Preparing for the Journey

I'm getting ready to leave for the Philippines to study a little more in depth about micro-lending. The plan is to travel to the northern part of the Philippines (Roxas, Isabela and Cabanatuan City)to observe and learn about two different micro-finance institutions. One institution is a rural bank that deals with local clients while the other institution is Alalay sa Kaunlaran, Inc. (ASKI), an NGO non-profit national organization that is dedicated to micro-finance. It will be interesting to compare and contrast between the two institutions and to see what they do similarly but also what makes them different.

I learned about ASKI through a non-profit international organization known as kiva.org, which connects lenders with entrepreneurs throughout the globe to help alleviate the struggles of poverty. Being a member of kiva.org, I was struck by its relative simplicity and accessibility for others to become involved in micro-lending. If you wish to learn more, visit http://www.kiva.org/.