Loan #4: 5 De Junio Group

Here's the 5 De Junio Group from Bolivia.

This is a good one, based on several elements of my half-formed notions of how microfinance works.  Half-formed might be generous, actually.

• It's a group of entrepreneurs, which generally works out better than an individual.
• The interest rate is reasonable.  This is a pretty contentious issues among people who worry about this kind of thing - microloans tend to have high rates attached to them.  Too high, according to some.  I'm not convinced one way or the other, but why not err on the side of lowness?
• According to their profile, this group is well acquainted with microloans.

But look, I'm not going to lie to you and say the bowler hats had nothing to do with it.  Thanks to the presence in central South America of some railroad-affiliated Brits in the early 20th century, Bolivian women wear bowler hats.  It's not a fad; it's not some kind of counter-intuitive hipster fashion statement.  It's for real, and it's awesome.  It's also quite eye-catching when one is scrolling through open loans on Kiva.

See also this by now pretty old NYT article about Bolivian female wrestlers.