How Kiva Chooses Field Partners: Recorded Webinar is now Available

Thank you to all who joined us online for our first Kiva Webinar on How Kiva Chooses Field Partners. We were overwhelmed by the number of participants and grateful for the participation and feedback. If you were unable to attend, the recorded version is now available to view on demand.

Kiva Webinar Series Part 1:

How Kiva Chooses Field Partners

Click here to view recorded version

If you would like to learn more about our current Field Partners in advance of the webinar click here.

Thanks again to our Facebook followers for voting on a topic for this webinar. We will continue to ask for your vote on future topics while also allowing you to pose questions specific to the subject matter in advance of the webinar.

Please be sure to follow us on Facebook so you don't miss the chance to help shape future Kiva Webinars.

Making the Most of Migrant Money

written by Anne-Marie Robles, Review and Translation Program Intern

Photo provided by MLO Humo

In April of this year I attended a USAID webinar on migrant-backed loans in Guatemala and it got me thinking about the role of remittances in local economies, as well as their effect, if any, on microfinance activities in countries with high remittance rates.

Each year millions of migrant workers leave families behind to seek better paying jobs elsewhere, whether in another part of their home country or abroad. Much of the money these workers earn while away is sent back home to help support their family. Called remittance receipts or simply remittances, these funds have become an increasingly large source of income for citizens of countries that also receive foreign aid. In 2005, remittances sent to family or friends in developing countries surpassed the total amount of all foreign aid funds pledged by more developed countries like the U.S. The World Bank estimates that in 2009 migrant workers from developing countries sent home about US$317 billion. Foreign aid funds to developing countries in 2009 were roughly US$151 billion, or less than half the amount sent by migrant workers. Remittances are important as added income for the families in the home country, who statistically spend the money on basic necessities, and for increased financial stability against currency fluctuation in the home country.

Money can be sent home using various methods. The most inefficient and costly of these methods is physically transporting the money home, usually involving long travel times and unsecured money transport, as well as time off from a job or the added expense of paying someone trustworthy enough to travel with the money. Slightly more secure, though still expensive, is to send a money order or check that must be cashed or deposited before the money can be used. Western Union has been a popular method of wiring money but is not without its own short-falls, with accessibility of a cash-out location being the most troublesome. As banks have become more aware of the role they could play and the necessity of these money-transferring activities, they have opened more banking branches in order to facilitate electronic money transfers for greater accessibility. However, the issue remains that banks cannot offer branches everywhere for everyone. One of the more cost- and time-efficient ways to transfer money is via mobile phone. For instance, using the M-Pesa program in rural Kenya, people can send money to their relatives and it is immediately available for putting into savings or using to pay bills or purchase local services.

Microfinance institutions are catching on to how they could play a role in remittance transfers. For example, ACREDICOM in Guatemala and MLO Humo in Tajikistan have begun to offer migrant-backed loans to families receiving remittance money using a portion of the funds sent home as collateral against a loan. These migrant-backed loans have enabled family members to pay for school fees or utility bills, be qualified for microloans themselves to open small businesses, and start savings accounts—all activities that may not have been feasible without the outside flow of cash.

While it is still too early to know the long-term role of remittances in microfinance, there is already evidence that these programs help foster local business growth in the home country and could help reduce the need for remittances, eventually allowing migrant workers to come home.

For further reading:
Microlinks After-Hours Seminars, with links to past presentations and supporting materials
Migrant Remittances Newsletter, published by USAID
World Bank data page on Migration and Remittances

Featured Field Partner: FATEN: Palestine for Credit & Development

By Sam Kendall, Review and Translation Program Intern

Adel is a physical education teacher who has always wanted to have a sportswear store. With savings and his first FATEN loan, he was finally able to open his own business.


Highlights

*Kiva Field Partner since: June 2009
*Loans through Kiva: $1,226,225
*Number of entrepreneurs assisted through Kiva: 660
*Focus: Low-income and economically active small-scale enterprises and micro entrepreneurs, especially women




Palestine for Credit & Development (FATEN) is a not-for-profit organization that emerged out of a project launched in Palestine by Save the Children International in January 1995. Independent since 1999, FATEN is now one of the leading microfinance organizations in Palestine, dedicated to providing financial services to small and micro entrepreneurs through its network of 12 branches in the West Bank and Gaza territories.

