Registration for the Development Education (DE) Program Opens

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MADISON, Wis. (1/21/04)--The National CU Foundation (NCUF) is accepting applications for its Development Education program, which explores the social mission and uniqueness of credit unions.

NCUF's DE program will be held June 3-8 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Participants study community development, low- income credit unions, and cultures and movements of developing nations.

"After six years working with this program and the people who have gone through it, I will say without hesitation that the Development Education program can be life altering," said Bruce Wheeler, DE program director and the NCUF's director of grants and communication. "It truly opens peoples' eyes as to the power that credit unions have to impact the world around us."

Wheeler cited Lois Kitsch, regional manager of Asia and Europe for World Council of CUs Inc. (WOCCU), and her dramatic shift in career paths as an example of the power of the program.

Kitsch is preparing for a two-year stint in Afghanistan to help the country's citizens open up to 15 credit unions using Islamic banking principles. Kitsch emphasized the need for credit unions in Afghanistan because the general public lacks many basic saving and credit services, with options limited to borrowing from local grocery stores.

Kitsch recently returned to the U.S. after five years in the Philippines where she helped establish several credit unions. "The Development Education program changed my life," Kitsch said. "It not only changed what I thought of my life, but also what I thought of myself."

To be eligible for the program, staff and volunteers must:

Be an employee or volunteer of an organization affiliated with CUNA (credit unions, leagues, associations and service organizations) or, in the case of international participants, an association affiliated with WOCCU;

Receive employer and league signatures on the application as an endorsement; and

Be willing to devote a reasonable amount of work and personal time for development-related volunteer activities of their choosing.

The program is presented by the NCUF with support from WOCCU, CUNA and CUNA Mutual Group.

Deadline for registration is May 7. For more information and application materials, call Bruce Wheeler at 800-356-9655, ext. 4979, or use the resource link.

El Consejo Mundial de Cooperativas de Ahorro y Crédito es la asociación gremial y agencia de desarrollo para el sistema internacional de cooperativas de ahorro y crédito. El Consejo Mundial promueve el crecimiento sustentable de las cooperativas de ahorro y crédito y otras cooperativas financieras en todo el mundo a fin de facultar a las personas para que mejoren su calidad de vida a través del acceso a servicios financieros asequibles y de alta calidad. El Consejo Mundial realiza esfuerzos de defensa activa en representación del sistema global de las cooperativas de ahorro y crédito ante organizaciones internacionales y trabaja con gobiernos nacionales para mejorar la legislación y la regulación. Sus programas de asistencia técnica introducen nuevas herramientas y tecnologías para fortalecer el desempeño financiero de las cooperativas de ahorro y crédito y profundizar su alcance comunitario.

El Consejo Mundial ha implementado 290 programas de asistencia técnica en 71 países. A nivel mundial, 51,000 cooperativas de ahorro y crédito en 100 países atienden a 196 millones de personas. Obtenga más información sobre el impacto global del Consejo Mundial en www.woccu.org.