About WCCN's new partner agencies
El Salvador
Padecomsm (Patronato para el Desarrollo de las Comunidades de Morazán y San Miguel) is the microfinance division of an NGO that was organized during the civil war. The mission of Padecomsm is to be “…an entity that specializes in accessible microfinance services, flexible and appropriate for microenterprises and small businesses, with economic profitability and social responsibility; contributing to the improvement in the quality of life for [their] clients.” Most of Padecomsm Credit’s portfolio is allocated to microenterprises, small businesses and industry, serving the very poor, rural department of Morazan. The majority of loans are made to women through individual and solidarity-group methodologies.
Fundación Campo’s mission is to offer microfinance services in a sustainable manner that will contribute to improving quality of life for rural families, small businesses, micro-enterprise owners and wage earners. Community development is their ultimate goal. They work in four departments of the northeastern region of El Salvador, serving very poor borrowers in rural areas. Many of Fundación Campo’s borrowers are using their loans for livestock.
Guatemala
CDRO’s mission is to “promote and accompany the integrated development of rural communities, based on the model of total community participation, in an equitable, inclusive and sustainable way, taking into account the values and principles of the culture itself and incorporating elements from other cultures, to have empowering organizations that belong to the communities themselves.” CDRO is serving Totonicapán and surrounding areas of Western Guatemala where 97% of the population is Maya Quiche. The majority of their clients are illiterate, and 20% are considered extremely poor, earning under $1 a day, and 80% as poor, earning $2 a day. Nevertheless, they are situated in a very economically vibrant region, where clients are succeeding in their commercial activities.
Fondesol’s mission is to “Make the poor the protagonist of their own development by facilitating access to quality financial services.” Fondesol began with a focus on the community bank methodology, and the majority of the portfolio continues to be lent among these communal banks. Additionally, Fondesol is providing loans to borrowers organized in solidarity groups as a means to reaching very poor borrowers who lack collateral. Over two thirds of Fondesol borrowers are women, and they typically use their loans for agriculture and livestock.