I'm beginning to realize that although everyone has been uber supportive, very few, if anyone, really know what I'm doing down here. So, here's the scoop.
The organization: Yehu Microfinance has been around in different forms since 1998. It was created to give financial services to poor women who otherwise wouldn't have access to formal savings accounts or credit. The concept was started by Muhammad Yunus with the Grameen bank. It's more than inspiring to see how microfinance has reshaped the way the world views credit, poverty and women entrepreneurs. Yehu is now about 50 strong with 6 branches and 20 credit officers. The credit officers visit rural and urban groups of women each week to account for savings and loan repayment transactions along with providing basic business training.
What I'm doing: Yehu recently decided that they wanted a more robust training program for their new hires as well as their clients. They also want to implement a professional development program for their current staff. I happen to love training and have a bit of experience, so I applied. I sent in my resume back in January but when I didn't hear anything for a few weeks I sort of chalked the idea up to wishful thinking. Then in March I got an e-mail saying they would like me to come for 4-6 months.
So, 6 weeks later I hopped a plane to Kenya (two days after returning from Ireland- yeah, quite happy to not see an airport for a few months). I'm currently in the needs assessment phase of the project. Thanks to the wonderful software of Qualtrics, I've been tabulating some evaluations they had started at Yehu and will soon (hopefully!) be able to visit the branches and collect more data. Overall, I want to make sure whatever training material/program is developed actually has a need. Obvious, I know. But it doesn't always happen that way.
There you have it. I'm not sure if that raises more questions than it answers but hopefully it puts all assumptions to rest that I'm just down here to feed the giraffes.
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