kenya trip - day 5
Lo and behold it’s kenya trip - day 5 already.
We went to visit Jamiibora in Nairobi, a big MFI with hundreds of thousands of customers.
This was hands down the best reception I’ve ever had. We got there fairly early and some Jamiibora employees were just getting in the office. The amazing thing was that most of them would just join in the welcome dance.
You can’t see me dance with the others, because well someone needs to record the event!
After a good 15 minute welcome (really), where we marched and danced toward the meeting room, we finally got to talk to some of the upper management.
Most of them where customers of Jamiibora (meaning ultra-poor) before they eventually joined JB. It felt kinda good to see that if nothing else, microfinance is sustainable enough to give people real jobs.
We discussed microfinance in general, the MicroPlace mission (they applauded here) and how little Americans knew about microfinance (they lol’d here).
We then visited one of the slums in Nairobi. It’s everything you would imagine. Little kids playing naked in the open sewage and families of 6 living in houses as big as my walk-in closet.
It’s a fairly dangerous place to visit, given that your watch can probably feed a family for a week. Good thing I don’t wear one anymore. Anyway, we had our 3 armed bodyguards to help us meet the micro-borrowers.
Very nice and inspiring people these borrowers were. We talked to several and I really enjoyed talking to Richard (he looks 15 but is older) and his wife. They have 2 kids and live in this tiny little place.
His first loan was enough to buy a refrigerator, so he could sell cold sodas in his neighborhood, for a small profit. He was now considering going for another (bigger) loan and even buy land near his native village. woot!
We also had lunch at a restaurant owned by one of the borrowers. Seeing people go from begging to owning a (busy) restaurant makes you feel all nice and warm inside.
Overall a very busy and inspiring day. No matter how much I read about it, seeing it work is something else.