Sunday, January 17, 2010
haiti
maybe just spoiled to feel the sunlight, to know i can choose it of and in this day to be a part of it to laugh in it to mask it with lotion to feel the wind dry my skin, only to pull my sweater on, let my hair catch the wind, and escape it for a roof, a stove, comforts of a blanket, of warmth i can trust, i am free in my privacy, i have it i can feel it, i can be free in it, and i look across several nations and a sea to imagine the moonlit sky of quiet tears rolling, ones the child cannot bury inside, no pillow for him to bury his face in, just dirt and the stench reminder that life may never be private again, life may never seem long again, there is no longer safety or anyone to care for me but here i am in a sea of bodies producing tears, a sea of tattered clothing and hearts barely beating because they lack the motivation, what is life without love? my mother and father? what is this hell i am in, why should i live, i wish i was buried too, surviving has to be more of a curse, i am breathing i suppose but hope is diminishing, my mouth is dry my stomach bloated my moves exhausting, soon i must drink my own tears, i must recycle my pain to feed my pain, ive no sight ahead it isnt a tunnel i wish it were for then i could feel alone for a moment, long enough to feel safe, to grab a hold of my thoughts and perhaps dig into hope, but i am stuck in survival mode, i want to give up, something biological pushing the "go." go button but i would do anything to turn it off, my heart would, my head would, my physical presence perseveres but everything within has given up. logic says it will never be okay, it was hard enough to fill our bellies before, now i have no family to look after me, no safety, i have open wounds, i have no water or food, i have no home, i haven't even finished primary school, i've no way to get a job, i cannot even fathom a way to survive without someone handing me aid. imagine my life completely depends on someone giving me free keys for survival. i just don't know if i even want it. i just want to shut my eyes, the moon is so bright and so full, i want it to go away, i want to cover my face, i want to feel silence and darkness, i want to stop seeing the faces of my mother and father alive when i shut my eyes, i want to stop hearing the cries in the crowd and feeling the sweat of bodies in mass, i want to stop smelling the stench of death, i must close my eyes and recall a time and place - an open field, my grandfather's mango trees, i sit among them i shut my eyes i squeeze them tight and drift off into a shallow sleep, praying in my heart that my body just gives up quietly tonight... please body, please give up, i cannot bear the hopelessness, i cannot bear life alone... let me feel the silence, lay me quietly, help me fade...
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
my new post on the kf blog!
Check it out! :)
http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2009/11/10/why-me/
Besos,
Suzy
http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2009/11/10/why-me/
Besos,
Suzy
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
that it would look like this
i never thought it. never thought for a second it even could.
im blown away by so many things, things i have witnessed, things in the world, things in my life, we all get surprised, but i never couldve imagined my marriage to matt would look like it does. before we got married, people said don't do it, you will ruin everything you have. after we got married, people told us to wait for the honeymoon phase to wear off, because then it gets hard. not sure when it's supposed to set in, because all ive felt each day is happier and more sure of the decision each and every day since may 10, 2008.
to have a best friend, someone i can talk political issues with, someone that listens to issues i care about and as a result cares more about them himself, and someone who tells more more about issues he cares about and helps me care more as a result. to have a best friend that makes me laugh, our little world of nicknames and made up words, our voices when we are around each other, and to have it all with the academic conversation and the real interests beyond things between us but things much larger. i am also so blown away by how we have evolved from teenagers, 17 years old, and we are now almost 25, and our worldviews and philosophies and religions and perceptions and ethics and beliefs have changed so much, but how incredible it is that they have evolved together. we have always generally agreed on the changes when they took place, and so many of them happened for their own reasons, when we were half a world apart matt in new zealand and me in spain, we changed on our own but oddly in the same way. we used to joke that maybe it all started with our SAT score (we got the exact same SAT score. the exact same number.) and that our brains were thus aligned somehow, although we know that is ridiculous. we both don't believe in one-person-for-every-person romance fairytales. im sure we could find other suitable people, although im sure i can speak for both of us in that it isn't something we have reason to think about. all i know is that we are simply lucky, extraordinarily lucky. we have done nothing to deserve such a healthy incredible bond and support system in marriage. just like a battered woman has done absolutely nothing to deserve her abuse. for us, our marriage is a source of strength, a foundation with which both of us can feel strong enough to jump off into the world and push for real change. i absolutely would not be where i am - not even close - without the support i have in matt. where i am going, i wouldn't be able to go without him. it is easy to say you are strong and independent, but in reality we all need the love and support from friends family and our closest loved ones to keep moving forward. and im absolutely unafraid and unabashed in the pride i have for who matt is, and who we are as a couple. i find myself dreaming of our future, when we have our children, and raise them together. sometimes when we are travelling, we cant resist talking about what kinds of trips we want our children to experience, how we want them to know and love nature and want to protect it, to support them the way our parents supported us. matt and i are incredibly lucky not only to have eachother, but to have the families that we have. it is truly our inspiration to go out and change the world. and i hope that in some way, our parents too feel proud that they have contributed something to the world by raising such motivated and caring children.
