Spreadsheet Purgatory

In the last installment, you learned a little bit about my role as a trainer at BRAC Tanzania. Now, I’d like to add to the mix another element of my time there. In order for the Kiva process to work and for the Journal Update requirement to be met, the partner MFI must [...]

It’s Not All Fun and Games

Some people say that my blog is amusing. That makes me smile and I thank those of you willing to stroke my ego. I am, however, aware of one of the blog’s major shortcomings: I habitually fail to inform my readers about the specifics of the work I am doing. Looking [...]

An Attempt at Brevity (does it work for me?)

The comparisons/contrasts between Rwanda and Tanzania, Vision Finance Company, S.A. (a partner of World Vision International) and BRAC Tanzania are plentiful enough to merit a blog entry of their own.  Perhaps some day I’ll get to that.  In the meantime, I’d like to give you a bit of background on VFC. Rather than write [...]

Bidding Adieu to BRAC Tanzania (and the never-ending bus ride)

11 Nov. 2008
To tell the story of my last day at BRAC Tanzania, I have to start with the preceding evening. Because my work permit is set to expire on Thursday, 13 Nov, I have to leave the country by Wednesday. If anything goes wrong (which, frankly, it tends to do), I don’t want to [...]

My Morning Routine

I used to arrive at the Country Office of BRAC Tanzania, sit down at my desk, and proceed to be massacred by mosquitoes until late morning.  Inevitably I would spend the remainder of every day either scratching my countless bites until they were raw or trying to trick myself into forgetting how much they itched.
No [...]

Victory is Mine! . . . or is it?

I’m going to make a bold statement: microfinance is the land of minute incremental change and joy resulting from massive professional achievement is rare here.  Afterall, one loan of $125 does not take a family from impoverished to middle-class, and three months in the field does not illuminate the solution to eradicating global poverty.  As a result, any goal [...]

Julie Does Africa and Remembers To Report Home About It; A Day in the Life of a Kiva Fellow

I’m afraid I’ve lost my readership. Readership was never something I thought I would have, yet here I am, fearing I’ve lost it. In an attempt to win you back, I am about to embark on a tale of adventure and intrigue, microfinance and celebrity. Here is a prototypical work-related story not because it is [...]

21 Days on the Road (Part 2)

Day 12 (Warning: slightly disgusting content. Do not attempt to read while eating):
I just finished rubbing my heels with sandpaper for the last hour. It’s a long story how I got to this point, but it involves exclusively flip-flops/sandals and very dirty/dusty/sandy roads for 6 weeks. Basically, I gave up trying to [...]

21 Days on the Road (Part 1)

On August 24th I left Dar es Salaam for a 3-week trip to central Tanzania to train BRAC branches on Kiva in three other regions. Here’s a glimpse into the first 11 days of my 21 days on the road:
Day 1:
Seven hours on the bus from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma has kicked [...]

I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar

When I first began working on Capitol Hill, my initial impression was horror that the country was being run by a bunch of 20-somethings.  At 23, I was solidly within the median age range and even felt old when I saw peers walking around with short skirts, finding myself thinking “how inappropriate!”  It didn’t take [...]