Friendship Bridge is a
non-profit
A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
,
non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...
based in
Lakewood,
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
, distributing
microcredit
Microcredit is the extension of very small loans (microloans) to impoverished borrowers who typically do not have access to traditional banking services due to a lack of collateral (finance), collateral, steady employment, and a verifiable credi ...
to women and children in rural
Guatemala
Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
since 2000.
From 1994 to 2000, the organization distributed loans in
Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
.
Background
Founded in 1989, Friendship Bridge was the vision of Dr. Theodore C. Ning, a urologic surgeon and clinical professor of urology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, and his wife Connie Ning, a psychotherapist.
Operations
In Guatemala, Friendship Bridge has seven branch agencies providing microfinance to different provincial areas.
Programs
As of 2007, Friendship Bridge had provided nearly $8 million in loans to women, and more than 21,000 scholarships to their children, in Vietnam and Guatemala.
See also
*
List of non-governmental organizations in Vietnam
References
External links
Friendship Bridge Home Page
Organizations established in 1989
Foreign charities operating in Vietnam
Charities based in Colorado
Microfinance in North America
Foreign charities operating in Guatemala
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