A Fistful of Dollars, Behind the Scenes: Volunteer Editor Helps Kiva...
Like the windshield on a motor-taxi in Phnom Penh rush hour, transparency is vital to Kiva’s survival. To give interest-free loans, lenders deserve to know that every cent of their money is being...
View ArticleThe Velvet Season
“You are lucky,” my taxi driver tells me. “You have arrived in the best time in Georgia!” After two weeks here in Tbilisi, I have to agree. September to November brings The Velvet Season; when the sun...
View ArticleWhat are Chances of Meeting a Kiva Borrower in Guayaquil?
By Emmanuel M. von Arx, KF 16, Ecuador Taxi drivers were not in the forefront of my mind when I was walking out of Guayaquil´s international airport into the hot and humid air of this Ecuadorian port...
View ArticleA Song and a Wheelchair Ramp for a New Bank
By Emmanuel M. von Arx, KF 16, Ecuador What do a song and a wheelchair ramp have in common? If you are a corporate lawyer in Ecuador, you may know the answer. Everybody else, please read on. Only...
View ArticleBank-O-Mat Under a Hot Tin Roof: Making Non-Profit Microfinance Sustainable
By Julie Kerr, KF16, Costa Rica Part 1: Microfinance Models in Costa Rica – Featuring FUDECOSUR (Check out Part 2 for more adventures in FUDECSOUR village banking) Bump-duh-duh-thump-thump,...
View ArticleWhat´s Easier Than Getting Robbed in Guayaquil?
By Emmanuel M. von Arx, KF 16, Ecuador As much a therapy session as a blog entry, this is the narrative of a recent robbery incident in Guayaquil: It happened two hours ago and my co-workers and I can...
View ArticleVisiting an HIV-Clinic in Guayaquil (Part I)
By Emmanuel M. von Arx, KF16, Ecuador "Don't be scared to shake the hand of a client with HIV or to drink out of his glass. You cannot get infected that way." This was the message that Nahin Alvarado...
View ArticleVisiting an HIV-Clinic in Guayaquil (Part II)
By Emmanuel M. von Arx, KF16, Guayaquil (Ecuador) One of the great joys and privileges of being a Kiva Fellow is to go along with loan officers when they are meeting Kiva borrowers and new clients. One...
View ArticleVillage Banks BY Farmers FOR Farmers: A Microcredit Labor of Love
By Julie Kerr, KF16, Costa Rica Part 2: Microfinance Models in Costa Rica – Featuring FUDECOSUR (See Part 1 for details on how FUDECOSUR’s village banking model works) The warm red earth pulls...
View ArticleTo Kiva Fellow or not to Kiva Fellow. Eso e’ la pregunta.
By Robert Gradoville, KF16, Peru Should I become a Kiva Fellow? I imagine a lot of the Stories From The Field blog followers have considered applying to the Fellowship, or have wondered what the...
View ArticleA Typical Day in the Life of a Kiva Fellow: Loan Officer Training (Video Blog...
By Emmanuel M. von Arx, KF 16, Guayaquil (Ecuador) Video posts on a "typical day" in the life of a Kiva Fellow are a time-honored tradition on the Fellows Blog. Without any more words, here is my...
View ArticleProducto Creer: How for a Bank Doing the Right Thing Can Pay Off
By Emmanuel M. von Arx, KF16, Guayaquil (Ecuador) My host and Kiva´s partner organization Banco D-MIRO provides over ten different types of microloans to borrowers in and around Guayaquil: among them...
View ArticleThe Heart of Kiva – A Guest Blog from Mexico
Emmanuel M. von Arx | KF 16+17 | Mexico Kiva is all about stories - what draws us all in and inspires us to lend are the stories of courageous micro-entrepreneurs that speak of hard-ship and success,...
View ArticleRecycling for Life and Family in the Mexican Countryside
Emmanuel M. von Arx | KF 16+17 | Mexico I have a confession to make: I love to browse Kiva borrower profiles - even occasionally without any actual intention to make a loan. I believe that reading the...
View ArticleBeyond Financial Services: Mexico’s Greatest Artisan Fair
Emmanuel M. von Arx | KF 16+17 | Mexico Shortly after arriving at my first Mexican microfinance organization, FRAC (or Fundación Realidad, soon to be called Vision Fund Mexico), I had the joyful task...
View ArticleA Mexican Tale of Women and Sheep
Emmanuel M. von Arx | KF 16+17 | Mexico Who would have thought that my second Kiva Fellowship would teach me just as much about microfinance as about the rearing of sheep? Seriously, ask me anything...
View ArticleSilicon 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,...
View Article
More Pages to Explore .....