Solidarity built block by block
In 2000 the local
bishop asked me to work as chaplain to the residents in the lower part of
Pagadian in the Philippines, a pastoral area within the cathedral parish. I planned to live in the house beside the
chapel, however the threat of kidnapping for ransom put an end to that plan and
I went to live a few blocks away in a house with other Columbans.
Many of the ramshackle houses in the lower part of Pagadian are at times below sea level. The residents, for the most part, live from hand to mouth.
I never liked giving handouts, especially to people with whom I worked. It solved nothing and merely made others feel beholden to me.
I knew that money lenders were making life tough for many living in the area. They charge twenty percent interest on a sixty day loan. I proposed the formation of a Grameen Bank and in 2004 we started. Our Grameen Bank also charges interest on loans, but at the rate of twenty percent for 336 days (or 48 weeks).
Our bank now has 130 members and we grow steadily, most of our members are poor. That’s why the Grameen Bank is known as ‘the bank of the poor’. Last year 26 new members joined our bank. Lourdes Cañales, who joined our bank in 2008, said to me, “Working in the small group has allowed us to help each other in our business. We have become closer as friends and have grown in trust and respect for each other”.
Members of our Grameen Bank told me that they prefer this kind of bank to the banks in the city because they require neither capital nor collateral to obtain a loan. Those two elements are covered by their commitment to each other, especially in their small groups, which meet every Friday for an hour.
The regular
meetings for all bank members help build mutual confidence and commitment to
each other. At the weekly meeting the
bank’s accounts are checked by two members of the bank. Members become involved with each other; they
help each other. Jevily Equacion, who
joined the bank in 2009, told me, “If a member in the small group cannot pay
one week the rest of us try to help out”.
And so solidarity is built block by block.
Fr Dan O'Malley is presently on mission in Pagadian, Philippines.
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