Waste products of any kind are seen as a problem that needs to be solved. Good Return’s Sustainable Energy Program has a big emphasis on what happens after: after the useful life is over, after the battery runs out, after the family gets connected to electricity. Not so with biogas. Biogas is all about taking a waste product and turning it into something useful....

I met Yosef and Juliana during my energy needs assessment with Good Return’s partner CUKK here in Indoneia. Members for 4 years, Yosef told me had a loan, for AUD$180 for 6 months to pay medical bills and his children’s education. But more than access to credit, Yosef and Juliana told me they joined CUKK because they wanted to be able to save money safely for the...

I’m on my return flight from Nepal from what I feel was a very positive partnership review meeting with our microfinance partner in Nepal, Nirdhan Utthan Bank Ltd (NUBL). During my visit I spent time with their branch managers, who are responsible for implementing Good Return partnership activities, Nirdhan’s senior management team, and with our local office...

Like Mr Franciscus, Mr Yakobus is a founding member of the Jelayan Kaki Kuta branch of Keling Kumang, our partner in Indonsia. He has been a member for 10 years and was one of the first collectors or loan officers for Keling Kumang in the region. “When I started I walked 7-8 hours one way to the headquarters to deposit the money from our loans,” he told me....

This is my first visit to Laos and on my flight over (via Singapore) I fit in some quick background reading on the country. Most of the material focuses on Laos as one of the least developed and poorest Asian countries. I land in the capital, Vientiane, late in the evening. During my taxi ride from the airport to hotel I can’t help but thinking this city looks...

It was International Women’s Day (IWD) a few weeks ago on March 8. A week prior I had been travelling with Pak Nico, an ex-board member of Good Return’s partner CUKK (Credit Union Keling Kumang) and owner of the local radio station. At Joni’s request I was interviewing some women about the role CUKK played in their lives. And Pak Nico’s ears perked when I...