i love you so much matthew jay.
love,
your suz
im blown away by so many things, things i have witnessed, things in the world, things in my life, we all get surprised, but i never couldve imagined my marriage to matt would look like it does. before we got married, people said don't do it, you will ruin everything you have. after we got married, people told us to wait for the honeymoon phase to wear off, because then it gets hard. not sure when it's supposed to set in, because all ive felt each day is happier and more sure of the decision each and every day since may 10, 2008.
to have a best friend, someone i can talk political issues with, someone that listens to issues i care about and as a result cares more about them himself, and someone who tells more more about issues he cares about and helps me care more as a result. to have a best friend that makes me laugh, our little world of nicknames and made up words, our voices when we are around each other, and to have it all with the academic conversation and the real interests beyond things between us but things much larger. i am also so blown away by how we have evolved from teenagers, 17 years old, and we are now almost 25, and our worldviews and philosophies and religions and perceptions and ethics and beliefs have changed so much, but how incredible it is that they have evolved together. we have always generally agreed on the changes when they took place, and so many of them happened for their own reasons, when we were half a world apart matt in new zealand and me in spain, we changed on our own but oddly in the same way. we used to joke that maybe it all started with our SAT score (we got the exact same SAT score. the exact same number.) and that our brains were thus aligned somehow, although we know that is ridiculous. we both don't believe in one-person-for-every-person romance fairytales. im sure we could find other suitable people, although im sure i can speak for both of us in that it isn't something we have reason to think about. all i know is that we are simply lucky, extraordinarily lucky. we have done nothing to deserve such a healthy incredible bond and support system in marriage. just like a battered woman has done absolutely nothing to deserve her abuse. for us, our marriage is a source of strength, a foundation with which both of us can feel strong enough to jump off into the world and push for real change. i absolutely would not be where i am - not even close - without the support i have in matt. where i am going, i wouldn't be able to go without him. it is easy to say you are strong and independent, but in reality we all need the love and support from friends family and our closest loved ones to keep moving forward. and im absolutely unafraid and unabashed in the pride i have for who matt is, and who we are as a couple. i find myself dreaming of our future, when we have our children, and raise them together. sometimes when we are travelling, we cant resist talking about what kinds of trips we want our children to experience, how we want them to know and love nature and want to protect it, to support them the way our parents supported us. matt and i are incredibly lucky not only to have eachother, but to have the families that we have. it is truly our inspiration to go out and change the world. and i hope that in some way, our parents too feel proud that they have contributed something to the world by raising such motivated and caring children.
i love you so much matthew jay.
love,
your suz
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
our return to the amazon
hi everyone!
about a month ago now (!) - my family came to visit and we spent a solid 5 days on the Tambopata River in the southern Amazon Basin of Peru. the experience was astounding and unforgettable, even with the 100% humidity, the sneaky mosquitoes, and the ridiculously hot weather. it is also a protected area of the Amazon- so it was mostly just you, your guide, and endlessly impenetrable jungle.
