Mr Franciscus is one of the founding members of the Jelayan Kaki Kuta branch of Keling Kumang, our partner in Indonsia. He is a rubber farmer and has been a member for 10 years, taking multiple loans in this time. Mr Franciscus told me of his two rubber plantations. “The first was a failure,” he said. Mr Franciscus was new to rubber farming and his wife became...

Jan. 30 – It’s my first day with SPBD Fiji. I was greeted warmly and had a brief chat with Rico, SPBD Fiji’s general manager. Then, Rico introduced me to Vika, the Centre Manager who I will be spending most of my time with in visiting villages where SPBD has its microfinance operations. Vika is a centre manager (CM) from our partner, South Pacific Business...

Thank you to everyone who signed up for regular blog updates! We’re very much looking forward to bringing you the newest and most interesting news about Good Return’s initiatives and microfinance in the Asia Pacific. We hope you’ve enjoyed the updates so far as well! Of course, one lucky subscriber has been randomly chosen to receive a fantastic...

Keling Kumang, Good Return’s new partner in Indonesia, is a credit union which serves members in West Kalimantan. Keling Kumang refers to a folk story about a “strong husband and strong wife” who work together to build a strong community. And from its humble beginnings, the members of Keling Kumang have made their own folk story – growing to a community of...

We’d like to wish you a very Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us here at Good Return. We’ll be enjoying some red velvet cupcakes for our morning tea (courtesy of yours truly), and we hope that you get a sweet treat some time today too! Remember, Valentine’s Day isn’t just for all the lovers out there. Be sure to tell a good friend or...

Anthony returned from his 27 day trip to Nepal just before the new year, and he has spent his time since downloading all of his information (and photos) for us to use. We found time recently to sit down together and go through all of his photos. Here are few of the highlights, with more photos below that you can click on to make larger. While most of the other Good...

Like 60% of Kalimantan, the village of Ansok is not connected to subsidised government electricity. Those that can afford it have a personal generator. And in fuel costs alone, they pay around 25 times as much as they would if the network reached them – for only 3-4 hours of light every night. For the rest, there is the “pilitah,” or kerosene lantern. The...