Have Impact!

New loans to women groups

Jamila (L) and her microfinance entrepreneural group

Today, we issued a new batch of microfinance loans. This batch contained only loans for groups, mainly consisting of women.

In a group loan, each member of the group receives an individual loan, as a part of a larger group of individuals. The group is there to provide support to the members and to provide a system of peer pressure. Groups may or may not be formally bound by a group guarantee, where members of the group are responsible for paying back the loans of their fellow group members in the case of delinquency or default.

Kiva’s Field Partners typically feature one borrower from a group. Let’s take the case of second loan, featuring Jamila, a mother of six, in Pakistan.

Jamila will utilize the loan for her dairy and livestock business. With the loan investment, she, and her husband will buy a buffalo that will help him get larger quantities of milk for sale.

The other loans we issued today are:

Las Orquideas Group in Ecuador: $25
La Estancia Group in Ecuador: $25
Jamila’s Group in Pakistan: $25
Amna’s Group in Pakistan: $25
Ruqqiya’s Group in Pakistan: $25
Kahlida’s Group in Pakistan: $50
Zubaida’s Group in Pakistan: $25
Mary Nakibugwe’s Group in Uganda: $25
Las Fresas Group in Mexico: $25
La Propuesta Group in Ecuador: $25
San Cayetano Group in Paraguay: $25
Amna Mai’s Group in Pakistan: $50
Safooran’s Group in Pakistan: $50
Zubaida’s Group in Pakistan: $25
Aurora Group in Guatemala: $25
Panales No 2 Group in Nicaragua: $25
El Paraiso (Cuenca) Group in Ecuador: $25
Toquilleras (Sigsig) Group in Ecuador: $25
Bilquis Bibi’s Group in Pakistan: $50
Banco Mujer Siquirritos Group in Costa Rica: $50

70 more loans to women, working in agriculture

Zaripakhon in Kyrgyzstan

Would you even know where Kyrgyzstan is? Leave alone, been there? And would you even have thought to finance an entrepreneur there? Ever?

Well we did. On all three accounts: “Knew”, “Visited”, and “Financed”…

We just financed our 1,666th loan (that is one thousands six hundred and sixtysixthththth) loan with our Kiva micro financing team.

The loan went to Zaripakhon, 52 years and mother of three children. She is a cattle farmer since 2000 selling milk and dairy products. To order further develop her business, Zaripakhon requested a loan buy more livestock.

Zaripakhon was one of the 70 women from around the world we allocated our newest microfinance loans to. This loan was financed by a project on AidJobs, which raised over US$2,000 of funds.

Here are the latest micro finance loans we allocated, bringing our team total to almost US$60,000!

Zaripakhon in Kyrgyzstan: $25
Basarbu in Kyrgyzstan: $25
Suliko Gujabidze in Georgia: $25
Yinarbubu in Kyrgyzstan: $25
Anarkul in Kyrgyzstan: $25
Evangeline Vicentino in Philippines: $50
Marivel Villaruel in Philippines: $50
Annabella Adame in Philippines: $50
Roza in Kyrgyzstan: $25
Vivian in Philippines: $50
Kulsara in Kyrgyzstan: $25
Chinara in Kyrgyzstan: $25
Jumabubu in Kyrgyzstan: $25
Mohira in Tajikistan: $25
Jumakan in Kyrgyzstan: $50
Mirgul in Kyrgyzstan: $50
Almagul in Kyrgyzstan: $50
Bubukharia Shoeva in Kyrgyzstan: $25
Maria Dolores in El Salvador: $25
Peregrina Sarango De Mendoza in Peru: $25
Myskal in Kyrgyzstan: $25
Anarkul in Kyrgyzstan: $25
Roza in Kyrgyzstan: $25
Janyl in Kyrgyzstan: $25
Maria Ramona in El Salvador: $50
Teresa De Jesus in El Salvador: $50
Saodat in Tajikistan: $50
Maya Gogishvili in Georgia: $50
Olmakhon in Kyrgyzstan: $50
Rafoat Shukurova in Tajikistan: $50
Angel Maria in El Salvador: $50
Khalida in Kyrgyzstan: $50
Asyldjan in Kyrgyzstan: $50
Lia Endeladze in Georgia: $50
Anni Azizyan in Armenia: $50
Chynara in Kyrgyzstan: $50
Reyna Isabel Huete Vallejos in Nicaragua: $50
Samira in Jordan: $50
Tojihol in Tajikistan: $50
Maripa in Kyrgyzstan: $50
Svetlana Avetisyan in Armenia: $50
Jenik Hovhannisyan in Armenia: $50
Fatyma in Kyrgyzstan: $50
Mirgul in Kyrgyzstan: $50
Aygul in Kyrgyzstan: $50
Mirta Vilchez Ortiz in Peru: $50
Vista Hermosa Group in Mexico: $50
Erlinda in Philippines: $50
Faraj in Palestine: $50
Aysel Guliyeva in Azerbaijan: $50
Kanario M’mutiria in Kenya: $50
Nune Tovmasyan in Armenia: $50
Hermine Varosyan in Armenia: $50
Salohat in Tajikistan: $50
Varsik in Armenia: $50
Natalya in Kyrgyzstan: $50
Nuon in Cambodia: $50
Zakym Group in Kyrgyzstan: $50
Phen Haem in Cambodia: $50
Klowng in Cambodia: $50
Lusik Zakharyan in Armenia: $50
Marlyn Gonzales in Philippines: $50
Sreng in Cambodia: $50
Gulgaky in Kyrgyzstan: $50
Rit in Cambodia: $50
Armida Bakunts in Armenia: $50
Shoghik Avagyan in Armenia: $50
Iman in Jordan: $50
Melanya Margaryan in Armenia: $50