Etidal is a mother. She lives in a refugee camp in Nablus with her husband, who is a construction worker. Five years ago, Etidal started providing sewing services out of her house to earn extra income for the household and to save up for her children's education. She took a FATEN loan in order to purchase a new and efficient sewing machine for her business.

Hope Despite Instability
Despite the unstable political and security situation in the region, FATEN’s staff is dedicated to improving the quality of life in Palestine by providing its clients a diversity of loan products to suit their needs and economic opportunities. The organization operates 12 branches in major cities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and, as of March 2011, served more than 12,000 clients (of which 80% are women) and managed a portfolio of $24 million.

At-Risk Groups
According to data by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 70% of the population is below the age of 30. As most small businesses hire a small staff, this leaves youth with very low chances for employment. Recognizing that the new generation needs more income-generating opportunities, FATEN has created a Pioneer loan specifically geared towards youth to help them start their own small businesses.
FATEN also works with Palestinian refugees, who represent a significant number of the 57% of the population living below the poverty line. In 2009, 35% of FATEN’s clients were Palestinian refugees living in camps around the West Bank and Gaza.

Working with Traditions
FATEN offers a loan product that complies with Islamic law, which states that one can not receive interest on a loan because money should be viewed only as a medium of exchange, rather than as a commodity with its own intrinsic value. FATEN’s Murabaha loan product has no monthly interest payments (the client instead pays an up-front fee for the service FATEN provides), and is thus appropriate for clients who view traditional micro lending as counter to their beliefs. This type of loan represents roughly 28% of FATEN’s portfolio.

International Support
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) announced in April 2011 that it will be providing a $3 million loan and advisory services to FATEN to help expand its outreach and promote job creation in the region.

Learn more about FATEN's services on their Kiva Partner Page or lend to one of their borrowers.

Borrower photos provided by FATEN.

Family meets the Borrowers in Guatemala whose loan they helped fund!

Last December the Gobbi Family of five traveled to Guatemala for a fun-filled 2 weeks of vacation time. The family, long-time supporters of Kiva, decided they would include some time in their journey to do something extra special.  Before departing, the Gobbi Family logged on from their home in San Francisco and made a loan to a group of three women in Guatemala! The loan was used to purchase wholesale clothing for the women-run business. This loan was funded by 34 other Kiva lenders and is currently being repaid through our Field Partner, FAPE.

Father Greg Gobbi contacted our Field Partner, FAPE, and arrangements were made for the family to meet the 3 women they had helped. With some Spanish help from her father, the oldest daughter Marguerite, recited a message to the borrowers at their clothing store. (Watch their video to see this amazing moment for yourself!) The family also purchased a few items from the store and sent them to friends to encourage them to make a Kiva loan! 

Although the language barrier was a challenge, the family was honored to meet the women they had loaned to. "Kiva provides this very emotional direct emotional connection," Greg Gobbi said. The experience proved to be a wonderful lesson in community for the family. They were pleased with the willingness and enthusiasm of the FAPE employees to help them make the connection to the entrepreneurs.

Kiva would like to thank the Gobbi Family as well as FAPE for allowing this full-circle opportunity to take place. This is a real-life example of the interconnectedness that Kiva creates through microlending! Be a part of the community by making a loan to an entrepreneur today!

Featured Field Partner - KADET

Written by Anne-Marie Robles, Review and Translations Program Intern

Silole Sanamwala, a wheat farmer in Narok, Kenya, with her children Ruth and Alex.

Highlights

• Kiva Field Partner since: May 2009

• Loans through Kiva: $1,651,775

• Number of entrepreneurs assisted through Kiva: 3,373

• Focus: Micro and small business loan products for rural entrepreneurs

Kenya Agency for Development of Enterprise and Technology (KADET) was started in 2000 by World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and impoverished communities worldwide. World Vision began working in Kenya in 1973. By the early 1980s their programs included agriculture, nutrition, education, water projects, medicine and flood relief. World Vision’s goal is to deliver access to financial services and economic development throughout Kenya, particularly the rural areas where half of the country’s population resides.

