Welcome!
Welcome to Mosamba, the weblog that will keep you up to date on my magnificent and potentially perilous adventures as a Kiva Fellow in Mozambique. Below you will find a description of Kiva proper, an overview of the Kiva Fellows Program, and a plea for financial support. Please take time to properly absorb this somewhat mundane information as it will provide a sturdy base for your understanding of the ensuing thrill ride! Live blogging begins June 15th!!!
What is Kiva ?
Short Version (wonksters, please see “about Kiva” tab above): Kiva is a web based platform that facilitates peer to peer microlending between people in developed nations and the working poor in developing nations. Kiva is young, founded in 2005, and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. They are a frighteningly impressive group of people that enjoy walking around the office in their socks!
What is a Kiva Fellow ?
So you know what Kiva is, you know that I’m going to Mozambique, but “hey Cameron, what the hell are you going to be doing there and why should I put money towards you buying malarials?” Thanks for asking! The Kiva Fellows are a highly talented, handpicked group of young globalnauts that are given the unique opportunity to get firsthand field experience working with one of Kiva’s field partners (MFIs-Micro Finance Institutes). The Fellow is given a work plan and a list of deliverables aimed at evaluating and strengthening Kiva’s partnership with the MFI. Some of these fun tasks include:
- Evaluating and making more efficient the processes the MFI uses to work with with Kiva.
- Evaluating Kiva as a funding source for the MFIs vis-à-vis their other funding sources (banks, grants, etc).
- Writing journal entries, creating business profiles, taking photos and creating cool videos to be uploaded to Kiva’s website.
- Prospecting other MFIs in the region that could potentially work with Kiva.
- Taking on other cool side projects where needed (technology, finance, accounting, biz dev, etc.)
I will be working with Hluvuku-Adsema, a MFI in southern Mozambique. Learn more about Hluvuku-Adsema here!
Toss Me a Bone!
So you may have seen Kiva on PBS, ABC or under the Christmas tree, but don’t be fooled by their success, they are still only three years old! Most three year olds are dependent upon Daddy’s allowance. Kiva isn’t much different, while they have been tremendously successful in their nascent years they continue to depend heavily on their devoted volunteers and zealous fellows such as myself. To be short: my fellowship is not funded. What to do, what to do?
I’ve gone ahead and crushed my piggy bank into pieces and am currently pumping that coin into the many expenses associated with spending 4 months in Mozambique (I also quit my job). Now it’s your turn. Get your hammer out, go to your bureau and crush that sucker. Right now the stock market is uglier than the elephant man and it doesn’t offer you the kind of SROI (social return on investment) that I do. So please, please, please pretty please, click on that shiny yellow button above and to right, DONATE and own a piece of my fellowship. To be fair, if you donate $5 I will send you my love, if you donate $50 I will send you a postcard, if you donate $100 I will look into the feasibility of sending you a 12 pack of premium 2M Mozambique ale.
Note: if you are having issues with or do not want to use Paypal please contact me about other ways to make a donation.
