First Day at Maxima

Last Thursday, I met the CEO and founders of Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Ltd. at the Cambodian Banking Conference held in a nearby casino, Naga World. It was a great introduction to the various players in Cambodian microfinance, particularly in meeting managers of the other large MFIs where Kiva has fellows, including Credit, AMK and HKL.

The  presentations, however, where mostly thinly-veiled IT-pitches by technology companies vying for banking customers. A presentation on “Outstanding Customer Service” revolved around Avaya’s newest call-centered phone, and “Improving Banking in a Downturn Economy” discussed a particular company’s customer management solution. Most of the participants seemed disappointed at the presentation quality, but nonetheless made the most out of networking and sharing best practices.

The one presentation on microfinance, however, was great, and I enjoyed listening it through my wireless headphones to hear the speaker translated into English. The speaker discussed the growing importance for Cambodians to use savings/deposits and how MFIs can use this to get more capital to loan to an increased reach of entrepreneurs. I’ve heard from some expats that most Cambodians do not use savings or banks of any type, and such lose their life savings when their home is broken into and their money is found in a closet or mattress. Sidenote: I also have five locks (and five keys) to get into my apartment here; home security is of utmost importance.

On Friday, John (the preceding Maxima Kiva Fellow) and I took a tuk tuk to see the Maxima office and introduce myself to the staff. Most of the loan officers, who sit upstairs, were out in the fields dispersing and collecting loans. The (heavily female) office staff, however, were all waiting at the front reception and smiling for John to arrive and say his goodbyes.

John did his introduction, and I stood there sheepishly, embarrassed to be someone spoken of so highly (she comes from Google! San Francisco! Marketing experience!) when I’m the same age as most of these girls.

After meeting my main Kiva contact, Kiva Coordinator, and learning the names of the office staff and the various rooms, John and I set off on the motorbike that  would soon to be mine next week when I began work.

As long as I'm not driving

Well, flash forward to Monday and there is no way that I’d take a motorbike to work, not if I’m driving.

The first day is now almost to the end, and I’ve spent it speaking to the three of the five founders of Maxima and discussing special projects to work on in the coming months. Beyond all the day-to-day responsibilities I’m being introduced to, I’ve also been given the following:

- Bottle of water

- Banana

- Orange

- Lunch with the office staff (where I also learned numbers 1-5 in Khmer)

- Jiccima and chili salt

- Mango and chili salt

And, upon learning of my fear to ride the motobike, and despite my protests that I could take a mototaxi or walk to work (“too far!”) I have been given:

- A driver to pick me up in the morning and drop me off every afternoon

Holy smokes.

Maxima’s staff is young, friendly and dedicated to improving not only the lives of other Cambodians, but also specifically to invest in their own employees.

I’m headed to the field tomorrow with a loan officer to meet microborrowers. I hope I can repay Maxima’s kindness by delivering real value to their business. I am so flattered by their generosity thus far and am looking forward to learning more about their business and employees.

Welp, better get ready for the driver to take me home.

PS: The head Kiva manager, with whom I work closely and is a total sweetheart, is about 4′10″, making me look like the BFG in comparison.