Varied entrepreneurs

KADET has 11 branches and 39 offices in Kenya and their clients’ economic activity varies across the country’s regions. In Narok and El Doret (in the South and North Rift Valley), wheat and corn farming is very common. In urban areas like Nairobi and Mombasa services and retail, such as barber shops, kiosks, and market stalls, are major business types. In the Central region and Naivasha most clients are farmers, raising rabbits or running greenhouses while in Kisumu in the Western part of Kenya fishing is the dominant industry and many clients are fishermen or work in supporting industries like restaurants, transportation, and selling fishing equipment.

Lilian Syonzia, a vegetable seller in Matuu, Kenya, with her daughter Ruth.

“Big house” group lending

Loan recipients of KADET are divided into groups. A large group of 15-30 independent entrepreneurs, known as the Jumba or “a big house” in Swahili, is formed. The large group is also subdivided into three to six groups of five entrepreneurs, referred to as the Nyumba meaning “a room in a house”. The Nyumba is the first guarantor of the loan and they exert pressure on the other members to pay. All members are also required to save 20% of the amount of the loan in a loan security fund. KADET facilitates the formation of groups by holding community meetings and marketing events. Group leaders go through training on group management before their loans are disbursed and KADET offers trainings once per year per branch to group leaders.

A spiritual influence

While they are open about being Christian, KADET’s lending methodology is not directly affected by their religious affiliation. Roughly 75% of Kenyans identify as Christian so it is not unusual for groups to start and end their loan meetings with a prayer, but that is for the group to decide. KADET does limit their lending to exclude businesses that are perceived to have a negative social impact, like bars.

Margaret Kisato with her kale in Vihiga, Kenya.

World Vision in Kenya

KADET believes that helping clients in rural areas has a stronger effect on communities – helping an entrepreneur access capital in a rural area keeps that person from moving to a city, where there may not be a job anyway, and also employs others in the community. Currently, agricultural loans make up 30% of KADET’s lending portfolio.

To lend to a KADET borrower like Silole, visit their lender page!

Photo provided by Tara Capsuto, Kiva Roaming Fellow KF13, Kenya

Featured Field Partner - MAXIMA

Written by Anne-Marie Robles, Review and Translations Program Intern


Highlights

• Kiva Field Partner since: May 2007
• Loans through Kiva: $2,015,550
• Number of entrepreneurs assisted through Kiva: 3,237
• Focus: low-income individuals, groups, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with an emphasis on lending to poor, rural women

Formally known as Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co. Ltd, or "MAXIMA for Household Economic Development", MAXIMA was founded in March 2000 with a vision to bring together people and businesses with the common goal of alleviating poverty by providing both economic and social opportunities to the rural poor. There are more than 20 microfinance institutions in Cambodia that offer similar services but MAXIMA is one of the few that offer door-to-door services for loan dispersal delivery and payment pickup. They also make an effort to hire local staff and open service offices in the areas they serve as well as offering lower interest rates for clients that are willing to make payments at these offices.

Benefiting Women and Families

MAXIMA believes that their loans can often benefit the women, and thus the family, more. When a family does not have suffiecient income, often their only option is to send the women of the family to the city to work in garment factories. This can be difficult because they then travel long distances, often in unsafe conditions, from the provinces daily or rent inadequate housing in Phnom Penh. Pay in the factories is very low, around $55-60 a month, which forces them to work overtime. Starting or expanding a small business closer to home can be a good alternative.

Wife Bank

While MAXIMA lends to both men and women, in Cambodia women are seen as being more responsible with money and are the money managers in every family. Even when men run the business, women manage the finances. The joke is that come payday men must give their paycheck to their wives. This is referred to as “Thonikea Bropon” or “wife bank”, where, it is said, it is easy to make a deposit but difficult to make a withdrawal.

