Rony Doerksen came to CMU to complete his BA degree from Paraguay. His previous work experience includes time at the Paraguayan development organization ASCIM, and he is studying for a BA in International Development Studies at CMU.<\/p>\n
After final exams in April, Rony travelled to Latin America to take part in a travel study course\u00a0 offered as a cross listed option between the Redekop School of Business at CMU and the International Development program.<\/p>\n
The major focus of the study tour was learning how microfinance provides loans and credit for the economically poor.<\/p>\n
The 6 students on the trip learned firsthand how real life experience differs from the classroom but also how it enhances the learning.<\/p>\n
Here are some of Rony’s reflections from the trip:<\/p>\n
In conversation with staff of MiCredito<\/strong> (one of the organizations in Latin America the group visited) I learned that the political situation of a country can have a big influence on how successful microfinance is. The people of MiCredito were saying that the group lending model did not function very well and was not well accepted in Nicaragua because of bad political experience in the past.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n It was interesting to see the cultural differences between\u00a0 Western Culture and the Latin American people. As a Canadian from Paraguay it was interesting to recognize some general differences in cultural, social and spiritual aspects but also specifically the differences between the two<\/strong> Latin countries we visited. <\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Rony](\"http:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/ROny.jpg\")
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