To give the promised context:
I'm in Nicaragua for five weeks with Finca International, (www.villagebanking.org) a worldwide microfinance organization founded in 1984. Microfinance got an (additional) burst of publicity last year when Mohamed Yunus, "father of microfinance," received the Nobel Prize; basically, it consists of liberating the working capacity of poor people by offering them small loans to improve or start their own businesses. Instead of collateral, they work in a group-guarantee system (essentially, substituting social for financial capital.) FINCA follows the traditional path of focusing on women (there are some men that have FINCA loans, but they are a very small, exceptional proportion).
We are administering surveys to characterize FINCA's clients and ensure that the group being served is the "lowest-income entrepreneurs." These first two days we're working on creating a statistically representative sample of the clients and deciding which branches and clients to visit. (Our trainers emphasized that it was very important to track down the exact client chosen at random; otherwise there would be a tendency to avoid clients living in inconvenient areas... shades of Robert Chambers...) We'll be in Managua for another week or so, following credit officers on their daily rounds and interviewing clients here, then off to other branches (Matagalpa, Masaya, and Juigalpa - although not necessarily in that order - for those of you following along at home with a map of Nicaragua.)
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1 comment:
Buenas!
Hi Erica, my name is Ryan Patch, and I was one of the other interns that was working for FINCA Nicaragua during this past summer. I was in Nueva Guinea, Nicaragua and was working with the credit officers there forming VBs while conducting health seminars and establishing a potable water project.
First off, I really enjoyed reading your blog and would like to learn more about your final report for more than one reason. First would be my general interest in the subject and my desire to see what a field report using statistical analysis will say about the effectives of microcredit in Nicaragua. My second reason for interest in your report is the Fulbright proposal I am working on currently. My Fulbright will take me to Bolivia where I hope to address the question of effectiveness and reach of established microcredit programs and the possible impact of future programs in the rural indigenous areas. I am currently looking for a model or a template which will allow me to effectively evaluate established microcredit programs—this is where I’m asking for any help you could give me.
Would you be able to share with me your final report on Nicaragua as well as the particular interview methods/questions you used? Would you also be able to pass me the contact information of the people from FINCA who organized this project?
My contact information is as follows,
e-mail: patch_ryan@wheatoncollege.edu
Thanks so much for your help!
Va Pues,
Ryan Patch
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