Savings Aspirations

MAXIMA used to offer a fixed deposit savings program, where borrowers could deposit money into a savings account regularly and expect a certain amount of interest on their savings over time. In 2008 the Cambodian government passed a law that forced MFIs to get an additional license for savings deposits. To get this license, MFIs have to have a capital reserve of $2.5 million. MAXIMA is so small that they are not close to meeting this requirement, however a savings program remains part of their mission because they have a commitment to fulfilling the requirements to get the license and to offer this service to their customers again in the future. As such, they are currently looking for investors.

To lend to a MAXIMA borrower, browse their Kiva lender page.

Photos by Lina Goldberg, Kiva Fellow KF12

Behind the Scenes: A Video Interview with Nat Robinson, CEO of Juhudi Kilimo

Written by Lauren Brown, Review and Translations Program Intern

This 3-part video interview introduces you to Nat Robinson, CEO of Juhudi Kilimo, a Kiva Field Partner located in Kenya. Learn why so few microfinance institutions (MFIs) are working in the agriculture industry and how Juhudi is leading the way in rural asset financing. Discover how even in rural Kenya, farmers are able to make mobile payments and file insurance claims using their cell phones. Also, find out which type of cow Juhudi recommends its farmers!

Video Part One - Learn about the Agribusiness Value Chain and Juhudi's role in it.

Video Part Two - Learn why so few MFIs are in the agriculture industry and why Juhudi uses the asset financing model.

Video Part Three - Learn about Juhudi's mobile payments and where Nat sees the future of Juhudi Kilimo.

Click here to make a loan to a Juhudi borrower.

Featured Field Partner - Asociación Arariwa

As part of the migration to the Updates Tab, the Review and Translation Program will be posting updates on featured Review and Translation Volunteers, Kiva Field Partners, and their insights on the latest in Kiva! This is the first of the posts. In coordination with this month's Passport Series on Peru (including: a Country Profile, a Profile of the Microfinance Industry and a Kiva Fellow's lending story), here is a look at a Featured Field Partner!

written by Anne-Marie Robles, Kiva Review and Translations Program Intern

Peruvian NGO Asociación Arariwa started in 1977. They began offering microfinance services in 1994 in the rural region of Cusco with the goal of improving the quality of life, skills and equity of the population. Arariwa’s services now reach the entire Cusco region and into the Puno, Apurimac and Madre de Dios provinces.

Typical bank loans in Peru require some sort of physical guarantee, but the village bank model uses a "social" guarantee, lending to a group of borrowers without collateral and encouraging self-monitoring and group-responsibility. This model of lending also allows Arariwa to reach more of the poor in the areas surrounding Cusco. Arariwa was founded by and remains highly connected to the Andean culture in Peru. This culture is marked by communal activities and support throughout the community. Group lending also provides an opportunity for Arariwa to reach out and coordinate savings and provide trainings to the local community. Arariwa´s village bank methodology is that each bank has 15 to 35 members, primarily women in poverty, who meet once a month.

To promote its village bank product, Arariwa visits each potential client’s house, maintains a presence at each town’s assembly and shows potential clients the benefits of working with Arariwa, like the savings products and education programs in addition to the loan products, and how the combination of education and savings can improve their quality of life.

Arariwa's clients are trained on the dangers of over indebtedness and the importance of savings and paying on time, so that they don't end up having financial problems. The education Arariwa's borrowers receive empowers the group members, raises their self-esteem, and improves their relationships with their family as the clients become more aware of how to positively interact with those around them and how to run their business better. In addition to education, the group-loan program has a built-in savings program, typically 3-5% of the original loan amount, and a micro-insurance service to protect borrower's families from inheriting the debt should something happen to the borrower.

Since partnering with Kiva in August 2008, Kiva lenders have funded more than 6,300 loans and lent over $2 million to Arariwa borrowers. Browse current Arariwa profiles fundraising on the Kiva site here!

Photos by Cynthia McMurry, Kiva Field Support Specialist for South America

Passport Series: Peru: Microfinance Profile

The Passport Series on Peru continues this post, with a look into the Microfinance Sector in Peru. Check out the Peru Country Profile we posted last week.

