Julio Santos

according to this site, I have a neutral accent when I speak murcan. According to me the quiz needs work.

This has got to be it! Today is the day we are going to see micro-borrowers. These are people that don’t need much to get started, maybe $50 would be enough. Of course no traditional bank would lend them (or you) $50, so thank goodness for the microfinance institutions.

After talking to the Jitegemea Credit Scheme CEO, we finally had the chance to go see what wonders $50 can do.

Catherine managed to go from nothing to a 30-people operation

Though I was truly impressed with her success, and to what a micro-loan can do, I remember promising to myself that I would never complain about my work environment ever again. I kept that promise for at least a week.

In the afternoon we went to see another mfi and their borrowers, this time in Machakos. 50 kms or outside town. Also very impressive.

This lady, a teacher, managed to make enough money (starting from a tiny amount) and eventually build a house twice as big as mine, and what a view! Makes me very happy.

Back to Nairobi for dinner, where we ate at a “authentic Ethiopian restaurant”. Though it was as good as it looked, I’m afraid I’ll need some sort of man-made tool for eating. There’s no way I’m going to eat using my fingers, especially if I’m sharing. I know, I suck, but I really need some sort of spoon or fork. Thank you very much.

Great day altogether. Things are starting to shape up. Tomorrow we’re supposed to go see urban borrowers, which means visit the Nairobi slums.

Fabienne and I went to see a friend and his band play at a local pub. We had a good laugh observing people dance. We didn’t dance of course, as it’s no fun to be made fun of by jerks with cameras.

My wimpy camera couldn’t handle the distortion. Apologies to Ted and his Mo-Fos for improving their music.

We met with the Faulu folks, one of the top five MFIs in Kenya. Once again we learned lots of stuff, but still not talking to borrowers.

At this point we’re slightly depressed. Learning from the MFIs is fine, but we would really like to see micro-finance in action. We want to see how it’s helping the poorest of the poor.

It looks like we’re going to play the tourists again. This time we’re going to see the Safari Walk in Nairobi. It’s not really a park (at least not a big one), and it’s not a zoo. Something in between.

We got to pet a cheetah, that was pretty cool.

She got to pet us too

I agree with this person’s post, a marvelous concert. Of course I’m biased, because not only I like Manu’s music, I also understand what he’s talking about.

…it’s unapologetically lo-fi, but at the same time a mixture of crazy electronic sounds, punk, a kind of ska and reaggea with a latin flavor and lyrics that are both fun and have a political message at times if you can understand the Spanish, French and Portuguese.

It’s early, not even 7AM and I’m outside chatting with Peter, my new friend. He can barely speak english and keeps repeating himself over and over. Apparently he really loves America. I told him I do too. Peter tells me that he cannot find a job because he’s incapacitated. He takes his hat off and I see a pretty ugly scar on his skull. He was stabbed, on the head, during some fight.

So anyway, back inside, not crossing the street just yet. After an excellent breakfast we were headed to our first MFI visit. Though we learned quite a bit when there, we were disappointed that we would not be able to see their customers (borrowers). Due to some miscommunication, where we thought we were going to fly to Kusumu, drive to Kakamega (the name alone was worth it) but instead we stayed in Nairobi.

There is the concern that having 3 furners (they say mzungu) walking around would be too disruptive. Fair enough. Bummer but fair.

Since we can’t have our Kisumu adventure, let’s at least go back to the hotel, cross that damn street and have lunch over there.

So we did

Since we crossed the street and even had lunch there, all without dying like it was almost implied, we were now ready for any adventure. We are going to see some giraffes.

There’s this place in town, some sort of refuge for giraffes where they built a platform so dumb tourists like me can be at the same level as those creatures. The best part was to french kiss Anne (the giraffe)

We’re closing the day with an “all meat” dinner. Camel and ostrich taste okay. Crocodile not so much (it tastes like a chicken that hangs out in the water too much, and now tastes like fish).

Okay, this was a very busy day. Nairobi is not so bad once we leave the financial district (and decide to cross shady streets), and now it’s off to bed. Tomorrow there’s another MFI visit. Maybe this time we will see some borrowers.