Women’s World Banking (WWB), a US-based microfinance network, and Asociación Dominicana para el Desarrollo de la Mujer (Banco ADOPEM), a microfinance institution (MFI) based in the Dominican Republic, recently launched a television series intended to teach women how to manage their money and build savings. The first of 16 episodes of the soap opera, entitled Contracorriente, or Going Against the Flow, was released in October and has reportedly been viewed by about 150,000 people. The show was produced by Nicaragua-based nonprofit Puntos De Encuentro and broadcasted by Dominican television network Telesistema. The plot follows a working-class family’s financial challenges and household dynamics and also touches on other themes such as sexual exploitation [1].
WWB head Mary Ellen Iskenderian reportedly said, “The soap opera will cover: what does it actually cost to build a house, what is compound interest, the aspirational aspects of savings. As soap operas in Latin America are very aspirational themselves, we thought it was a good medium through which to promote financial education…The message to women is that savings provide a level of security for you and your family. Credit is not necessarily the answer.” [2]
Banco ADOPEM will be reinforcing the message of the television series with a nationwide marketing campaign consisting of television and radio ads, billboards and educational events. In support of the project, Reach Global, a US-based education delivery firm, has created a guide for the training of financial education trainers and a DVD showing Contracorriente segments relevant to the learning modules [1].
By Kristha Abores, Research Associate
About Women’s World Banking (WWB):
Women’s World Banking (WWB) is a nonprofit microfinance organization that was founded in 1976 and is based in the US state of New York. WWB provides technical and advisory services to its network of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in an effort to alleviate global poverty by expanding the economic assets, participation and power of poor people, especially women. As of November 2011, WWB had 39 member institutions working in 27 countries and serving about 26 million microentrepreneurs.
About Asociación Dominicana para el Desarrollo de la Mujer (Banco ADOPEM):
Established in 1982, Asociación Dominicana para el Desarrollo de la Mujer (Banco ADOPEM) is a microfinance institution based in the Dominican Republic. It provides a number of financial products and services, including microenterprise loans, voluntary savings and insurance products. It also provides non-financial services such as enterprise skills development and financial literacy education. Loans have terms of 4 to 36 months and can be used for either working capital or fixed investments. The main client base is made up of women that want to create their own business or to strengthen their existing microenterprise. As of September 2011, Banco ADOPEM reported to the US-based nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) total assets of USD 82.5 million, a gross loan portfolio of USD 62.3 million, return on assets of 3.53 percent, return on equity of 13.79 percent and about 131,000 active borrowers.
Sources and Additional Resources:
[1] Women’s World Banking: “Can a Soap Opera Change a Woman’s Life?”, http://www.swwb.org/content/can-soap-opera-change-womans-life
[2] Trust Law: “Soap opera encourages Dominican women to save”, http://www.trust.org/trustlaw/news/soap-opera-encourages-dominican-women-to-save
“WWB and Banco ADOPEM’s “Contracorriente”- Financial Educaton Trailer”, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyvEQMbt3ug
MicroCapital.org article, January 19, 2010, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Awards $38m in Grants to Help Microfinance Institutions Expand Savings Initiatives for Poor”, https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-bill-melinda-gates-founda…
MicroCapital.org article, May 2, 2011, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MasterCard Foundation, Equity Group Foundation Celebrate First Graduation From Financial Education Program in Kenya”, https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-mastercard-foundation-equ…
MicroCapital.org article, February 9, 2011, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Women’s World Banking (WWB) Center for Microfinance Leadership, University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business Host Second Annual Advanced Leadership Program”, https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-women%E2%80%99s-world-ban…
MicroCapital Universe Profile: Women’s World Banking, https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Women%27s+World+Banking+%28WWB%29
MicroCapital Universe Profile: Asociación Dominicana para el Desarrollo de la Mujer (Banco ADOPEM), https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Asociaci%C3%B3n+Dominicana+para+el+Desarrollo+de+la+Mujer+(ADOPEM)
Browse the MicroCapital Universe and add your entry to the wiki at: https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/
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