The VI National Village Banking Meeting was held on September 28^th and 29^th in the city of Arequipa, Peru. This event was organized by PROMUC in March, 15 years after their institution was founded in the house of the retired Chilina. 200 women and 10 organizations nationwide are associated with PROMUC. 

FINCA Peru was represented by 23 members and 7 contributors from the regions of Ayacucho, Lima, Huancavelica, and Wari. There were also representatives from the National Office.

The programming for this event included GALS workshops, “Women Empowerment” topics, and “Advances of Village Banks under the Gender and Social Development perspective” addressed by Iris Lanao.

Antonieta Palomino de Guzman, a member from Ayacucho, participated in a discussion for organizations working with GALS tools to exchange their experiences. 

On the second day prizes were awarded from organized contests during the sixth National Community Banking Meeting. FINCA Peru was very honored to receive awards in two categories. Vilma Castro, member of the Ccori Soncco Community Bank in Ayacucho, won first place in the Testimonies contest and Ana Maria del Pino, a promoter in Ayacucho, won second place in the Better Practices Innovators contest in the Community Banking Program.

At the end of the event, each organization participated in a Talent Night by presenting an artistic performance. FINCA Peru did a dance to typical music of the Ayacucho Carnival Festival.

On September 30th, before returning to Lima, our members and partners went on a city tour of Ayacucho.