Posts tagged ‘Rosalind Piggot’
The end of farming as you know it
By Rosalind Piggot, KF10, Tajikistan
I always assumed that farmers requesting loans on Kiva were carrying on a traditional, family activity. Farming was a profession passed from father to son, from mother to daughter. The same practices were maintained for generations. I didn’t ask any more questions.
I recently discovered that things are a little different in Tajikistan. (more…)
Mavluda’s poem and why you should get decked out in shiny hats
By Rosalind Piggot, KF10, Tajikistan
As I sat down at the living room table, former Kiva Entrepreneur Mavluda Muhidinova hurried to show me her work. 5 plate-shaped pieces of black material were already on the table: work in progress. Mavluda had been hand-stitching traditional Tajik men’s hats, which are part of her business as a hat maker.
Mavluda shows me the first hat she ever made
I was amazed when Mavluda pulled out the first hat she ever made. She had kept this green crochet hat since the early 1960s. “I came up with the idea for this hat myself. Here, men only wear the black hats.”
Tajik men's hats and ladies' wedding hats
“I am one of the few people in this city (Isfara) that actually makes the hats. (more…)
Should you lend via Kiva’s for-profit Field Partners?
By Rosalind Piggot, KF10, Tajikistan
Following the recent New York Times article questioning the interest rates charged in microfinance, I looked back at recent blogs by Kiva Fellows about interest rates and sustainability. In comments on those blogs and on Kiva’s lender team sites, a lot of people were asking: “Do I want to lend via a for-profit institution?” and similar questions. (more…)
Coup in Kyrgyzstan, business as usual in Tajikistan?
From my neighbors’ flat in Khujand, in northern Tajikistan, we watched images of Kyrgyzstan’s coup on Russian satellite TV. One woman was sitting in her dark shop illuminated only by flashlight, weeping. The mannequins that had once displayed her goods were now nude. In the next shot, another woman swept glass from the steps of her shop. “They smashed the windows… how will I feed my family now?… they took my things”, my neighbor translated her words.
With the Kyrgyz border just 30 minutes away by car from the city where I live, (more…)