Peru is home to a thriving and interesting Microfinance sector. The industry began, formally, in the 1970's. Political turmoil and economic crisis were strong in Peru during the 1980 and 1990's. In response, women became more involved in income generating activities to cover gaps in their families incomes - thus the spread of microfinance. Continued periods of instability for the country have only made the microfinance sector stronger.

In 2010, Peru was named the best climate in the world for microfinance in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Microscope on the Microfinance Business Environment. Kiva is partnered with 7 MFIs in Peru: Microfinanzas Prisma, FINCA Peru, Manuela Ramos / CrediMUJER, EDAPROSPO, Asociación Arariwa, Edpyme Alternativa, and Caja Rural Señor de Luren. Most of the loans made on Kiva are used for Retail, Services, Food Sales, or Agriculture. But in a country as diverse and thriving as Peru, the myriad of businesses reflects this.

There are currently 65 reporting MFI's on TheMix.org with $5.5 billion in loan portfolios. There are 3.1 million active borrowers with an average loan size of $1305 per borrower. The Mix also keeps detailed information on the sector, and recently released a report on Microfinance in Peru. (note: this report is in Spanish!)

Next time you make a Kiva loan, think about lending to a Peruvian entrepreneur!

Photo Credit: Neda Amid-Hozour

Photo Credit: Neda Amid-Hozour

Passport Series: Peru: Country Profile

This month, the Kiva Blog is featuring Peru in our Passport Series! Stay tuned during the month to learn about the country, its microfinance industry, and some of its borrowers.

The Country:

Peru is a luscious country in South America that is known for its beautiful landscapes (including the Amazon), ancient ruins (it's also home to Macchu Picchu), rich culture, and gorgeous textiles - among many other things! Kiva has 7 Peruvian Microfinance Field Partners.


Peru is 1.28 million square kilometers, which might it just slightly smaller than Alaska. The country has a population of almost 30 million people, and boasts a population growth rate of 1.2% (the US's population growth rate is 0.9% and the world average is 1.2%). An average of 2.3 children are born to every Peruvian woman.

Currently 71% of the population live in urban areas, which is constantly increasing with an urbanization rate of 1.7%.

84% of the population speak Spanish, while native languages account for most of the remaining percentages. Also, only 7% of the population is illiterate.

Photo Credit: CIA The World Factbook

The Economy:

Peru has a long history of political instability, but has recently seen a strong period of stability and thus thriving macroeconomic growth. The country's GDP was $251 billion (with ppp) in 2009, with a per capita GDP of $8,500 and a real growth rate of 0.9%. They have a fairly high Gini co-efficient of 52; where those who are the richest 10% in the country hold about 38% of the wealth and those who are the poorest 10% hold 1.5% of the nation's wealth. Poverty has been diminishing at an impressive rate, but there is still an estimated 30% of the population that live under $2 a day and 10% that live under $1 a day.

One of the largest issues facing Peru today is deforestation. Major efforts have been made to plant trees and stop deforestation. Check out a post that one of our Fellows wrote about planting trees with Peruvian schoolchildren!

Photo Credit: Neda Amid-Hozour

Photo Credit: Neda Amid-Hozour

Introducing Kiva’s First South African Partner: Women’s Development Businesses (WDB)!

Written by Kevin Chaissan

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of traveling to Richard’s Bay, South Africa, to bring on a new Kiva Field Partner. I was very excited about this trip, as it was the first new partner I have trained and brought on board to Kiva. What was even more exciting, though, was that Kiva was expanding to a new country - South Africa!

While people may view South Africa as the most developed country in Africa, there remains a very large number of impoverished people. Official unemployment stands at just over 25%, and outside of the main cities lies a large percentage of the population living in underdeveloped rural areas. As WDB’s CEO, Ben Nkuna, told me, the poor people in South Africa primarily reside in a belt running through the interior of the country, having been pushed inland from the coast. This is the area where WDB focuses their attention, hoping to improve the living situations of thousands of South African women.

While WDB is headquartered in Nelspruit, in the northeastern part of the country, they chose to pilot this new partnership with Kiva in Richard’s Bay. Located about two hours east of Durban, WDB has 7 branch offices spread throughout the area where they work with thousands of poor women in primarily rural areas. Kiva is extremely excited about this new partnership and the impact it will have on helping WDB expand their services even further from their already large base of around 60,000 clients. As WDB’s first international funder, we all hope to increase the exposure for this organization and highlight the work they are doing to the world.

