Micro-Credit
WPF embraces the notion that its partners are sometimes best served when they receive assistance in the form of credit rather than outright grants. These microloans foster enhanced financial knowledge, greater participation in traditional economic transactions, deeper accountabilities, preparation for economic independence and an earned sense of self-respect. WPF works with those entities which typically have little access to credit from local sources. Many of our partner cooperatives are loan recipients, in addition to the following examples:
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Web English http://www.nitlapan.org.ni/
Web Spanish http://www.nitlapan.org.ni/index.php
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HAND IN HAND BANK
In 1997, a group of poor women of the municipality of Waslala formed the Mothers and Family Member War Victims Association and consolidated the Hand in Hand Community Bank, a savings and loan project started with minimal amounts of working capital. The Bank’s efficient management has been crucial to the recovery of its portfolio and the ongoing savings of its members; it has increased and diversified its loan portfolio ever since, often with dramatic results. WPF is one of the early supporters of this effort and has continued to provide resources for further development. Current plans include construction of a community training center and dormitory that would allow education opportunities for more people and from a wider geographic area.
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The Story of Waslala
The story of women’s empowerment in Waslala is a remarkably uplifting tale that has captured the attention of both donor and NGO organizations inside of Nicaragua and outside the borders. The evolution of the women of Waslala and their journey through microcredit experiences is one that is worth telling, and which has been captured in the book, Women’s Empowerment in Waslala: Microfinance in Nicaragua’s Agricultural Frontier, by Dr. Francisco Rafael Barquero (166 Pages, Copyright 2005).
This detailed look into the impacts of credit access by the women of Waslala is both emotionally stirring and objectively compelling. A copy of the book can be obtained free of charge from Winds of Peace Foundation, which underwrote the English translation of the book. Interested parties may send their delivery address along with $5.00 to cover shipping and handling to: Winds of Peace Foundation, 203 6th St, Kenyon, MN 55946 Please allow 2 weeks for delivery.
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Active Peasants of Jalapa Multiple Service Cooperatives (CCAJ)
Following the change in government in February 1990, two young people and a missionary came together and collaborated in the process of helping to legalize cooperatives and their lands in the area of Jalapa. While cooperatives existed under an agrarian reform law, the lands of the cooperatives were not legalized and the government had retained a monopoly over the commercialization of most agricultural crops. These three activists helped local peasants to gain legal ownership of their lands and promoted the marketing of the products produced there, starting as a peasant farmer education project and resulting in the creation of CCAJ.
CCAJ is one of the best known and widely-respected cooperatives in Nicaragua, due to their history, their leadership in post-war reconciliation efforts in the area, their successes and the socio-political voice that they have given to rural producers. WPF has supported the group since 2000, providing funding for member production, education, organizational development and strategic planning.
