Society

Pro Mujer Helps Struggling Women in Latin America

Pro Mujer Helps Struggling Women in Latin America
Bernadine Racoma

Lynne Patterson, co-founder of Pro Mujer is setting a new standard on how small loans combined with basic entrepreneurial training and health education can help. Pro Mujer is assisting struggling women in Latin America to secure a decent living for themselves. Catering to almost a quarter of a million women, Pro Mujer is one of the most promising microfinance organizations in the region.

Uplifting women

Pro Mujer is a microfinance institution catering to women in Nicaragua, Peru, Mexico, Bolivia and Argentina. The main goal of the company is to help struggling women to stand on their own two feet. Women are given a source of income through small loans. Based on its records, Pro Mujer is now at the $1 billion mark in terms of the small loans it has handed over.

However, the duty of Pro Mujer does not end with lending money. The company also provides training in handling businesses, as well as health care services and proper education. In a statement given by Bob Annibale, he said that the difference between Pro Mujer and other microfinance organizations is its deep commitment to healthcare. He reiterated that health care is an essential component in maintaining a family’s livelihood.

Full of enthusiasm

Whenever she is asked to state the mission and goals of Pro Mujer, co-founder Lynne Patterson does so with eagerness. Each sentence delivered by Patterson is stressed by a slap on the table, considered by those who know her as her means of making a point. Ms. Patterson is rather very fond of citing inspirational quotes from Amartya Sen and Mary Wollstonecraft whenever the subject of women’s equality arises. “We believe you can do it,” said by Ms. Patterson in many of her speeches as she continues to convince women that the key to their own future is their own selves.

The past and the present

Many women in Latin America face the same problem. With poverty holding them down and with no available means to make a good living, they end up feeling hopeless. Since Pro Mujer was established, the status of many women in Latin America has dramatically changed.

Maria Alejandra Rodriguez is one of the many women in Nicaragua that benefited from the microfinance organization, Pro Mujer. Before, she was a struggling street vendor and faced each day with hardships. As a mother of three children, she would have a difficult time feeding the whole family since vending on the streets is not a stable source of income. With all the uncertainties and struggle she faced, she could not believe that she was able to somehow make it through.

Mrs. Rodriguez’s fortune started to turn in 2006 when she was given a $100 loan from Pro Mujer, a microfinance organization spearheaded by Lynne Patterson. She used the money to start a simple hardware business. As a Pro Mujer stakeholder, she also joined the communal banks that the organization holds.

The opportunities that Pro Mujer gave Mrs. Rodriguez allowed her to be part of a community designed to extend support to women through small loans that would help them build their future. Members also shared their professional and personal problems and moral support is always given.

Photo Credit: Facebook page of Pro Mujer

Comment Below
Society

More in Society

Emoji as Powerful as Words

Emoji Could Be Even More Powerful Than Words

Christina CombenApril 24, 2017
Pepsi

Pepsi Misses the Mark with “Cringeworthy” Commercial

Christina CombenApril 5, 2017
assange

Julian Assange Questioned Over Sex-Crime Accusations

Denise RecaldeNovember 14, 2016
mattenhof

German Hotel Faces Heat Over “Racist” Cancelled Booking

Denise RecaldeNovember 1, 2016
social-security

Social Security Increase for 2017 is Less than $4

Bernadine RacomaOctober 18, 2016
President Barack Obama views science exhibits during the 2015 White House Science Fair celebrating student winners of a broad range of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) competitions, in the Red Room, March 23, 2015. The President talks with Emily Bergenroth, Alicia Cutter, Karissa Cheng, Addy O'Neal, and Emery Dodson, all six-year-old Girl Scouts, from Tulsa, Oklahoma. They used Lego pieces and designed a battery-powered page turner to help people who are paralyzed or have arthritis. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

This official White House photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.

World Observes the International Day of the Girl

Denise RecaldeOctober 11, 2016
columbus-day

A Closer Look at The History of Columbus Day

Christina CombenOctober 10, 2016
Brown University

Brown University to Address Campus Racism with $100 Million 10-Year Plan

Day NewsNovember 23, 2015
Calif., Gov. Jerry Brown answers a question concerning the budget agreement reached with legislative leaders at a Capitol news conference in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, June 16, 2015. Accompanied by Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, right, and Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, unseen, Brown outlined the budget plan that send billions more to public schools and universities in the fiscal year that begins July 1. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Translation of Drug Information Now a Law in California

Day NewsOctober 16, 2015

Day News Corporation

415 Madison Avenue, 15th Floor, New York City, NY 10017

(212) 537-6123

Latest Tweets

DayNewsCo @DayNewsCo

Could not authenticate you.