WCCN's 2010 Annual Meeting

From left to right are Carlos Felipe Tzoc of ASDIR, Guatemala; Zobeida Hernandez of PRODESA, Nicaragua; and Pedro Morales of CCAMETRO, El Salvador; at WCCN’s 2010 Annual Meeting in Madison, Wisconsin. Photo by Emily Allred.

Our 2010 annual meeting on April 28 was a smashing success, with 65 people attending, connecting with friends, enjoying a traditional Nicaraguan dinner and hearing three fabulous speakers.

Carlos Felipe Tzoc, executive director of ASDIR (Asociacion de Desarrollo Integral Rural/Association for the Development of Rural Communities), spoke about the beauty and challenges of working in the remote and rural highlands of western Guatemala. About 85 percent of ASDIR borrowers are indigenous Maya Quiche whose communities were terrorized during the “time of violence” in the 1980s.

Zobeida Hernandez, executive director of PRODESA (Fundación para la Promoción y Desarrollo/Foundation for Promotion and Development), explained how microcredit is just one approach the organization uses to foster community economic development in southeastern Nicaragua. PRODESA also offers comprehensive business development classes, technical assistance and loans for home improvement, and youth programs. PRODESA also sponsors several county fair type events where borrowers can sell their products.

Pedro Morales, executive director of CCAMETRO (Caja de Crédito Metropolitana/Metropolitan Credit Union), in El Salvador told of success serving micro-merchants in the markets of San Salvador and the markets of surrounding communities. Of CCAMETRO’s clients, 73 percent are women. Many are single mothers and owners and sole employees of their marketplace businesses. CCAMETRO staff visit the market to collect loan payments from their clients, allowing the women to keep their businesses open instead of traveling to the credit union to make payments.

At the 2011 annual meeting, WCCN will mark its 20th anniversary of providing microcredit in Latin America. Early in 2011, we’ll let you know the date so you can help celebrate two decades of successfully working to alleviate poverty.

A few of the 2010 Annual Meeting attendees. Photo by Emily Allred.

Thank you to our wonderful sponsors who made this event possible:

Danny & Linda Andersen, Caroline Beckett, Charles & Sue Bradley, Susan Browne, Charles L. Conlon, M.D., Victoria Inskip, Johnson Bank, Gregg & Ursula Johnson, Jane H. & Vincent Kavaloski, Art & Sue Lloyd, Marjon Ornstein, Ruth Hyde Paine, Walter C. & Karen A. Pridham, Dan Rodman, Sally Stix, The Robert J. & Eunice J. Wagner Foundation, Eliza Waters, Wegner CPAs & Consultants, and the Wisconsin Council of Churches.