missioners dreams enlivened
The Christian Cooperative Credit Union had a great deal to celebrate this week, when it marked its 56th anniversary. For this establishment, pioneered by Catholic foreign missioners, has made financial solvency more than just a dream for thousands of its members.
At a birthday event which coincided with the UN International Day of Cooperatives on July 2, tributes were paid to the two founders, Archbishop Lawrence Leo Garner of Dhaka and Father Charles J. Young, both of the American Holy Cross Mission.
“The dream of these priests has been realized and Christian members are enjoying its facilities. We must glorify God for this great cause,” said Holy Cross Father Benjamin Costa to the gathering of around 200 directors and members.
CCCUL is now the largest union of its kind in Bangladesh, with 26,000 members from various denominations and total assets of two billion taka (US$ 20.67 million).
It steered the establishment of the Cooperative Credit Union League of Bangladesh, a national, self-regulating body that has synergized and streamlined the movement across the country.
Yet its beginnings were humble and born of necessity.
In the early fifties, Christians in Dhaka had few options for borrowing. A loan from a formal institution was simply out of the question, so they had to turn to local moneylenders and landlords who, predictably, charged exorbitant interest rates.
http://www.ucanews.com/2011/07/07/credit-union-enlivens-missioners%E2%80%99-dreams/
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