matt was hooked on the amazon after that trip - and as someone passionate both about wildlife and conservation, its no surprise. so after arriving in Bolivia, my MFI's president told us we absolutely had to go to the Bolivian Amazon Basin before rainy season starts - as thats when Dengue fever becomes rampant. he got us an extraordinary deal on the trip, which entailed four days (Friday-Mon) on a floating hotel down rio mamoré. this river is much bigger than tambopata, and we cruised it in the Beni department of Bolivia. the river's size afforded us the awesome opportunity to both spot and swim with pink river dolphins - and we even went fishing for piranhas (each of us caught one, but of course matt wanted to throw his back!). a swiss couple we are friends with here in Cochabamba, sebastian and sara, joined us on the trip. seb works with me at my MFI. we all had a great time.
the area of Beni department we were in is totally unprotected. now, to draw a fair portrayal here, there are tons of protected national parks in Bolivia's Amazon, this just wasnt one of them. likewise, in Peru, much of their Amazon is unprotected. the sheer size of the amazon itself takes up over half of these countries' land, so we must be understanding of how it works.
across from where our flotel (floating hotel) was docked for one night, there was a blazing fire in the jungle, so close you could see nearly all the flames below the tunnel of smoke above. it was the local people, indigenous communities that have lived in the area for eons, who were responsible for the burning. they burn the land so that they can use the burned space to grow crops, but the fertility of the soil depletes after just three years. so they burn more of the jungle, and begin the process over. but we were able to meet these people, to get to a place where we understood their perspective, and to be inspired that one day, these people will learn more sustainable land fertilization tactics, rather than simply burning the jungle for more space. the scene was so heartbreaking, as you couldnt help your gaze from imagining the monkeys fleeing that area in panic, the birds abandoning their nests, the trees that have been building themselves for centuries - instantly destroyed.
but that is why it is important to see those different faces of the Amazon, the protected raw beauty, the reality of its future, the true compassion of its indigenous, and the value in helping protect this paradise of biodiversity. to learn more and check out a phenomenal organization on the ground here, visit http://www.conservation.org/explore/priority_areas/wilderness/Pages/amazon.aspx
love
suzy
about a month ago now (!) - my family came to visit and we spent a solid 5 days on the Tambopata River in the southern Amazon Basin of Peru. the experience was astounding and unforgettable, even with the 100% humidity, the sneaky mosquitoes, and the ridiculously hot weather. it is also a protected area of the Amazon- so it was mostly just you, your guide, and endlessly impenetrable jungle.
matt was hooked on the amazon after that trip - and as someone passionate both about wildlife and conservation, its no surprise. so after arriving in Bolivia, my MFI's president told us we absolutely had to go to the Bolivian Amazon Basin before rainy season starts - as thats when Dengue fever becomes rampant. he got us an extraordinary deal on the trip, which entailed four days (Friday-Mon) on a floating hotel down rio mamoré. this river is much bigger than tambopata, and we cruised it in the Beni department of Bolivia. the river's size afforded us the awesome opportunity to both spot and swim with pink river dolphins - and we even went fishing for piranhas (each of us caught one, but of course matt wanted to throw his back!). a swiss couple we are friends with here in Cochabamba, sebastian and sara, joined us on the trip. seb works with me at my MFI. we all had a great time.
the area of Beni department we were in is totally unprotected. now, to draw a fair portrayal here, there are tons of protected national parks in Bolivia's Amazon, this just wasnt one of them. likewise, in Peru, much of their Amazon is unprotected. the sheer size of the amazon itself takes up over half of these countries' land, so we must be understanding of how it works.
across from where our flotel (floating hotel) was docked for one night, there was a blazing fire in the jungle, so close you could see nearly all the flames below the tunnel of smoke above. it was the local people, indigenous communities that have lived in the area for eons, who were responsible for the burning. they burn the land so that they can use the burned space to grow crops, but the fertility of the soil depletes after just three years. so they burn more of the jungle, and begin the process over. but we were able to meet these people, to get to a place where we understood their perspective, and to be inspired that one day, these people will learn more sustainable land fertilization tactics, rather than simply burning the jungle for more space. the scene was so heartbreaking, as you couldnt help your gaze from imagining the monkeys fleeing that area in panic, the birds abandoning their nests, the trees that have been building themselves for centuries - instantly destroyed.
