HELP US
IN NICARAGUA
HELP THE WORKING POOR IN NICARAGUA DURING THE POLITICAL & ECONOMIC CRISIS
Working Capital for Community Needs (WCCN) has been working in solidarity with
the people of Nicaragua for 35 years. To date, WCCN’s loan fund program has lent
more than $134 million to poor borrowers and has repaid its investors 100% of the
principal and interest owed to them.
The current political crisis in Nicaragua has led to great suffering of the people we
help there, some having their businesses destroyed or otherwise affected by the
disruption of transportation, tourism, schools and commerce. In February, we visited
many of our borrowers in the field in Nicaragua. We found that on average most of
them had experienced a 30% to 50% drop in income in the previous 12-month period, mostly after the political protests that engulfed the country beginning in April, 2018 and the ensuing violence that led to road blockades, vandalism, and other disruptions.
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Our seven financial partners in Nicaragua are doing their best to help their customers. In many cases they have helped them adapt their business strategies to economic activities that may have more success at this time. For example, our partner MiCredito helped a family that owns a small shop making boots and shoes convert their operation to a bakery. In times of crisis, people are willing to go without new shoes, but they will continue to eat and drink. Our partners have also been very generous by helping their borrowers restructure and by delaying interest payments until the borrowers can figure out how to navigate the new political and economic waters.
CRISIS IN NICARAGUA
CRISIS IN NICARAGUA
Norma Isabel Mendoza is the owner of a bath pastes small factory in Chichigalpa municipality. The loans have been very useful in order to grow her business and build a warehouse for storing the material.
María Magdalena is the owner of a small bakery in León. She studied food technology and started as a bank client of WCCN in 2009. Since getting her loans, she has been able to upgrade the bakery and increase overall production.
WHAT WCCN IS DOING
WCCN has been working with its partners in Nicaragua since the crisis began. To date we have restructured three loans with existing partners, provided technical support to one partner, provided new capital to another, and are looking at other ways of helping including debt relief and grants.
WCCN is one of the only financing organizations that has persisted to lend in Nicaragua, but to continue offering funds and assistance we need your help! To that end, we are looking to raise donations to bolster our financial condition in order to better serve the working poor in Nicaragua and the other countries in which we work. We cannot do this without the support of our donors and investors.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
With your help, WCCN can keep its Nicaraguan partner financial institutions stable and secure for their borrowers for the duration of the crisis and beyond. Will you consider making a gift to WCCN to help the people of Nicaragua during this time of conflict?
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