Oh, hey. What’s up from before?
For those of you who are still confused as to what I will be spending my time doing in Guatemala, here are a list of my primary activities:
-Learning words and concepts about microfinances in Spanish, as I have never learned them in English and proceeding to forget everything about Biology, the brain and the science of celestial mechanics. Also, there are about 22 indigenous languages in Guatemala, and neither Spanish nor dolphin speak will help me here.
-Interviewing borrowers and updating journal entries on Kiva’s website. The main reason Kiva is so spectacular is that the people who lend money receive information of where their loan went and what impact it actually had. It’s about creating a personal relation, not just a one-way flow of money. I will be meeting with individual entrepreneurs, having a “hands-on cultural experience,” and learn more in one day than I did during three months of studying for the MCAT. I will do my best to translate and passionately and accurately articulate these stories to the lenders.
-Adding my humble thoughts to the fellows blog and this blog. I promise to tell everyone just how much a 6′3″ white person sticks out in Guatemala. As height largely depends on nutrition and, according to the World Bank, about 75% of Guatemalans are living in poverty, I might look different from other people.
-Social Performance Monitoring. Is microfinance actually helping these Guatemalans move out of poverty? I’ll be looking at non-monetary factors to see if this is actually the case.
-Empowering others. There is nothing like giving someone the ability to fulfill their dreams. With Kiva and this fellowship, we are giving with the expectation that others will give their effort in return. It is not a blank donation, but a call for action. The entrepreneurs are not given money to sit back and relax, but rather to step forward and achieve.
Finally, the shameless offer. For every dollar that you contribute, I will do a shoulder stand for that many seconds. That means, if you give me a Kiva gift certificate for 25 dollars, I will be doing a 25 second shoulder stand. How many seconds do you think I can do it for? If you would like me to videotape this as proof and send it to you, let me know and I will. Ways to contribute are outlined below and on the side bar. I hope to go to Guatemala with your help and support and a firm set of abs.