but that is why it is important to see those different faces of the Amazon, the protected raw beauty, the reality of its future, the true compassion of its indigenous, and the value in helping protect this paradise of biodiversity. to learn more and check out a phenomenal organization on the ground here, visit http://www.conservation.org/explore/priority_areas/wilderness/Pages/amazon.aspx
love
suzy
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
fun post!
do you like women in hats?
i know i do!!!!
check out the new post I wrote on the KF blog about them :)
http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2009/09/22/women-in-hats/
love,
Suzy
i know i do!!!!
check out the new post I wrote on the KF blog about them :)
http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2009/09/22/women-in-hats/
love,
Suzy
Thursday, September 17, 2009
eat the rich
deleted for privacy reasons - please contact me directly if you'd like to read it.
:)
suzy
:)
suzy
Friday, August 14, 2009
is anyone reading this?
hey all-
I wanted to check in with my friends/family/anyone else thats reading my personal blog. Are you still there? I won't be upset if you aren't :)
It's just now that I've become a blogging factory for two other blogs
http://www.lavidaidealist.org and
http://fellowsblog.kiva.org
...I dont want to maintain this one if I have no readers.
I myself would like to continue maintaining it because its my avenue to post things unrelated to Kiva, stories and experiences Matt and I are going through.
So please comment on this post if you ARE following this blog and would like me to continue!
Either way, i love you all :)
Love,
Suz
I wanted to check in with my friends/family/anyone else thats reading my personal blog. Are you still there? I won't be upset if you aren't :)
It's just now that I've become a blogging factory for two other blogs
http://www.lavidaidealist.org and
http://fellowsblog.kiva.org
...I dont want to maintain this one if I have no readers.
I myself would like to continue maintaining it because its my avenue to post things unrelated to Kiva, stories and experiences Matt and I are going through.
So please comment on this post if you ARE following this blog and would like me to continue!
Either way, i love you all :)
Love,
Suz
Friday, August 7, 2009
Tour de FINCA!
Here it is ya'll
Enjoy and excuse me for my hyperness... it is kind of annoying!!
Suz
Suzy's Tour of Kiva partner FINCA Peru! from Suzy Marinkovich on Vimeo.
Enjoy and excuse me for my hyperness... it is kind of annoying!!
Suz
Monday, August 3, 2009
cynics vs idealists
Something has happened to the field of development.
Idealism, if you had to define it with the FIRST sentence that came to mind, would probably involve an image of a hippie smiling and staring at the stars, talking about, I don't know, impossible things, ending the war on drugs, effective socialist governments (an oxy-moron, historically speaking), and so forth. It would involve an image of naivete, if not downright stupidity.
Cynicism, on the other hand, is "cool." Cynicism is something that the academic with the masters in International Development feels obliged to call their own. It is being "realistic" (which idealism is not) -- it is being "smart," and "informed."
According to dictionary.com,
Idealism: the cherishing or pursuit of high or noble principles, purposes, goals, etc.
Cynicism: an attitude of scornful or jaded negativity, especially a general distrust of the integrity or professed motives of others.
I have yet to see what cynicism accomplishes in development.
And though I have a conservative-leaning view when it comes to the markets, and particularly, to national defense, I am not going to fall into what I consider this stupidly trendly trap of cynicism in development. At best, it's unproductive, and at worst, its detrimental.
This philosophy that I'm developing is in its primary stages, but it is surely the reason I chose to apply to be a contributing blogger for Idealist.org/Action Without Borders Latin America volunteering blog -- called www.lavidaidealist.org
Check out my first post on the site, posted today.
It's titled "Where we pull apart, we bind together."
Suz
Idealism, if you had to define it with the FIRST sentence that came to mind, would probably involve an image of a hippie smiling and staring at the stars, talking about, I don't know, impossible things, ending the war on drugs, effective socialist governments (an oxy-moron, historically speaking), and so forth. It would involve an image of naivete, if not downright stupidity.