What excited me most about this visit was the sheer enthusiasm everyone at WDB had for this new partnership. Mr. Nkuna, as well as many other management personnel, made the trip to Richard’s Bay for the week of training so that everyone, from loan officers to the CEO, all had a solid understanding of Kiva practices and policies.Throughout the week I was continually impressed with how engaged everyone was, the questions they posed, and their desire to begin as soon as possible. This attitude was a joy to see, and it was clearly evident in the following week as they posted their first loan on Kiva!

While she was not present during the week, we received a letter from the Chair of WDB’s Board, sharing her excitement:

"We are delighted that Kiva has started a working relationship with WDB. We are very honored to be the first Microfinance Institution in South Africa to partner with Kiva, and WDB will make sure that this relationship assists our clients (Poor Women mostly in rural areas) to improve their livelihoods. The essence of this partnership is that funding support will assist WDB to reach out to many more potential beneficiaries in the country.

We strongly believe that our operational team is also ecstatic about this initiative and are prepared to deliver the products and see the improvements of living conditions of poor rural South African women.

We want to encourage all women out there to make use of this loan facility, invest in business, and ensure that their lives are changing for the better.

We would also like to express our gratitude to Kiva for choosing WDB as their Partner."

- Ethel Matenge-Sebesho

Please join us all in welcoming WDB to Kiva! You can view the WDB Partner Page, or view the WDB website if you would like to learn more. You can also view all WDB's currently fundraising loans to meet their borrowers!

Passport Series: Mongolia: Microfinance Industry

This week in the Passport Series, we will give you a look into the Microfinance Industry in Mongolia. For more background, check out last week's Country Profile of Mongolia.

Microfinance in Mongolia has been around since the mid-1990's in various forms. As the country has progressed, its Microfinance Industry has taken many different shapes and explored some very interesting and innovative financing solutions; check out a post written by one of our Fellows on Green Loans, an article on Mobile Banking, and some of the latest news on Microinsurance, all in Mongolia!

Currently, there are 7 MFIs listed on MIXMarket.org ; with 2 self-reporting their financial information. The country boasts total loan portfolios for $553 million with an average loan per borrower of $1,606.60 USD spread between 384,317 active borrowers.

Kiva has 2 partners in Mongolia, Xac Bank and Credit Mongol LLC. Here is a little bit about why we chose both of them and what we love about what they are doing!:

Xac Bank was started in 1998 and is currently the largest MFI in Mongolia with 16,000 clients. The average loan size of a Xac Bank client on Kiva is $1,165 USD. One of the reasons we love Xac Bank is for their savings policy: At the end of this loan, non-delinquent borrowers will be given back 9% of the interest he or she paid, due to the 0% interest capital XacBank received from Kiva. The repaid interest will be placed in a XacBank savings account, giving the borrower an additional financial tool. (Check out the post to our blog last week on the basics of Microsavings!) Xac Bank has been on Kiva since January 2009 and holds a 5-star Risk Rating!

Credit Mongol started partnering with Kiva in April of this year, and was established in April of 2000. They have an average loan size (on Kiva) of $1,400. Credit Mongol's mission is in-part to get access to credit to the most rural locations in Mongolia. (I am sure you can imagine just how rural Mongolia gets!) They also offer several different loan options to their clients.

For some more photos and info on banking in Mongolia, check out one of the Kiva fellows' blog about rural and urban businesses and banking!

Photo Credit for all Photos: Amber Barger, Kiva Fellow

An Update from Guest Blogger, Kiva Lender Bob Harris

Bob Harris, author, journalist, and Kiva lender since 2009, is traveling the world and writing a book about his experiences as a Kiva lender. Bob is also the Team Captain of the Friends of Bob Harris lending team which finished November in 7th place Kiva-wide in Amount Loaned -- and is currently up to 4th place for December, with over $3000 loaned already! Check out his blog! This post, written for Kiva and posted on his own blog, catalogs his thoughts and experiences in Kenya.




