Virgen De Las Mercedes Group

BCR Virgen de las Mercedes has its base in the capital of the province of Churcampa, which is located at over 10,000 feet above sea level. Currently the bank has completed 2 loan cycles in just one year of existence with 17 female borrowers. Some of the group members live in small communities outside the city of Churcampa, in places like El Carmen and Chupas, more than an hour of walking distance away.

The members of the bank, during their one year in FINCA Peru, besides having learned to be responsible and punctual, are learning more and more about savings and how to invest their loans. The group was able to save over 5,500 soles (about $1,800) in the first 2 loan cycles and will continue to save in the future. For all members, the main use of the savings is for the education of their children: buying school uniforms, supplies, books and even to pay for entering primary or secondary school. Another dream they have for the use of their savings is to be able to make renovations to their houses, like constructing another floor or changing the roof to a more sustainable one.

All members have different enterprises, ranging from raising guinea pigs, having a kiosk with sweets and juices close to the primary school, selling food and ice creams, buying and selling small animals, selling potatoes, selling chicken or having grocery stores.

Every member has a different testimony, as is the case of 36-year-old Mary Otarola Cardenas, who has a small grocery store in the central square of Churcampa, where she also sells homemade sweets. As with many women, she has more than one occupation: she also buys and sells chicken. The chicken she buys in a major city that is more than 8 hours away by public transport. Her dream is to grow her business and keep on saving to be able to pay for the education of her 3 children. Her new loan she will use for buying more groceries for her store.

Another story is the one of Edith Acuña Gamboa, who has a grocery store and buys and sells small animals like sheep and lamb. Those are the businesses she runs during the whole year, but living in a rural area, she also has fields of corn and is waiting for the harvest in May to be able to sell her corn. Her new loan she will invest in buying more small animals.

As the women of the group have different businesses, different businesses require different loans. The loans range from 200 soles, 400 soles, and 600 soles up to 1200 soles, and the total of the loans reaches 8,900 soles among the 17 members.



About Group Loans
In a group loan, each member of the group receives an individual loan but is part of a group of individuals bound by a group guarantee. Under this arrangement, each member of the group supports one another and is responsible for paying back the loans of their fellow group members if someone is delinquent or defaults. Learn more