on the ground

Dreams worth supporting in Nicaragua

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

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Paradise for Some

by Charlie Gale

The end of the semester at Teachers College in New York found my classmates and I scrambling to prepare for summer internships. It was a stressful but exciting time, an opportunity to put into practice the knowledge and skills we had gleaned from a rigorous year of academic work. Indeed

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My walk to work and FINCA Peru’s journey to student loans

by boleary

At seven in the morning when I set out for FINCA Peru the streets are already overtaken. People dance around each other as they pass on the sidewalks, trying not to step into the street for fear of the taxis and tuk tuks. The tuk tuks which are a cross

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Top Three Things I’ve Learned About Filipino Microfinance

by Lindsey Maxfield

For the past two weeks, I have been criss-crossing the Philippines with Sanjaya Punyasena, one of Vittana’s International Partnerships Managers, and Roger Johnson, our Chief Financial Advisor. We have spent 2-3 days with each of our three Filipino partners, meeting staff and students at each step along the way. Why

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Jordan’s Knowledge Economy

by Nathan Richardson

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

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Introducing our Fellow in Jordan – Nathan

by Nathan Richardson

Nathan lives in Los Angeles, CA and is serving as a Vittana Fellow in Jordan during the first half of 2011. (photo credit of Nathan: Fizzah Raza Photography) I originally hale from the great state of Iowa, home of the Field of Dreams, but for the last six years I’ve

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Getting To Know La Paz

by Mark Andrews

The first thing I noticed when I flew into the El Alto International Airport (LPB) is that La Paz is really high up. At 13,325 feet, LPB is one of the highest airports in the world, and the direct flight from Miami (8 feet above sea level) gave me

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Your Fellow in Peru

by boleary

Photo of sand paintings during Semana Santa in Peru A little about me: I grew up in Seattle, Washington in a very full house. In addition to my parents, two sisters, two brothers, and grandmother, there was always at least one student from another country living under our roof. Furthermore,

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Holy Discontent in Rwanda

by Patrick Huang

Mwaramutse! (“Good morning” in Kinyarwanda, one of the three official languages in Rwanda.) And this morning, like many mornings here in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, is especially picturesque. Despite the 25-minute (uphill) walk to the office, the view more than makes up for arriving at work almost drenched in

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The Method to Our Madness

by Katie Gruver

Yes, Vittana has a website. In fact it’s a pretty good one. The Vittana website facilitates peer-to-peer micro-lending where people (mostly in the United States) provide loans to students in the developing world so that they can attend college and technical school. But we’re not JUST a website; not

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