 San Miguel De Ayacucho Group in Peru Today, I got several loans repaid, so I allocated $550 new loans. This time, the accent went to women working in agriculture.
One of the new loans is to the member of the Communal Bank San Miguel de Ayacucho in Peru. They are a group of 15 people, mostly women. The community is located on the banks of the river Chacco, where most of the population is engaged in vegetable farming.
These entrepreneurs have various businesses such as selling vegetables, shoes, general groceries, beverages, transport of passengers. Their loans will be invested in buying sugar, rice, seeds, fertilizer and for payment of laborers.
An overview of the loans made today:
 Rubelyn in the Philippines One of our first loans to an entrepreneur in the Philippines went to Rubelyn Lumanta in Talibon. Rubelyn is a fish vendor.
She is 29 years old, married, and has 2 children. She purchases fish from fishermen in her village, and sells the fish at the market with a 40% mark-up value per kilo. Her husband, Ruel Lumanta, is a fisherman.
She requested a $400 loan to she could buy more fish to sell. Simple arithmetic: more volume, more profit.
At the time, we gave her a loan of US$50, 80% of which is already paid back.
Rubelyn stands example for hundreds of entrepreneurs in the Philippines which are being helped in helping themselves through microfinance loans.
Sloane, one of the Kiva fellows, is working in the Philippines with one of the local Kiva partners, “Ahon sa Hirap, Inc.”, or ASHI for short.
He sent in this report:
Ahon sa Hirap, Inc. translated from Tagalog to English means “to rise up from poverty” and is the oldest example of the Grameen Bank approach to microfinance in the Philippines. Kiva launched its firs venture in the Philippines in November 2008. ASHI was among the first group of microfinance institutions partners.
All new Kiva microfinance partners start in what is called “pilot status,” which is like an introduction; a “getting to know you” phase. Both Kiva and the partner institution have to make sure the relationship is going to work – after all, Kiva now has over 120 partners in more than 50 countries, and that’s a lot of different ways of doing business.
After both parties have established some internal controls, a partner can be moved to active status – which means a higher fundraising limit and a more solid partnership. I’m happy to announce that, due to hard work from the President and staff members of ASHI, Kiva has approved ASHI for active field partner status! The main way you, the lender, will be able to see the difference is through increased loans on Kiva.org over the next few months.
For the past three months, since June 2009, I have been serving at ASHI as a Kiva fellow, assisting in the transition from pilot to active status. The time has flown by and I can hardly believe that my fellowship is coming to an end. I’ve learned so much about microfinance in practice and in the field, and I wanted to share a few of my biggest takeaways with you.
Microfinance is about more than a loan. The loan is the first step, the building block, and for that, Kiva lenders, I really thank you from the bottom of my heart, and from each and every ASHI member and staff. You are the ones who turn the key in the ignition. The borrower is the driver, They have a new path in front of them that can lead them out of poverty. What do I mean by “more than a loan?” Let me tell you.
Microfinance is also structured lending. Many people in poverty can get loans from loan sharks in their town, but it’s only a loan, and it has much higher interest rates. Oftentimes, that loan would have no guaranteed terms or repayments. Someone could knock on your door and say, “Pay up today.” Microfinance changes that. It puts structure into lending for the borrowers. It introduces them to term sheets, interest rates, and responsibility. It’s not “pay when you can” but “pay weekly during a group meeting with all of the members in your neighborhood.” It’s training and retraining and “checking in” and making sure the borrowers are using the funds for their businesses and, if not, why not? How can we help? It’s caring about their future.
Microfinance is also savings, with interest rates and an opportunity to plan for the future or put away for a rainy day.
Microfinance is house repair loans when typhoons and storms sweep the country and the borrowers’ homes and huts are washed away. It’s having the capital to rebuild with stone instead of bamboo so, when they next storm arrives, your home is strong enough to withstand the winds. It’s having a home that is on solid ground and being proud of where you live.
Microfinance is educational loans and savings with better rates on interest paid and accrued. It’s an opportunity for borrowers to send their children, grandchildren, sometimes even nieces and nephews, to school.
Microfinance is life insurance policies for family members. Financial literacy classes for new members. Sustainable farming and agriculture classes. Training, tips on packaging, on taking goods to market, on how to grow your business in a way that will help lead you out of poverty.
Microfinance is community. It’s women gathering once a week to repay, discuss their business problems, and come together as a second family. Some borrowers that I’ve met joined ASHI because their husbands died and they were lonely. Some joined because, without a new primary business or ability to start a second business, their families were going to struggle to put food on the table. Some join quiet and shy and find their confidence and become leaders in their community. Many have told me they are better mothers, daughters, wives, sisters and friends because of ASHI and microfinance.
Yet, no matter WHY they joined – the result is always the same. Their lives are forever changed for having the opportunity to step up and make their lives better through business opportunities. It’s a hand up instead of a hand out. It’s strengthening the fabric of the poorest of the poor and changing the face of the economy of an entire country. Does that mean there are success stories at every turn? Not really. Most progress is slow and hard to see day-to-day. There is always struggle, always some who don’t make the right choices, always some that mean to, but can’t, and yes, always some that do. The thing to remember is that we all have to start somewhere and microfinance is a crucial stepping-stone in alleviating poverty worldwide.
