva fellows, Kiva borrowers, and that unique moment when those lives are brought together by a Kiva loan! Whether riding in Daniel’s bush taxi on the way to work in South Africa, exploring Bafut and crossing the threshold into borrowers’ homes with Faith in Cameroon, or sharing a meal with Megan and ‘her’ borrower Graciela in the market in Ecuador, these posts illustrate the world of actors brought together by Kiva.

Bafut by Foot

At GHAPE, new borrower centers are established only in areas identified as mostly poor. Individual borrowers are also screened using a tool called the Basic Needs Test to determine whether they qualify as potential GHAPE borrowers – very poor based on a variety of measurable factors. Recently I had the opportunity to accompany GHAPE’s Chief of Administration and Finance and the Assistant Field Manager to conduct a Basic Needs Test for a new borrower center in Bafut, outside Bamenda. The Basic Needs Test is a survey developed by GHAPE staff to first assess the overall poverty level of an area and then to screen potential borrowers to learn their economic status. GHAPE administers micro-loans, beginning as small as $10, to the poorest of the poor. In order to assess whether new clients qualify as very poor, GHAPE visits their home and asks detailed questions. The questions focus on 5 main areas: food consumption (number and quality of meals per day), clothes, cleanliness, house structure, and health. type of toilet, number of school age children in school, and whether or not children under age 6 receive milk every day.

Update from the Field: Dangerous Streets, New Vocabulary + A Senegalese Spring

Compiled by Kathrin Gerner, KF15, Togo

This week, the Kiva fellows invite you to accompany them across Africa and South and Central America: Take a walk in the streets of San Salvador. Improve your language skills by adding a few words in three of South Africa’s most widely spoken languages to your vocabulary. Look poverty in the face in Cameroon. Continue by learning more about the latest riots in Senegal. Find out how money helps to provide dignity in Ecuador. And finish by learning about the importance of family unity in El Salvador.

Faces of Poverty?

Do these disciplined happy high school students match our common image of poverty in places like Cameroon? Not really. But do their mothers, fathers, grandparents, or other guardian live on more than $2/day, the international marker for poverty? Probably not. Many live on their own, with extended family, or family friends, and earn money outside of school to pay for books and other fees. Furthermore, do these teens have easy access to potable water? Hardly. They most likely carry it in buckets from a public tap that may be shared among the entire village. Do these students have mosquito nets for nightly protection from the risk of malaria? Probably not.

Updates from the Field: Roads, Remittances + the “Little Paris” of Togo

Last week our internationally-scattered Kiva Fellows introduced us to some of the men and women that compose the sixty countries in which Kiva works. From the woman in Cameroon who represents the strength of her nation; to the Phillipino men that must migrate from their country to make a living; to the young men and women of Uganda who show us a glimpse of raw entrepreneurialism and hope. We also see how a nation’s people are brought together, whether by a common and incredible credit culture in Nicaragua, or by the dream for Togolese roads to one day connect people, markets, and credit throughout the country. From roads to remittances, Fellows learn there is more to microfinance than world markets and interest rates, and that human factors are tipping the scales of success for microfinance in all corners of the world.

Walking a Mile in Her Shoes

Actually, we trekked and climbed about 5 miles to visit Eunice’s farm, and our path was much easier than her typical route. Eunice is a GHAPE borrower and a farmer. She grows potatoes, corn, and beans. Then she sells the vegetables to people from her home. Traveling to the closest market in Belo would be much too far. I rode for 30 minutes on a motorbike to reach her village, and the 5 miles that we hiked together was only the portion of the trip (beyond the village) that was not passable by motorbike. When I announced at the borrower meeting that I wanted to see her farm, everyone warned me that it was very far away – a 3 hour climb. I knew her three hours would be a much faster pace than mine, but I also knew I needed to go.

[caption id="attachment_28169" align="aligncenter" width="819" caption="Faith and Eunice at her farm"][/caption]

Update from the Field: Instability, Trust + A New Home

Compiled by Kathrin Gerner, KF15, Togo

This week, the fellows continue to get their bearings in the field. Learn about the importance of trust in Cameroon, find out how political instability affects businesses and microfinance in Uganda, and take a trip to a fellow’s country mountain home in Cameroon.