Cynicism, on the other hand, is "cool." Cynicism is something that the academic with the masters in International Development feels obliged to call their own. It is being "realistic" (which idealism is not) -- it is being "smart," and "informed."
According to dictionary.com,
Idealism: the cherishing or pursuit of high or noble principles, purposes, goals, etc.
Cynicism: an attitude of scornful or jaded negativity, especially a general distrust of the integrity or professed motives of others.
I have yet to see what cynicism accomplishes in development.
And though I have a conservative-leaning view when it comes to the markets, and particularly, to national defense, I am not going to fall into what I consider this stupidly trendly trap of cynicism in development. At best, it's unproductive, and at worst, its detrimental.
This philosophy that I'm developing is in its primary stages, but it is surely the reason I chose to apply to be a contributing blogger for Idealist.org/Action Without Borders Latin America volunteering blog -- called www.lavidaidealist.org
Check out my first post on the site, posted today.
It's titled "Where we pull apart, we bind together."
Suz
Saturday, July 11, 2009
disgusted.
Did you know that women cannot get a mammogram in the city of Ayacucho?
No, they need to take a 11-hour busride to Lima for that, which costs approx sixty nuevo soles, or a small fortune to our indigenous women.
But you know what they can get here?
Botox.
I knew those two things before this was released a few days ago.
Of course, it´s much worse than I thought-
CNN: Peru´s pregnant women dying at ´scandalous´ rates
I know I bring it up all the time, my favorite quote, Thucydides- there will be justice in Athens when those who are not injured are as outraged as those who are.
There is so much racism against indigenous women here, because of their skin color, their language, their systematic poverty trap.
I actually am so pissed off right now I can´t concentrate.
Sorry if I took you down with me...
Suz
No, they need to take a 11-hour busride to Lima for that, which costs approx sixty nuevo soles, or a small fortune to our indigenous women.
But you know what they can get here?
Botox.
I knew those two things before this was released a few days ago.
Of course, it´s much worse than I thought-
CNN: Peru´s pregnant women dying at ´scandalous´ rates
I know I bring it up all the time, my favorite quote, Thucydides- there will be justice in Athens when those who are not injured are as outraged as those who are.
There is so much racism against indigenous women here, because of their skin color, their language, their systematic poverty trap.
I actually am so pissed off right now I can´t concentrate.
Sorry if I took you down with me...
Suz
Friday, July 3, 2009
MATT and suz traveller!
he`-s here now!!!!!!!!!!! yayyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
he will be posting too.
love you all.
he will be posting too.
love you all.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
massive civil matrimony, of course.
The sole purpose of this post is to share with you guys some of my favorite "quirks" so far about Peru.
While in Ica over the weekend, I asked a Peruvian guy what the GIANT GIANT banner that said "MASIVO CIVIL MATRIMONIO" meant. He said (translated) "massive civil matrimony of course. its where a bunch of couples get married at the same time because it is cheaper." ... umm... like it was totally normal and standard. He looked at me really puzzled, because it should make perfect sense to me, of course...
also, i am working on a photo album of "lost in translation" photos. meaning, poorly translated in to english (whether it's t-shirts, menus, knock off clothing, etc). a la engrish.com.
oh, heres one of my favorites.
a knock off billabong shirt on this guy, that said "BILLBOARD"...haha...billboard
my favorite is also there are people here and there standing by themselves selling something completely random. and its usually just one thing that they sell.
cases in point:
scruffy, creepy man that stands outside of the blue door open air market with a stack of individually folded women's underwear that he tries to sell you. in case, you know, you are walking down the street, and realize you need a pair of underwear.
also, the colectivo taxis, not for weaklings for sure. they are dirt cheap but they pack you in like sardines. but the good ones will have techno peruvian flute music, and full on discoteca lighting, red and blue flashing lights, both on the interior AND exterior of the car.
what, else... what, else...
omg. you will love this one.
mamachas (the older women who dress in fully authentic andean woman attire -- top hat, full skirt, long long braids down their back) will tie their hair in to two braids that run down their backs. but heres the kicker-- they like to make sure the braids stay close together, so they take a lock of hair from one of the braids, and start weaving it into the other braid, so that the braids stay like six inches apart. the result is this sort of horse-bridle looking thing, like a letter H. it is hilarious. we call them mamacha bridles.
