Reading Mary’s awesome “closing” post on the Kiva Fellows Blog reminded me that I still had a bunch of pictures from our Manila get-together last November that I meant to put up, but never did. Here are some of my favorite photos from this bustling metropolis of contrasts (and contradictions?)
A HSPFI Lending Team Update.
Sari-sari (variety) stores are really common amongst HSPFI borrowers in the Philippines; they come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes, from a small window display in the back of a home to neat standalone buildings on the side of a street.
One of the things that I was really surprised to learn as a Kiva Fellow is that sari-sari store owners need to obtain a permit in order to operate. One of the last Kiva borrowers who I interviewed in Valencia City happened to be a sari-sari store owner herself, so I asked her to go into more detail about the process of obtaining a sari-sari store permit.
This past Saturday my boyfriend and I joined Wayne and two of his friends at William Ricketts Sanctuary for the Melbourne Obscura Day tour. Getting to the Sanctuary took about 1.5 hours by train and car from the center of Melbourne, and it actually would’ve taken even longer if Wayne hadn’t generously responded to my last minute cry for carpooling (thanks Wayne!) – but seeing the Sanctuary definitely made up for every minute of travel time. When I first read about William Ricketts Sanctuary on Atlas Obscura, I knew immediately that I wanted to go there for Obscura Day because it looked so beautiful. And the Sanctuary was not only enchanting and serene, but almost mystical as well. William Ricketts, the artistic mastermind behind the Sanctuary, had a profound respect for nature, aboriginal culture, and the divine – and the Sanctuary was the embodiment of his philosophy.
Continued from Day One… after grabbing a quick breakfast, Ed and I hopped into a taxi and headed to Mactan Island. I was determined to get in the water and do some snorkling on this trip, having been thoroughly tempted by all the shiny brochures about the beautiful reefs around Cebu. We hadn’t done any planning beforehand, so we picked out a dive shop on our tourist map of Mactan and hoped for the best.
A HSPFI Lending Team Update.
Ms. Leilita Esparagoza is the owner of Esparagoza Store, a sari-sari (variety) store in Valencia, Bukidnon. Sari-sari stores abound in the Philippines – it’s one of the most popular businesses for HSPFI clients – but it quickly became clear that Leilita is no ordinary sari-sari store owner. As we sat down in front of her store for the interview, I found myself almost mesmerized by her clear, patient voice. She not only had a compelling story, but she also knew how to tell her story well. Leilita was one of the most self-aware and reflective HSPFI borrowers that I had the good fortune to interview in the Philippines – so much so that I wanted to do a more extensive “press profile” interview with her. Unfortunately when we returned to her store later she had left for the afternoon to take care of errands. So I’m sharing her story here instead 
Leilita shared that when she started her business with a small sari-sari store nine years ago. She became a wholesaler for Coke in 2002, and started peddling soft drinks around the local village with just a bicycle. As her business grew, she graduated to peddling with a motorela and started selling soft drinks in other nearby villages. By 2009 she was an exclusive wholesaler of Pepsi products, selling over 1,000 cases of soft drinks a month. Pepsi observed her business success and gave her a blue multicab (or small pick-up truck) as a reward, which helped further her business. The multicab parked in front of her store was an impressive sight indeed, as it was stocked high with piles of Pepsi cases waiting to be distributed.
Impressed, I asked her what the secret to her success was. Leilita smiled and replied that she understands the mood of her customers – so she can put herself in their shoes and handle any situations that may arise. She also discovered the need to be humble and patient, because it takes time to build up a business. Leilita added that she always makes sure that the individual customers could afford to pay the amount for items, as she offers her products for credit that’s good for two days only.
Going forward, Leilita wants her children to finish their studies. This year, Leilita said, she hopes to diversity her inventory to include other Cola products like RC Cola, so she can increase her income. She plans to expand her business until it offers all the products that her customers could need – so that her business can be a one-stop store for her customers.
Having seen how far Leilita has come, her business saavy, and her personal drive, I have no doubt that she will succeed.