My Country Mountain Home by Faith Garlington, KF15, Cameroon

Hiking in the chilly mountain atmosphere fills me with nostalgia for the sounds and smells of home – wood-burning fires, soft rain, gentle streams, and incredibly lush vegetation. My co-worker and new friend Princewill has even heard of Dolly Parton, which inspired the blog title because Miranda, another co-worker and budding friendship, was joking about hosting us in her country mountain home. And yet, here I am in a new place on “the other side of the world.”

An Appropriate Interest Rate: The Character of the Microfinance Industry

By Dennis A. Espinoza, KF10, El Salvador

When I first heard about microfinance I saw it as a great way to make reliable returns. The emphasis on the social returns was great and the possibility of financial returns was even better! I’m in!

Turns out it’s not that simple.

A recent New York Times article as well as other news like a recent initial public offering have stirred an old debate. Essentially that comparatively limited borrower options, high interest rates, low default rates and an estimated total asset base of over $20 billion may be fertile ground for excessive profits. An important concern.

So how do we figure out what is an “appropriate” rate of return? Or, in other words, what is a reasonable interest rate?

Education for your son or your daughter? (you can only afford to pick one)

Imagine you are a mother or a father to both a son and a daughter.
If you only had enough money to send one of your two children to school, which one would you send?

This question was asked to potential microfinance borrowers at a training session led by GHAPE, a microfinance institution (MFI) and Kiva Field Partner based in Bamenda, Cameroon.

The most common answer among the group of 30+ prospective borrowers was my son but I also heard my daughter, the oldest, none and a few others.

The right answer is

The Passing of a Kiva Borrower

Saahkem Dorothy Muyang. 1954 - 2009.

By Dennis A. Espinoza, KF9, Grounded and Holistic Approach for People’s Empowerment (GHAPE) in Bamenda, Cameroon

I was working at my desk when Kenneth, my roommate and GHAPE loan officer, answered his phone and heard that ten year GHAPE member and Kiva borrower, Saahkem Dorothy Muyang, had passed away after a bout with diabetes.

Just glancing at Dorothy’s picture and noticing her beaming smile gives you an impression of who she was.  She had a big heart, a deep love for her family and was very involved in her community.  Needless to say, her passing was a significant loss to a lot of people around here.  She was well loved and I wish I would’ve had an opportunity to meet her in person.

I Thank Them (Kiva) Plenty

Almost finished with my four months at GHAPE, in Bamenda, Cameroon, I thought I would share with everyone all the “thank yous” I heard while interviewing GHAPE/Kiva borrowers.

To all the Kiva lenders, “I thank them plenty!”

A belated Women’s Day Video from Cameroon!

Fellow fellow Ashley and I had the honor of celebrating International Women’s Day with GHAPE borrowers on Sunday, March 8th, 2009.  It was quite the event: women dressed in kabas, which are the traditional Cameroonian dresses with various patterns and colors, and marched down the main street in Bamenda.  Women and men showed up in masses to the parade and many continued the party by drinking and eating with friends.

On a personal note, Women’s Day was one of my favorite memories of Cameroon.  There were tons of women out at the restaurants and bars enjoying themselves with friends and family, And, every time a group of women passed another group, they yelled, “HAPPY WOMEN”S DAY!”  As you can see this video comes delayed due to the lack of high speed internet, but hope you all enjoy it!

GHAPE: Bamenda, Belo and MoMo

GHAPE – Grounded and Holistic Approach for People’s Empowerment, has three branches in Cameroon. Each branch is located in the North West Region: the capital city, Bamenda, houses GHAPE headquarters. Traveling from branch to branch, center to center, one can see the differences in landscape in Cameroon. Bamenda, a bustling city with lots of commerce is the central location for GHAPE. In Momo and Belo, the farmers reign in their small-town atmospheres.

