Victory is Mine! . . . or is it?

I’m going to make a bold statement: microfinance is the land of minute incremental change, and joy resulting from massive professional achievement is rare here.  Afterall, one loan of $125 does not take a family from impoverished to middle-class, and three months in the field does not illuminate the solution to eradicating global poverty.  As a result, any goal [...]

Related Stores

Continue reading → Victory is Mine! . . . or is it?

When Primates Attack (And Other Tales of Fellows’ Mayhem and Adventure)

As the next round of Kiva Fellows finished their training, Nabomita, Zack, and Julie (KF5) met for a weekend getaway in Mombasa, Kenya. During our reunion, we came up with some words to live by both for successfully completing your fellowship and for happily taking a respite from the rigors of life at an [...]

Related Stores

Continue reading → When Primates Attack (And Other Tales of Fellows’ Mayhem and Adventure)

21 Days on the Road (Part 2)

(To see what happened during the first 11 days, see Part 1)
Day 12 (Warning: slightly disgusting content. Do not attempt to read while eating):
I just finished rubbing my heels with sandpaper for the last hour. It’s a long story how I got to this point, but it involves exclusively flip-flops/sandals and very dirty/dusty/sandy [...]

Related Stores

Continue reading → 21 Days on the Road (Part 2)

21 Days on the Road (Part I)

On August 24th I left Dar es Salaam for a 3-week trip to central Tanzania to train BRAC branches on Kiva in three other regions. Here’s a glimpse into the first 11 days of my 21 days on the road:
Day 1:
Seven hours on the bus from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma has kicked [...]

Related Stores

Continue reading → 21 Days on the Road (Part I)

I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar

When I first began working in Washington D.C. on Capitol Hill, my initial impression was horror that the country was being run by a bunch of 20-somethings.  At 23, I was solidly within the median age range and even felt old when I saw peers walking around with short skirts, finding myself thinking “how inappropriate!”  [...]

Related Stores

Continue reading → I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar

Three Languages and Nothing to Say

I never thought I would move to Tanzania to learn about Bengali culture, but then again I never thought I’d eat octopus for dinner so sometimes one must adjust expectations.  How have I happened to find myself sitting in an office shared by one Bengali woman, one Tanzanian woman, and me?  Such is life at [...]

Related Stores

Continue reading → Three Languages and Nothing to Say

Email Updates