Why sponsor
The Kiva fellows program is a volunteer position. All expenses from flights to housing to medication must be absorbed by the fellow. For the curious, here is a rough estimate of what a ten week fellowship in Costa Rica costs:
$400 flight to San Jose on Jet Blue
$240 vaccinations & malaria pills
$200 gear for rainy season (mud boots, quick dry clothing, mosquito nets)
$900 food (90 days x $10/day)
$600 small furnished apartment in San Isidro ($200 x 3mo.)
$300 transportation (buses, 4wd taxis, other)
$500 excursions (to the field to visit partners, to Dominical)
$500 communication (mobile phone, internet cafes, etc)
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$3,640 minimum expenditures
The more I fundraise the more time I get to spend in the field working with the MFI partner. By sponsoring my journey you won’t just be helping me but the whole micro-finance economy in Costa Rica.
So how can you help?
The easiest way to contribute is to sponsor directly to my paypal fund.
- Contribute $10 by clicking here.
- Contribute $100 by clicking here.
- Contribute more by clicking here.
If you aren’t comfortable with that method, you can take the high ground by buying me Kiva gift certificates. This way, not only do you help fund some loans on Kiva but once the loans are repayed I can withdrawl the funds. To do so, please send the gift certificate to www.kiva.org/lender/gabefrancis .
As a thank you, for any $25 sponsorship I will write you a personalized thank you letter from Costa Rica. For any sponsorship $100 and up you will receive a thank you letter and a pound of coffee from a local plantation in Costa Rica. Any extra funds accumulated will be used towards the purchase of a camera so I can take better photos of the spider monkeys that will live in the trees outside my window.
Update Aug 16th: Thanks to everyone who has helped so far. Currently I am at $2,000 of my $4,000 goal. Even though I am already in the field every bit helps. Please consider sponsoring.
