View from my window at BancoFie

Just outside of my office at BancoFie is a poster that caught my eye on my first day of work as a Vittana Fellow. It says:“La Paz no es un obyecto encontrado por casualidad. Es el producto de la igualidad entre los hombres.” – -“Peace is not an object found by chance. It is the result of equality between men.”

I can’t help but read it nearly every time I come to work, as a reminder of what Vittana and BancoFie are all about and the reason I’m here in La Paz. Access to credit for young people is a small but vital step towards improving equality and peace around the world.  I have always thought access to quality education is among the most profound inequalities, as education is key to breaking the cycle of poverty, to meaningful wages, to improving quality of life and uplifting individuals and communities alike.  It cannot be an option only for the privileged, the wealthy or geographically advantaged – a quality education must be accessible for us all.  Thanks to the collaboration of Vittana with partners like BancoFie, more and more young people are grasping an opportunity to further their education and brighten their future! I’m proud to be partnering with an organization with such a focus on improving lives and offering hope to their fellow citizens.

Passing Plaza San Pedro on the way to work.

On my first day I made the 20 minute uphill trek to the BancoFie headquarters in San Pedro and although still out of breath from altitude sickness, I settled right in to a discussion on the current success of the student loan program and the desire to expand the program outside of the city. There was a specific interest in reaching more rural areas where there are even less opportunities for higher education. I got a strong sense of social responsibility from my colleagues at BancoFie and I was happy to hear that they were thinking “outside the box” – or in this case outside of the city centers.

I took a good look at the BancoFie manual and was instantly drawn to their slogans “Un banco para la mayoría” and “ Llegamos donde nos necesitan”  – “A bank for all” and “We go where we are needed”. I can relate to this as a social worker interested in addressing marginalized populations – those most ignored and left behind in society.  So I figure that is why I’m here: to reach those for whom Vittana and access to educational loans is most desperately needed, where others might not venture, where a true difference can be made. So here I am, taking a path less traveled, just like Vittana and BancoFie; “donde me necesitan”.

Outside of BancoFie Headquarters

A Little Bit of History

BancoFie is a bank with a very interesting history that only proves further that big things start small.  Starting with five inspired and motivated women over twenty-five years ago, a small NGO was created in La Paz that eventually became the largest microfinance institution in Bolivia. What’s even better is that BancoFie has held steadfast to their mission and focus of dedicating their work to those who otherwise have no other avenue to access credit. Dedicated to reaching the most marginalized populations, slowly but surely they went “From one computer to the biggest microfinance bank in Bolivia”.

Settling In 

Lake Titicaca from Cobacabana

Of course my first week in Bolivia hasn’t been all work and no play. It has included some adjustment to the altitude and culture, some exploring at Lake Titicaca and taking in the hustle and bustle of La Paz.  Although navigating around the intense traffic is quite scary (even for a New Yorker!), I’ve managed to encounter great people, charming cafes, beautiful plazas and parks and even a yoga studio!

I am truly enjoying this extremely diverse city in many ways; a place where the temperature and climate changes both by the minute and by the zone of the city you happen to be in. A popular local saying is “Las cuatro estaciones en un solo día” — All of the seasons in one day.  In just my first week here, I believe it!  La Paz is definitely a place with much to discover and will keep you on your toes. Of course the view of snow capped mountains peeking through high rises above scattered homes climbing the hillside; well that isn’t too bad either. Check it out!

La Paz Skyline

The other day, I came across a what seemed like a strange clause in the policy for ASKI and Vittana’s pilot Loan for Educational Development Program (LEAP): Only third and fourth year students would qualify for a loan. I found myself wondering, what kind of impact are we making when the person has already made a commitment to go to college and already found a way to pay for it? Why loan them money to do what they already planned on doing?

