If you haven’t heard, there have been terrible floods in Cusco, Peru in the past week. Since we are in the thick of la epoca de la lluvia (the rainy season), rain is expected but the level of destruction seen in the area is unimaginable.

Affected house in Oropesa

Tourism is the main industry in Cusco, and the damage produced by the rain does substantial damage on the Cusco economy. From the February 3rd warden message from the U.S. Embassy in Peru, I read that Machu Picchu is closed and the rail line between Ollantaytambo and Aguas Calientes is closed due to landslides until possibly March. I also read that tourists were stranded in Aguas Calientes (the town closest to Incan archeological site Machu Picchu) and that the conditions were excruciating. Luckily, helicopters eventually evacuated all the tourists from the town.

Unfortunately, my Kiva clients in Cusco don’t have that luxury.

I met a Kiva communal bank called Virgen Estrella de Oropesa in Oropesa, a small town south of Cusco in November while working as a Kiva Fellow for Asociación Arariwa, a microfinance institution that has worked in the Cusco region of Peru for the past 25 years. This town is known as the capital of bread because of its delicious “pan chuta.” In fact, the town has so many bakeries that the smell of baking bread permeates the town’s air. In their Kiva profile video, the from Virgen Estrella de Oropesa are laughing and smiling as they get together for their Kiva profile photo. If you had the pleasure of meeting them in person like I had, they were even more animated, making fun of their loan officer Jacob for not having a girlfriend. Unfortunately, most jokes told outside of the city are told in Quechua, so I just got the translated version (definitely not the same!)

Now the town of Oropesa is under water, and many of the talented entrepreneurs I met in Oropesa have lost their homes and businesses.

I wrote in my last La Vida Idealist entry about when you live somewhere you feel a much closer connection with your adopted home than if you had visited for a week or two for vacation. And if you work or volunteer in your new home, like I did in Cusco with Arariwa, you feel an even stronger connection to the place and its people. I am sure the volunteers in Haiti feel similarly, like fellow climber and volunteer Krista.

My friend and colleague, the Kiva coordinator at Arariwa, Raquel Villafuerte, recently wrote me an email in which she said (translated into English):

“Hi there,

…Arariwa is collecting money from employees to help. We are also collecting food at the offices here. If you want you can send money to buy supplies. In reality all you have known – has been for the most part lost – the main avenue of Aguas Calientes and many houses in Anta and south from Saylla to Urcos are under water.”

Organizations like Kiva have responded with updates about how the tragedy has affected Kiva/Arariwa entrepreneurs, including links on how to help victims.

I read a La Vida Idealist post about the tragedy, which included photos of the flooded streets of Cusco city. But from other photos I have seen, the provinces of Cusco were harder hit by the floods than the city.

Citizens have been collecting supplies in the Plaza de Armas, while virtual support, fundraisers, supply collections and updates have come through online and offline news sources and social networks like Facebook and Twitter. I have also heard many updates through the Couchsurfing La Paz group, of which I am a member.

Now living and volunteering in La Paz, I see homes located on the edge of cliffs where there has been and continues to be severe erosion. As I go by, I always think that one day when the rain is strong enough, these homes could fall. I recently heard of landslides in Chasquipampa, a neighborhood of La Paz (and I do have Kiva clients in Chasquipampa). A friend of mine here works as a volunteer gathering and distributing supplies, which she did last Friday after the landslides. Another friend told me that a victim who lost his home in the landslide is staying in his church.

Although tragedies like this one are tough to experience and hear about, it’s great to know that ordinary citizens become dedicated volunteers and come through when people need it.

Here’s how to help the victims of the floods in Cusco and how to support disaster relief efforts around the world.

Sheethal Shobowale is working as a Kiva Fellow at microfinance institution Emprender in La Paz Bolivia.

REPOST FROM THE KIVA FELLOWS BLOG

By Sheethal Shobowale, KF9, Peru

Doris, one of the loan officers at Asociación Arariwa, has been working with clients in Urubamba and Cusco for 17 years.

I sat in on one of the monthly loan payment meetings of one of her communal banks, Aguas Buenas. All members paid their monthly payments on time, but two of the members asked permission beforehand not to attend. Because of their absence, Doris commented on the importance of attending the monthly meetings, saying “No vamos a lograr nada” (We won’t achieve anything this way). She even called one of the absent members on her cellphone to remind them of the importance of attending monthly meetings.