thats all for now. i'll be sure to post stuff like this every once in a while, as i always find these quirky things hilarious :)
suz
While in Ica over the weekend, I asked a Peruvian guy what the GIANT GIANT banner that said "MASIVO CIVIL MATRIMONIO" meant. He said (translated) "massive civil matrimony of course. its where a bunch of couples get married at the same time because it is cheaper." ... umm... like it was totally normal and standard. He looked at me really puzzled, because it should make perfect sense to me, of course...
also, i am working on a photo album of "lost in translation" photos. meaning, poorly translated in to english (whether it's t-shirts, menus, knock off clothing, etc). a la engrish.com.
oh, heres one of my favorites.
a knock off billabong shirt on this guy, that said "BILLBOARD"...haha...billboard
my favorite is also there are people here and there standing by themselves selling something completely random. and its usually just one thing that they sell.
cases in point:
scruffy, creepy man that stands outside of the blue door open air market with a stack of individually folded women's underwear that he tries to sell you. in case, you know, you are walking down the street, and realize you need a pair of underwear.
also, the colectivo taxis, not for weaklings for sure. they are dirt cheap but they pack you in like sardines. but the good ones will have techno peruvian flute music, and full on discoteca lighting, red and blue flashing lights, both on the interior AND exterior of the car.
what, else... what, else...
omg. you will love this one.
mamachas (the older women who dress in fully authentic andean woman attire -- top hat, full skirt, long long braids down their back) will tie their hair in to two braids that run down their backs. but heres the kicker-- they like to make sure the braids stay close together, so they take a lock of hair from one of the braids, and start weaving it into the other braid, so that the braids stay like six inches apart. the result is this sort of horse-bridle looking thing, like a letter H. it is hilarious. we call them mamacha bridles.
thats all for now. i'll be sure to post stuff like this every once in a while, as i always find these quirky things hilarious :)
suz
Friday, June 26, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
pic :)
This is me interviewing a few Kiva borrowers for their journal updates.
Olga sells various merchandise in the open-air market.
Priscilla and Delia have a group loan together. Priscilla only speaks Quechua so Delia helped translate for her. Priscilla is dressed in typical mamacha clothing, but her head-to-toe black likely indicates that someone important in her family has passed away recently. In local culture, the mamacha women dress in black for one year after the death of a loved one. Priscilla borrowed for her to bring more merchandise to her shop from Lima. Delia borrowed for her to go to various fairs around the region to bring more cheese to sell at the markets in Ayacucho.
From left to right: me, Olga, Priscilla, and Delia.
Olga sells various merchandise in the open-air market.
Priscilla and Delia have a group loan together. Priscilla only speaks Quechua so Delia helped translate for her. Priscilla is dressed in typical mamacha clothing, but her head-to-toe black likely indicates that someone important in her family has passed away recently. In local culture, the mamacha women dress in black for one year after the death of a loved one. Priscilla borrowed for her to bring more merchandise to her shop from Lima. Delia borrowed for her to go to various fairs around the region to bring more cheese to sell at the markets in Ayacucho.
From left to right: me, Olga, Priscilla, and Delia.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
finca peru
its not that im proud to be associated with my mfi, but more than i am humbled and honored that i get to be associated with them.
There are literally tens of thousands of MFIs globally...
but how many won GOLD in the 1st ever social performance reporting award?
http://www.themix.org/press-release/first-recipients-new-social-performance-reporting-award
To catch you up, social performance reporting has been one of most obvious achilles tendons of the microfinance industry. That is to say, it hasn't been done until recently. It is very difficult to provide facts to back up an assertion that microloans bring poor entrepreneurs out of poverty. How exactly is that quantifiable, numerically? And how can we tests microfinance's success across nations and continents? How can we compare a Kenyan woman's fruit stall to an Azerbaijan man's taxi business? Or a fisherman in Phnom Penh, a major city in Cambodia, to a grocery shop owner in the rural central Andes of Peru?
