Catholic parish lends to ECLOF

The Swiss Roman Catholic community of Begnins and other surrounding villages, who are members of the parish of Nyon, a small town near Geneva, have lent 40,000 Swiss francs (US$31,000) to ECLOF for microlending in the Dominican Republic. The president of the community, André Bourqui, shared with New Horizons his enthusiasm towards this long-term investment.

"The relationship we have with ECLOF is a very important one to our parish", said Mr Bourqui. "Instead of investing this money in a bank where it would just sit, useless, reaping a small 1% a year, through ECLOF it has benefited directly 80 families in the Dominican Republic. As the money goes into a revolving fund, in three years the benefit will have actually multiplied three-fold, touching some 250 families. Where else would you get so much benefit with so little money? Given our mission as a parish, investing in families through ECLOF is far more profitable and useful than investing in a bank."

When Muhungi Kanyoro, director of ECLOF International, met André Bourqui, he gave him this message to pass on to his parishioners, "Your lending and trust in ECLOF have opened new doors for others. For example, in the Philippines, churches have lent ECLOF some US$200,000 in the past year, and this is only a beginning."

 

Muhungi Kanyoro and
André Bourqui