Attendance is importance especially since during each meeting, loan officers teach a short workshop on different topics such as financial literacy, business training, family well-being or health. In this meeting Doris taught a lesson on setting financial goals. Having done some financial literacy workshops for teenagers and some credit counseling for adults in my work with the Lower East Side Credit Union in New York, I was excited and honored to see Arariwa’s financial literacy training in action, especially by a loan officer as experience as Doris.

First, she played a short video spotlighting two Arariwa entrepreneurs discussing their metas financieras (financial goals) for their businesses and families, the timeframe to reach these goals, and plans to accomplish these goals. Here’s the video:

She then facilitated a discussion about the video with the group. As an exercise, Doris asked the group to define the goals of the women in the video. Then she asked the group members to share their goals. One member said her goal was to keep working and keep her business growing. Doris reminded her to add a timeframe and concrete steps to reach this goal. Another member and his wife want to open a printing shop within the next 3 years. They are saving and planning for how they will buy the necessary machinery and materials. Doris complimented him on his hard work.

After the video and discussion, she asked if the group members have listened to Arariwa’s 7AM Friday morning radio show. As part of the financial literacy program instituted at Arariwa, two of its staff members – Dilmer, one of Arariwa’s loan officers, and Clotilde, the Director of Education, produced a radio show in both Spanish and Quechua that airs around the Cusco region that families can listen to together. This radio show complements the videos and in-person workshops conducted by loan officers and involves other family members such as the member’s spouse in the family financial planning, who may or may not be clients of Arariwa. This usually means the husband since Arariwa works mostly with women. The radio show also empowers the man to learn on his own. It also involves the children in the family goals if they are old enough to understand.

Unfortunately, most of the group sells goods in various markets and start selling very early in the market, well before 7 AM. All the members told Doris that they are already working by the time the radio show airs so they cannot listen to the program. This is one of the issues that hinders financial literacy workshops – time spent doing something else is income lost while loan interest continues to accumulate.

Studying the Effects

Arariwa is in the process of studying the effects of financial literacy training on business growth, delinquencies and defaults in partnership with Innovations in Poverty Action (IPA). I had a chance to sit down with David Bullon-Patton, a research associate at IPA, to talk about the financial literacy curriculum and the study.

David and Clotilde, Arariwa’s Director of Education, worked together with a film production company to create videos featuring Arariwa entrepreneurs talking about their businesses and their financial goals. Featuring Arariwa clients and their businesses in the videos makes the content more personal to the communal banks and thus more effective. The curriculum focuses on determining the differences between spending, saving and investing, with the end goal of increasing the saving and investing rate of Peruvian families. Each client is also given a financial literacy workbook to note their goals and plans for their businesses.

The IPA study consists of separating Arariwa banks into two groups – test groups that receive financial literacy training and control groups that do not. IPA interviews both groups at the beginning of the study, asking questions about quality of life, family savings and business growth. A year later, IPA will visit both groups the entrepreneurs again with similar questions to gauge the affect of financial literacy training on Arariwa’s work. I am looking forward to reading the results of the study when they are published next year.

With experienced loan officers like Doris conducting training for clients, I hope that Arariwa’s financial literacy curriculum is effective and that more Peruvian families are learning to set and accomplish their goals as well as save for their future.

A proud financial literacy proponent, Sheethal Shobowale just finished her KF9 placement with Asociación Arariwa in Cusco, Peru and recently started her KF10 placement with Emprender in La Paz, Bolivia.

Peru Novedades

• Returning Kiva Coordinator: Raquel, the Kiva coordinator at Arariwa has just returned from maternity leave and now Boris (her replacement) and Raquel are working together at Arariwa to post a larger number of Arariwa loans on Kiva.  It was such a pleasure to work with them both and I miss them
• New Volunteer: My friend Maurice has been working as a volunteer at Arariwa for the last month, visiting Kiva entrepreneurs and writing journal updates for lenders  Here’s a beautiful story about Cirila, a Kiva entrepreneur from Anta, one of the provinces around Cusco
• How to Tell if Your Money is Fake: See my latest Kiva Fellows blog entry Falso! A Musing on Fake Money in Peru
• Jungle Fever: Check out photos from Tokumbo, Jeremiah (my brother) and my trip to Manu, one of the rain forest regions of Peru

