WorldView Magazine - Summer 2009 - (Page 13)
Ashley Nelsen that they are “entrepreneurs and have some sort of demonstrated business skill aside from working the land and being a housewife.” None the less, those receiving the Kiva loans would not be able to receive a bank loan as most are excluded from the formal banking sector due to lack of credit and collateral. One of the most memorable experiences Nelsen said she had in the Dominican Republic was going to bank meetings and seeing people count out their money repeatedly and “being so proud to make their bank payment, and discussing in a group who gets to take it up…that type of chatter at a meeting is pretty awesome.” During her time in the Dominican Republic, Nelsen also had the opportunity to cross to the other side of the island into Haiti with Esperanza staff that were in the process of opening an office in Trau Du Nord, the second largest city in the country. Nelsen said she struggled with Creole while in Haiti, and added that it was “one thing to see people not have access to clean water, and not have electricity, but what blew me away was sitting on a bus and seeing a UN Peacekeeping tank roll by.” With little to no electricity, Nelsen said she would also see up to 40 people gathered under a street lamp “playing cards, reading, talking or selling things,” like solar panels. “You cannot expect a family not to sell their solar panel if they do not have food.” Struck by the deforestation in the country, and the stark contrast between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Nelsen said the rapid deforestation is due in part to Haitians cutting nearly everything down for cooking fuel purposes, while 90 percent of people in the Dominican Republic cook mainly with gas. From her time in the Dominican Republic, Nelsen saw what a lasting impact Peace Corps volunteers could make. She visited communities who had previously had a volunteer and they would ask her, “Oh, are you Brian’s sister?” she said laughing. “People will talk about volunteers for years after and it’s amazing to hear them brag about their volunteer.” Speaking fondly of her own Peace Corps service, Nelsen realizes that without it she “would not be where I am today.” Jessica Benton Cooney is a production editor and staff writer for the Congressional Quarterly, in Washington, D.C. She served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in El Salvador from 2004 to 2006 with Ashley Nelsen who served from 2003 to 2006. This story was inspired by a visit to the Dominican Republic in April 2009, after which Nelsen headed to Nicaragua for part two of her Kiva Fellowship. WorldView 1
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of WorldView Magazine - Summer 2009
WorldView Magazine - Summer 2009
Contents
More Peace Corps Campaign: Better and Bolder!
Africa Rural Connect
Readers Write
You Too Can Be Bill Gates
Taking Peace Corps Back into the Field
Come for the Information, Stay for the Dancing
A “Green” Community Rising
Microfinance Pioneer Receives 2009 Shriver Award
The Colombia Project
A Voice for the Unheard
Hear Ye, Hear Ye: Microfinance Podcasts
Selected Microfinance Resources
Bicycle! Bamenda! Orange!
Luck and Fame
A Step in the Right Direction
Bringing What She Loves
Letter from Botswana: First Tongues of the Kalahari
Letter from Tanzania: Homo Sapien in Africa
In the Beginning (There Was John)
The Peace Corps Community Making a Difference
Community News
Advertiser Index
WorldView Magazine - Summer 2009
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