DAY 14, NOVEMBER 10, 2007

Today’s session was an emotive journey, visiting diverse micro financial institutions on three continents.  Each participant presented his or her institution--relevant data, history, development, strengths, and challenges.  In spite of the short time available—each participant had only seven minutes to present—it was an opportunity for the group to delve more deeply into the work of each one, allowing us to imagine our fellow participants in their offices, carrying out their daily duties, alongside their fellow workers, and attending their clients, outside the window landscapes of mountains, deserts, jungle, or ocean.

In spite of the vast differences between Kenya, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Peru, Mali, El Salvador, Haiti, India, China, Honduras, Mozambique and Nicaragua, the story of the mission and work of each micro financial  institution was familiar.  Each one works with similar tools, towards comparable goals, facing recognizable challenges, and serving clients with the same needs and desire to succeed.

It was a morning dedicated to celebrating diversity but at the same time it was a recognition of micro finance as a unifying theme: the products and services microfinance offers are universal and available to share.

And this afternoon, a rest from microfinances, with time to visit the crafts market, visit the historic centre, go to the museum, or sleep.  Early tomorrow we leave Bolivia and travel to Ecuador, to discover Quito and Cuenca, and to visit the Path’s final case studies.