Anyone who has spent time in some of the more remote parts of Africa will probably shrug their shoulders at my observations. But as a first time visitor it’s hard not to feel like a bit of a celebrity, at least with the children. Wherever you go, kids stop and look. Sometimes they laugh or [...]
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Comedy White Man
September 24th, 2008 — , Cameroon, Ghape, KF5 (Kiva Fellows 5th Class), africa from Yuan @ Kiva Stories from the Field
The strange world of blogging…
September 19th, 2008 — , Cameroon, Ghape, Jen McQuhae, KF6 (Kiva Fellows 6th Class), africa from jenmcq @ Kiva Stories from the Field
This is my first blog as a kiva fellow and as an individual, so perhaps I will use this time to introduce myself to anyone in the internet community who would like to know. I am Jen McQuhae, 22, from Vancouver Island, Canada. I recently completed a four year honours degree in international development with [...]
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September 11th, 2008 — , Cameroon, Ghape, KF5 (Kiva Fellows 5th Class), africa from Yuan @ Kiva Stories from the Field
One of the most inspiring things I have seen in Cameroon is the progress made by many GHAPE borrowers over the years. GHAPE is the local NGO where I am working during my time as a Kiva Fellow in West Africa. Their aim, like many of the other hundreds of microfinance organisations around the world, [...]
Mama’s Left Leg
August 28th, 2008 — , Cameroon, Ghape, KF5 (Kiva Fellows 5th Class), Yuan Potts, africa from Yuan @ Kiva Stories from the Field
Squeezing people into taxis is par for the course in Cameroon. As cabs approach, you shout your destination to the driver and if you get the nod you hop in. If there are already three in the back, no matter, there’s room for one more. If there are two in the front, again, no problem: [...]
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August 22nd, 2008 — , Ghape, KF5 (Kiva Fellows 5th Class), Lucy Gent, Njangi, Social equity, microfinance from lucygent @ Kiva Stories from the Field
Well, maybe I’m not the first to discover that microfinance existed in Cameroon before the Grameen bank was founded in India or before Mohammed Yunnus got the Nobel Prize, but I felt like I had when I stumbled upon Njangi while talking to some friends over the weekend. The young people who I’ve met in [...]
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Irresponsible Lending – Some Lessons
August 21st, 2008 — , Cameroon, Ghape, KF5 (Kiva Fellows 5th Class), Yuan Potts from Yuan @ Kiva Stories from the Field
I am sitting in the modest headquarters of GHAPE in Bamenda, north west Cameroon.
I am surrounded by the membership books of some of the organisation’s small borrowers, detailing their loan totals and bi-monthly repayments. There is no column for defaults. When the women (it is mostly women) meet to make their regular contributions they [...]
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August 4th, 2008 — , Cameroon, Ghape, KF5 (Kiva Fellows 5th Class), Lucy Gent, Uncategorized from lucygent @ Kiva Blogs from the Field
On Friday, three members of the GHAPE office went to the funeral of one of our members, Bih Josopha. She was 48 years old and left eight children behind, four of whom are under the age of 14. The daughter had come to the office to inform us of her passing on Thursday, immediately after [...]
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July 19th, 2008 — , Add new tag, Cameroon, Ghape, KF5 (Kiva Fellows 5th Class), Lucy Gent from lucygent @ Kiva Blogs from the Field
Tuesday was the last day that the former Kiva Fellows, Megan and David, spent at the GHAPE office http://www.kiva.org/about/aboutPartner?id=40. The going-away party was really sweet with a board members lunch and gifts of gratitude. The main office in Bamenda is located in a family compound, with an open central area for recreation and cooking. The [...]
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May 17th, 2008 — , Bamenda, Cameroon, Ghape, Language, Megan Chapman, Pidgin English, Work from meganthemostofit @ Kiva Blogs from the Field
I am proud to say that I have earned two blisters in the last week: one from hand-washing my clothes (I’ve now learned to really scrub ‘em), and another from pulling the kernels off corncobs. As a woman who has earned most previous blisters from breaking in new hiking boots or rowing crew, both luxury [...]
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Continue reading → “Ashia, Sister” – Words & Working in Bamenda
We be thankful we arrive fine for Cameroon. Or how the cross-Africa dash came to a welcome pause in Bamenda.
April 26th, 2008 — , Bamenda, Cameroon, David Shuey, Ghape, Megan Chapman, Pidgin English, travel from meganthemostofit @ Kiva Blogs from the Field
Cameroon. For us, it is the end of a long road. Since we left the U.S. in December, Dave and Megan have set foot in 13 countries, 11 in Africa. Our overland trek started in Casablanca and took us through Morocco/Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, and finally [...]
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