What kinds of questions can we ask, and what is appropriate to ask in certain cultures? Certainly you wouldn't appreciate if someone knocked on your door and asked you how much you made last year vs. how much you made this year.
Some of the questions that FINCA Peru has on the survey they use, which is widely used by many other MFIs, are "do you have an iron? do you have a washing machine?" etc. But, these need to also be taken in context. It will be interesting to watch this field emerge.
I'm honored that my MFI is on the ball on this issue.
Meet Lisette, a FINCA borrower, and her baby:
There are literally tens of thousands of MFIs globally...
but how many won GOLD in the 1st ever social performance reporting award?
http://www.themix.org/press-release/first-recipients-new-social-performance-reporting-award
To catch you up, social performance reporting has been one of most obvious achilles tendons of the microfinance industry. That is to say, it hasn't been done until recently. It is very difficult to provide facts to back up an assertion that microloans bring poor entrepreneurs out of poverty. How exactly is that quantifiable, numerically? And how can we tests microfinance's success across nations and continents? How can we compare a Kenyan woman's fruit stall to an Azerbaijan man's taxi business? Or a fisherman in Phnom Penh, a major city in Cambodia, to a grocery shop owner in the rural central Andes of Peru?
What kinds of questions can we ask, and what is appropriate to ask in certain cultures? Certainly you wouldn't appreciate if someone knocked on your door and asked you how much you made last year vs. how much you made this year.
Some of the questions that FINCA Peru has on the survey they use, which is widely used by many other MFIs, are "do you have an iron? do you have a washing machine?" etc. But, these need to also be taken in context. It will be interesting to watch this field emerge.
I'm honored that my MFI is on the ball on this issue.
Meet Lisette, a FINCA borrower, and her baby:
Thursday, June 18, 2009
hot and happy :)
here i am hot, it is so dry ive had a continual bloody nose for two weeks, my feet are SO dry and dirty i dont even look at them, i have a mattress on the floor that might as well be a brick, i often step in sewage and most toilets are out of toilet paper, i buy food and i have no idea what it is or what is in it.
but yet i am so, so happy. this is my element :) this is truly where i thrive. this is where i was meant to be! i keep begging everyone to come visit because i am so overjoyed at the experience. the experience was a dream of mine and it is certainly living up to those expectations. i love being challenged and living uncomfortably. i could honestly live in south america my whole life.
anyway, here are a few pictures! i haven't taken many but there should be more fun ones this weekend. ericka and joel (two FINCA volunteers from Canada) and i are going to, on Sunday, "pick a random mountain and climb it." yep. thats our whole plan. there are just so many around the city and there isnt exactly vegetation up here...so thats our plan!
Aqui estan los fotos, aproveche!
but yet i am so, so happy. this is my element :) this is truly where i thrive. this is where i was meant to be! i keep begging everyone to come visit because i am so overjoyed at the experience. the experience was a dream of mine and it is certainly living up to those expectations. i love being challenged and living uncomfortably. i could honestly live in south america my whole life.
anyway, here are a few pictures! i haven't taken many but there should be more fun ones this weekend. ericka and joel (two FINCA volunteers from Canada) and i are going to, on Sunday, "pick a random mountain and climb it." yep. thats our whole plan. there are just so many around the city and there isnt exactly vegetation up here...so thats our plan!
Aqui estan los fotos, aproveche!
Me near Plaza de Armas on the way to FINCA.
Cute little buddy waiting for his mom at FINCA.
Political things...
This is FINCA!
The soccer stadium for Inti Gas. It is really funny seeing the barren Andes in the background. You can't see any homes so it feels like they built a Stadium in the middle of nowhere!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
where are the men?
Todas las teorías son legítimas y ninguna tiene importancia. Lo que importa es lo que se hace con ellas. -Jorge Luis Borges
All theories are legitimate yet none of them are important. The only thing that matters is what you do with them.
I am a little lost today. I used to make fun of people who sat by themselves at lunch in restaurants. I am a social being, I wouldn't dare have the confidence to sit and have lunch in the company of me. But that's just what I've been doing the past couple days in Ayacucho, its been purposeful and I like it.
