| By Victoria December 13th,2011 I have 3 more days in Kenya and I am bursting with excitement to go home for Christmas to be with friends and family and my fiancée. It doesn’t feel like Christmas here in the plus 25 degree Celsius heat,which has seemed to kick the rainy season out of the way for my final [...] By Gillian December 1st,2011 Last month the city of Addis-Ababa,Ethopia,was host to the 2011 Partnership Forum for Making Finance Work for Africa. Hosted by the UNECA (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa) with the support of the AU (African Union),the Forum brought development workers,academics and representatives of the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and WB (World [...] By Heather November 4th,2011 HELP-SL began the Linking Youth with Knowledge and Opportunities in Micro Finance (LYKOM) project in 2009,with the support of UNDP. I have seen that project has garnered great successes and provided immense learning opportunities,both for the communities it served and for HELP-SL as an organization. I also know that my Street Kids [...] By Victoria September 13th,2011 Recently my focus has been on developing a business plan for the social enterprise Make A Better World Kenya is planning on kick starting by the end of 2011. This idea,formulated before SKI’s CIDA proposal went in last year but solidified through the proposal process,is the result of recognition of the path that [...] By Natalie September 2nd,2011 What do you expect when you come to a place like Manila? For me,it was what I read in the books,the internet,or what I was told by my Filipino dentist who immigrated to Canada 10 years ago. It is a densely populated city,complete with high rises and large international companies juxtaposed [...] Things are going well over here and I have been to Arusha a fair bit in the last little while to meet with Madison,who is adapting really well to Tanzania. I am getting excited to go back home to Canada but I am definitely going to miss a lot of things,especially chipsi mayai [...] By Heather July 18th,2011 One of my favourite aspects of my job is gathering stories from our microfinance clients on how their loans have affected their lives. It is through these discussions that I get closest to seeing the impacts of tools like the Street Business Toolkit (SBTK). I’ve seen that HELP-SL’s practice of giving business and life skills [...]  It seems like I’ve been here forever and I love it. There is nowhere I would rather be than in Moshi. It’s such a nice place to live and it’s so salama (peaceful). Between the views of Kilimanjaro and Mawenzi and the aggressive mamas at the market,I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m doing some [...] By Dianne in Tanzania January 4th,2011 Let’s be frank:working with street kids in developing countries is not a piece of cake. Some things are hard,and some things seem near impossible. Development rhetoric is great at glossing over these challenges,largely due to the shortage of funds and donor pressure for good results. But I sometimes feel like expectations are [...] By Virginia in Kenya September 15th,2010 I keep asking myself,what will it take for Microfinance Institutions to open their doors to increase/ improve access to financial products and services to vulnerable youth? Business start-ups by youth are usually seen as too risky;as a result most institutions are reluctant to disburse loans. What role can organizations working with youth play in instilling confidence in MFIs [...] | About usWe are 8 young Canadians working in 8 different countries for Street Kids International. We'll be writing about our experiences here and would love to hear any of your comments or questions! To learn more about us, click here. |