Interestingly, a new country on Kiva.org is an occasion for excitement, enticement, and loan-spending debauchery. Especially when that country is this infamously poor. It's the only country in the Americas where the UN is actively soldiering, and it ranks infamously in the bottom tier of the Human Development Index-- the lowest of any in the Western Hemisphere.
Jean-Bertrand Aristide move over.... here comes Kiva. (Oh... sorry... the Haitian already took care of Aristide themselves. Credit where credit is due.)
If you live in Haiti, your prospects aren't particularly good. There is poverty and more poverty. There is violence and more violence. There is anarchy and more anarchy. In short: this is a place where jump-starting the economy from the bottom up makes a lot of sense.
Hence the excitement under us Kiva-ists.
The Kiva partner MFI that services Haiti is Esperanza International, with whom I already have a loan in the other side of Hispaniola-- the Republica Dominicana. And Esperanza appears to have a preference for Group Loans. They also provide business training and support to their borrowers.
The group loan principle is interesting. The way Kiva implemented this, is through a single loan to the "group leader". And although the group leader's business is featured in the loan description, the loan is distributed over multiple recipients that are jointly responsible for paying back. As long as the joint intention is to pay back, this actually has proved to increase the payback ratio. I've heard (mainly in some articles about Grameen's activities in Bangladesh) that this group loan principle can backfire too, when the group uses it's outstanding loan to collectively bargain for benefits, like new loans to people that would actually not qualify on their own.
My Haitian Star Entrepreneur is called Ivonne Soincilier, and she is from a place called Trou du Nord. (This literally means-- Hole in the North.) Among other things, she makes candles that are for use during the frequent power outages. Very much needed. Interestingly, thinking about the big picture, economic development will help her indirectly by better access and cheaper prices, but will hurt her indirectly by stabilizing the electricity supply and thereby reducing the need for candles. Still-- she will be successful, I am sure. She also makes soap, and I cannot imagine that anyone could use LESS of that over time! The sun will shine brightly over the Soleil Brillant business group. Bon Chance!
Finally, below is a quote from Ivonne's lender page:
Ivonne is a member of the Soleil Brillant solidarity group. She and her business represent 9 other micro-entrepreneurs who are members of the same solidarity group. Each members will receive a share of this $1,200 loan to develop their respective businesses. The cost of living in Haiti is such that Esperanza is able to fund 10 entrepreneurs who must make each payment together. If one person is unable to pay, the other members must make up the difference before any payment will be excepted. The community of 10 entrepreneurs have gone through Esperanza´s business training courses and have demonstrated their commitment and aptitude for receiving a loan to expand their business. Ivonne and the other members are responsible for working with one another as a social support network throughout the loan repayment and business development processes.
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