Momo is a small, small town, equipped with a motor park for those who look to sell their produce outside the city. Home to six GHAPE centers, Momo is thriving with hardworking farmers.

In Belo, there is an honest tranquility amidst the mountaintops that is unmistakable. There is any wonder how work gets done in such a serene environment. The central market, a small section of the Cameroon “highway” houses many GHAPE borrowers. In Belo, there are ten centers that stretch out to half an hour’s
drive.

Here is a digital look at towns GHAPE lives in. Enjoy!

Bamenda:

To MoMo:

MoMo:

Car Park in MoMo.

Belo:

GHAPE in Belo:

GHAPE office in Belo

It’s Time to Invest in Stock! Livestock, That is.

As a Kiva fellow, one of my jobs is to attend the various centers during their bimonthly meetings.  At the meetings, I have found a routine: watch the groups gather and prepare their money to turn in, sing the GHAPE anthem, discuss upcoming events, and then while the loan officer works out money logistics, I interview Kiva borrowers.  As you can see from the video, the other day was slightly different.

After the meeting, all the members and staff stayed in the center room and two members brought in two piglets.  It was quite the spectacle; well, I think I was the only one who thought so.  Many of the borrowers at GHAPE deal with agriculture from farming vegetables to livestock, and with some training, raising and breeding pigs is a great way to increase one’s capital for both the short and long term.

When a new center begins, GHAPE gives the center capital to purchase one female piglet.  The borrowers of that center then discuss which breed to buy and who gets to receive the first piglet.  The guidelines are that the borrower must be a female and have a suitable pig fence.  In addition, the chosen borrower must continue the cycle of “pass on a gift and be donor” by bringing in two female piglets after the given one has had a farrow (a liter of piglets) to give to two other GHAPE female clients.  This ‘gift that keeps on giving’ (literally) is a way for GHAPE to encourage its female borrowers to invest some time and money into an area of farming that really assists in saving money and provides free manure for their farms.  

While raising and selling pigs is a good investment in Cameroon, training is necessary and the process is a bit more complex than it looks.  Luckily, GHAPE conducts workshops on pig farming twice a year and asks the experts to share their advice with new or potential pig farmers.  For instance, there are several breeds of pigs and each has advantages and disadvantages; so when choosing a breed, one must consider factors, like which has a better resistance to disease,  which ones grows faster, etc.  At the workshop, potential pig farmers also learn how to build a good pig fence and how to keep its area clean.

Some of you may ask, “Why pigs?” One of the main reasons is that they can breed twice a year because their gestation period is “3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days,” and pigs eat less feed but provide more meat compared to other animals, like the bovine clan.  However, don’t be fooled: there are a good amount of challenges a farmer takes.  A year or so ago, the area of Bamenda was hit with Swine Fever, which is also known as  Hog Cholera and Pig Plague.  This air-born disease is highly contagious and the Cameroon government is still attempting to find a solution, like a vaccine, to prevent such a damaging spread like last year’s.  The only recommendation they have is to keep the pig area clean and away from other pigs.  

Another challenge of owning pigs is the expenses: at times, the cost of pig feed spikes in the market, making it harder for farmers to justify owning livestock.  In order to combat the prices, a farmer can mix feed with their surplus from the farm, like yams or corn, but that can only be done every so often.  Another major expense is buying material and paying a carpenter for the pig fence.  So when given a piglet from the GHAPE center, this cycle encourages clients to take up pig farming but with caution.

After learning so much about this area of farming, I am quite impressed with its complexities and how helpful it is to own a pig (if executed correctly).  To me, it seems like the Cameroonian version of the stock market: with the right education and instruction, the advantages of investing for the long-term will mostly likely outweigh the risk factors of the short-term.  And while not everyone wants to own (live)stock, it is always something to consider for the future when the timing is right.  In fact, GHAPE will not allow a borrower to receive a piglet until she has attended their workshop. In the video posted here, because there were no borrowers ready to receive a piglet, they sold the piglets to clients who already have received a pig in the past.