After travelling to rural areas across Central Luzon and meeting with many potential borrowers, I found the answer. In providing loans to students through ASKI, Vittana is opening two doors simultaneously, one for the student and one for the parents. Let me explain. In contrast to many other countries around the world, higher education is not something that is only available to those fortunate enough to have wealthy parents, to receive a scholarship or to qualify for a loan. Even among the poorest households in the Philippines, higher education is a family effort, where many parents are determined to make sure their child goes to college and are willing to pay for it, regardless of their financial ability. Thus, it’s not a question of: “Will my son/daughter go to college?” Rather, it is a question of: “How much am I going to have to sacrifice to give my child the opportunity for a better life?” By offering loans to students who are already in school, Vittana is bringing their families out of a cycle of debt and poverty, providing opportunity for the student by keeping them in school long enough to graduate and providing opportunity to the parents by freeing up money for them to invest in their small businesses. Let me give you some examples.

Rice farmers hard at work in Central Luzon

Lourdes Andres is a rice farmer from a little province called Bongobon  in Central Luzon. Aside from rice, Lourdes earns a living by raising pigs and selling clothing and homemade rice cakes. Anna is Lourdes’ youngest daughter, who Lourdes boasts is a 3^rd year marketing student at the Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology. No one in Anna’s family has ever gone to college, and Lourdes wants nothing more than to see her daughter graduate college. Because rice harvesting only provides seasonal income and Lourdes’ other entrepreneurial activities only make enough money for living expenses, Lourdes is in a perpetual cycle of borrowing from her neighbors in order to afford her daughter’s school: She borrows money, then pays her neighbors back after the rice harvest and gives them cavans (or sacks) of rice as interest payments. The interest payments take away potential profits she could obtain from her rice harvests, resulting in a need to borrow from them yet again. In fact, for every 1,000 pesos (about $20) she borrows, the interest is one cavan of rice worth nearly 1,000 pesos, meaning that her borrowing interest rate is 100%. No wonder she has trouble scraping by!

Lourdes’ biggest worry is that she will not be able to afford to keep her daughter in school. Over homemade rice cakes kindly provided by Lourdes, we presented the new student loan product that is now available to Anna through Vittana and ASKI. We explained to her that we could lend Anna up to 20,000 pesos per semester at a low 4% interest rate (that definitely beats 100%!), and told her that this money comes from generous individual lenders far away in the United States. We then asked her if she and her daughter would be interested in applying. While I did not understand the words of Lourdes’ response (I was speaking through a translator), her moving display of tears and smiles said enough. Yes, she would love to apply for this loan.

Maria, excitedly telling me about her daughter

Many poor families in Central and Northern Luzon are rice farmers, and this business of using sacks of rice as interest payments is quite common. Maria Concepcion Magpali is a single mother with seven children. Twenty-two year old Cheryl is the youngest, and her father died from rabies when she was just 10 months old. Cheryl attended two years of vocational school for computer programming, funded by her mother. To pay for school, Maria, like Lourdes, borrowed from friends and neighbors and paid them back with an interest of one cavan of rice per 1,000 pesos borrowed. Maria struggled a lot during Cheryl’s education, and she knows that she cannot afford to do this again. She laments that Cheryl will not be able to continue her education if she does not receive a loan.

Because ASKI is in the beginning stages of implementing an educational loan program with the help of Vittana, part of my job is assisting in marketing and getting the word out about ASKI’s newest loan product. I spend lots of time in a tricycle crisscrossing fields of rice in the sweltering heat to attend ASKI community meetings held in little huts in rural areas.

ASKI Puangi Community Center

At the community meetings (each comprised of about 20 people), I introduce myself and Vittana and present the educational loan product to interested mothers. They are all very excited to meet me (At most centers I am the first foreigner to ever attend their community meetings) and many are interested in applying their son or daughter for an educational loan. Like Maria and Cheryl, countless families become overburdened by a cycle of debt, resulting in many students dropping out after their first or second year of college. Providing loans to 3^rd and 4^th year students relieves the financial burden of the students’ families, allowing them not only to invest more in their family businesses, but also allowing their children to continue college, obtain a degree, and substantially increase their income and create a better life for themselves and their families.

*Anna Lourdes was fully funded as of September 2011. Click here to view her profile.

We’re floored on a daily basis by students who have struggled against all odds to finish their education, lenders who time and again come back to change yet another person’s life, and Fellows who dedicate a portion of their own lives to bringing microloans to more students in developing countries. It’s the students, the lenders, our partners, and our Fellows that compel us to do what we do. But at the end of the day, it’s our supporters and donors that make it all possible.

