Comments on: Machu Picchu? Not Yet. A Slideshow of the Other Peru

By: Adriana

Adriana — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:55:58 +0000

It’s great to find places like your article, which get aid money for small business development and employment generation. We hear much of it, however it has little knowledge of its existence. Would be nice if future aid reaching other remote locations where there are also needs. Very good article

By: Audrey Scott

Audrey Scott — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:03:37 +0000

@Carmen: It’s interesting that you mention that what you hear about microfinance in the States is on an intellectual or theoretical level. I found the same when I was searching for blogs and websites about microfinance. A balance between the theoretical and reality on the ground is best. Yes, we would love to get the contact info for your aunt in Columbia – we hope to visit next year.

@JoAnna: These are the projects and experiences that keep us going on this journey. Interesting question about people in the west (Europe/US) being more closed. When we meet them on the road, I find them to be very open. But, perhaps it is the anonymity of the road that promotes this.

Although we haven’t lived in the States for eight years, I understand what you’re saying about people not knowing their neighbors. Perhaps it has something to do with people moving frequently and the way communities are set up where you have to drive everywhere. That said, there are still many communities in America where people actually know their neighbors. Our old neighborhood of North Beach, San Francisco was certainly one of them. Regardless, we’ll look forward to returning someday to do a compare and contrast with what we’ve witnessed on our journey.

@Hal: Like you and your wife, we find it really fulfilling to be able to use our skills to promote worthy organizations and programs. We have two microfinance photography projects in Bolivia, so stay tuned for the next microfinance installment.

@Lola: Glad you’re still enjoying our microfinance installments! Sometimes I feel like maybe we post too much about this topic and readers will start getting bored.

@Blake: Our camera equipment (Nikon D300) was fine, fortunately. Even in Nepal at 5,400 meters, our Nikon held up great but a few other trekkers with Canon DSLRs had problems. Our iPod is several years old (G4), so it’s a platter/spinning hard drive. I imagine altitude does not affect flash-based iPods at all.

You can find out more about the microfinance organizations we have worked with here. Idealist.org is a great resource as well – just enter the type of organization you’re interested in and the geographic area for a list of relevant organizations.

@Neha: Thanks for the kind words about our work!

By: neha

neha — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 08:55:08 +0000

beautiful pictures! so much character … and great story as always … very inspiring.

By: Blakesjourney

Blakesjourney — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:11:34 +0000

I absolutely love your intimate compositions for the portraits. The candid shots came out really well too. Did you find that your photo gear was effected by the altitude? I don’t know what type of iPod you have, but perhaps the ones with a spinning hard drive (iPod Classic, I think), are the only ones effected.

What fantastic work these organizations do! Industry, ownership, education- Where can I find out more about these NGOs that participate in Mircofinance?

Blakesjourney / TBD

By: Lola

Lola — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 03:43:27 +0000

How inspirational. Love reading your impressions of micro-financing and the real lives being touched.

Excellent shots as always.

By: Hal Amen

Hal Amen — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 02:35:36 +0000

Microfinance projects are so fascinating, and your idea to photograph the beneficiaries is a great one. My wife and I did something similar in Bolivia, photographing the people and landscapes serviced by a nonprofit green energy org and using the images to create a promotional book. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the opportunity to get as immersed as you.

Thanks for sharing this.

By: JoAnna

JoAnna — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:46:40 +0000

What a genuine and real experience! The pictures in your slide show are fantastic ~ thank you for sharing!

I was wondering if, when you travel in more developed nations, like the U.S. or Western Europe, do you feel people are a little more closed off? This sentence from your post really stood out to me: “To make the point, another woman captured a rather uplifting spirit, but with tears in her eyes: “When one of us falls, we help her even more.”” Sometimes I feel in the U.S. that we don’t even know our neighbors. How can we help each other when all we really care about is ourselves?

You are doing amazing things on your travels ~ keep up the great work.

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Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:55:04 +0000

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By: Carmen

Carmen — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:59:23 +0000

This is really inspiring to read. We all hear about microfinance on an intellectual level in the U.S. but to read actual stories of individuals and see the photos is very inspiring. I have an aunt in Colombia who works in microfinance loans for women there. If you’d like to be put in touch I can do that.