WCCN's Newsletter, Winter 2009, Volume 25, No. 4

Streets blockaded by members of the “non-payment movement”. Photo by Mark Aumann.

Only few years ago, Nicaragua’s microfinance institutions were internationally recognized for their outstanding performance and for having some of the most well run microfinance institutions in Latin America. Today, there is a growing concern about the health and future of the Nicaraguan microfinance industry. What has happened? Why this sudden turn of events?

As the United States continues suffering the effects of the recession with painful news about massive home foreclosures and increasing unemployment rates, supporters like you are aware of and act upon the fact, that millions of people worldwide are also suffering from the pains of this recession.

A boy pumps water in the rural Santa Teresa community of La Chota, in the buffer zone of Chacocente Wildlife Refuge. These easy-to-use rope pumps are the most appreciated donation of the SCP. Photo by Derrick Gee.

Richland Center, Wisconsin and Santa Teresa, Nicaragua have been sister cities since 1987. WCCN made the connection between the two cities, and the relationships has prospered for everyone involved. In 2008, WCCN contributed $4,000 to improve sanitation and access to clean water in La Solera, Nicaragua through a partnership with the Richland Center-Santa Teresa Sister City Project (SCP). The funds were fully used during 2009 and this first phase of the project is now successfully completed, thanks to the commitment and hard work of people at La Solera and the accompaniment and oversight of the SCP.

It is the rainy season in late September in the Guatemalan highlands and photojournalist Michael Kienitz and WCCN board member Gregg Johnson have volunteered to visit the two Guatemalan microfinance institutions (MFIs) funded by WCCN in early 2009. The goal is to collect some information about the borrowers of these two MFI’s, better understand how WCCN’s capital impacts their families, and share the results with WCCN donors and investors. In addition to the formal questions on the social impact questionnaire, Michael is photographing the borrowers, their families and surroundings.

Sonia Floriselda Argueta. Photo by Carlos Arenas.

Sonia Floriselda Argueta, a borrower of Padecomsm Credit in El Salvador, has a recipe for success. With a ninth grade education, Sonia learned how to make tortillas from watching her mother, and began working in restaurants. She then started a bakery of her own with a wood fire clay oven. In 2004 she took her first loan to buy ingredients for her bakery. She then used the profits to expand the bakery. With another loan she was able to replace her smoky and dangerous wood fired oven with a propane powered oven, and a third to purchase a table. At first there were a total of three women, including herself, selling her bread in baskets in the market. Now five women are selling and two work in the bakery. She was initially producing 12 trays a day, and now 20 to 30 trays is the average.