So we are thrilled to announce that Vittana’s efforts received a big boost today! Google.org announced that it will support Vittana to build 24 additional student loan programs by 2013.  This support is perfectly timed at the end of an insane year of growth. We doubled our field partners from 10 to 20 microfinance institutions over the course of 2011 – that puts us in 12 different countries on 4 continents. Whew.  And after taking a little more than two years to reach our 1,000^th student, we’re on track to pass 2,000 students in December, less than six months later.

On stage at TEDx Brussels in November, Vittana CEO and co-founder Kushal Chakrabarti asked “What’s the one thing that can truly change the course of someone’s life? Education.” We’re thinking big. We’re out there to start a global market for education microfinance – one that will reach 1 million students by 2015. Because at the end of the day, we believe student microloans are the most scalable, sustainable, and impactful tool we have to fight global poverty.

So thank you to Google and to our many other donors and supporters for helping us change the conversation about global education.

I must admit I knew very little about the Philippines before I arrived. What I did know was that it’s an archipelago in South East Asia and the only Christian nation in Asia. I knew basically nothing about what the people, politics, economy or food was like. It was a big surprise to me that there were travel warnings for the Philippines, specifically the island of Mindanao where I’d be stationed, due to kidnappings, terrorism and political corruption. I was plainly told by Vittana about the risks prior to my departure and was even given the opportunity to change my host country to one without travel warnings. However, I decided to pursue my fellowship in the Philippines.

The Philippines is a nation in turmoil. There are a lot of problems with political corruption as it is widely known that in most important elections the votes are paid for by the politician with the most money. If money doesn’t work then fear and violence are used to ensure power. Less than two years ago the Maguindanao massacre occurred where more than 50 people were murdered with small arms. They were delivering the nomination of a candidate who would oppose the governorship of the reigning family in the province of Maguindanao. 22 journalist were murdered and it became the single deadliest day for journalists in history. Even before this event the Philippines was the second deadliest place for journalists. Second only to Iraq.

Aside from political violence there is violence from extreme terrorism. In the south of the Philippines Abu Sayyaf is a serious threat. They are Islamic extremists who are responsible for bombings, kidnappings, mass killings and are said to have links to Al Qaeda. Abu Sayyaf are often connected to lawless pirates throughout the Sulu Sea making travel throughout the region extremely hazardous. Currently the group has kidnapped several people which are being held for ransom.

Philippine soldiers across the street from the Paglaum branch in Tudela

Another Islamic group that is fighting the government is the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Possibly seen as a more legitimate group, they are fighting for self determination and the ability to govern themselves in Islamic regions of Mindanao.

There is also the New Peoples Army (NPA) which is the military arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines. Residing mostly in the jungles of remote areas throughout the Philippines the NPA has been fighting the government since 1969. The fight wages on and it is not uncommon to see Philippine soldiers in the streets armed and ready for action.

Researchers, like Patricio Justino of the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, have found that violence often exacerbates existing problems in impoverished societies. Lack of health, nutrition and education are serious side effects of widespread violence. Support from the state diminishes as more efforts are focused on military activities. Especially in places where corruption runs rampant, like here in the Philippines, very little money is invested in education. The lack of investment in human capital has long term affects for the country and seriously impairs the ability to improve the economy or combat poverty.

This is what makes Vittana’s work so important. Vittana works to combat this lack of investment in human capital. Vittana’s mission statement makes it clear that “we believe the biggest waste in the world is not oil or food or, really, any other material thing–but rather, human potential.” Vittana enables lenders to invest in students who are willing to overcome poverty, violence and any other hindrance placed in their way in order to succeed.

Average Filipino home in rural MIndanao

Cresti Luna Caliguid is a wonderful example of a student that is willing to overcome challenges in order to pursue education and make a better life for herself and her family.