Buy’em, Sell’em: The Food Market

Living in Bamenda, Cameroon is relatively inexpensive. Taking a taxi from one end of the city to the other can cost you a maximum of 250 CFAs (50 cents). Granted, with everything else, you have to sacrifice some luxuries. Using the taxi as an example, the driver, at times, will fit 7 passengers with him in his mid-sized sedan. That is not unusual, especially for longer trips. Other purchases can be extremely cheap when compared to US prices. An avocado, or “pear” here, costs about 75 CFA (or 15 cents). They can cost even less at times. The trick to getting the low price is, however, to bargain for it. No prices are set and getting a good price is not easily done in the food market in Bamenda.

The two markets in Bamenda are large, sprawling matrices of single vendors. Each vendor has her or his own station, most of which are made out of wood. These stations house products staked up to their roofs, or they are open shops with large bags on the ground, filled with Cameroon-grown produce. Bargaining in the market can be a daunting task, especially if you are not used to bargaining, you look like a foreigner AND you are not sure what the price of food should be. The marketplace is surely competitive and each seller is trying to make a profit, so you must be well-informed before heading into the market matrix. Knowing someone, or in my case a GHAPE borrower, can be helpful for she can not only sell you her goods at a fair price, but she can also show you around and help you buy other foods at lower prices.

At GHAPE – Grounded and Holistic Approach for People’s Empowerment, most of the entrepreneurs are farmers and/or sellers in the market. Currently, their loan sizes range from 40,000 CFA to 200,000 CFA ($80-$400), and they are disbursed only to individuals. These borrowers work very hard at what they do. Those that sell in the market usually have to purchase their produce from a farmer or distributor, haul their products via public transportation (usually taxis), rent a place within the matrix of a market, and then they have to be able to sell their products at the right price to earn a profit, yet not turn away customers before their produce spoils. They call this type of business “Buy’em, Sell’em.”

Bamenda Food Market, Cameroon

In the Belo branch of GHAPE, the majority of borrowers are farmers. That means they have to balance the loan repayments with the farming season. Their loans are a minimum of one year and usually take a large portion of the year to see the fruits from their seeds. So, on top of farming their land, some borrowers supplement their income by selling retail items in the market. Moreover, new GHAPE members are expected to repay their loan right at the beginning of their loan term, as well as attend center meetings (of about 40 members) twice a month. Challenging enough? Not quite. In addition, most GHAPE members are not only entrepreneurs, but they are women, and with that comes a lot more responsibility in Cameroon.

In Cameroon, women run compounds. A compound is just as it sounds, a bit of land crammed with a few small, one-story houses. The people who live around you are not necessarily blood-related, but everyone helps out with chores. If your compound has children on it, as most do, then everyone shares in the responsibility of raising them. At times, growing up, you may never know who your real mother is because everyone who has children is called “mama” and you may never know if you are truly related to the elders on the compound because everyone is address as “uncle” or “auntie.” On top of raising children, living in Cameroon is difficult for someone who does not make a large income. Food is either grown at your distant farm, on the compound or you buy in bulk. Cooking is done over a fire in a special room outside. You are even lucky if your compound has running water on it. Outside of the major cities, one has to do some walking to get to a clean water source. Taking care of your compound can be a full-time job, all in itself. Woman, who not only run a compound, but provide the income for it, and in a lot of cases raise their children, are carrying a heavy workload. This sheds light on how GHAPE members,especially those that work in the market environment, do so much more work than just pay back their loans.

As you descend down the hill, onto the food market, you can see how vast and complex it is. Row after row, column after column, you can count hundreds of booths with women working in them, selling their produce. Occasionally you can spot a man, but most of them are on the outskirts, selling freshly butchered meats. In the middle, almost at the front entrance, sits two GHAPE borrowers, both women. They sell dried beans and “Irish” (potatoes). Emilia, whom greets you with the warmest smile every time you visit, is on her feet ready to help you buy something. So, you get a couple of cups of beans from her, perhaps some carrots from her neighbor and thank her for her help. You also tell her that you will see her soon at the center meeting next week. GHAPE has a saying, “When we are together…we are one,” and I can tell they mean it.

