The Blakeley Fellow Dispatch
Updates from Blakeley Fellowship Recipients around the world.
The Branch Office of a small MFI is nothing like your local bank’s branch. There are no tellers, advisors, or bank staff to greet you when you walk in - that’s because rarely do clients walk in! Because Field Officers serve clients essentially "at their doorstep", or in their villages, the Branch Office is more of a home base and back-end processing center for staff. For Vaya specifically, ...
My work at Vaya is well underway. In fact, today I reached the two-week mark! The work thus far has been fascinating, not only because of all I have learned about the evolution of microfinance - in India and around the world - but also because of the opportunity I have had to learn from industry leaders with many years of experience, to witness day-to-day operations, and to meet the very clients microfinance institutions (MFIs) like Vaya serve.
Today marks my fifth day in Hyderabad, India’s “city of pearls,” biryani capital, and its second Silicon Valley. Here are some thoughts, observations, and learnings from the city I will call home for the next two months.
Sitting in my living room, checking email and preparing for the week ahead, I glanced up to see a perfect rainbow forming over the mountains. Five minutes later, it was gone. A friendly reminder from the skies that while these ten weeks are filled with meetings, excel spreadsheets, and everyday tasks, I must not take for granted this unique opportunity to spend a summer living and learning in Colombia.
It's hard to believe that I am already in the third week of what is proving to be an incredible, challenging, eye-opening, dynamic, and enriching experience with Project Concern International (PCI) in Malawi. This summer I am supporting the mid-size NGO, that hails from San Diego, as a Humanitarian Assistance Fellow. Broadly speaking, my role is focused on helping implement Njira, a large multi-year USAID-funded integrated food security project in Southern Malawi.