Kiva borrower visits in Bint Jbeil

A week ago, I was in the southern town of Bint Jbeil to visit Kiva borrowers in the area. I travelled with the area supervisor and two loan officers to Houla, where we visited Ali and Nasri, Deir Kifa, where we saw Zein, and in Bint Jbeil we visited Akil. To read the journals, click on the link and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Kiva journals from Saida

On Wednesday, I was in Saida and the neighboring villages visiting clients. I wrote journals for Khaled and Mahmoud in Saida, Mahmoud in Marwanieh, Kassem in Kfarhata, Ragheb in Bablia, Abdel Majid in Sarafand. To read the journals, click on the link and scroll to the bottom.

Kiva journals from the Bekaa valley

On Tuesday I was in Rashaya and the Western Bekaa visiting some clients. I wrote journals for Rita and Leila in Rashaya, Hamda, Zahraa and Yasser in Jib Jenin, and Ali in Ghaza. To the read the journals, click on the link and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Latest Kiva Fellows Blog entry

Check out my latest entry on the Kiva Fellows Blog here.

First video uploaded from the field!

I was finally able to upload my first video from the field. It took me three attempts for the upload to complete successfully. The four minute video took over 9 hours to upload. I have posted it on the Kiva Fellows Blog.

Journals of borrowers in Nabatiyeh

Yesterday I went to Nabatiyeh, in the south of Lebanon, and visited Kiva borrowers and prepared five journals. I prepared journals for Samir, Kifaya, Ali, Hussain, and Jihad. To view the journals, go to the borrowers pages and scroll to the bottom.

The dark chasm that is Paypal

Ever since I opened my Paypal account I have used it exclusively to pay for my Kiva addiction. Recently, Paypal has decided that my account has been accessed by a third party. This third party, it seems also chose to lend on Kiva. A very generous fraudster I have to say.

Well, since my account has been limited, I have provided Paypal with documents proving that I live where I live to no avail. I finally lost it and sent them an email in desperation. I want my Paypal account back. I feel robbed, alright. But not by a “third party”, but by the “people” at Paypal.

Anyone have any ideas of how I can go about reclaiming my Paypal account?

P.S. If you are planning to donate using the button to the right, my account continues to accept incoming payments!

Visit to borrowers in Bekaa

Yesterday I visited five Kiva borrowers in Chtoura, Zahleh and Bar Elias in the Bekaa valley. I prepared journals for Sharbel, Khajik, Mahmoud, Kamil, and Tarek. Go to the individual pages and scroll to the bottom to read the journals.

Getting around in Beirut

Yesterday, public transport workers all over the country were on strike. This includes bus, taxi, and minibus drivers. Of course, not everyone joined the strike, but the risk for those who did not was having their cars pelted with stones. At least, that is what some drivers were saying would happen to them if they dared go against the strike.

For me, this was a problem. I have no car and rely completely on the group cabs (service) to get back and forth from my work at Ameen. As it turns out, I was still able to catch a cab in the morning without a hitch. But in the afternoon, on my way home, I stood for over 20 minutes at the curb. Every cab driver who would usually ask for 2,000 or 4,000 lira was now asking for a full taxi rate of 10,000 even though he was taking several people at the same time. I hung in there. They were obviously trying to milk the situation for some extra cash. Finally, my patients paid off and I was able to get to Ashrafieh for the usual 2,000.

One of the things about taking cabs in Beirut is the unpredictability of it. This morning, I stood for almost 15 minutes waiting for a cab, and this time in a light rain. Everytime I said Hazmieh, I got that familiar subtle upward jerk of the head as the driver indicated he had no interest in going there. On a good day, it takes a couple of such rejections before I succeed in finding my morning ride. Every once in a while, the driver would request a double fare, which I never say too.

This morning, my ride was a little late, but it did come. And he was fine with only one fare. So, we took off. I quickly noticed that this whole thing may have been a mistake. The driver was crawling for some reason. Cars were driving right past us and some stuck behind the cab were honking in rage. My ride was a Sunday driver.

I took the opporunity to just sit back and relax. At least I was not in the rain and I would get to work sooner or later. So, why worry. I wrote an SMS to my love back in Copenhagen, and sat there observing Beirutis getting to work. Just as we were entering the district I was going to, the driver suddenly veers to the curb, stops and jumps out of the car. After a few second, I look behind the car and see the driver standing at the curb relieving himself. I started laughing. My driver this morning was a character. Oh well.

Kiva Fellows Blog

I just wrote my first post on the Kiva Fellows Blog. You can read it here.