First Quarter 2009 Review

The first quarter of 2009 has seen many amazing stories from Kiva Fellows in the field. Let’s take a look back at some of the remarkable blog posts you may have missed!

Top 5 most viewed blog entries:

With almost 6000 views, Kieran Ball takes the internet community by storm with his post featuring a phenomenal video tracking a loan from London to Cambodia. You can also view the translated Spanish and French versions of the video here: Un Punado de Dolares/ Une Poignee de Dollars.

1. Fistful of Dollars: The Story of a Kiva.org Loan by Kieran Ball (Cambodia-Indonesia)
2. Kiva Fellows: News from Cambodia by Kieran Ball (Cambodia-Indonesia)
3. Microfinance in the Air by Nicholas Roose (Indonesia)
4. Used Clothing Sales in Northern Mexico by Megan McTiernan (Mexico)
5. Bluefields, Nicaragua by Megan Montgomery (Nicaragua)

It has been an exciting first quarter as a new group of Kiva Fellows left for the field, some existing fellows transitioned to new placements and others returned home after a life changing experience abroad. The theme of this Kiva Fellows blog review is transition.

Kristy and Andrea shared about beginnings of their fellowship in Cameroon and Guatemala. As you may know, Kiva Fellows commit to 10-12 weeks to their placement, but some commit to be a Kiva Fellow for 6-12 months and have multiple MFI placements. Rob discussed his transition from Tajikistan to the Philippines. While Kieran, John, and Teresa survived a lightening strike on their airplane from Cambodia to the Philippines as well as a feisty raccoon (#2 blog). Julie has been a Kiva Fellow for over ten months and wrote a winsome reflection about her “fellow fellows”. Recently, Cory posted an email conversation thread between active Kiva Fellows with their candid insights into microfinance. Our first Kiva Fellow in Benin, Sarah Lawson, shared some closing thoughts on her fellowship.

Along with transitions we have seen lots of great video content including video journals and borrower profiles. Below is a list of some video blog entries:

• Nathan and Bernice showed us how to walk through a rice farm
• Stephanie’s thoughts on microfinance interest rates from the back of a motorcycle
• Liz shared a clip from a monthly group meeting in Senegal
• Emily asks “are you my entrepreneur” in Peru
• Jessica explains a “solidarity group” in Mali
• Maya shows a MFI branch office in Nicaragua
• Bernice conducted training in Vietnam
• Sam revealed the celebration after the presidential election in El Salvador
• Sierra and Diana each summarized a day of visiting borrowers

That brings us to the end of our first Kiva Fellows blog summary for Q1 2009. The content that Kiva Fellows have provided for the blog is impressive, so we decided to highlight a few of the pieces from the last three months.

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