Hello again,

I apologize that is has been so long since I last wrote, but life has been a bit crazy. The month of August consisted of a lot of travelling within Sierra Leone, as well as a visit from my supervisor in Canada and a visit from my parents. When I have had time, the internet connection has been poor and my computer conveniently has a virus that I can’t get rid of. That said, I am truly having a great time and becoming more attached to Sierra Leone and the people here every day. I can honestly say that despite its many challenges, I love coming to work every day and living life in Kabala.

In case you aren’t familiar with what microfinance is and how it works, let me give you a bit of an overview. Microfinance is the term used to describe any financial services provided to the poor and low-income members of society. In terms of SWET, we currently offer our clients micro-credit, or small loans for their businesses. The portion of the population served by microfinance is often considered unprofitable or unviable for banks to serve, since they generally require higher administration costs and they do not own any substantial collateral, which makes their loans very risky. Therefore, they generally do not have access to other formal financial institutions.

To accommodate this market and lower the risk of loans with no collateral, SWET and other microfinance institutions use solidarity groups to guarantee the loans. Before applying for a loan, clients must form their own solidarity groups of 4-6 women whom they trust. This group receives loan disbursements together and makes repayments through their group leader together. If any member of the group defaults, the whole group is responsible, a policy which is designed to encourage clients to choose group members who are trustworthy and to encourage clients to cover for each other when repayment becomes difficult.  Additionally, to become eligible to apply for their first loan, clients must participate in a number of business development training sessions. These sessions are designed to train them in business, while integrating integral development themes like health, as well as to teach them about SWET policies and procedures. However, one of the most important goals of the training is to weed out bad clients. People who participate in all of the trainings, despite the numerous other responsibilities they have, show their commitment to the program. Additionally, during the trainings, the loan officer is able to get to know the potential clients so that they can hand-pick the good ones. Basically, since micro-credit involves lending with no collateral, the institution needs to put a high focus on selecting quality clients with good character who are committed to repaying.

The first loans given out are always about $50, but the amount increases by about $25 every loan cycle (if the clients have enough business capacity) as the group builds a credit rating with SWET. The main proclaimed benefits of microfinance are that it provides long-term increases in income and consumption amongst the poor and smoothes out irregular cash flows. Our clients often report that the loans help them to send their children to school, save money for emergencies, invest in their businesses, and simply help them to advance and rely on themselves rather than on others. That said, microfinance is a balancing act. On one hand, it is a tool designed to help poor and marginalized people manage their finances and improve their lives. One the other hand, it is a business that has to make money and at one point (when NGO subsidies diminish) become sustainable. It is very challenging work.

Sierra Leone is an exciting place to be working, especially in a field like microfinance, because there are a lot of positive changes that are happening here right now. Since the civil war ended in 2002, the country has been experiencing relative peace and security, allowing for recovery and development.

Here are some examples:

Freetown, the capital city, now has electricity, when only two years ago it did not. Practically everyone has a cell phone (or two), when no one did five years ago (and there weren’t really landlines either). Agriculture is developing, a railroad is being constructed by a mining company, banks and microfinance institutions are popping up and many people have confidence in the current president.

That is not to say that there aren’t a million challenges. Maternal and infant mortality rates are amongst the highest in the world, which is evident in my everyday activities. In the villages, girls aren’t often given a chance to advance their education and even when they are, the quality of education is generally poor. The adult literacy rate is very low, especially among women, which complicates efforts in education. These are real problems and they are gradually changing with the hard work of NGO’s, International Organizations, the government and other change agents, but change takes time. For many of these issues I can only hope that the work of myself and others is contributing to positive change and that 5, 10 and 20+ years down the road things will be different.

Anyway, I hope that provides you all with a good update on what I’m up to, as well as some of the opportunities available beyond graduation.

A big warm welcome to the incoming Class of 2015! While most of the university is running around in their frosh uniform or hanging out by the lake, you may have seen some students dressed as if they’re about to present to the Board of Directors. For the 4th year students of Queen’s Commerce, this is Career Launch 2011.

Organized by the dedicated staff at the Business Career Centre in Goodes Hall, Career Launch is the annual kickoff to recruitment season. Mock interviews, networking sessions with on-campus recruiters, professional development workshops and speakers – this event is an absolute must for any student serious about their career after graduation.

During the month of September, students sign up for info sessions hosted by the recruiting companies. Info sessions take place in Goodes Hall, Ban Righ Cafeteria, at the University Club, and in local restaurants and bars in Kingston. These sessions are incredibly useful in terms of figuring out if you are the right fit for a company. By attending, you often get the chance to connect with alumni from the Queen’s Commerce program as well as the people who will be conducting the interviews – every edge you have can make a difference.

Aside from participating in Career Launch over the next few days, I’m also working on frosh hiring for the Queen’s Entrepreneurs’ Competition. Every Commerce Society (ComSoc) committee Co-Chair must hire 1-2 frosh reps in the fall, interview all interested applicants, and notify those unsuccessful in a timely manner. From a learning experience, it certainly gives me a lot of insight to be on both sides of the hiring process.

Until next time!
Katherine Wong Too Yen, BCom’12

The past week, I had the pleasure of representing Queen’s at the 2011 New Zealand SDS International Case Competition. Set in the resort town of Queenstown, the entire experience felt very much like a vacation and less so a case competition. To draw a parallel, it was like going to a competition held at Banff. That said, I not only had the opportunity to soak up, briefly, the culture of New Zealand, but also learn an invaluable lesson in international business.

To set some context, the population of New Zealand is 4.4 million and its largest city, Auckland, is home to 1.4 million. Queenstown has a resident population under 30,000. When our first case asked us to design an event in New Zealand for Red Bull, we weren’t quite sure what to do. We didn’t know very much about existing attractions in various cities – we didn’t even know the NZ/Australian school calendar in order for us to time our event properly with when students go on break. We kept our North American brains clicking, and spewed out, in hindsight, a very unrealistic recommendation: bring Sean White and the Red Bull snow team to train in Queenstown, New Zealand. Needless to say, the feedback from the judges revolved around the theme that our idea was “too big” and required a “leap of faith.”

And this is a very important lesson. When you’re in the real world, you have to be prepared to adapt your approaches and perspectives when doing business in a different culture. This idea seems simple enough and we had warned ourselves about this on the flight over, but when push came to shove, it is one of those easier said than done phrases. On our next two cases, the feedback from the judges and other advisors/coaches was much more positive, attesting that our approach had definitely been adapted to become more in line with the ways of thinking down under.

It really was an eye-opening process to deliver what usually works in your home country/continent to industry professionals in a completely different corner of the world, and then have them give you their feedback about how they received your approach. Taking this experience to heart, I’m now even more excited to go on exchange! There may be a separation between class lectures and solving real business problems, but learning about business in general in another part of the world is something that will undoubtedly open any student’s mind. It’s without question this mantra that has made the exchange program so popular within Queen’s Commerce.

Also, a big welcome to the class of 2015!

Zeya Yang ‘13