So, despite the overwhelming nature of buying and selling in the marketplace in Bamenda, it becomes apparent that sellers are not money-hungry and selfish, as we see so much in consumerism. Instead, once you get a chance to know them, you sense a bond between those who work so closely together in the market. Most of the time, borrowers say that they work hard to sell their goods at fair prices. In the end, those that are buying their produce are trying to get by as best they can, just like the farmers and the sellers. It takes time to see this dynamic, but as an outsider things of this nature sometimes do. One cannot say enough about the character of some of those that borrower from GHAPE and Kiva. Especially those who work so hard at providing food for not only the masses, but themselves and their families. Understanding the food market is like understanding Cameroon, it reveals some of the best and most trying aspects of living here.

My First Two Weeks in Cameroon!

Hello from Bamenda!!!

After about a two day transit adventure (NY to Paris (7hr), Paris to Douala (7hr), Douala to Bamenda (8 hr mini bus)), I arrived in Bamenda on Valentine’s Day, a day I thought I could avoid, but was proven incorrect!  I am working with GHAPE (Grounded & Holistic Approach for People’s Empowerment) and everyone in the office is incredibly helpful and great to talk with.  However, while my time in Cameroon has been positive, I have hit a major roadblock: I brought my Macintosh with me abroad and the software for accessing the internet here is for PCs only.  Thus, I apologize for the delay in posting and lack of videos for the moment, but I am determined to make it work by the end of this week, so stay tuned! I digress…

Since arriving two weeks ago, I have already met with a large amount of borrowers at center meetings, interviewed about 20 of them, and have been extremely impressed with every borrower and GHAPE employee so far.  This past week, GHAPE held its annual leadership workshop for all center chiefs.  For those of you who are not familiar its organization, GHAPE is composed of 28 centers in total, each center has 8 groups, and 5 borrowers constitute each group, so each center chief represents about 40 borrowers.  This leadership position holds a great amount of responsibility: leading meetings, announcing policy changes, collecting fines for tardiness and similar disruptions.

To be honest, because the workshop was two full days and GHAPE housed about 40 center chiefs at their office (right across the way to where my accommodations are), it was tiring, but very necessary.  And, while I was exhausted when the end of the second day came around, I was also overwhelmed by a sense of pride to be working with such a organization.  GHAPE really takes their social mission seriously: with monthly training sessions that cover how to management a loan to how to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, GHAPE’s goal is to create a more sustainable community and it is clearly a success.  For instance, this leadership workshop I attended covered not only GHAPE policies and the qualities of a leader but also the topic of gender mainstreaming and conflict resolution.  I was quite impressed with the employees who presented and the questions asked by borrowers.  I have taken tons of video of the workshop, but again, I have to delay posting the content for another day when I have a better connection

On a personal note, I had a great weekend.  I picked up the other Kiva fellow, Ashley, from Douala and it has been fun to show her the ropes and lesson I’ve learned so far in the field.  Can’t wait to write about our adventures to come!  Hope all is well!

A Long Layover for Thought

A warm welcome to the Kiva Fellows Blog! I would like to introduce myself to you, my name is Ashley King-Bischof. As one of the last KF7 Fellows to arrive in the field, I make my way to Bamenda, Cameroon with much anticipation and excitement. My travels to Cameroon started in the San Francisco Bay Area and will last more than a couple of days before arriving to my final destination. The first part of my trek was across North America to New York City, where I am now. From there I have a longer red-eye to London, a quick jet over to Zurich and then another flight to Douala, Cameroon. As a last, and probably the most crowded trip, I have a red-eye bus ride to Bamenda. A lot, right?!

There is a reason for that; there are no direct flights from the United States to Cameroon. I had no choice but to layover in a third-party country. Ironically though, a loan to an entrepreneur in Cameroon can be fundraised faster than the time it takes me to get there by plane. Kiva’s online platform bypasses the need for a lender to meet face to face with its borrower in order to give them credit. Instead, with a click of a mouse, their loan can have the same, positive effect through the internet. It blows my mind to think of how Kiva will affect the lives of people over time with this method; the possibilities are endless. That said, my opportunity as a Kiva Fellow still requires me to layover in Europe, and although it will take some time to get to Cameroon, the wait sure does make me appreciate Kiva’s online immediacy.