I’m writing from Nairobi after an amazing lap around Kenya for The 1st International Bank of Bob, my upcoming book for Bloomsbury about microfinance, my own Kiva lending experience, and my personal encounters with Kiva entrepreneurs and others all over the world. (So far, my own repayment rate is vanishingly close to 100 percent — after 2130 loans, I’m down all of $32.01.)


Much of my time here was spent visiting with officers and clients of Juhudi Kilimo, a microfinance lender that focuses on Kenya’s rural population. It was a privilege to join them as we drove to small towns and villages in the countryside, meeting farmers and families whose whole lives are transformed — just by buying a cow with Juhudi’s help (and if you’re a Kiva lender investing in Juhudi’s loans, your help as well).

Think of a cow as a dairy farmer’s capital equipment, and you’ll see why this is so powerful: Juhudi has figured out a way for small farmers to finance a top-end hybrid cow that produces more than twice as much milk than a local cow, and for the farmers to pay off the investment in just one year — so the cow produces nothing but income for the rest of its life. In the first year, farmers get milk for the market in the morning and milk for the family in the evening — so they’re feeding the kids as well as ever while paying off the cow — but thereafter they have income to invest in their homes, their farms, and their children’s education.

The kids were always the most fun to meet. They were almost always curious, friendly, and then playful like my own niece and nephew were at the same age. (The lone exceptions were a few little ones who were frankly petrified at the sight of a human being with my strange skin tone. I didn’t know until this trip that there were still places in the world where this was possible, but oh yes — as one little girl who is probably still cowering under her mother’s skirt made abundantly clear.)

The most inspiring group I’ve met was this group of deaf farmers from Bureti, way out west halfway to Uganda.

They not only face the predictable challenges of any group of rural poor trying to pull themselves up, but they’re doing it in a society where deaf people suffer far more obstacles than they do in America. But they’ve committed themselves to supporting each other — even putting it in writing in a simple but powerful statement of purpose they’ve all signed.

The grace and welcome that flowed from these people when this total stranger showed up was more moving than I can describe.

Communicating was surprisingly easy. As deaf folks, they’re extremely skilled at making hand signals and understanding those of others, and when words were necessary, I could mumble in English, Fred from Juhudi would translate into Swahili, and one of the members with some hearing would translate this into sign language. And then the answer would come back around the same way.

But words were rarely necessary. Sitting with these sweet folks in a small wooden home, the love and mutual care they are providing each other is something I will remember for the rest of my life. No exaggeration.

It may not seem like it, just pointing and clicking at Kiva.org, but you are sending more than a loan out into the world. For people like the Bureti group for the deaf, you are sending out love. I’ve seen it. I’ve felt it.
I hope as you read this, you feel it, too.

Maybe you’ll even join my lending team and do some good right now.

Thanks!


And my profound thanks to the good people at the Nairobi, Murang’a, and Litein offices of Juhudi Kilimo. Your kindness will stay with me for as long as I live.


PS — When the Bureti group’s loan comes up on Kiva, I hope to post a heads-up on my site, because I want them to get financed in about twenty seconds. Thirty, tops. I hope you’ll join me in supporting them.







Photo Credit on All Photos to Bob Harris - Bob has permission from all persons photographed above to appear in various medias. (original post found at: http://www.bobharris.com/2010/10/jambo-from-kenya/)

Passport Series: Rwanda: Borrower Profiles

Written by: Kathy Lin, Kiva Fellow, VFC Rwanda

The noon-day heat of equatorial sun beat down on tin roofs and dirt roads. It was quiet, the sounds a little muffled outside the paint shop of Rwandese Kiva client Marie Chantal Mukasafali.

“The business is good here,” she says, “thank goodness our inventory doesn’t spoil.”

Marie Chantal, operator of this small enterprise for well over a decade, has kept her eyes open for opportunities. She chose to begin a paint shop, she says, because housing construction became a large market in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, during which many buildings were appropriated or destroyed.

“I got the seed capital for my business by selling my former house.”

Today, Marie has bought another, larger house than the one she sold for her business, complete with a dining room and indoor plumbing.

