स्वागत!

Greetings!

This is a blog of my experiences, observations, and perceptions during a two month stay in Bangalore, India. I will be interning at Sanghamitra Rural Financial Services (SRFS), a non-profit microfinance institute aiming to raise clients out of poverty by offering microloans and other financial services. I will also be conducting independent research on the profit structures of microfinance firms and its effect on the social and income impacts it has on its clients. To this end, I will be using SRFS's financial data, which they have been kind enough to share with me, as well as the data from other firms gathered off of the MIX Market database. In addition, we will be interviewing clients from the firm to gather their insights into the impact of microfinance, their standard of living, and their perceptions of microfinance.

This blog will include stories, pictures, insights from the interviews, as well as updates on the progress of the research. I would love any and all feedback, suggestions for the research, and stories of your own!

Becky Smith