Cresti Luna Caliguid’s mother passed away when she was only two years old. She is one of five children and is the second youngest. Her father is a public school teacher in Ozamiz City. As a single parent, he has somehow managed to send almost all of his children to college even on a meager teachers salary of 15,000 Philippine pesos per month($350 US dollars). Making ends meet has always been a challenge. Aware of her families financial difficulties Cresti Luna has always studied hard. Due to her hard work she received a partial scholarship at La Salle University and was also given a job at the school to help pay for her schooling. Although extremely helpful this financial assistance only covered about half of her expenses.

Sometimes Cresti doesn’t have enough money to pay for school projects, books or field trips like the CPA convention last year in Cagayan De Oro. The convention would have been a perfect opportunity to network and make vital connections that would help her land a job after graduating. However, the trip cost was well out of her price range and she had to pass up a golden opportunity.

This is a tragic and all too common story among students that I have met here in the Philippines. They scrape by with what little money available to them and are often unable to take full advantage of educational opportunities offered. For Cresti money has not prevented her from excelling in the classroom or taking part in extra curricular activities as the Chairman of the student government. This loan from Vittana is a blessing that will help her finish her Accountancy course and prepare for a successful future in business.

If you’re like us and believe in human potential then we invite you to be a part of our movement to combat poverty. Lend to one of our students here and invest in the human potential of students like Cresti Luna.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcG2bdeWg_4[/youtube]

For me, it was never really a question of whether or not I could go to college. Sure, money has always been tight in the Foster household and finding a way to pay for college for their four sons was never easy for my parents, but it wasn’t optional either. If we wanted to go to college, we would find a way. Whether through scholarships, student loans, or our own savings, I am fortunate I grew up in a country where a financial support system exists for young people wanting to go to college.

The problem isn’t necessarily the cost of classes, attending college can be surprisingly cheap in Nicaragua. The schools most Vittana students attend vary in cost from about $30 to $120 a month. However, working full-time to earn an average of $240 a month, like many of our students do, this makes up a significant cost. Yet the majority of our students have been able to scrape by and pay these costs, usually without any assistance from their families.

The real killer comes when it’s time to graduate. After 4 or 5 years of studying, getting good grades, and working hard to pay for it, university students in Nicaragua face one final wall that many are unable to scale. After all their studies are done, students typically have to pay about $1,000 USD to receive their diploma. This fee is called a Seminario de Titulacion and is universal in Nicaraguan schools.

Because of these daunting costs, most college students do not graduate. According to data from the National University Council in Nicaragua, less than one-third of students enrolled in university actually graduate.

Nora Karina Avilez is one of the students who beat the odds, although she used to fall into the majority of students who didn’t. She made it through the challenges of five years of college, defending a thesis in psychology, two practicums, walking to school while pregnant, and holding down a full-time job to pay for it. The challenge she couldn’t overcome on her own was paying her final graduation fees. After finishing all her coursework, she languished in a job outside her field of study for two years. This woman’s dreams and her ability to take care of her daughter were put on hold because of $200.

With a $200 loan Nora Karina Avilez was able to pay her final graduation costs, receive her degree and find a better job.

For Nora and other students in Nicaragua, there aren’t many options for financing their education. They could borrow money from a bank but the chances of being approved for a loan are very low. Even if approved, interest rates are typically about 40-50%, turning a formidable cost into an unimaginable cost. In contrast, our partner’s rates are 10% a year.

With a low interest-rate loan, Nora was finally able to pay for her degree in psychology in the summer of 2010. Degree in hand, within three months she was able to get a job with Latin Top Jobs as an assistant in human resources. She has lots of friends who are in the same position she was — they went all the way through school but couldn’t afford the final graduation costs. And she’s not the only one of our students that has friends like that.

Nora explained that those without their diplomas are mostly working in low-paying or temporary jobs outside their field of study, like she was. She explained the crux of the problem — employers don’t care what knowledge you have in your head, she said. They want to see the piece of paper in your hand. Without a loan, she would have remained in that same situation for years.

“Education has guaranteed a future,” she said, “not just for me, but also for my daughter.”

Help other Nicaraguan students like Nora scale this one final wall by lending here.

