Letter from Kosovo

Greetings and a Happy New Year from Kosovo! This is my first letter to the Dialogue, since I joined as the Project Director of KGMAMF. I arrived safely in Kosovo on July 20, 2005, and was cordially received by Mr. Hai Khan, Mr. Salam, and other branch managers at Prishtina Airport. It was very comforting to see familiar faces, especially in a distant land.

During my probationary period, I slowly began to take on the responsibilities of Project Director. Mr. Khan, the departing Project Director, guided me throughout the process. He introduced me to all the key persons and institutions relevant to KGMAMF, including UNMIK, BPK, Procredit Bank, AMIK, etc. I also familiarized myself with all project activities, such as center meetings, branch operations, member activities, Gold Member recognition, and micro-enterprise loan disbursements, and staff meetings. After having acquainted myself with the project work, I finally took over the full responsibility of the Project Director on September 1, 2005.

Mr. Hai Khan soon departed from Kosovo for Bangladesh. He was in charge of the project for two years. His departure was indeed a heart- rending moment for both of us.

Soon after assuming my position, we continued with our regular work of group recognition, selection of microenterprise loans, staff meeting, surprise center visits, etc. We awarded a micro-enterprise loan to Ms. Bozhidarka Thaqi of the Prizren Branch. She requested the loan for running her family's grocery shop near the city of Gjakova. Her daughter runs the shop, which earns nearly €200-300 per day. Ms. Thaqi is on her third loan cycle, and was awarded with €3000 as a microenterprise loan.

Until the end of 2005, 53 new groups were recognized and 351 new members have been recruited, after my joining. During this period, we were also able to disburse €2.2 million, along with 22 microenterprise loans and 315 fresh loans after 6 months.

During the second half of December 2005, all branches were very busy with their annual closing. We also went to each branch to meet the staff and verify their statements. After thorough examination of all accounts, we had the final results for the annual closing on December 30, 2005. After all expenses, KGMAMF earned a net profit of €17,734.89 in 2005.

We hope KGMAMF will continue its success in the same way, and 2006 will bring new success to our work, in serving the poor of Kosovo.