Printer-friendly versionSend to friend

KURINUA is a women group consisting of approximately 15-20 women from 4-5 communities. The group has their facilities and office in the Arútam community.

The group was established a couple of years ago with the intention of providing micro-credits to other women for small income generating projects, health expenditures or education to strengthen the economy for the women.

Indigenous women are most often not eligible or able to take loans in normal banks as they cannot provide necessary documents as street address, telephone number and monthly income. Banks are also only available in towns and urban areas, which is 50 km away from the communities. KURINUA facilitates loans to women at a reasonable interest rate compared to the traditional banking sector.

Thanks to a grant, the women started out with a small fund of 400 USD, providing loans to other members of the group. Today the fund has grown to more than 3000 USD, enabling the group to extend their activities to women (and men) outside the group.

Besides the credit activities, the women are planning other income generating projects. Many of the women are making crafts and with the construction of a new house for the group they want to start selling some of the crafts and organizing the production.

The women are the backbone of the Shuar community as they are in charge of most agricultural activities. In spite of their important role in the subsistence farming, the women are often poorly educated and hold little political influence. The activities of KURINUA are important to empower the women, as they play a crucial role in the overall development of the community as well as the production of the Shuar communities.