Marie’s story is by no means an anomaly among the many Rwandan micro-finance borrowers funded by VFC. All around, the clients visited demonstrated keen business acumen, quick to take advantage of any opportunities they could find.

One farmer on the Rwandan-Congolese border-town of Gisenyi has taken advantage of his location to export tomatoes to Congolese merchants. A retail seller of clothes and shoes near Kigali treks to Kampala, Uganda (a nine-hour bus ride) instead of the nearby capitol to get cheaper goods to sell in his shop. An owner of a fabric store in the south of the country sells not only to her own neighborhood, but also across the border to land-locked Burundi.

Entrepreneurs who have some more savings plow their earnings back into the business, often with master strategies.

Small grocery shop owners invest in wholesale purchases of goods – beans, rice – during the harvest season, so that they can sell them for higher values during the later months. “This grain was 250 RwF per kilo when I bought them,” says shop-owner Yvette Mukamana. “Now they are 350.”

Irene Nsabyimana, a cook for a children’s school, has even invested money in school dormitories, so that more children can board at school and eat from her business.

This diversity of business strategies is no oddity. Many clients are involved in several businesses at once. For instance, one shop owner conducts buses in his off-hours. Another drives a motorcycle-taxi to make some extra money.

The work ethic encountered in the clients I have interviewed in the past few months is matched only with their generosity. A majority of families in Rwanda (almost all of the clients interviewed) are taking care of foster dependents. Many are teen-age orphans who lost their families in the 1994 Genocide.

“The vulnerable children come from so many places,” says John, my Kiva colleague here at VFC. “Some of them, their parents were killed. Others, the parents are in prison for what they did.” Then there are offspring born of rape. Families have taken in the children from all sides, as many as could be provided for, though the associated cost is often difficult.

“The school fees are very high,” says Marie Chantal.

But for the entrepreneurs, and the families they care for, Rwanda is a nation of hope and growth.

“I want to take English lessons,” says Claudette Nyiragicari, a fabric-store owner. Rwanda has just recently moved to eliminate French in favor of English in public schools. “And when can I get another loan? This loan was not enough.” She has already made enough money to pay off her current loan, months ahead of schedule. Gesturing to the bundle at her feet, she says, “I was only able to buy a few bundles of fabric.”

The call for financing is echoed all over the country. Many shared their future plans and hopes.

One convenience shop owner expressed her desire to start a hair-salon business. Another wants to start a wholesale trade, which offers better returns and faster turnover than retail.

Even John, Marie Chantal’s husband, shared his goals. “I’m going to driving school now, and want to buy a car for a taxi-service.”

Each in her own way, the clients interviewed in Rwanda are modestly working towards a better standard of life.

“I’m able to buy some more food for the kids,” says Domina Ngirimana, a mother of nine.

Passport Series: The Microfinance Industry in Rwanda

This week is the second week of our look into Rwanda with the Passport Series! Check out our Country Profile from last week!

Microfinance has been around since the 1970’s and has slowly been expanding to every corner of the world. The first major traces of microfinance appeared in Rwanda in the mid to late 1990’s as part of huge development efforts from International NGOs and Inter-Governmental Organizations. Microfinance was integrated into development plans for Rwanda in their immediate post-genocide reconstruction and the industry has soared since then.

Rwanda is currently home to 7 major MFIs in Rwanda – but there are estimated to be over 200 MFIs including branches and smaller, non-reporting organizations. MixMarket.org reports that there are currently over 45,000 active borrowers in Rwanda with gross loan portfolios over $20.5 million that give an average of $851.70 per loan. For a country with a per capita GDP of about $1200 and with 60% of the population living below the poverty line, you can image the help and new opportunities this offers to Rwandans.

To learn more about some of Kiva field partnerships in Rwanda, check out their Partner pages: Urwego Opportunity Bank , Vision Finance Company, and Amasezarano Community Banking, S.A.. Also, check out all the loans that still need funded from Rwandan entrepreneurs!

For another perspective, check out Kiva Fellow, Austin Harris’ blog post about the rise of Commercial Banking in Microfinance Industry within Rwanda.