With a flight or two to go, I look forward to being a Kiva Fellow in Cameroon!

You can check out the MFI I will be working with, GHAPE. They have been working with Kiva for 2 years now.

Wednesday saves the week

Wednesday morning was a blast. I had to get up at 5 and get ready to go into the field alone. It was my first time to go alone, but I had set up a meeting with some of the clients from one of the centers in town so I could do a few extra interviews. I had never been to the center, so when I reached the junction the center was at I had to start asking for directions. The first woman I asked was carrying a bucket of popoffs (fried dough balls) and was on her way to the market. She grabbed my hand (holding hands is very common here), and led me to the bottom of a hill. She spoke to a friend of hers who apparently agreed to show me up the next leg of the trip and placed my hand inside my new tour guide’s hand. We walked up the hill and reached the local water tap. Children were lined up with large buckets waiting to bring back water for their family to prepare for the day. There, I was given a new tour guide—a girl around 10 years old with what had to be 20 litres of water on her head. She didn’t spill a drop as we walked quickly to the center. In front of the center waited 10 eager and excited clients, all of whom rushed over to greet me.

After conducting my interviews, I came outside to find two of the members waiting for me. One was the center chief of this particular center. They were standing with the neighbours and called me over. The mama of the home was drying out her fried grasshoppers and when she saw me coming immediately yelled at one of the children to get a ‘big paper’ (plastic bag). She filled a fairly large bag with grasshoppers and I thanked her. We continued down the hill. We walked through some compounds (essentially like someone’s back yard), to get to the Emelda’s shop. On the way, one of the neighbours was cooking her grasshoppers still. She went to talk to Emelda and asked if I could watch them. Of course, I immediately pulled out my camera and started taking a video, letting a couple jump out. Abraham, the center chief, assured me that would have happened even if I was stirring them properly.

At Emelda’s shop, or ‘off license’ which is similar to a bar, she sells beer, wine, cold drinks, and some food items. She wanted me to ‘snap her’ (take her photo there), but she had had to hide all of her drink items off the shelves yesterday when the tax collectors came by; she didn’t have enough to pay taxes this month and knew they wouldn’t be going to help her people anyway. So, she decided to hide her items and pretend she had been doing very poorly in business. Next we went to Abraham’s farm. Emelda helps Abraham on the farm as well. The farm was huge, he was growing cabbage, tomato, sugar cane, njama njama (leafy green vegetable), pepper (jalapenoish), fish (in a fish pond), you name it, he had it. They had created an irrigation system by digging ditches through their farm land starting at the top of the hill (the farm was all on a downward slope). The ditches crossed back and forth over the approximately 5 hectares of land, finally ending in the fish pond. It was pretty muddy and slippery, so it was suggested I leave my sandals at the top. As we were walking around, the sun was starting to get pretty hot; Emelda had an extra head scarf and tied it on my head to protect me. Abraham decided to cut down some sugar cane stalks so I could take them back to the office. He cut down about 6 or 7 huge sticks and tied them together with grasses. They were about 4 to 5 feet long; they came up to about my chin. We left the farm and made our way over to another friend of Abraham’s who also helped on the farm.

