Shereef’s Kiva Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Shereef’

Last week definitely seems to have been the high point of my time working with Kiva so far. For me, it became one of those moments where one is able to see why all the seemingly disparate pieces and decisions of life actually have an order and elegance to them. Enjoy the photos!

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09.29.09 - kiva cumbre and foromic

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Arequipa, Peru

Please accept my apologies regarding the lack of updates recently — but certain events in Perú have been exciting and keeping me busy.

I am in Arequipa (in the far south) where I originally came to attend a Kiva conference with representatives from nearly all of our Central and South American partners. The longer I work with Kiva the more impressed I am by its ability to connect people, institutions and causes. This experience was especially meaningful for me because so few Fellows get to witness the breadth and depth of the  microfinance community created as a result of our efforts. We had an all day knowledge-share where we discussed problems, best practices, new site features, social goals and created some great friendships along the way.

Little did I know that the Kiva conference would only be the prologue to my week. Arequipa was chosen as the conference location because many of Kiva’s partner institutions were traveling here to participate in Foromic - the leading Microfinance conference in the Americas. Three days of panel discussions on a range of issues facing the development and finance communities coupled with business card jockeying shmoozefsts and an unending supply of logo covered flair\gift bags, little sandwiches and exotic juices. And I would be remiss if I neglected to mention the incredible lunches and shwanky (fully sponsored) after parties each night. Both socially and professionally the old guard and the new phalanx of microfinance professionals were present, with luminares and rookies alike able to learn from one another in this rapdily growing and rapidly transforming field.

And I had the sheer luck of being able to attend. Unfortunately, Kiva only registered one attendee and one reperesentative to stay at the stand so I had to gain access by furtive means. One of our colleagues from Fundación X (anonymized just in case) snuck me his entrance pass and let me keep it for the duration of the 3 day conference. I had some explaining to do as I networked with nothing short of reckless disregard in disclosing identity: “No I am not Juan Smith (false name) and no I am not from Fundación X…”  I learned a tremendous amount, was offered more than one job as Kiva’s reputation really does open doors and met the right people to help me finally break into the field of  microfinance with the emphasis on ecologically sustainable develolpment (specifically solar power credits in the developing world). Sheer luck…

I also had another opportunity that most other Fellows do not get. I spent the better part of a week with Michelle and Giovanna -Kiva staff from SF- and Cynthia -the newest Kiva staff member who was once a Fellow but now works as field support specialist out of Cuzco- who are some of the unsung heroes of the organization. Their intelligence, enthusiasm and knoweldge of the region make Kiva’s model work and I am thrilled to have become friends with them.

And now for some random lessons I learned this week: I can drink a lot of Pisco sour then dance for hours and make a lot of new friends — none of whom I will recognize in the light of day when they hug or smile or wave enthusiastically at me, the directors of MFIs love foreigners who can dance like Latinos, Bolivians party like rock stars, Paraguayans are unimaginably kind, trying to lead an Alapaca around on a leash is as BAD idea, coca tea and antibiotics can eradicate stomach problems (my body finally functions properly again), I love Swiss travelers, one small city wedged in the peaks of the Andes can never have too many churches, and that I need more than one day to acclimatize from sea level before attempting to summit a 19,000 foot volcano (I’ll post that story next week).

Photos are coming next week — and there is even a shot of an unexpected and genuinely alarmed animal in an inapproriate plastic sack.

The last couple of days have been interesting in a deeply personal way. You see, I can only explain them in terms of a thousand little electric shocks - some literal and some figurative.

Lets begin with the literal. In many parts of the world hot showers are the result of some jerry-rigged faucets and electric heating coils. Generally safe and reasonably priced, why would anyone have reason to fear what lurks behind those crimson-tiled walls? Just flip on the current and turn on the water.

I was starting to believe that I had scraped my elbow or knuckle without noticing. Sometimes when water would touch those parts of my skin I felt a sting. Then it dawned on me one day when I felt a zp in the middle of my forearm that was held above my head - the water closest to the shower head is slightly electrified, and slightly electrifying me on a daily basis. This might explain my healthier than normal skin and conditioner-commercial shiny hair.

On to the figurative. I woke up the other morning as a result of what I can only describe as a thousand little electric shocks spreading through my stomach lining. Now, issues surrounding regularity and digestion in general are to be expected when living, eating and drinking in South America. But clutching oneself in fetal position while being slightly blinded by the pain - that’s new to me.

My eat-once-a-day diet from the last week includes rice, acidophilus and the playfully named ‘diarex.’ I tried eating a piece of chicken today, god help us all.

The nice thing about having traveled and wrestled with both infrastructural inconveniences and disruptions in bodily function is that my current set of circumstances is more hilarious to me than anything. But unfortunately for those who irritate me, I am more prone to ’speak my mind’ at questionable volume when I am in a state of necessary starvation and partial electrocution.

And yes, keeping with the theme of this adventure most of my room is painted ‘Kiva green.’

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09.18.09 - a thousand little shocks

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