Archive for the ‘ Business ’ Category
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 [ READ MORE ]
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 [ READ MORE ]
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 [ READ MORE ]
If you follow me via @Anecdoted on Twitter, you’ll notice that I share quite a few articles criticizing microfinance, far more than ones that praise. Despite this evidence to the contrary, I do believe that microfinance “works” – but not in the “silver bullet” transformative way that most people often associate with microfinance and poverty [ READ MORE ]
Re-posted from the Kiva Fellows Blog. Having followed the recent debate over Kiva’s transparency and the P2P model, the main critique that stuck with me was that there should be more transparency on Kiva’s partner MFIs. This resonated with me because I believe that Kiva has, on the whole, picked out partner MFIs that do [ READ MORE ]
Re-posted from the Kiva Fellows Blog. Bizarre is probably not the best word to describe this client interview, but without a doubt we were intrigued and utterly fascinated by the alien-looking blob we saw sitting pretty before us. Corroi, HSPFI‘s Kiva Coordinator and I found ourselves staring at a live (or semi-live) sea cucumber during [ READ MORE ]
Four days ago I received the final response to a question that I had stumbled upon almost two months ago – are there employment restrictions against people with past criminal histories for stimulus projects funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009? Somewhat on a whim, I decided to see if I could [ READ MORE ]
Last week I got a short email from the Department of Labor stating that they’ve forwarded my request to the appropriate office, so still waiting for the final word there on whether Labor has some sort of policy that would prevent previously convicted felons from being employed on stimulus-funded projects. I also received a more [ READ MORE ]
This past Tuesday I learned that Virginian county agencies are preventing companies from employing previously convicted felons for stimulus projects (e.g. the low-income weatherization program) funded by the Recovery Act – also known as the $787 billion stimulus package passed by Congress in February. This saddened me on several levels – firstly, if there is [ READ MORE ]
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