About the Caja Rural in Canglón
A Caja Rural refers to a local community bank. The Community of Canglón, as many other surrounding communities, lack access to financial resources, such as savings and access to loans. The nearest financial institution is an hour-drive from the community in Metetí.
The Caja Rural of Canglón started by coincidence, when a stranger stopped in a kiosk of a woman of the community to buy some water. She asked him what was he doing in the area, and he told her that he was there to visit another community because of a Red de Oportunidades meeting. Red de Oportunidades is a government-run program that is aimed to fund women for business ideas. They get $100 every two months to support their business ideas. Originally, Global Brigades contacted MIDES (Ministerio de Desarrollo Social), who runs the Red de Oportunidades Program. They asked them for a list of all the women that participated in the program, but the women from Canglón weren’t on that list. Pablo Garrón, the person who stopped in Ana’s kiosk realized that women of Canglón weren’t on that list and he told her that he was still going to Porvernir to the meeting but if they didn’t have enough people over there, he would come back to Canglón. On his way back to Panama City, Pablo stopped again to Ana’s kiosk and told her that the meeting in Porvenir didn’t go that well because they didn’t have enough people. Then, he gave Ana the task of gathering people to meet in the following week and present the proposal of the Caja Rural project in their community. The following week the proposal was presented to the women in the community and the Caja Rural was created.
Board of Directors
President: Katalina Pérez
The Board of Directors is formed by President Katalina, who is 41 years old. She was also one of the co-founders of the Caja Rural in Canglón.
Secretary: Laura de Quintero
Treasurer: Ixa Sedeño
Ixa is 41 years old and serves as the treasurer of the Caja Rural. As the treasurer, the funds are kept in a cash box at her house, but the key to the box is kept with the President. Therefore both must be present to open the box at meetings.
Last Updated: November 2015
Visit Other Programs in Canglón
Global Brigades strives to implement a model of Holistic Development in communities through a system of health, economic, and education initiatives in order to strategically meet a community's development goals. Learn more about the other programs being implemented in Embera Puru:
Business 
Dental 
Environmental 
Human Rights 
Medical 
Public Health
| Caja Rural Overview |
|
| Establishment Date | February 4, 2015 |
| Number of Members | 18 |
| Board of Directors | 3 members |
| Services |
Credit and Savings |
| Total Amount Capitalized by Global Brigades (as of May 2016) | $4,773.28 |
| Caja Statistics (as of May 2016) |
|
| No. of Savings Accounts |
18 |
| Total Capital |
$7,580 |
| Number of Loans Granted | 25 |
| Number of Outstanding Loans |
13 |
| Amount of Outstanding Loans | $2,882.72 |
|
Repayment Rate |
100% |