Watch this video to hear Nora’s story in her own words.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvw48hK2CbU[/youtube]

I am stationed at an ideal place to measure the impact of Vittana loans on students and their families. AFODENIC in Nicaragua is one of Vittana’s most established partners, having worked together since 2009. More than 100 students have graduated college because of Vittana loans through AFODENIC. I’ll tell you more about that impact in a later post. For now, let me tell you about some of the interesting changes our partner is bringing to Nicaragua beyond their groundbreaking work with student loans.

Student loan promoter Marjorie Gonzalez talks with students at the University of Commercial Sciences in Managua.

AFODENIC has an interesting, although long, name that translates as the Association for Fomenting the Development of Nicaragua. “Foment” isn’t a word we use much, except for describing a revolution maybe. But I kind of like the word, and maybe we are actually fomenting a revolution of sorts – a revolution of education and opportunity. Yet somehow I don’t think that’s what all the graffiti around town reading “¡Viva la Revolución!” is referring to.

Although AFODENIC currently actively serves about 250 Vittana students, this still makes up a small portion of their total number of clients. All in all, they have about 5,000 active borrowers. The scope of AFODENIC transcends traditional microcredit into community development projects such as solar panels, water purification systems and affordable housing. In fact, about half of their $8,000,000 portfolio is dedicated to building or homes in low income neighborhoods.

Lawyer Ileana Vega explains the legal aspects of the loan before disbursing loans to clients.

This year, AFODENIC expanded their services further by offering insurance policies to people who wouldn’t otherwise have access. If a member of a family dies, it’s an emotional blow that may also spell financial ruin for a family. Insurance can help soften that blow.

All of these services fit under the umbrella of providing access to financial services for a majority of the population who wouldn’t otherwise have that access.

Clients make payments on their loans.

This extensive approach started with a project from a Spanish NGO, Peace and the Third World, working those in need outside the city of Juigalpa. This initial project resulted in a microcredit initiative for farmers, which led to the founding of AFODENIC in 1999.

The current director, Francisco Montoya, was one of the founders. He’s a warm man, with an air of quiet competence that completely breaks down when asked about financial services for the underserved. He explains that although much of AFODENIC’s work is now in the capital city of Managua, where I’m currently based, there is still a strong emphasis on support for farmers and rural citizens. Montoya explains that this work is important not only because there are so many struggling farmers in Nicaragua that lack basic access to financial services, but also for the simple reason that much of Nicaragua’s food comes from these small farms. If farmers have credit to buy high yield seeds and fertilizer or other more productive practices, they can produce more plentiful crops at a lower cost per unit. This translates to better incomes for farmers and affordable, fresh food, benefiting all of Nicaragua’s consumers.

Employees Gonzalez and Leonarda Hildalgo leave the office after a day of work.

Out of this broad slate of projects, education plays an integral part in Montoya’s and AFODENIC’s vision for the future.

“Our vision is to be an instrument, a platform for funding the projects that will develop Nicaragua,” he says, “Education is part of that.”

For one, a lack of education limits personal potential. But as part of a vision for a better Nicaragua, the lack of access to education means something broader to Montoya. Limited access to education means a limit on the potential of the country as a whole. Together Vittana and AFODENIC are fomenting a revolution to make that access limitless.

¡Viva la Revolución! indeed.

Every once in a while an idea comes along that makes so much sense, you wonder why no one thought of that before. It just seems so obvious.

That was my reaction when I first heard about Vittana — through a commercial on Hulu of all things. It was a little shocking to learn that student loans are such a rarity in most of the world. The next step seems obvious as well — of course it makes sense to apply the microfinance model to student loans.

The concept takes a little explaining sometimes to my friends and family. In the U.S. we have a negative reaction in our collective gut toward student loans thinking about all that interest, without realizing that those loans made our current lifestyles possible.

There's me in the garden at the house where I live, doing the ol' hold-out-your-arm self-portrait.

Outside of the US, people I talk to have a different reaction. First they’re surprised to learn that low-interest student loans exist in Latin America, then they tell me how much they’re needed. After that, they often ask how they or a family member can get one.

For example, before I left for Nicaragua, I had an online chat with a friend from Peru. When I told her about the Vittana concept, she got really excited. Her family has sacrificed to put their sons through school and now the oldest, David, is finishing medical school. He would like to do a specialty, but there’s no way the family can afford it. David is a smart guy, very friendly and totally capable. He speaks excellent English but often hides it.