Onto Bolivia…

• Gran Manzana: La Paz is so much bigger and cosmopolitan than Cusco.  Being a New Yorker and having spent time in India, you’d think I would be ready for it…but I wasn’t.  Check out the photo.  It seems to go on forever…

La Paz, Bolivia

• Emprender has 6 branches in La Paz as well as offices in Santa Cruz and Cochabamba.  I have been to 3 of the La Paz branches to visit clients so far plus I’m worked from the central office in Sopocachis.  The entrepreneurs I have met so far are such nice people and the branch managers/loan officers have been so welcoming and fun.  Look out for my journal updates and in the meantime, here is a link to loan to Emprender entrepreneurs on Kiva
• Local fiestas: This weekend I was invited to a local festival in a small town called Caquiaviri in honor of San Antonio Abad, patron and protector of caquiavireños (people from Caquiaviri) This aymara pre carnival event is accompanied of Ch’utas dancers, flutes and Tarkas groups
• Transport: My favorite topic!  In La Paz, Once every seat is taken on a minibus, they don’t allow more people on the bus.  What a difference from Cusco!  And so much more humane.

I’d love to hear from you!  Please say hello if you have a moment!  I miss New York and would to hear what’s going on in your world.

Not a Kiva Lender yet?  Visit Kiva.org to start lending today!

Abrazos!

Sheethal

Sheethal Shobowale just finished her KF9 placement with Asociación Arariwa in Cusco, Peru and recently started her KF10 placement with Emprender in La Paz, Bolivia.

By Sheethal Shobowale, KF9, Peru

Counterfeit money is a very serious topic in Peru. There is so much false money floating around that it is extremely possible that at some point or another, you will try to buy some fruit from the woman selling fruit on the corner and she will return your bill or coin exclaiming, “falso!” (false!)

This has happened to several of my friends during my time in Cusco. One friend tried to pay for our salsa class with a 5 soles coin. Then someone else paid with a larger bill and got his coin as change. “Falso!” exclaimed the person who received the change and looked for my friend who gave the false coin to return the useless metal to the proper owner. In another incident, another friend of mine found out he had a false 50 soles bill (ouch!) and was just happy that the checkout person at the store he tried to pay for his meal with it didn’t punish him more than just return the bill.

In fact, I wonder if Peruvians knowingly give foreigners fake money because they are less likely to know how to check carefully. Perhaps simply not wanting to lose the money, as plata (money) is a precious commodity here in the commerce-centered world of Cusco.

Having false money is like holding a hot potato or the Old Maid while playing the card game. Whoever has the false bill is pretty much stuck with it, because there’s simply no way to get rid of it.

I found out I had a false 5 soles coin (equal to about $2.50), when I tried to pay for my one and only cuy (guinea pig) meal in Tipón, the capital of cuy in the Cusco area. The waiter would not accept my coin and returned it to me and asked me to pay with another coin. I looked at him and said “¿Cómo podría ser?” (How could it be?) But then he showed me why he knew it was false. I just had a shrug and put the useless coin back in my coin purse.

After this incident, (simply as an experiment mind you I tried to buy some fruit with my newly found falso. Even in the dark, the fruit woman knew it was false and gave it back to me. I then tried to pay my combi (bus) fare and the collector also returned it to me. After these two failed attempts to part with the Old Maid, I was resigned to keep the coin as a souvenir of my travels to Peru.

Like most businesses in Cusco, the MFI I am working with, Asociación Arariwa, also will not tolerate false bills in loan payments. When members make their loan payments, the loan officers write the member’s initials in pencil on the bill so that the Caja (treasury) can check each bill for falsos. If a fake bill is found, the bill is returned to the owner during the next monthly meeting, much to the chagrin of the person who paid with the bill.

I recently went to a loan disbursement meeting in which Daphne, the loan officer, returned a 50 soles bill to one of the members. It was an upsetting incidnet, as the woman who used the bill herself did not know it was fake. And what is more upsetting is that she has lost a precious 50 soles because it is likely she will not be able to use the false money to pay for anything.