He explained to me that here in Cameroon, you should not try to do it on your own. Your business and life will fail. He says life is too hard here to try it alone, you need the support of others; even just to cover you when you have malaria or typhoid, you need support. That’s why he likes being with GHAPE, they all support each other. All of them work together to make their lives better. Not a bad way to approach a problem. This other friend had three large pigs that had all just recently had piglets. There were quite a few of them all trying to jump out as soon as I looked in. I think they thought I was bringing them food or that the camera was food, because after a couple minutes they all became fairly disinterested in me. We walked up to the road so I could catch an okada (local term for motorbike here) back to the office. I still wasn’t wearing shoes (I know, could have caught all kinds of worms and bugs through my feet) and was wearing Emelda’s head scarf still (she said she would get it from the office later—it was too dusty to take an okada without it. I was now also carrying 7 or so long stalks of sugar cane over my shoulder and snacking on grasshoppers out of a big garbage bag; needless to say, I felt very Cameroonian. As I hopped on the bike and held the sugar cane with one hand, I rested my grasshoppers in my lap and pulled out my cell phone with the other hand to send out a few messages. It was only about half way through the ride home that I thought, “what am I doing? Hold on to the bike, put your grasshoppers and your cell phone away! What are you thinking?” Everyone was really happy to see me come back to the office with gifts of grasshoppers and sugar cane. They all went outside and began chopping off pieces of about one foot for each person. I was lucky enough to get my own stalk!

I have run out of time here, and have to get ready for Foumban this weekend. Foumban is about 4 hours outside of Bamenda and apparently has a huge cultural festival every two years. I will add some more blogs when I get back from that. However, I will say that this week, I successfully created the first GHAPE website! It was a bit over my head, but with a lot of trial and error it is up and running! Check it out and keep in mind there are still a lot of little details I’m still fixing up. www.ghape.org . I also added new photos to jenmcq.smugmug.com

Microfinance in Action

This week has been completely exhausting, but one of the best weeks I’ve had here. I’ve been out in the field every morning this week—I still have tomorrow morning as well. Some of the centers have been quite far away, requiring me to leave at around 5:45 or so in the morning and catching a bike while it’s still dark. I like the longer rides though, I get to see more of Cameroon and get out of Bamenda. One of the rides to a center, Beatrice and I shared a bike. The driver told us he knew a short cut, and we went zooming through a foot path. The grass had grown over and was now hanging into the road standing at about 6 or 7 feet tall. It was smacking the driver and us in the face as we weaved around the ditch that had formed in the center of the path from the past rainy season. The whole time, Beatrice and I were just laughing at what was going on; the driver kept telling me he had taken us there on purpose—to show me the real Cameroon. It was a gorgeous view from that path; we could see the hilly countryside scattered with palm trees and crops as the sun was rising. I wasn’t able to take a picture—I was a bit more focused on holding on as we bounced down the path.

In two of the meetings now I have been given lunch after by some of the clients. At one of the meetings, all of the clients stayed behind after to have a lunch of achu (ground plantains and taro root) with a spicy, pepper and fish soup. Then at another meeting we were given koki (made by grinding koki beans and corn flour together and then frying with tomatoes and onions) and njama njama (huckleberry, a leafy green vegetable, fried with tomatoes, onions, and spices). The koki was really good. One of the clients sells groundnut koki (koki beans ground and fried with ground peanuts) on the main street in Bamenda and promised to get me some for Friday. I may try to get down there tomorrow.

In Wednesday’s center, two piglets were given out. GHAPE gives female piglets to female members; when you receive a piglet you have to raise it and breed it and come back to the center with two female piglets to give to other members. It is definitely an interesting and neat way of giving back to the center. All in all, the people are what make the early mornings and long dusty bike rides worth it though. These people are so unbelievable. They have hurdle after hurdle and even with a number of disappointments, they remain positive, optimistic and grateful. There is never any anger or negativity when you talk to them about their failures, just optimism about the future. I have never met anyone that works as hard as a lot of the GHAPE clients; they all have about four different jobs requiring varied skills. It truly is inspirational to hear what they are able to do with such small amounts of money; moreover, how what they do can change their lives. Just consider what this woman was able to do with her loan of $1,200 US.

Bih Allan, or Mangye as she is called by those that know she has had twins, is a woman with a lot on the go. Despite her busy schedule, she is relaxed and spends the entirety of the interview giggling. She not only has the daunting task of raising 6 children, but must generate enough income to pay for their school fees and daily needs. Although her husband contributes, she comes from a polygamous home and so her husband must divide his income between his other wife as well. Thanks to GHAPE and Kiva, she has been able to ensure that her family situation has not affected her children’s education and future.