Start 2012 well!

Since we kicked off our Kiva microfinance project “Change Starts Here” in November 2008, our Kiva Lending Team has already funded over 1,500 projects, for a total value of US$54,000. Check out our project score card on our Have Impact! blog.

In 2011, I had a wide range of sponsors for the blogs I manage. After deducting the running costs for my blogs, I want to invest the left-over funds in our microfinance project “Change Starts Here” . Seems like a good way to start 2012 off on a good footing!

So, from January 1 to 15, I will run a promotion campaign for AidJobs, my newest blog, while helping to boost our micro finance projects. How? Pretty simple:

For every comment left on this blogpost, I will donate US$5.
Just leave your name and where you live. Add any wishes you have for a better world in 2012.
For every new Twitter follower on @AidJobs, I will donate US$5.
(we’re starting at 147 followers)
For every new “like” on our AidJobs Facebook page, I will donate US$5.
(we’re starting at 22 likes)
For every new Email subscription, I will donate US$5.
(we’re starting at 4 subscriptions)

Again, the end date is midnight January 15, and all funds go to our Kiva micro finance projects. A good way to start 2012, no?

In the next two weeks, I will publish updates on this blog post.

Happy New Year everyone!

Peter

Horn of Africa: Want to have impact? Help us spreading the message!

dead cattle in Horn of Africa
After 17 years in the field, working in front line humanitarian emergency response, of which 15 years in food aid relief, I took a sabbatical break. Taking a distance allowed me to discover an other side of the humanitarian work, something more longer term, but with no less impact: agricultural development.

Over the past sabbatical year, I had the opportunity to work with a team at CGIAR, mostly on social media related projects. That work brought me to the field, talking to farmers about ways they adapt (or don’t) to the economic and climatic changes, their needs, their wishes,… I wrote about it, made videos, published pictures.. I realized the impact even small things can have, on their daily lives. I talked to researchers, to extension agents, to suppliers… In short, I got hooked.

At this moment, I have the opportunity to work with CGIAR on an event taking place in Nairobi on Sept 1^st, highlighting the importance of longer term agricultural research to augment the resilience of farmers confronted with a rapidly changing world, specifically related to the current drought (again) in the Horn of Africa.

The work of the CGIAR is not well known to the outside world. Having worked in food aid for the better part of my professional life, the CGIAR was certainly an unknown to me. It is part of my job is to make it known. And this is where you all can help, even though the effort is still at its early beginning (isn’t it great to be part of something from the start?).

We have set up a repository (in the form of a blog), in which I post simple examples of agricultural research the CGIAR is doing, particularly in the Horn, leading up to the Sept 1 event.

At the same time, we are “populating” a brand Twitter account @cgiarconsortium , using the hashtag #Ag4HoA (Agriculture for the Horn of Africa) for all tweets related to agricultural development. We started publishing development projects related to the Horn, but after Sept 1, we will broaden to other projects the CGIAR does, as time goes by.

On Sept 1^st (followed by another event on Sept 2^nd and 3^rd), I will be live blogging/tweeting from the event, using the same Twitter account.

Now where can you help?

Just as I called out to the social media community for the Addis Sharefair, I am calling out to you now. I am looking for people active in the social media community to help spreading our worthwhile message. You don’t have to be related to development or agricultural research, but any reach you have within your own social community, can help.

I am looking for people who are willing to retweet, reblog, post our articles on Facebook, Google+, in short “make some social media noise”. I have assembled a good list of people in an email list already, whom I update daily of the new events and posts we are broadcasting.

Are you willing to help? Leave a comment, or email me via peter (at) theroadtothehorizon (dot) org and I will include you on our mailing list.

I hope with this effort, we can do some good, make a change, and maybe contribute our small bit to make sure droughts and floods no longer turn into famine.

Maybe one day, we won’t need to put up pictures of cattle starving due to a drought. Maybe one day, we will be able to publish pictures of thriving crops and well-fed cows, even though the area has been hit by yet another drought, or a flood.