Just so you don’t get stuck with the hot potato, here’s some ways to tell if your money is counterfeit:

For bills –

• The color of the number (whether 10, 20, 50, 100 or 200 soles) should change when you wave the bill back and forth. It will go from a light purple to a dark purple or blue
• The paper should be thick and of quality stock. You can pull opposite sides of the bill to tell the thickness. After having Peruvian money for a while, you will be able to tell the proper quality
• The portrait etching should be intricate, with no detail left out. The quality of the carving is key
• There should be a shadow of the portrait when you hold it up to the light

• The weight should be heavy. After handling Peruvian coins for a while you will be able to tell if a coin is lighter than it should be
• The coin should be round and well-formed
• The color should be a light and shiny silver and for 2 and 5 soles, light and shiny gold
• The coin should be smooth without pock marks or rough parts
• The engraving should be smooth and detailed

I’ve gotten pretty good at this recently. Whenever I get a 50 soles bill as change for a purchase in which I’ve paid 100 soles, I make sure to check if the bill is fake using all the methods I described above.

So far no Hot Potatoes or Old Maids for me!

Sheethal Shobowale has just finished her placement at Asociación Arariwa in Cusco, Peru and will be moving to La Paz, Bolivia to work with Emprender in January 2010.

Please consider supporting South American Kiva entrepreneurs by clicking here.

By Sheethal Shobowale, KF9, Peru

I had the pleasure of attending Asociación Arariwa’s 25th anniversary celebrations. In true Peruvian form, the celebrating lasted two weeks with lots of fanfare – a parade, music, dancing, eating and of course, Cusqueña (Peruvian beer) and sweet Peruvian wine.

Just for some background on the organization, there are three divisions of Asociación Arariwa –

• ARARIWA PROMOCIÓN – Whose mission is to support rural development, strengthen production systems, fortify institutions and improve quality of life.
• CENFOPAR (Centro de Formación y Producción Arariwa) – Whose mission is to develop a better alternative technical education for young people, creating new community leaders as well as promote adult education and their economic activities.
• UNIDAD DE MICROFINANZAS – Whose mission is to contribute to the improvement of the quality of life of low-income women and their families by offering financial and educational services.

UNIDAD DE MICROFINANZAS is the division I know and love. This division is Kiva’s socio and partner. And this is where I have spent most of my time in Cusco.

Asociación Arariwa - Unidad de Microfinanzas

The first event was a Sunday parade in the Plaza de Armas (main square in Cusco). I wore the Arariwa uniform and marched with the rest of the staff and directors. After the parade, there was a lunch for the whole staff at a traditional Peruvian restaurant.

Here’s a rather hard to watch video of the parade. I was marching and filming (and holding the Arariwa banner!) at the same time, hence the shaking.

The next weekend, there was a sporting event in the morning and a party at the Arariwa offices that lasted into the wee hours of the morning with a ton of dancing (just as Bryan Goldfinger, my Kiva Fellow colleague mentioned in a past post). Members of the Board of Directors and staff made several powerful speeches about the growth and importance of the organization to the lives of so many Cusqueños. Currently, Arariwa has more than 14,000 microfinance clients in the Cusco area and has made an impact on so many more people, when you consider the families of Arariwa’s clients.

There was entertainment, a live band and of course a lot of dancing. We ate the popular Cusqueño dish called chiriuchu that is normally eaten in June during the Festival of Corpus Christi. I met staff from the Arariwa offices outside of Cusco – Urubamba, Siquani and Quillabamba and danced a traditional Andean Peruvian dance called Huayno with many of them (or at least I tried ;).

Unfortunately, my Flip camera got lost during the festivities so I can’t post the videos I took of the speeches and the dancing (I asked someone to take of me dancing). Here are some photos I took of the parade (I’m wearing the Arariwa uniform for the parade) and some photos that other staff members took of the party –

Vodpod videos no longer available.

I was honored to be part of the celebration and am happy to be working with such a meaningful organization.

Please help me continue to make Asociación Arariwa successful for the next 25 years – Please LEND to Asociación Arariwa entrepreneurs on Kiva!

Sheethal Shobowale is serving as a Kiva Fellow (KF9) at Asociación Arariwa, in Cusco, Peru.

For those of you who have not yet heard of Twitter discussions, it is a way have a real-time discussion about a certain topic on Twitter.  During #MifiMon we discuss microfinance.  #SocEntChat is another discussion about social entrepreneurship.  Using the hashtag #MiFiMon, we tag each comment so that it can be found in Twitter searches.  Twazzup is a service that helps isolate and track a real-time discussion on Twitter.  I found it to be a little slow to update, but that could have been because I’m in Cusco and it might have been the internet connection.

