Nicaraguan Developments, Winter 2006, Volume 22, No. 4

By Shannon Bell
WCCN Intern

By Sue Lloyd
WCCN Board Member

It was 15 years ago that WCCN began to channel investors’ money into community economic development in Nicaragua through what is now Prestanic, the community loan fund started by the Nicaraguan Council of Churches (CEPAD). Just a year earlier, after the 1990 election ended the revolutionary Sandinista government, WCCN’s director, Sonia Taddy, and the Board had agreed that our focus going forward would be economic issues and projects. The opportunity to partner with CEPAD, a strong Nicaraguan NGO which shared a focus on economic development, came our way. WCCN took the initial steps on the road by which we eventually forged a model for investment in microcredit and community economic development in the third world.

By Emily Allred
WCCN NICA Fund Manager

“We are no longer a footnote in the financial system of the world. We are part of the mainstream — and hopefully we’ll be the core of the mainstream.” This statement from Dr. Muhammad Yunus’ speech with which he addressed delegates at the opening ceremony of the Global Microcredit Summit would have seemed like an exaggeration before October 13, 2006, when the world learned that Yunus and the Grameen Bank won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. One month later the fact that microfinance has reached such scale comes at no surprise to the 2,000 microfinance leaders, practitioners, development workers and bankers from over 100 countries meeting at the Global Microcredit Summit in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In the State of the Microcredit Summit Campaign Report 2006, 113,261,390 clients are reported to currently be taking loans from 3,133 microcredit institutions as of December 31, 2005. Of these clients, 81,949,036 are considered among the worlds poorest, earning below US$1 a day.

By Carlos Arenas
WCCN’s Executive Director

WCCN is proud to commemorate 15 years working in microfinance and is no less proud of its work with the Nicaraguan women’s movement during the last 16 years. In fact, the Women’s Empowerment Project (WEP), is WCCN’s longest-running program. It was initiated in May 1990 following a delegation to Nicaragua focusing on the work of “Casas de la Mujer” (Women’s Centers). In this article I would like to provide an overview of what we have accomplished over the years and elaborate on where WEP is currently headed.

By Matt Early
Just Coffee

Recently fellow Just Coffee worker-owner Mike Miller and I had the opportunity to visit the organization La FEM (Fundación Entre Mujeres) in Estelí, Nicaragua. After finding out about the group from WCCN, we were excited to meet them and learn more about their work while exploring the possibility of buying their coffee to roast and sell in Madison.
La FEM is not simply a coffee growing cooperative. Founded in 1996, they organized to work on issues of domestic violence against women, women’s health, education, and job training. Upon meeting them we were immediately impressed with their level of organization and their dedication to women’s rights as a political and social imperative.

By Susan Frisbie
WCCN Development and Marketing Director

On Tuesday, November 7th millions of voters across the United States sat in their living rooms watching the television while waiting to hear the latest mid-term Congressional election results arriving from the polls. The night did not end well for the Fox News faithful who may have found further news to sulk about if they watched the news ticker at the bottom of the screen, as a familiar name they hadn’t seen in quite some time scrolled by. That name was Daniel Ortega. Though the Nicaraguan elections were held on Sunday, November 5th, it wasn’t until Tuesday evening with 91 percent of the ballots counted that Eduardo Montealegre, the U.S. government-favored right-wing candidate conceded the Nicaraguan presidential election to Ortega.

Bianca’s bright pink house is exemplary of the style of homes in the colorful neighborhood of Santa Clara, a community of Juigalpa. She and her seven children, her aunt, and two grandchildren share the home built from concrete with several rooms and running water. Only a short time ago, however, Bianca and her family were sharing a single room made from scraps of plastic and zinc and staying dry was a constant challenge. She longed for a house where she wouldn’t get wet, but she needed help.