• Starting Women-owned Businesses
• Banking on the go:  innovative repayment options in Tajikistan

Here are a few highlights:

We all took time last week to wish Tajikistan a happy 19th anniversary of Independence:

http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2010/09/14/happy-indepen-dance/

(My Kiva Fellows blog posting about Tajik Independence)

1. Spanish phrases:  for some inexplicable reason if I can’t think of the right word in Tajik, my default goes to Spanish.  I have yet to get a response from “repete por favor?” or “si, yo tambien”
2. The Man Hug:  Tajik men make a point of greeting each other with a handshake, and frequently a man-hug — very similar to the  Western-style man hug:  Unfortunately there is one crucial difference.  Instead of each head moving to the  person’s left, enabling the hug, my experience with the Tajik way is to move the head to the right.  As I’ve started to get to know some of the guys at the MFI and graduated from a “handshake acquaintance” to a “handshake-to-hug friend”, I’ve botched a number of these hugs by me instinctually going to my left and my hugee going to his right.  An awkward back away takes place, and then we both reverse our position, resulting in another awkward back away (similar to when one person offers a fist-pound and the other a high-five).  I think I’ve been temporarily demoted to a “handshake-only” colleague, until I can adjust the mechanics of my hugging style.
3. The Dog:  When I initially arrived at my Microfinance Institution (MFI), one of my first greetings was a good solid barking from the sizable guard dog, chained to entry wall.  
   

   "Huma" the guard dog

   Last week I wound up staying at the office a couple of hours later than usual to try to finish up a report for my portfolio rep at Kiva Headquarters.  What I didn’t realize was that during the evening/night, Huma is no longer chained to the wall, but in fact free to roam the grounds of the MFI’s courtyard.  I walked out of the office feeling quite satisfied with myself for finishing the report, and made it a number of paces, before I had to turn tail and run back indoors with Huma in hot pursuit.  I am pleased to say I made it back, slamming the front door and waiting for the security guard to put Huma on her leash again so I could make my exit.  My conversation with the security guard, which consisted of me repeating the only two relevant words in my vocabulary, “me bac shed” (excuse me / sorry) and “rahemat” (thank you), must have been riveting. 

Thankfully, in spite of these differences, there are still some certainties… 

1. Moving your hand through the air as though you were signing some kind of imaginary paper is still the universal sign for “check please” (even though I have never seen anyone actually sign for a bill here, or use a credit card for that matter).  I have yet to encounter a country where this gesture is not recognized.
2. A well-timed head nod and smile is a near-universal greeting
3. Mountains are still fun to climb
   

   On top of Laylakul Pass

Добро пожаловать!  (Welcome! – in Russian)

The first few days were quite challenging.  Between unintentionally falling asleep during the middle of the day from jet lag, frequent visits to the squat toilet when I was sick for a couple days, and finding that the little bit of Farsi I had been able to study didn’t translate that well to Tajik — I was quite overwhelmed.

It’s humbling to be in a place where basic tasks like grocery shopping, ordering at a restaurant, and taking transportation require assistance (or a massive amount of hand gesturing).  My Russian / Tajik abilities are limited at best so I’m relegated to fumbling around with a few phrases or hoping someone will translate.

I would have been completely lost were it not for the heroic hospitality of Farrukh, one of the MFI staff, who did everything from picking me up from the airport, to translating my apartment rental contract (which he found by looking through ads in the local newspaper).  True to the world famous central Asian hospitality for guests, he’s been instrumental in helping me establish a foundation here — one that hopefully I can build on in the weeks ahead.

2 highlights of the week:

1. Moving into my apartment on Wednesday
2. Buying a phone in the market yesterday (all by myself…)

Home sweet home...

View of the sunrise from my bedroom window

Neighboring building and the mountains at dawn

I’ve been interested in microfinance as a development tool since writing my college senior research project on a microfinance bank in Latin America. 6 years later, with a 3 month leave of absence from Accenture, I’m excited for the opportunity to experience microfinance first-hand in the field. I will be working with the micro-credit organizations that Kiva partners with in Tajikistan to help with process improvement, loan repayment tracking, and social performance monitoring.

Upon telling people that I’m headed to Tajikistan, I am often met with a quizzical look or a question of where it is located.  Faced with similar questions, the other Kiva Fellow who will be in a different part of Tajikistan put together a quick reference guide.

With little to no Tajik or Russian language skills, I’m quite nervous about the ability to interact – but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

From Chicago it’s a 11 hour flight to Istanbul, then another 5 1/2  hours from Istanbul to Dushanbe.  See you on the other side!

The video was entered in the 2010 Boston College Corporate Citizenship Film Festival – and was recently announced as one of ten finalists.

Check it out here: