GreenMicrofinancing

I am home! After a long flight yesterday, Kathleen and I made our way in a taxi through the streets of Nusa Dua from the airport to our hotel. The warm balmy night air and smell of the ocean in Bali felt as if I were back in Commonwealth of Dominica - and at the same time the all-familiar ride weaving through the street with thousands of motor scooters alongside the little roadside kiosks brought me back to my time in India and Nepal.

Dan, Kathleen, and I have been warmly welcomed by our hosts at the Microcredit Summit Campaign, as well as by Sam Daley-Harris and Professor Yunus. We had lunch at a beach-side café with Denise Hughes, a public relations associate who has worked with the Summit Campaign for ten years. With a strong interest in the environment, she would like to join Dan, Kathleen, and me as another blogger from Bali. We welcome her input over the next days.


Dan led Kathleen and me on an afternoon adventure trying to locate a business selling solar and wind systems that he discovered yesterday after his arrival in Bali. Our taxi driver finally caught a glimpse of SPI (Solar Power Indonesia) with its small wind turbine and solar panel on top of the complex building. Although SPI was closed, we hope to visit some of their installation sites.

As so many colleagues gather, I wonder as we look at microfinance over the next 10 years, what will be the most important drivers for the industry. We are interested in what others have to say and hope to post some responses over the next few days.

Thanks USAID microLINKS for this wonderful opportunity here in Bali.

 I can speak for us as a team and say we are thrilled to be blogging daily from the Asia-Pacific Microcredit Summit in Bali, Indonesia.

Our team in Bali includes Elizabeth Israel, Kathleen Robbins, and myself, Dan Lundmark. Back in the USA we have Betsy Teutsch, Thomas Israel, and Joan Hall holding down the fort.

Elizabeth and Kathleen will be presenting at the summit, you can find them here:

Presenting - Tuesday, July 29 * Jakarta Room A
Panel Presentation 11:15 - Microfinance, Their Clients and Clean Energy
Associated Session 18:30 - Financing Clean Energy: A Case Study

In addition to presenting and blogging, we will be filming interviews and recording for an ongoing GMf documentary film project, upcoming podcasts, and educational materials. A special thanks to USAID and MicroLINKS for making this possible.

Got a topic of discussion you would like to see here? Leave a comment with your suggestion. Visit daily here on the GreenMicrofinance blog as we bring a bit of Bali to you.  See you in Bali!