Be the change.

I’ve been supporting three of Kiva’s field partners simultaneously here in Vietnam for the past four months. As you may know, Kiva works with local field partners around the world to best reach borrowers in need. One of the field partners I was assigned to support is Thrive Networks (“Thrive”), which is based in Oakland, California, and has an office in Hanoi, where I’m currently living and working. I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to visit Kiva borrowers in five differe

As Thanksgiving approaches, I'm constantly reminded by all of Kiva's inspiring borrowers in Vietnam of what it means, and why it is essential to be grateful, despite one's hardships. I very rarely cry, but there was one borrower in particular that I met in Dien Bien province who brought me to tears with her gratitude. She showed a level of generosity, happiness, and overall appreciation for her life and what it has to offer, despite the fact that she has to work multiple agri

Knowledge is not just power for the poorest of the poor in Dien Bien province; Knowledge is necessary to maintain daily life and to be able to provide food and shelter for one's family, let alone climb out of poverty. In addition to microloans and savings accounts, Kiva's field partner, Entrepreneurs du Monde-Anh Chi Em ("ACE"), in Dien Bien provides the most vulnerable in Vietnam with agriculture, business and social/health trainings to help ensure that borrowers are in a po

Biodigesters meet the triple bottom line (“TBL”) of people, planet and profit thereby resulting in maximum impact. They not only reduce energy costs, but also provide a positive environmental and social impact as well. I will briefly explain what a biodigester is, how it works, how biodigesters meet the TBL, and why they can, should and will proliferate, using examples from the field. What is a Biodigester & How Does It Work? A biodigester can be thought of as a mechanical st

Humble, good-natured, reliable. These are the qualities I've encountered in the salt farmers - and Kiva microloan borrowers - I was able to visit this past week in Thanh Hoa province in Vietnam, hence my dubbing them "the salt of the earth." This phrase's ancient, biblical origins harken back to a time in which salt was considered synonymous with value, to the extent salt was sometimes used as currency. The phrase also connotes a preservation of societal values, as salt was w

These entrepreneurial Kiva borrowers from Yên Định, a rural village in Thanh Hoa province, purchased, raised and sold animals in order to pay for their children's education. All of these borrowers told me their income doubled (one told me her income tripled) as a result of receiving their loans from Kiva, thereby easing the emotional and financial struggle of being able to afford paying for their children's education. They are all motivated to provide a better life for their

This is Mrs. Giang! Mrs. Giang has two children, a boy and a girl, who she has raised on her own since her husband passed away. She has been managing a successful tofu making and selling business in Thanh Hoa for eight years. Mrs. Giang recently applied for and received a Kiva loan to purchase an additional, newer, tofu making machine. Her old machine would constantly break and even when it did work, it was very slow. Since she received her Kiva loan, she has seen her output

Kenya dominates mobile money, as there are now more than 26.7 million M-Pesa subscribers in Kenya alone, and these subscribers can now use M-Pesa to exchange money through their phones without having to link their electronic funds to a formal bank account. Here's how M-Pesa works: the user obtains a Safaricom sim card and takes cash to be deposited with an M-Pesa agent. If the user wants to withdraw funds, they may do this with an M-Pesa agent as well. To send money to anothe

Women are a good investment. Here's why they are a worthy investment, how they can be invested in and thereby empowered, and how this impacts global development: Women are one of the most vulnerable populations and are therefore in great need of economic empowerment. Also, studies show women are often more likely to repay loans than men, making them reliable borrowers. Microfinance functions as an investment in and empowerment of women. Female economic empowerment spurs globa

It's no wonder the Vietnamese women's unions run the implementation and oversight of the majority of the microfinance initiatives in Vietnam, with the assistance of NGOs and microfinance institutions, to help lift women out of poverty. Vietnamese women served as military leaders, politicians, diplomats, peaceful protesters, medics, spies, farmers, mothers and teachers during the Indochina Wars (1945-1975) and the Vietnam War (or as they call it in Vietnam, the "American War")