Mangye grows cassava, yam, corn and beans on her farm. Much of her farmed vegetables are eaten; however, some are used to sell and some are used to make cooked food which she sells. She only sells her yams when she needs money, say to make her GHAPE payments or when school fees are due; she can sell them for 5000 CFA ($10 USD)per pound. To make garri and waterfou, two staple carbohydrate dishes produced from cassava, the cassava must be ground. This is a tedious and tiring process involving a lot of manual labour. She takes her cassava to be ground by a neighbour who has a cassava mill. For 4 pockets of cassava, it will cost her 3500 CFA ($7 USD) to grind it; she can then sell these four pockets for 9000 CFA ($18 USD).

Twice per week, Mangye sells waterfou (made from cassava), rice, stew, corn chafe (corn and beans cooked with spices), and eru (a leafy green vegetable fried in spices). She sells these items on the roadside to school children and passerbys. She can make around 6000 CFA ($12 USD) per day. She also rears pigs. She purchased two pigs for 17,000 CFA ($34 USD) and 13,000 CFA ($26 USD) and just recently sold them for 60,000 CFA ($120 USD) and 45,000 CFA($90 USD) respectively. It cost her 3380 CFA ($6.75 USD) per bag, and during the time she was raising them, she used 6 bags. She also purchased medicine and vitamins for her pigs, costing a total of 1600 CFA ($32 USD). She spent a total of 21,880 CFA ($43.75 USD) to rear them and was able to make a profit of 53,120 CFA ($106.25 USD).

She is currently raising ten fowls. She keeps her fowls for about 3 months and feeds them one bag of feed costing 13,500 CFA ($27 USD). The fowls cost 1300 CFA ($2.60 USD) each when she purchases them. She recently sold her last batch of 15 fowls for 52,000 CFA ($104 USD), or 3500 CFA ($7 USD) each. This last sale resulted in a profit of 20,500 CFA ($41 USD).

Mangye is also the proud owner of a motorbike now thanks to her GHAPE/Kiva loans. She purchased the bike for 530,000 CFA ($1060 USD) including all the documents and forms. She has contracted out the work to a driver who pays her 3000 CFA ($6 USD) per day and drives six days per week, resulting in an income of 72,000 CFA ($144 USD) per month. The bike can pay for itself in seven and a half months.

Mangye is proud that she can now rear pigs and fowls herself, sell products herself, make her profits herself and manage her life herself. She is happy to see her children’s school fees being paid easily and her family eating well and healthy. She thanks all those that contributed to her loan and says that these loans really have changed her life.

Every morning I have gone to a center and have had a different, but equally inspiring experience at each. Wednesday’s center prayer was quite interesting. Each center has a prayer at the beginning of the meeting led by one of the clients. When people here say a prayer, it is not your typical rehearsed or memorized prayer. This one referred to god as Papi God and Jesus as Jesus of Nazareth; Jesus being Jesus of Nazareth wouldn’t be so strange if they didn’t say his name every two or three words. There were some references to thanking papi for having this whiteman with them for the meeting, and pleading that papi would chair the meeting for them so it could function well. There was a prayer for the whitemen countries as well, “We also pray, Jesus of Nazareth, for the whiteman countries in the world and pray that you Papi God and Jesus of Nazareth look over them and keep them safe Papi God and Jesus of Nazareth.” In case anyone was worried before about the future, there are thousands of people in Cameroon praying for the whiteman—I am told about 60 plus times a day that I am being prayed for. I never know how to respond to that, I usually say thank you, but it seems like a response offer my prayer for them would be more appropriate.

I have yet to meet a client who has been disappointed with their involvement in GHAPE. I am looking, but I don’t think there are any. There are people who have had failed businesses and what not, but they all manage to make their payments and take out another loan for another venture. The results I am seeing here are far beyond what I imagined even after studying microfinance and the empowerment of women. The women I meet here who have been in the program for a while are independent, powerful women. Some own businesses where they employ their husband and pay him a salary. In a society where women have been treated as property even within society and the legal framework in the past, it is truly amazing to see these women providing for their families and being treated as equals in the household.