Vittana in Nicaragua – An update from the field

Over the course of the last month and a half, you might have noticed that many of the students appearing on our site are from Nicaragua.  That’s because, with the support of the Vittana team, our partner organization, AFODENIC, is doing an outstanding job marketing, administering, and scaling its student loan program.  In October, I flew down to Managua to see the program in action.  With Marcela Solis, AFODENIC’s Vittana program manager, as my guide, I spent time meeting students, getting to know additional members of AFODENIC’s staff, sitting in on a marketing meeting at a local university, and learning about the Nicaraguan education system.  There’s plenty to share about the trip, and you may have already seen some of the video footage on our YouTube channel, but there are two big things I want to tell you right off the bat (pun intended: Nicaraguans love baseball, and I had at least one conversation a day about the young Nicaraguan who plays shortstop for my favorite team).

First, I confirmed what we already knew:  you, Vittana’s lenders, are doing something truly groundbreaking.  Student loans didn’t exist in Nicaragua before.  Now they do.  Seeing that simple fact up close was thrilling, energizing, and humbling.

Second, I confirmed something we believed but hadn’t yet seen in person: our cutting edge loan program is working.  In a number of ways, some more expected than others, Vittana loans are expanding educational opportunities for our first borrowers.

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua - Managua

One of the more unexpected results is a product of Nicaragua’s specific economic and educational environment, an environment that highlights the importance of Vittana’s efforts to help our partners build student loan products that fit the needs of the students they reach.  In Nicaragua, students are often able to start school with the help of their parents or their own incomes, but many then have difficulty keeping up with the costs, or their income may be needed to support the rest of their family.  As a result, the students leave school to work full time, and often simply don’t come back to finish their education.  Even more common: a student might find a way to work her way through school, but when it comes time to take exit exams, defend a thesis, and graduate, Nicaraguan universities charge a large bulk fee that, when combined with regular tuition payments, creates an insurmountable financial obstacle for even the hardest working student.  The result?  Students have to either get creative (i.e. sell some property, borrow from a friend) or walk away, joining the ranks of Nicaragua’s many almost-grads.

Now, because of lenders like you, there’s an alternative.  Students like Melvin Urbina, Haward Morales, and Karen Amador are taking out loans to cover costs associated with the degree granting process, known as titulación, enabling them to graduate on time.  Many of these borrowers already work– their income simply isn’t high enough for them to afford a large bulk payment for graduation.  Haward Morales, for example, currently works as a legal assistant, attends English classes at night, and goes to university on the weekends.  Despite such an obvious commitment to doing what it takes to get an education, Haward told me that without a loan it would have been extremely difficult for him to come up with the $1,200 his university charges for titulación.  Of course, a higher salary from his employer might have helped, but his supervisors told him that they’d be able to pay him more only after he gets his degree.  Talk about a Catch-22.  Fortunately, your loans are enabling students like Haward to finish school with the official qualifications they need to seek new or improved employment opportunities in their field, and to earn more money for themselves and their families.

Brochures promoting VIttana loans on the bulletin board at AFODENIC's branch office in Nueva Guinea, Nicaragua.

The more students I met, the more contagious was their enthusiasm for the opportunity afforded them by their Vittana loans.  It was abundantly clear that just by starting to offer student loans in this country, we’d hit at the heart of a big, big issue.  I heard of plans for master’s degrees, dreams of using new skills to contribute to Nicaragua’s development as a country, and a universal determination to succeed academically.  By the time I left Managua to make my way back to Seattle, I was more confident, excited, and energized about our work than ever.

(In the time since my return, many more Nicaraguan students have been posted to our site.  Check them out here: www.vittana.org/lend)