Interview with a Credit Promoter for the April 20th Cooperative

Tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Rosa Estela Rodriguez Herrera, I’m originally from Quilalí, and I am an agricultural engineer.

How long have you been working with the Cooperative and when did you become involved?

I officially celebrated my first year on February 15th but have been involved with the Cooperative for some time now, given that my mother was a founding associate and member of the Cooperative’s administrative council since its inception. Accompanying my mother to Cooperative meetings and activities helped me to understand how the Cooperative works, and also to really come to love this project which my mother was part of. When I had the chance to apply for the post, I did. I was very confident of my abilities, more than anything I am a woman with clear goals and it was always a dream of mine to start working with the Cooperative, not just for my family, but also for the prestige that the Cooperative has.

Can you describe the work of a Credit Promoter?

It’s great, because as a promoter you’re the one closest to the members. You interact with people of very different educational levels, from the housewife you enroll as a business woman because she’s selling tortillas and coffee out of her home, from offering credit to an office worker, to a merchant … In any case, my job is not only to extend credit but also to offer the different services provided by the Cooperative. It’s all very interesting, from supporting a member’s entrance into the Cooperative, to offering them follow-up not just in terms of credit, but also supporting them with the technical knowledge they need to ensure a good yield from their crops, and then helping them market those products. In the Cooperative, we have the opportunity to offer a complete range of services to the small producers, including financing, technical assistance and marketing of their products.

What are the challenges you face as you carry out your work?

If the defaults increase; if a member needs credit, but doesn’t have the ability to repay that credit. You really have to act with logic, not just with your heart. There are many challenges, but I consider them to be an opportunity, not only to grow as a professional, but also as a human being. We have the ability to work and we carry out our work with love, day after day. We have to make the members aware that we are a cooperative, not a bank, and that we as members are the ones who have to always be working to ensure that the Cooperative continues to grow.

What brings you the most satisfaction in your work as a Credit Promoter?

Offering needed services to our members; being the person who is closest to the members and the one they trust in, as their promoter or, as they call us, their technical expert. Being part of this great family that the Cooperative has become. You feel good when you offer a service that contributes to the development, especially the personal development, of each member.

I’m very happy with my work, and I like to work as a credit promoter, since it’s a job with both challenges and opportunities. I like what I do, I’m passionate about the things I do everyday, and I especially like being able to serve the members of my Cooperative.

Translated from Spanish by Donna Vukelich.