My hours at FINCA are 8am to 12pm and then 2:30pm to 6:30pm, Monday through Friday. The promotoras (loan officers) here work Saturdays also, but I and most other volunteers opt out of that for obvious reasons.
Thus, I have a nice 2.5 hour lunch and I kind of like it. It's not a siesta here, although places close. I have heard this clock of time is typically a time where mothers get their children out of school, take them home, feed them (lunch is the biggest meal of the day), clean house, and then set off back to work.
I enjoy walking around the open air markets (except the meat department... I will continue to convince myself "they are just rubber chickens"), smiling at the vendors, looking at the puffy breads with sprinkles on them, the bananas, the juice stands, the varieties of potatoes. You could really spend a whole day there just looking around. But what I found most interesting is how almost every single vender in the market is a woman.
One fun side note -- you can get 15 tangerines for .50 centavos here, or half a Peruvian Neuvo sole. Because the exchange rate between the US and Peru is 1:3, that is about a penny a tangerine! (Another reason to love the market).
FINCA has had a volunteer here for the past six months who worked specifically with the women, empowering and educating them. This branch of FINCA has been funded in part by a grant from OXFAM. The volunteer is leaving now sadly, as I'd love to pick her brain more, but she did tell me a little about what I've been wondering...
Where are all the men?
The volunteer told me that they had an exercise with the women where they were to give their likes and dislikes. This was a foreign concept to them, so the volunteer gave them examples. Many women responded candidly, with their peers present and in agreement, that it bothers them that their husbands don't work, they drink, and worse yet, they dislike when their husbands beat them.
They were very blasé about it. As I look around the city wonder myself where the men are, I wonder how much truth there is to this. Not that I doubt the women, because I don't, but this is a big paradigm shift for me.
My theory until now was that women represent a potential 50% of the workforce in the developing world that is simply unused. Well, that doesn't seem the case here. In fact, it may be quite the opposite.
I shall continue my investigation.
But the Borges quote also reaches me on another issue...
Getting ripped off or overcharged because I'm a foreigner.
This is inevitable so long as you live in a community with both tourism and poverty, but I just don't know how to deal with it. I know I was overcharged for my apartment (Matt and I are paying $200 a month, 800 soles, for a three bedroom apartment -- which is a rip off here, I swear!). I took the apartment because quite frankly, I wanted something soon, I'm sick of living in a hostel, and there is no classified section in the newspaper here. There is no newspaper. In fact, there are only two ways to find apartments. 1) wander the city and look for signs on apartment doors or 2) go to a frozen yogurt shop near the city center where people write apartments for rent in Sharpie every couple days. Craig of craigslist, you are needed in Ayacucho.
As I gave the deposit to the landlord, she brought to me two pieces of cloth. Let me describe them to you. One had an iron on patch of an imitation Winnie the Pooh with a Santa hat on it, and the other had some sort of cartoon character robots (also an iron-on patch). Both were on white towel material, about 1' by 1' squares. I have no idea what one would do with them. Hang them up? Use them as towels?
After signing the lease, she very awkwardly and unprofessionally tried to sell me these towels. She said she bought them for 35 soles each in Lima (about $10. in actuality, something like that would be around 5 soles). After telling me she bought each one for 35 soles, she asked me to buy them for 70 soles each. I couldn't really hide my offendedness this time, as I thought this was really her thinking I was a moron. I told her I am a volunteer, I have been saving and raising money to come here, and I plan on buying nothing for an apartment except a mattress to sleep on. That mattress will be about as cheap as one of her towels. Then, she proceeded to offer me them for 30 soles each instead of 70 soles.
With a dirty look on my face, I asked her if we were done, I took the keys, and I told her I had to go back to work. I sat eating by myself at lunch and thought, what do I do? Argue with them? Tell them I am insulted? Or just ignore it? What is the right theory on this issue?
So... I am confused, but I like this Borges quote because it kind of is like -- in Suzy terms (not to be confused with laymans terms) -- eff theory, just take everything as it comes.
So, I guess I will do just that.
SUZ
Saturday, June 13, 2009
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