#MiFiMon Chat about Women and Microfinance

Twitter chats (just like any type of discussion, conference, workshop, etc) link  your organization with your field of work.  Your thoughts, opinions and links shared in chats can engage new and current supporters with your organization.  I received some new Twitter followers during this chat, and most of the are work in the field of microfinance or are interested in the topic.  Since I am a Kiva Fellow, I shared stories that my colleagues and I have written during our time in the field from the Kiva Fellows Blog.

If you are interested in going one more step and host a Twitter chat, here’s a blog post from @johnhaydon with a video on How to create successful chats on Twitter with hashtags

I also wrote the summary of the #MiFiMon discussion after the chat.  Below is the summary –

REPOST FROM THE OPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL BLOG

#MifiMon: Women and Microfinance

#mifimon

The following is a guest post by Sheethal Shobowale, Kiva Fellow at MFIs Asociación Arariwa in Cusco, Peru and Emprender in La Paz, Bolivia starting in January.

Interested in learning about microfinance? Follow our biweekly Twitter discussion group #mifimon (because Microfinance Mondays was too long for Twitter’s 140-character limit). Our aim is to host an exchange of ideas about issues relevant to the microfinance industry. You’re welcome to lend your voice, whether you’re a practitioner in the field or a newbie just learning the basics. Just end your messages with the hashtag #mifimon!

I was honored and excited to take part in this week’s #MifiMon discussion about women and microfinance.

Panelists:

• @rarenaud – vice president of women’s philanthropy and interactive marketing, Opportunity International
• @sevenbar – Lee Carlton, social media lead for Seven Bar Foundation, a nonprofit that raises funds for microfinance through fashion shows and cause marketing campaigns
• @lethalsheethal, @Kiva – fellow at MFIs Asociación Arariwa in Cusco, Peru, and Emprender in La Paz, Bolivia, starting in January.

Moderator

@JulieSof – online community manager, @ACCION_USA, a direct microlending organization in the U.S.

Participants

@mix_market, @sonjkelly, @SeaMoMicro, @zyozyfounder, @mortgagelead, @VillageBanking, @sprungpr, @scotteverett, @ValbonaBushi, @IanScottHaisley, @seeingchange, @ACCION_USA, @AJRenold, @CFI_ACCION, @CIPEglobal, @OptINnow @adkoehler, @zimana_, @ShalynHockey, @mifos, @lifeofjenn, @CARE, @pigtailpals, @isfan, @socialresponse, @oasanchez,, @akhilak, @wonderwebby, @LisaHinAustin, @socialresponse, @louwhiteman, @chantellebaxter, @newtagdefs, @keithkall, @padschicago

What are the most prominent reasons that most microfinance is directed towards women?

Women tend to be much more responsible with their loans, using the money to send kids to school, pay rent, buy a house, reinvest their profits from their businesses.  For every $1 a woman in the developing world earns, $0.80 is reinvested in her family. They also default less than men. Women comprise 70% of the poorest of the poor.

Do MFIs actively seek women clients?

You can get an idea of outreach by looking at the number of women borrowers in MFIs on MIX Market, for example in Peru. Asociación Arariwa, for example, allows lending to both genders, but targets women.  More than 70% of its entrepreneurs are women.  Opportunity serves men and women clients in 27 countries, but in India, the organization focuses exclusively on women in Trust Groups.  A Trust Group consists  of 10-30 clients, typically women, who come together and co-guarantee each other’s loans. They meet weekly during the 16-week loan cycle to repay loans and to receive weekly training on business skills & social issues. Trust Groups often build self-confidence among #women members, promote leadership and community support.

How do you feel about #microfinance focusing on women? Is this effective? Is it fair?

Loans need to be spent appropriately and eventually repaid. This is less likely with males.  Opportunity is proud that 85% of clients are women, which reflects the goal of meeting the needs of the unbanked & underserved, which typically equals #women.  Sparse property rights for women equals no collateral.  Hence, their only financing options are #mifi or ROSCA/ASCA/other informal means.  Women are poorer and socially excluded, but also men are more likely to spend on alcohol & cigarettes.

Do organizations track the long-term results of self-confidence increase and leadership in women resulting from group lending?  What changes in a woman’s life and family situation happen w/ an increase in confidence, leadership, and financing?

