Update on your loan to Galina Vovk in Ukraine

This is an update on our loan to Galina Vovk in Ukraine.

Galina has a kiosk where she sells children's games and toys in
Zaporozhye's largest outdoor market, Angolenko Market. She is currently
repaying her 12,100 grivna loan on time. She has used the loan to
purchase additional inventory at her shop.

Galina is a longtime client of HOPE Ukraine. She first took out a loan
because she experienced difficulties in her personal life rather than
her business. Her parents became ill and she needed to pay their hefty
medical bills, so she took out a loan from HOPE Ukraine to help
supplement her income.

Since then, Galina's worked with HOPE Ukraine consistently as a repeat
borrower. (She's also a repeat borrower on Kiva! Galina was funded by
Kiva lenders in 2007.) Since she began working with HOPE, she's never
fallen behind on repaying her loans. Galina says she likes working with
HOPE, the people who work there are very nice and helpful. Her daughter
also owns a kiosk in Angolenko Market selling children's clothes and has
also worked with HOPE Ukraine in the past, though she doesn't currently
have a loan.

Galina started her business over 10 years ago when Angolenko Market
first opened. Before that she worked as a controller in a factory. When
I asked her about future plans for her business, she responded that if
she were younger she might make plans, but now that she is "retired" she
has no plans to make big changes in her business. Retired – and yet
she still goes to work at her shop every day!

Business is generally going well for Galina and her shop. She is clearly
a diligent worker and good business woman. During our conversation, we
were interrupted several times by shoppers at Galina's kiosk. The
financial crisis has hurt her business some, but in general it's ok.
"Some days," she said, "I stand here all day and make 20 grivnas; other
days, I make 300." 8 grivnas is equivalent to about 1 US Dollar.

As for the future, Galina's biggest dream is to use her profits from her
business to visit Italy. Two of her sisters live there now with her
three nephews and their children. Her sisters often beg her to visit;
"Maybe one day!" she says.

[There is a correction to her Borrower Profile. Galina only has one
location in the market where she sells toys, but presumably the other
location refers to her daughter's shop in the same market.]

Help support other HOPE Ukraine borrowers by joining the HOPE Ukraine
lending team! http://www.kiva.org/team/fans_of_hope_ukrainenadiya.

Update on our loan to Raquel Yamilet Cortez Ortiz in Nicaragua

This is an update on our loan to Raquel Yamilet Cortez Ortiz in
Nicaragua. This journal has a video! Check out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KRg3FB9zNA

la señora Raquel Cortez es optometrista y tiene una clinca ambulante en
donde les mide a sus clientes el nivel de vista que poseen y les
recomineda que tipo de lente usar, ella solicito un prestamo apra la
compra de herraminetas que son utiles para realizar las medidas, asi
como marcos de lentes, ella explica bien en el video la compra que
realiza tras el prestamo, ella agradece la oportunidad de cabierle las
condiciones de vida a su familia tras el prestamo que se le otorgo.



Raquel Yamileth Cortez Ortiz was funded through Kiva’s partner
AFODENIC, a microfinance institution in Nicaragua. By providing
micro-loans on a national level since 1999, AFODENIC seeks to use
micro-credit to foster productive commercial activity for the sake of
economic, social, and cultural development within vulnerable urban and
rural sectors traditionally neglected by commercial banks.



To lend to another AFODENIC borrower:
www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&queryString=afodenic&status=fundRaising&gender=All§ors[]=All®ions[]=All&sortBy=Popularity



To learn more about AFODENIC:

www.afodenic.com

www.kiva.org/about/aboutPartner?id=98



To join the “Amigos de AFODENIC” lending team:

www.kiva.org/community/viewTeam?team_id=5971

Update on our loan to Titilayo Daramola in Nigeria

Dear Cultural Connections,

This is an update on your loan to Titilayo Daramola in Nigeria.

Titilayo sells clothes, lady’s shoes, bags and jewelries.She invested
her kiva loan in her business. Having an extra capital has improvement
her business.