People like him deserve all the opportunities they can get.

So many good intentions are focused on what underserved populations don’t have. Micro-finance focuses on what people and communities do have. What’s a commonality that all people on this earth share, regardless of income, education, or culture? They have plans and dreams. They have ingenuity and drive. However so many have shortages in capital and opportunity.

The value of human ingenuity was hammered home when I left a five-year career writing and taking photos for a community newspaper in Kentucky, in search of something with a more global outlook. My wife and I spent nine months in Peru volunteering at an orphanage where I worked every day alongside a Peruvian named Elias.

Elias — friend, inspiration and resident MacGyver at Hogar de Esperanza orphanage in Trujillo, Peru.

Working with him was truly eye-opening. We didn’t have many resources, but we did have PVC pipe and a flame from the gas kitchen stove that we used to fashion a tool to unclog the sewers. We didn’t have money to buy lanterns so the children could participate in a parade at school, but we did have a saw, a riverbank and a stand of wild reeds that we used to make lanterns for the kids. Elias doesn’t have much money, but he has ingenuity in spades, with a mischievous streak to match. And like parents throughout the world, he is scraping together all he can to give his three daughters the best education he can in hopes that they can have more opportunity in life.

People like him deserve all the opportunities they can get as well.

Students in Peru parading with lanterns fashioned from river reeds.

I returned home from Peru and last fall and began the International Development program at the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce at the University of Kentucky. Having a heart of compassion is important, but courses in economics, statistics and international relations are giving me the analytical framework I need to put my passion into positive action.

And now, during my summer break, I am in Managua, Nicaragua with Vittana partner AFODENIC. I’m learning all I can about the on-the-ground work of microfinance while playing a small part in helping Nicaragua’s leaders of tomorrow such as Julio and Carla achieve their dreams, create a more just country, and carve out a better life for their kids.

Because people like them deserve all the opportunities they can get.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InQFuOkoLZQ&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

More than one in ten African girls drop out of school. Why? Tampons.

As a woman, this infuriates me.  Around the world, girls are still pulled out of school earlier than boys, are denied a family voice, and live with the daily risk of emotional and physical abuse.  Even in the United States, women make 70 cents on every dollar earned by a man.  To be sure, progress has been made, but to hear that in this day and age, something as simple as a pad or tampon is holding girls back? That should leave anyone fuming.

Huru International is the fantastic organization on the scene trying to solve this very problem.  They’re providing free Kits to Kenyan girls packed with sanitary napkins and other feminine products, along with HIV/AIDS prevention pamphlets.  Without that simple intervention, a girl could miss up to a week of school every month.  Huru wants to keep young women in school and empower them to lead lives of independence, personal growth, and self-sufficiency.

At Vittana, we also deeply believe in independence and personal growth.  For me, and for many of us here in the office, education is not just a means to an end.  It’s about having the tools to grasp a lifetime’s worth of opportunities.  Without my education I would not be the woman I am today, and I have my mother and grandmother standing behind that.  Nearly two-thirds of Vittana’s students are women—many of them mother’s themselves—and they’re going to be paving the way for the women that come after them.

Girls and women are the solution to global poverty, and we’re big fans of anyone participating in the conversation.  It’s a complex world we live in, and although no one person can fix everything, together we can make a difference.

What comes to mind when you hear the name Jordan? While Americans might reminisce about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, those outside the U.S. will think of a small country in the Middle East near nestled between Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia and the West Bank. Steeped in thousands of years of history, the Kingdom of Jordan is more recently known as the provisional home of millions of Palestinian refugees from various regional wars and the place where T.E. Lawrence fought alongside Arab fighters during the Arab Revolt of the early 20^th century, famously depicted in the film Lawrence of Arabia.

Since King Abdullah II ascended to the throne in 1999 many educational reforms have taken place, including the expansion of many universities to incorporate a concept which many groups like the World Bank have called a “knowledge based economy.”

