Entries tagged with Peru

PreetiWali's picture
PRISMA Microfinance and the PPI: Improving Services for Rural Poor Women >
PreetiWali
• 03/14/11
• Posted in case study, Peru, poverty, ppi, Prisma, social performance
• Comments

This blog is also available in Spanish below the English copy.

For three years, PRISMA Microfinance has been using the Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI) to help us reach and serve our poorest clients: rural women.

We began to implement the PPI as a pilot in 2008 in two of our branches, and thanks to that good experience, in 2009 we expanded its use to all of our offices. Our goal was to reach the poorest people, and to monitor if and how their poverty levels changed. To do this, in 2010 we surveyed a sample of customers who were new in 2009, and found that--in one year--2.6 percent of these clients had moved above the national poverty line.

The use of PPI has allowed us to focus our efforts on reaching our target clients (the poor and vulnerable), and explore strategies to improve our services and deepen our efforts to reduce poverty. For us, as a microfinance organization with a social heart, the implementation of the PPI confirms that as a tool it is standardized, valid, comprehensive and flexible.

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shaviser's picture
A Visit with FINCA Peru, Piloting the PPI Standards Certification Process >
shaviser
• 09/01/10
• Posted in certification, Finca Peru, Grameen Foundation, moving out of poverty, Peru, pilot, poverty, ppi, ppi standards, volunteer, winter
• Comments

Having escaped the stifling heat of New York City, it seemed strange to think about winter in August. I landed in Lima, Peru in the heart of the coldest winter in nearly 50 years. As could be expected, weather was a popular topic of conversation; though not everyone was worried about warm coats.

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PreetiWali's picture
Grameen Foundation and Oikocredit: A PPI Partnership in Six Countries  >
PreetiWali
• 06/10/10
• Posted in Cambodia, Ecuador, Grameen Foundation, Mali, oikocredit, Peru, Philippines, ppi, Senegal
• Comments

When Oikocredit joined forces in 2007 with Grameen Foundation, it became the first social investor to support the use of the Progress Out of Poverty Index (PPI).

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pkelly's picture
Notes From the Field: Village Banking at Work >
pkelly
• 05/26/10
• Posted in microfinance, oikocredit, Peru, poverty, ppi, Prisma
• 0 Comments

On my last day in Huancayo, I saw two examples of village banking that showed why this approach works for PRISMA in Peru. “Village banking strengthens social networks,” PRISMA Director Diego Fernandez told me. It is the best way to educate and motivate clients, he says, because they can learn from and support each other.

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pkelly's picture
Notes From the Field: PRISMA Entrepreneurs in Huancayo >
pkelly
• 05/26/10
• Posted in oikocredit, Peru, poverty, ppi, Prisma
• Comments

In the Peruvian city of Huancayo, PRISMA microfinance clients clearly are urban entrepreneurs. Two have located their small businesses in a downtown mini-mall. Ana Pomasonco is a photographer who keeps a small studio there. She specializes in passport photos.

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pkelly's picture
Notes From The Field: Pat on the Road to Pampas >
pkelly
• 05/21/10
• Posted in case study, microfinance, oikocredit, Peru, ppi, Prisma
• 0 Comments

It is not so easy to get to Pampas. Our group—Norma Rosas from PRISMA, Yolirruth Nunez, social monitoring officer with Oikocredit, and myself—set out from the nearest city, Huancayo.

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pkelly's picture
Notes From The Field: Pat meets PRISMA >
pkelly
• 05/18/10
• Posted in case study, microfinance, Peru, ppi, Prisma
• 0 Comments

I arrived at PRISMA headquarters in Peru during a busy week for the microfinance institution. Director Diego Fernandez, who founded PRISMA in 1986, showed me around the four-story building where 38 staff members share space. They are administrators of every kind: accountants, human resource personnel, program managers and assistants—every position required by a mature microfinance organization. Lunch in the cafeteria was a highlight—Diego himself often helps “organize” the service and I was told he sometimes even cooks!

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