< Titilayo dreams is to enter a new line of business by been a kerosene
distributor and also expand her former business. She says a very big
thank you to all kiva lenders for the financial support and hope to go
for second stage loan.

Additional notes from Kiva:

1. This update was posted from Nigeria by Kiva's Field Partner, Lift
Above Poverty Organization (LAPO). If you appreciate this update, please
consider supporting another entrepreneur listed by this Field Partner.
You can view other fundraising loans of Lift Above Poverty Organization
(LAPO) here:

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&partner_id=20&status=fundRaising&sortBy=New%2Bto%2BOld&_te=j

2. If this journal entry is in a foreign language, please feel free to
use an online translator such as Google Translator:

(http://translate.google.com/)

3. Also, please feel free to add a comment online about this update that
will be shared with the Field Partner:

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=comment&id=129730&ent=213685&_te=j

Update on our loan to Luz En Desarrollo 1 & 2 Group in Dominican Republic

Dear Cultural Connections,

This is an update on your loan to Luz En Desarrollo 1 & 2 Group in
Dominican Republic.

Thanks to you and 41 other Kiva Lenders, the $1,375.00 loan requested by
JoaquinaAnitaYohannaEduvigesBelgicaVirginiaJuanaFeliciaMariaDaniela
in Dominican Republic has been 100% funded. The loan will be used for
the purpose of: to buy Christmas decorations to sell. Over the months of
this loan, Kiva’s Field Partner in Dominican Republic, Esperanza
International Dominican Republic, a partner of HOPE International, will
be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress
updates on the Kiva website.

You can view the loan profile here:

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=158746

Thanks for lending to the world's working poor on Kiva!

Best Wishes, Kiva Staff

Update on our loan to Baasanjav Dashzeveg in Mongolia

Dear Cultural Connections,

This is an update on your loan to Baasanjav Dashzeveg in Mongolia.
Thanks to you and 95 other Kiva Lenders, the $2,750.00 loan requested by
Baasanjav Dashzeveg in Mongolia has been 100% funded. The loan will be
used for the purpose of: to purchase food products to sell. Over the
months of this loan, Kiva’s Field Partner in Mongolia, XacBank, will
be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress
updates on the Kiva website.

You can view the loan profile here:

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=160515

Thanks for lending to the world's working poor on Kiva!

Best Wishes, Kiva Staff

Kiva Field Update - News from Mongolia

Dear Cultural Connections,

Thank you for supporting an entrepreneur in Mongolia.

Dear Lender,



As we enter the holiday season, XacBank would like to wish you a Merry
Christmas and a Happy New Year! Here's an e-card we created for you,
featuring XacBank's staff and Kiva borrowers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zqkvv532mFI



I'm Jane Lim, a Kiva Fellow who served for the last two and a half
months at XacBank, a Kiva Field Partner in Mongolia. My fellowship just
ended, and until a few days ago I was in Mongolia, experiencing the
bitter cold and breathing in the smoke that pervades the city of
Ulaanbaatar due to widespread coal burning by surrounding ger districts.
A ger is a traditional Mongolian tent, round and white, and very much a
part of modern Mongolia. In the middle of each ger is a rustic stove
used to burn fuel to warm the ger and to cook. The past few years have
seen a steep rise in pollution as ger districts and their accompanying
coal burning have rapidly grown due to an increased number of migrants
from the countryside.



In my last few days in Mongolia, it was a common lament by my colleagues
in XacBank's microfinance department that I would be missing their New
Year’s party. New Year’s parties in Mongolia are a huge
celebration—more than just an annual dinner and dance, these are
events for which people get decked out in their finest, more than any
other event in the year. When I visited Oyun Pildulam, a Kiva borrower
who works as a tailor right by XacBank's Chingeltey branch, her wall was
covered with custom-made fancy dresses for the New Year—sequins and
feathers galore with nary a hint of understatement.



