DAY 2 Micro Building wonders!

 

 

This was a day all about Micro finance wonders, in particular Micro Building, which basically consist in providing microloans to individuals which need to improve or construct a safe home. This is the base of anyone well being.  We spend the whole day with our friends from Habitat for Humanity Philippines. We started by meeting them at KASAGANA, which is a partner of Habitat that focus on Micro Building. Our first activity consisted on attending a meeting with a group of Micro  Building borrowers. We had to drive for a while and then take a walk to finally get to the heart of that little crowded neighborhood. Our friends from KASAGANA explained to us that borrowers have weekly meetings, were they submit payments talk about their progress and learn more about Micro finance. There was such a great energy in the group, people is smiling joking and just having a good time. They love to attend these meetings and I believe that it is the base of the success of micro credit group programs. As for this group no member have failed to summit payments. KASAGANA overall has a 98% repayment rate. It is truly amazing! The highlight of the meeting was listening to the stories of borrowers and how Micro finance have changed their lives. Thanks to the guidance and help of institutions like KASAGANA and Habitat they are able to brake the cycle of poverty and improve their lives. 

 For our second part of the day we drove to the financial area of Manila. What a change it is. For a moment you have the feeling of being in a big American city with luxury buildings and malls. We were invited to the offices of Habitat, I was surprised to see how big their offices are and specially how many awards they have received. Girly and Greg, our friends from Habitat, along with other members of the Micro Building team processed to give us a presentation of Micro Building. They explained how successful it is becoming in Asia but especially how essential is for people's development. I loved to spend the day with Habitat we got the best of both worlds, we got to experience first hand the impact it has in people lives and learn more about the topic, reflecting on ways we can applying it in GLOBE.