Tracking gender statistics and long-term results are challenging. Women Advancing Microfinance (WAM) & CGAP advocate for this type of research.  But changes can obviously be great. There are many documented cases of women starting lucrative businesses off microfinance loans, such as this recent study about benefits of women receiving loans, with examples from the Opportunity Rwanda bank.  Many organizations do look at long-term results for women, like the @CARE Strategic Impact Inquiry.  Also, here is a link to a Social Performance Indicators Blog entry focusing on gender in microfinance. Through experience with lending groups in Nicaragua, for example, women are more active and visible in community and were more respected in and out of household.  However, many of the loans are more short term in effect, but provide a better quality of life over a short time.

How often do MFIs find that their women clients “graduate” into the formal economy?

The Next 4 Billion study emphasized bringing #BoP into formal economy.  Microfinance may be doing that for women.

How do equal opportunity lending laws in various countries affect regulated financial orgs focusing on one gender?

Many, if not most MFIs are not registered as financial orgs, but as NGOs, which is known to be a bump in the road ahead.  Gender neutral, Acción USA supports entrepreneurs of all backgrounds and genders in the U.S.  All borrowers grow their businesses with pride and take care of their families in country and with remittances.  There are also examples of husband and wife entrepreneurs working together.

For those in the field (past or present) can we get some stories about real life examples of women borrowers?

• Nuestra Capital Semilla (Our Seed Money) from Kiva Fellow @lethalsheethal
• “Ok. Next question…” from @MQwightC, Kiva Fellow, Philippines
• Using Microfinance to Combat Human Trafficking: Spotlight on Katie Davis (KF7) by James Han, Kiva Fellow, Cambodia
• A Sierra Leonean Pick-Me-Up by Stephanie Meyer, Kiva Fellow, Sierra Leone
• Women borrowers stories from FINCA
• Portfolios of the Poor

What are some best practices for reaching out and bringing women into microfinance?

Local staff (loan officers) and word-of-mouth marketing draw many women to MFIs.  For example, Celina, a loan officer at Arariwa, has 3 lending groups in the Cusco potato wholesaler’s market, based on word-of-mouth.  However, the issue may be less about empowering women and more about knowing that women have a higher ROI in microfinance.  In actuality, the whole community needs empowerment.  We can’t address exclusion of women by excluding men.

Some Women Leaders in Microfinance

Many top MFIs are run by visionary women. Women in MFI leadership positions inspire younger women.

For example:

• Essma Ben Hamida of Enda in Tunisia
• Ingrid Munro of Jamii Bora in Kenya
• Tabinda Jaffrey of Asasah
• 70% of ACCION_USA’s executive team and program directors are women
• Most loan officers and accountants at Arariwa and some of the supervisors and board of directors are women
• Information Technology managers such as Polly Najori at Jitegemea in Kenya
• Khadija Shamte leads IT Firm, Adept are women
• Within the @mifos community, women play vital role in #technology ecosystem
• @ProMujer – https://promujer.org/
• Women Advancing Microfinance (WAM) – chapters in NYC, D.C, Chicago, Atlanta, Northern CA, other cities worldwide. A group of women leaders in the microfinance field.

What are some of the challenges for women to participate in microfinance? How do organizations address these challenges?

Some challenges include not having enough time for group meetings, which take away from the business day. To address this issue, loan officers visit them at their place of business.  However, in some cultures women can’t leave the home alone, so just being able to travel to group meeting is big social change.  Women encounter profound travel safety issues affecting everything from education to business to health care access.

Are there particular products that women gravitate toward? For example, group loans versus individual loans, savings, etc?

The loans are typically disbursed to groups.  It is difficult to get an independent loan.  Group loans are typical entry point for #women clients. Savings accounts are one of Opportunity’s fastest growing products for women.  Arariwa does mostly group loans and group savings.  However, Accion International specializes in consulting w/organizations that do individual lending.

How can individuals support women entrepreneurs?

• Consider making a @Kiva loan to women entrepreneurs – you can lend internationally or domestically.
• Consider giving an OptINnow gift card as a Christmas present.
• People in the U.S. can choose local, women owned businesses to support entrepreneurs in their own community through Acción loans.
• Consider supporting @sevenbar’s Kiss away poverty campaign (in partnership with @sephora and @fusion_beauty)

Key Takeaways from this week’s #mifimon

@lethalsheethal – Empowering women = Empowering families

@rarenaud – Focus on women is key to eradicating poverty. They hold the key to caring for families, promote education of children.

