“Thank you for believing in us”
by Susan Frisbie
Development and Marketing Director
In the early ‘90s, with the war behind them, the vast majority of Nicaraguans still faced an uphill battle in the struggle against poverty and injustice. In May 1991, WCCN sent a delegation to Nicaragua to learn more about establishing a socially responsible trade and investment program that would foster economic development. This led to our first steps into microfinance through a partnership with CEPAD, the Nicaraguan Council of Protestant Churches. CEPAD was also entering new territory with an alternative loan project that would make credit accessible to those who needed it most.
“We try to be a catalyst for development, which, in our definition, is a self-sustaining process. That doesn’t mean the people we work with are self-sufficient, but at least they can begin to negotiate on their own terms,” said then CEPAD Director of Development and Emergency Relief Armando Gutierrez.1
CEPAD’s microcredit program, PRESTANIC, became WCCN’s first partner agency, a partnership that has continued for more than 17 years. In April, WCCN invited Armando Gutierrez, now PRESTANIC’s General Manager, to visit Madison to share PRESTANIC’s experiences with WCCN members and supporters as the featured guest at our Annual Membership Meeting, as well as with the University of Wisconsin through several lectures and brown bag seminars. In an interview with WCCN, Armando reflected on WCCN and PRESTANIC’s history. What follows are excerpts from that interview.
A new model of solidarity
“WCCN and CEPAD were ahead of the curve [in 1991]. International solidarity and donations were declining. What would happen to those who received no attention from government programs, or even international cooperation? So, a novel new model of solidarity was created, which brought resources from the US to loan to CEPAD-PRESTANIC, so we could re-loan it to micro-businesspeople. “
The double mission
“The challenge that microfinance institutions face is to fulfill a double mission. Our social mission, showing that there is a “social profit,” and at the same time, financial sustainability, to be able to endure and continue providing services. Today, the important thing is to show that we are having a bigger and bigger impact. We are making changes in people’s lives. We’re not the State, we can’t meet every need people have. But we can demonstrate that people can improve their income, or create jobs. This brings about changes in health, in gender relations, in the means of production, in education, and life in general.”
A message to investors
“First, thank you. Thank you for believing in us, for being brave, and for your contagious spirit. It really is contagious — today, this model is being replicated in other places. I think this is not a financial relationship, it’s a relationship of values. That’s what we need to hold on to, now more than ever. We see a tendency towards the commercialization of microcredit, because it’s being shown — we’re showing — that the poor are profitable. We need to hold on to the values that gave rise to this novel project in the first place. “
1 Gutierrez, Armando, “Empowering the Poor to Help Themselves,” Sister City Update, Winter 1993.
Photo: Armando Gutierrez (center) presents a plaque symbolizing Prestanic’s gratitude to WCCN. Dan Rodman (left), outgoing president of WCCN’s Board of Directors, and Executive Director Carlos Arenas (right) accept in WCCN's name. Photo by Michael Kienitz.