Microcredit lending with a safe and trusted lender can provide the individual with the capital they need start or expand their own business. In the Philippines for instance, farmers are at the mercy of local lenders who charge very high interest rates to buy the seeds necessary to plant the crop and then buy the crop at low prices. The farmer barely earns enough to pay back the initial loan and then has to borrow again to plant the next crop, thus perpetuating a cycle of poverty and dependency. UUPCC will work with locally established programs with a good track record, humane collection processes and reasonable interest rates.

Microcredit works best when it is part of an overall program of lending and saving. UUPCC is working to establish village banks with a good training and support system. Setting up a partner village bank is a slow and deliberate process. The success of the partner village bank comes from providing useful technical support, while remaining hands-off from day to-day operations. It’s the partner village’s bank to run, and ours to support.

This program is in the development stage. UUPCC is working with two very small projects in the Philippines in 2008–09. We have plans to expand to other countries where we have partners, if the pilot projects are successful. Interested individuals and groups are encouraged to contact the UUPCC office for more detail.