@zyozyfounder – If you want to help the world’s poor, you have to invest in them, rather than just giving them money.  People seek dignity not dependence. Charity meets immediate needs but fails to enable people to solve own problems. There is a growing belief that the best solution to eradication of poverty is entrepreneurship and small business economics.  When passions and expertise are channeled to address real problems, absolutely anything is possible.  ”Girl + Education = Loan, Business, Community Development, Gender Equality.”

@CIPEglobal – There is no silver bullet for gender inequality, but women entrepreneurs are organizing to take aim.

How we can share #mifimon links and resources?

People join #mifimon facebook page.  Look for future topics, articles & longer explanations, etc. #mifimon is sometimes hosted on Facebook because it is less restrictive on text length.

Thanks to @JulieSof for moderating today’s #mifimon topic on #women and microfinance. We are grateful to have so many talented people and organizations involved in our discussions.

By Sheethal Shobowale, KF9, Peru

In Cusco, Peru, Halloween is celebrated in full force. It kinda feels like home (side note: home for me is Brooklyn, New York). Back in New York, I usually put some pumpkins on my stoop and make some curried pumpkin soup. This year, Cynthia McMurray (my Field Support Specialist) and I are going to carve a zapallo and make some soup. So it will feel like home!

Here are some photos from Halloween in Cusco –

I’ll add more over the weekend when I see people dressed up and out trick ‘o treatin’… Hopefully I’ll get to see some cute little kids dressed up like pumpkins.

Happy Halloween from Cusco, Peru!

Celebrate Halloween by lending to Kiva borrowers.

Sheethal Shobowale is currently serving as a Kiva Fellow in Cusco, Peru with Asociación Arariwa

Sheethal Shobowale, KF9, Peru

Wordreference translates Spanish word socio as member or partner.

Yesterday, on my first day as a Kiva Fellow at Asociación Arariwa, I got to see my first group loan disbursement. Raquel (the Kiva coordinator at Arariwa) described the borrowers as Nuestros Socios (our members). In a group loan at Arariwa, the borrowers are Socios del banco. A lender who joins the Kiva community can also be called a Socio de Kiva. I translate Kiva’s partner MFIs as Socios de Kiva (Kiva partners) and I describe myself as Socio de Kiva (Kiva Fellow). And one more: here’s a past blog post by another Kiva Fellow, Michelle, about Socios Dinámicos.

Of course we all have other names –

• Institución de Microfinanzas – Microfinance Institution: Asociación Arariwa

Institución de Microfinanzas - Microfinance Institution: Asociación Arariwa

• Prestamista – Lender: Kiva Lending Team Amigos de Asociación Arariwa

Prestamista - Lender: Kiva Lending Team Amigos de Asociación Arariwa

• Prestatario – borrower: Ayda from Asociación Arariwa, Cusco, Peru

Prestatario - borrower: Ayda from Asociación Arariwa, Cusco, Peru

• Voluntario – Volunteer: “Lethal” Sheethal Shobowale, Kiva Fellow, KF9, Peru

Voluntario - Volunteer: "Lethal" Sheethal Shobowale, Kiva Fellow, KF9, Peru

but I really like the idea that we are all socios (partners or members) of Kiva, of microfinance and in alleviating poverty. And going back to Kiva’s mission, Connecting People through Lending to Alleviate Poverty, being connected as socios seems to make sense to me.

Please consider becoming a Socio of Asociación Arariwa by lending to Arariwa borrowers and joining our Kiva lending team – Amigos/Amigas de Arariwa!

Sheethal Shobowale is currently serving as a Kiva Fellow (KF9) in Cusco, Peru.

I was somewhat ready for my work with Kiva/Arariwa, the amazingly nice people, the food, and the sights.  But the movie introduced me to Peruvian dance and music and the many festivals, and made me so much more excited to move to Peru.

The photos on display at the Times Center, by Doug Klostermann (his photos on Flickr), vividly brought out lives of Peruvian people.