Less than a quarter the size of its Southern neighbor Saudi Arabia and a much smaller population, the Kingdom lacks natural resources such as oil and has become heavily dependent on aid from the UN and USAID to fill the financial gap to sustain the growing population of almost 7 million people. But unlike Saudi with their abundant oil fields and other countries revenues from minerals and waterways, Jordan has used its aid money to invest in educating the young population, its human resource. Jordan has a very young population with 40%, approximately 2.2 million, between the ages of 12-30 and 74% of the entire country under 30 years of age [1]. It’s no wonder that such attention is paid to educating the future generation.

One morning during a cross-country trip to attend a training session at a branch office for one of Vittana’s upcoming partners, our car slowed to a crawl along the road. Prior to coming to Jordan I lived in Los Angeles, the traffic capital of the United States, so I was more than acclimated to such an occurrence. I notice a queue of yellow school buses and cars lining the side of the road with groups of smiling moms and dads walking faster than my car crept, heading to a destination not far in front of us. To my surprise I discovered the congestion began at Philadelphia University, just a few hundred meters from me. It’s hard to put into detail the joy I saw from parents and students rushing from the schools main gate as they met each other.

By the way some of the parents were dressed I could tell they came from a poorer section of the near-by town. I guessed that these parents, like all parents, were hoping that the education their children were getting at this university would allow them to overcome their disadvantaged surroundings. More likely than not, some of these students were the first in their families to achieve a college education. I had to wonder what the future held for them; I was glad that if nothing else, a friendly face was waiting for them at home.

More of those bright faces are now flocking to the 10 public and 12 private institutions all over the country where enrollment at 4-year universities has increased annually by 14% since 1999, just after King Abdullah I inherited the Kingdom after his fathers’ death.  The World Bank estimates that 92,000 students per year will be entering private schools by 2013, a leap in registration since the numbers were estimated at just over 55,000 in 2006. Public schools have also seen an increased demand for education as well. Between the 2000-2001 and 2006-2007 academic years the total enrollment grew from over 77,000 to 218,000 students [2].

Philadelphia University, which carries the ancient name of the capital city Amman, is an example of how the government has assisted schools by expanding the number of programs at many institutions while creating three new public universities in recent years to accommodate the growing numbers in matriculation.

Although the Ministry of Higher Education wants to create the ‘Student Loan Bank‘  project to help fund many youth, the hopes of a university education seem out of each for for students from poor families when adding in rising cost of living in the Kingdom. The Higher Council for Youth calculates that “by the age of 20, only 20.5% of women and 22% of men continue their education in pursuit of a university degree.” To many in Jordan desperately seeking a way to break out of poverty through education, the inability to afford their degree due to financial constraints can be a devastating reality.

Flag of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

I’ve only been in Jordan for two months, but I’ve already seen how the youth in Jordan would benefit from Vittana loans. There is so much potential in the people, but so little access to education. Considering the number of four year and vocational schools, the schools exists to empower youth in Jordan with education and end the cycle of poverty. I’m excited that Vittana is here to help make that happen.

The purpose of investing in an idea or product (or a person) is to enable it to eventually blossom into something bigger and better than what it is now, something that effects the lives of many. Education for young people, like any other product, is the perfect example of how an investment can have long term, large scale impact.

The Jordanian government has an intense focus toward their human resources and their “Knowledge Economy”. And while more students are starting to reap the benefits of the Jordanian government’s investments, many are still left behind; and that’s why Vittana is here. Maybe one day when I return, that same road will be filled with the smiling faces from families who would have missed out on an education if not for others willing to invest in their children’s future.

We continue to be humbled and honored by the support of Seattle’s tech community. Two weeks ago, we won the Seattle 2.0 Award for Best Nonprofit Startup. Over the weekend, TechFlash ran this great article on Vittana.

Here’s a favorite quote about how our CEO Kushal Chakrabarti sees the world and how we face challenges:

We’re not in it for the money, we’re in it to really make a difference in the world for young people. But the challenge and the opportunity is to take something that we know works [micro-loans for students] and that can fundamentally alter the lives of young people around the world, [and use it to reach] hundreds of thousands and million young people… it sounds like an absolutely exciting challenge.