Micro-Entrepreneurs and Stingrays

Here are the links to a selection of micro-entrepreneurs that I have been working with in the Dominican Republic (DR). Their business profiles are posted on Kiva.org, a web-based tool that has revolutionized the micro lending industry by eliminating the barriers between lenders and micro-entrepreneurs. Each of our clients below are fully funded and will be paying off their first loans over a 6-month term.

Sara Mendoza Martinez

Maria Artiles Alvarez

Leonice Toussaint

Isabelle Morris

Alexis Luvinkis

Not since the days of “studying” in Malibu, have I enjoyed the ocean as much as I have during the past few weeks. I scuba dived the Sosua Wall over the weekend- an 80 foot drop off into the Atlantic Ocean- with a personal guide named Raul and a leaky regulator. Although much of the marine ecosystem in the DR has taken a hit from pollution and tourist traffic, swimming with schools of fish and petting stingrays is always inspiring.

While taking a walk in my first tropical storm this past week, I was suddenly and profoundly struck by the desire to someday circumnavigate the world in a sailboat. This madness was further encouraged when I learned that hundreds of families actually do this every year, and it can cost less than $20,000 USD (not even considering the resale value of the boat, the relative savings from rent or mortgage payments, and any passive income earned). Something this crazy certainly wouldn’t be happening anytime soon, but I’m already scheming…

For updated photos from the Dominican Republic, click on the link below…

DR2007

 

Any Given Day in the DR

6:45AM: Awake to birds chirping and the wurring of my fan.

7:06AM: Running water (and electricity) is never a guarantee in the DR. This morning the water is thankfully running.
7:51AM: Begin full-body application of sunscreen (SPF 45) and insect repellent (100% Deet). I don’t even turn on the lights around here without first putting on sunscreen.
8:10AM: Pack bags and begin the 15 minute walk from my house to Esperanza International’s Branch Office in Puerto Plata.
8:14AM: Honked at for the third time from the motorcycle taxis that swarm the streets of Puerto Plata like hornets looking for pedestrians (victims) to offer rides to.
8:17AM: Begin sweating for the day. Won’t stop until 10PM tonight.
8:23AM: Arrive at the office shared by CEPROSH, a local development organization that promotes awareness, education, and treatment for HIV/AIDS victims. This is why there are boxes of condoms scattered about my work area.

8:34AM: Meet with Vagan Earle, CEO and founder of Absolute Leadership Development Inc. (www.absolute.org), to explain our Microfinance program and discuss a potential future partnership in the region.
9:28AM: Depart office for fieldwork. Transportation is limited to the intercity taxis that would not only violate every emissions test back home, but also completely disregard any seatbelt laws on the books here in the DR. Thus, I wedge myself into the back of a sedan with three other large Dominican men.
9:51AM: Arrive at Villa Asension, an impoverished community that Esperanza has been working in. Today we celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Esperanza Microfinance program in this community by sharing stories, cake, and juice.

10:46AM: Gather into several friendly homes in Villa Asension, where the community’s lending groups, called Banks of Hope, meet to collect loan payments and gauge how individual businesses are doing. These Banks of Hope are usually comprised of 15-20 clients who own businesses as varied as clothing shops to grocery stores.

12:23PM: Return to Puerto Plata and walk home for lunch and siesta.
12:54PM: Begin siesta.
1:41PM: Painfully end siesta. Walk back to office.
1:54PM: Bust out my faithful Macbook and tend to administrative tasks, personal projects, and emails (just can’t sever the umbilical cord).
2:27PM: Struck by the sheer terror of thinking I broke the office toilet after using it.
2:32PM: Fix toilet. All is well in the world.
2:41PM: Back into the field.
3:21PM: Arrive at La Union, where I follow my coworker, the intrepid Eliseo, into a community of Haitian immigrants tucked away behind a sugar cane field. We are here to evangelize the Esperanza program and to hopefully establish a new Bank of Hope in the coming weeks.
4:07PM: Within a half an hour, over twenty citizens of the dilapidated village gather in the community church to hear the initial introduction to our Microfinance program.

5:25PM: Head back to Puerto Plata, having secured follow-up meetings for the rest of the week in La Union.
5:47PM: Calling it a day at the office—begin walking home.
6:02PM: Arrive home. Tatica, my host grandma that I live with, is watering her garden, which she treasures more than life itself.

6:07PM: A quick change of clothes into my swimsuit. Begin my daily run to the beach.
6:14PM: Arrive at beach. Jump in and splash around in the Atlantic Ocean’s 85ºF of goodness.
6:59PM: Get back home. Bathe out of a large bucket full of chilly water.
7:09PM: Begin studying Spanish. Tonight, I’ll conjugate some verbs and knock off a couple lessons on Rosetta Stone.
8:43PM: Join some friends in town to watch a pirated version of Transformers on DVD.
8:49PM: Realize that instead of the Hollywood Summer blockbuster we were expecting, we had inadvertently gotten Transmorphers, a cheesy low-budget action film along the lines of The Shootout.
8:54PM: Bag the movie, and decide on burgers in the park.
9:17PM: Sitting on plastic lawn chairs, Norberto, Eliseo, and I enjoy the freshly BBQd bacon cheeseburgers that the vendor guy cooks right there in the park.
10:11PM: Do some reading and writing before lights out.