One of Doug Klostermann's photos from Peru at the Soy Andina screening at the Times Center - click to see more on Flickr.com

Last week I got to witness my first Peruvian holiday when traffic was diverted to the other side the main avenue in Cusco, La Cultura.  The right side of the street was covered in colors and people were commemorating La Batalla de Angamos (translation courtesy of Google Translator).   And the day before yesterday there was another  celebration right outside my office, complete with brass band and Peruvian dances.

Peruvian dancers celebrating on Avenida Graciloso, right near the Asociación Arariwa office

The connection I have to Hillmar, Mitch, and Soy Andina through Twitter is only one of  many I have made through social media.  Here are more examples:

Facebook – When I found out I was chosen as a Kiva Fellow, I first emailed my husband and my family.  But soon after I posted a Facebook profile update saying I was excited about being a Kiva Fellow in Cusco, Peru.  Instantaneously I got responses from friends telling me they had friends for me to meet, restaurants recommendations, places to visit, etc.  It was an incredible outpouring of what we call “Kiva Love!”

Couchsurfing – I also joined the Cusco Group on Couchsurfing (a social media traveling site) and found a travel buddy for my first weekend to visit the Sacred Valley.  From California, he is officially my best friend in Cusco.  And through this group, several Peruvians in Cusco and surrounding towns have offered to meet up to show me around or teach my Peruvian cooking.  I am already part of the New York and Brooklyn groups and have both hosted and couchsurfed with some awesome people who have now become good friends.

Kiva Communities and Lending Teams – I joined and posted on the Kiva New York Lending Team’s site that I would be representing our home town for Kiva in Cusco.  Now I am part of that conversation too.  And I plan to share with them the New Yorker’s eye view of Cusco (ie – the 4 train is more crowded than the combi I take to work everyday)

Ok, I could go on forever, but I’ll stop here.  Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, Couchsurfing, Kiva Communities, etc…the power to connect through social media is incredible.

And to learn more about Soy Andina and learn about future screenings, please visit SoyAndina.com.

You can find me on the following social media communities:

• Twitter: http://twitter.com/lethalsheethal
• Facebook: http://facebook.com/sheethal
• Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/leapwork_lethalsheethal
• YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/LethalSheethal (videos coming soon!)
• Linked In: http://linkedin.com/sheethalshobowale
• Couchsurfing: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/tokeethal (a mix of both mine and my husband’s names)

It’s easy: just create an account, customize and implement a widget with few lines of javascript on your site and you’re off!  Unfortunately, I can’t embed javascript in my WordPress.com hosted blog, but when I move my blog to WordPress.org (soon!) it will be much easier to find.

The first level is free, but both companies have advanced versions of their product for small and large companies.  User Voice and Get Satisfaction both charge variable monthly fees depending on added features and functionality such as the level of customization, topic moderation and analytics.

What I really like about these products is that neither is invasive. Here are a couple options for embedding the script:

• Add Feedback item to your Navigation Bar – Mine is currently under Contact and Feedback

• Place the Feedback tab to the right or left side of your page.  When you click on the Feedback tab, the page goes dark and the Feedback box centers on the page.  But other then the minimalistic Feedback tab alerting visitors that they can give giveback if and when they choose to, the tool is hidden from the other information on your side.

See the screenshot below from the User Voice site.  The red tab on the left side says Feedback, and this screenshot is after the Feedback tab has been pressed.  The Feedback forum pops up in white.

User Voice Forum

Once you click through and open the User Voice forum it looks like the below screenshot from my User Voice forum.  Currently, you can get there from my Contacts page or click on the picture below.  Please add some ideas if you have them and vote on the current ideas if there is something that interests you.

Lethal Sheethal's User Voice Forum

Here’s a screen shot of a Get Satisfaction feedback forum on another blog I mange – the Cumberland Block Association.  Same idea.  Once you click the feedback tab on the left side, the page goes dark and the forum becomes front and center.

Get Satisfaction User Forum

Pretty cool and easy, no?

Here are some companies using Feedback Forums like these:

• Tweetdeck, a Twitter organization tool.  They have a Tweet Deck User Voice Forum and a separate Support Forum.
• 99Designs, a place to crowdsource design work.  I couldn’t easily find a link to it on the site but here’s the direct link to the 99Designs User Voice forum.  My guess is that it is available for businesses that ask for design work and users that have completed design work

Please feel free to ask me about Feedback Forums.  If you know if any other online feedback tools, please share them below.