Lastly, microfinance in enlightenment. It’s having a little extra change in your pocket for the first time in your life. Just imagine that for a moment. A little bit of change jingling in your pocket as you walk home from the market, and the feeling that goes with it. Microfinance is earning enough revenue to be able to afford medicine or hospital bills. It’s politicians taking notice that there is some access to capital in your town, and being motivated to have the roads paved, the schools repaired, and the community taken care of. It’s calling farmers, butchers, bakers, vendors, storeowners and craftsmen – ENTREPRENEURS.
Salamat po (Thank you),
Sloane
 Las Lucetitas in Ecuador A Friend of mine came back from mission, and decided to give US$300 of her mission allowance to Kiva via our lenders’ group. She requested to allocate the loans to women – as most of our loans -, and particularly women from South America.
She said South America is often neglected in foreign aid and development, and the people deserve more support.
One typical example of how people take their destiny in their own hands to move up in the world, are the “Las Lucecitas” Women’s group in Cuenca, Ecuador. A summary of what they are all about:
The communal bank Las Lucecitas is made up of 7 members, who want to better themselves and have better opportunities in life. The majority of the members are from the neighborhood of Narancay from the Baños parish in the city of Cuenca in Paraguay.
Baños is known for its hot springs that emanate from a volcano. There are festivals throughout the month of January with several activities such as dances and artist showcases and festivals featuring timbulo (a sweet tamale wrapped in corn leaf) and other foods. Few of the inhabitants work in agriculture because, for the most part, they work serving the large quantity of tourists who come to get to know this beautiful place.
Señora María Natividad Pugo Tenesaca is one of the communal bank members. She is 39 years old, married, and has 5 children. Her older children study in the Manuel Córdova Galarza Technical College located in her parish. She and her family live in their own home, the fruits of the efforts of María and her spouse who is a carpenter. For 10 years María has worked in agriculture, raising chickens, guinea pigs, and pigs.
The family consumes the majority of her output, and she sells a small amount in the free market in Cuenca, also selling chickens on foot, or plucked to acquaintances who buy in the house and she sells them in the stores in her area.
This is her third loan cycle. Before using microfinance loans, she had to borrow from informal lenders at very high rates of interest. With the loan, she will buy more chickens, guinea pigs, pigs, animal food and vitamins to continue to grow her business. Her goal is to eventually buy a car in order to increase her sales and collect more customers.
Señora María Cristina Mejía Pinos is an other member of the communal bank. Her mother-in-law is a member of the bank and invited her to join. She is 23 years old, has been married for 5 years, and has two children: a 4-year old and a 2-year old. Her husband is a driver in public transportation.
Maria is starting with the business of raising chickens. She tells us that it is not too complicated, to obtain the desired earnings you just have to be attentive so that the animals do not lack food or water and have adequate shelter.
This is her first credit and she hopes to continue to take out loans so that she can improve her quality of life and that of her family. With this loan she will purchase more chickens, animal food and vitamins, and also she will use a part of the loan to finish her house. The goal of Maria is to finish building her house.
Señora Sindy Gissela Morán Castro is another active member of the communal bank Las Lucecitas. She is eighteen years old and is married. Her husband is an electrician and they live in a rented home and would like to improve their economic situation.
Sindy sells shoes, she has been involved in this activity for a year. She has a good supply of good quality shoes and is an informal trader in the Cuenca free market, which runs daily. She works from 8am to 6pm and on weekends goes to the markets in Sigsig, Azogues, and Paute where she works from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m.
This is her first loan, a friend convinced her to become part of the bank by telling her about the advantages that the foundation offers. With the loan she is requesting she will buy more merchandise and this way will have an increased inventory of shoes for women, men and children. Her dream is to have her own stall, so that she would not have to travel around the city to sell her goods.
I allocated six loans with my Friend’s donation. I also added a loan to a lady in Lebanon from funds as it is not often one finds an entrepreneur on Kiva from the Middle East.
All loans allocated today:
 Wassiratou Assante in Togo got one of our newest loans Wassiratou Assante is a young woman in Lomé, the capital of Togo. She is 28 years old, married, and the mother of one child. She runs a hair salon since five years and was looking for a loan of US$225 to buy a hair dryer, some hair extensions and beauty products for resale.
We gave Wassiratou a loan of US$50 which she will pay back over the next 13 months.
Wassiratou is one of our ten new loans we allocated to entrepreneurs from 7 different countries. All of them were women, or women’s groups.
The loans were financed by the repayment of previous loans we did via Kiva.
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Change Starts Here – The Score: $62,025
 Your Impact Captain :-)
 Peter. Flemish, European, aid worker, blogger, expeditioner, sailor, traveller, husband, father, friend, nutcase. Not necessarily in that order.
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