Archive for the ‘ Asia Pacific ’ Category
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?)[ READ MORE ]
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 ]
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 [ READ MORE ]
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 [ 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 ]
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 [ READ MORE ]
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 [ READ MORE ]
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 [ 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 ]
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 [ READ MORE ]
Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.
