Last updated June 4, 2012

Partner Description:

ADICLA (Association for the Holistic Development of the Basin of Lake Atitlán) is a nonprofit rural community development association that provides small loans and services to improve quality of life in Sololá and Suchitepequez, two of the poorest regions of Guatemala and home to an indigenous majority. ADICLA was founded in 1993 by community leaders from the municipalities around the northern basin of Lake Atitlán in Sololá, Guatemala.

As a community organization, ADICLA’s staff includes many members of the Lake Atitlán community, and its board is entirely comprised of actual clients. This keeps loan services nimble and responsive to client needs.

ADICLA’s loan program is called the Community Finance Program (PROFINCO is its acronym in Spanish). PROFINCO disburses and collects on small loans through three different lending methodologies: individual loans, solidarity group loans, and loans for larger groups of women. As part of a strategy to offer a diversified range of services, PROFINCO also provides the following services through a partnership with a local bank: check cashing, remittance payments, receipt of bank deposits, and phone and electric bill payments.

ADICLA also seeks to diversify its loan product offerings. With the help of Kiva’s 0% interest capital, it is launching several pilot programs. In particular, Kiva lenders will help fund three lending initiatives:

Loans for youth entrepreneurs: These loans allow young people without prior credit histories to borrow in groups, an opportunity that isn’t offered by many other microfinance institutions. The loans will be used to help them start small businesses.

Green loans: These loans will fund a number of environmentally friendly initiatives, such as the purchase and installation of solar panels, green community tourism projects, and reforestation, among other initiatives.

Down-market loans:These are smaller loans tailored to poorer borrowers. ADICLA plans to focus more on poverty alleviation by expanding a women’s village banking product and tracking borrower poverty indicators.

Vision:

To be the association that drives the holistic development of the department of Sololá by facilitating economic, social and environmental technical services, and assisting in community organizing processes to strengthen local economies with inclusion and equality, articulated in spaces and through participatory movements in favor of improving the living conditions of the target population and based on ethical principles and values. -- Provided by ADICLA