Other tailors I've met are not as lucky as Oyun, who has five employees
and gives classes to aspiring tailors. Gantuya Narmandah, another Kiva
borrower I met, struggles to find stalls willing to sell the products
she sews in her home. She lost her job in a sewing factory after the
collapse of socialism in Mongolia in 1990. Many industries were
privatized following the introduction of democracy, and in the process,
many Mongolians lost their state jobs and turned to running their own
microenterprises. Gantuya wasn't the first or last Kiva borrower I met
who cited the impact of the change in political systems. Tsend-Ayush
Lhagva used to work as a truck driver, but after dabbling with different
small businesses, she has settled on making Mongolian boots and is
finding it to be the most profitable thing she has done. In my short
time in Mongolia, I had the good fortune to meet a wide variety of Kiva
borrowers and learned that they can be extremely diverse, yet similar.



Here's a video featuring Gantuya: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_fVmg68PBg



Unlike many other Kiva Field Partners, XacBank is a registered
commercial bank. XAC LLC started in 1998 with funding from the United
Nations Development Programme and was Mongolia's first registered
non-bank financial institution. It later merged with another non-bank
financial institution to form XacBank, and then started commercial
operations. Despite being a commercial bank, XacBank has never wavered
in its social mission; it can be argued that its commercial
profitability has given it the ability to design and implement
initiatives that benefit the poor.



While I was at XacBank, I got to know two of these initiatives at a
deeper level. Both struck me as relevant and practical. The first is the
franchising of savings and credit cooperatives (SCCs). Because Mongolia
is sparsely populated, the cost of reaching borrowers in rural areas is
high. It is not economically viable for XacBank to open an extensive
number of branches throughout Mongolia, so the bank has decided to help
strengthen local SCCs in order to aid the rural community. XacBank
currently supports local SCCs by providing training, expertise and
wholesale loans; it is also planning to provide mobile banking, leasing
and micro-insurance via SCCs. The good thing about franchised SCCs is
that SCC members keep their own profits, which further enrich the local
community.



The other initiative is the introduction of eco-loans. In order to
mitigate the pollution brought about by coal burning in winter, XacBank
has introduced loans for subsidized environmentally friendly products
such as energy efficient stoves and ger blankets. Ger blankets are an
alternative form of insulation that wraps around a ger, keeping it warm
without the need to burn fuel. Eco-loans were introduced this winter and
XacBank hopes they will be popular.



To keep track of XacBank's latest innovations and initiatives, please
join our lending team: www.kiva.org/team/xacbank_mongolia



Having worked at XacBank for the past few months, I have witnessed the
potential the bank has to expand and refine its services to increase
profitability as well as to aid the poor. XacBank values its partnership
with Kiva not just because Kiva lends at a 0% interest rate and accepts
borrower defaults, but also because the organization, like Kiva lenders,
attaches value to the human connection.



To share this enthusiasm with XacBank's Kiva borrowers, we created a
video to illustrate to them in their language how the Kiva process
works. Here is an English version of the same video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiXu1ICaz_Y



XacBank became a Kiva partner in January 2009 and, with your help, has
since fundraised over US$1 million on Kiva, and has administered loans
to over 1,000 Kiva borrowers. We hope that you will continue your
support of Kiva and XacBank in 2010 and beyond—a little goes a long
way!



Cheers,



Jane Lim (KF9)



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zqkvv532mFI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_fVmg68PBg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiXu1ICaz_Y

Update on our loan to Cherish Cinense's Group in Philippines

Dear Cultural Connections,

This is an update on your loan to Cherish Cinense's Group in
Philippines.

Thanks to you and 52 other Kiva Lenders, the $2,100.00 loan requested by
Cherish CinenseLauriana RamosAvelina RiveraCarmina
PaltingMarilyn RamosMarilou PerezZenaida
ManarangDaisylyn AboboAnalyn RamosNena NagumRuth
TuliaoPerlita VallecilloArnel Bernardo in Philippines has been
100% funded. The loan will be used for the purpose of: To purchase
additional products to sell. Over the months of this loan, Kiva’s
Field Partner in Philippines, Alalay sa Kaunlaran, Inc. (ASKI), will be
collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress
updates on the Kiva website.

You can view the loan profile here:

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=158514

Thanks for lending to the world's working poor on Kiva!

Best Wishes, Kiva Staff