Backdating – over Halloween and All Saint’s Day last year I took advantage of the long three-day weekend to meet up with Kiva Fellow/compatriot in the Philippines Ed Coambs, and we proceeded to have a good time in Cebu. My overall impression of Cebu was otherworldly – especially in comparison to Cagayan de Oro, where I had been living. There weren’t many beautiful old stone churches in Cagayan like the Basilica of Santo Niño.
Complete with many landmarks commemorating the landing (and death) of the great European explorer Ferdinand Magellan, the weighty layers of history made themselves felt as I walked through the streets of Cebu. In a way Cebu is like a mash-up of Boston, for the history, and Miami, for the beautiful beaches nearby and modern amenities – including the biggest SM City mall in the Philippines, as my HSPFI co-workers informed me. You really can’t ask for any better than that.
Three weeks ago on our way back from HSPFI‘s Valencia Branch, I handed my camera to Corroi, HSPFI’s Kiva Coordinator. She had been telling me all sorts of stories about Bukidnon province (which was her home), and because our departure from the Valencia office was delayed we couldn’t do some of the sightseeing in Bukidnon that she had originally planned. So I asked her to take some pictures of Bukidnon as our bus rumbled its way back to Cagayan de Oro. This turned out to be an inspired move as she took tons of awesome landscape photos, which I hadn’t done as good a job of documenting. And they were kinda artsy to boot, because of the movement blur and interesting lighting from our bus window.
Re-posted from the Kiva Fellows Blog.
Imagine you’re a loan officer who’s working for one of Kiva’s partner MFIs. You’ve been traveling around the field, collecting repayments from quite a few clients over the course of the day. It’s getting late, and you’ve amassed a huge amount of cash – the equivalent of a few months’ worth of income for locals. As the sun begins to set, you realize you’re still at least an hour away from the office – an hour’s worth of travel on your motorcycle, over rough roads that are poorly (if at all) lit. What do you think could happen next?
Re-posted from the Kiva Fellows Blog.
Having read Meg’s excellent blog post “Bad Roads, Interest Rates, and MFI Sustainability” and the ensuing comments from Kiva lenders, I admit that I was rather baffled. Particularly by comments that varied upon the theme of: “In the U.S. you can get loans for ~8%! You can get credit for 18% interest, which we find high and oppressive! So how can MFIs charge 36% interest rates on loans to their poor clients, it is usurious, it can’t be justified…” so on and so forth.
I believe that if you were to plunk a U.S. bank into a developing country with limited infrastructure, where most clients don’t have ready access to the internet that lets them transfer money from one bank account to another with the click of a mouse, where you have to ask employees to constantly risk their personal safety by carrying huge amounts of cash over uncertain roads and territories, those banks would not be charging 8% interest or even 18% interest, but a much, much higher rate.
Still not convinced? Let’s try a quick breakdown of some actual numbers -
A HSPFI Lending Team Update.
I was just two days off the plane and back in the Philippines when I heard that HSPFI’s 2009 Q4 Project Officers Meeting would be taking place the next day. I really wanted to make something for the POs as a small token of thanks, so I threw a video together and showed it the next day to whoops and cheers. I actually think this is the best Kiva/HSPFI video that I’ve edited to-date, so I was really glad to see it well-received.
A bit of context – the first part of the video is mostly made up of footage from the HSPFI 2009 Staff Christmas Party. The day kicked off with gift exchanges and team-building/general bonding activities at a nearby resort; the night activities took place in the HSPFI office and consisted of a big delicious dinner and the HSPFI staff dance competition (and videoke/impromptu dancing). Having seen how hard HSPFI staff works on a regular basis, it was really cool to see the organization give back to dedicated staff members on the ground with a kickass Christmas celebration.
(Video Background Music: Allison Crowe – “Immersed” and “Midnight”, available on Jamendo.com)
Other footage used in the video were taken from the 2009 Q3 HSPFI POs Meeting & After-Party; Iligan Branch’s 15th Anniversary and 2009 Client Christmas Party; and Gingoog Branch’s 2009 Client Christmas Party. I also threw in some of my favorite photos from various branch visits/field travels with awesome HSPFI POs.
Enjoy
