This month, twelve credit unions in six provinces opened their doors to welcome women managers from financial co-operatives in Ghana, Uganda, Malawi, Kenya and the Philippines for ten days of exposure to their credit unions and communities. They joined a long list of credit unions which, since 2002, have experienced the rich professional and human sharing that is the hallmark of this popular CCA program.

Credit union manager Josie Adaque (left) observed the operations of Westminster Savings Credit Union in British Columbia this June with mentor and branch manager Patty Rosby

Also dubbed Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due, the program provides overseas staff of financial co-operatives with a unique opportunity for professional development. Hosts soon discover that they have as much to learn from the mentoring experience as their visitors.

"The learning definitely goes both ways," says program co-ordinator Katherine Clark. "For overseas managers it is a chance of a lifetime to see the ins-and-outs of managing credit unions in Canada. For their Canadian hosts it opens up a whole new window into how the credit union experience is lived out in other corners of the world."

This was certainly the case for Patty Rosby and Josephine (Josie) Adaque. They met for the first time at Vancouver airport this month when Josie arrived from 10 days of classroom training at CCA's offices in Ottawa. It was Josie's first trip away from her country and she was anxious to learn all she could about credit union life in Canada. Patty had opened her home to many foreign students before but never a fellow credit union manager from another country. 

 "I didn't know what to expect," recalls Patty Rosby who is the financial services manager at a busy branch of Westminster Savings Credit Union in the B.C. town of Maple Ridge, 45 km east of Vancouver on the shores of the Fraser River. 

"I'm very pleased at the way it turned out, that Josie fit into my family and into my staff so well. She's a very intelligent woman and I just love talking with her. I was afraid that she might not understand everything but her English was perfect and she contributed very valuably to every conversation she was a part of. Everybody who talked to Josie said she is one smart woman."

"Miss Patty opened the world to me," laughs Josie when asked what she took from the experience. "Never in my life had I dreamed that I would go out of the Philippines. In fact, I pinched my arm on the airplane asking "is this really happening?"

Josie battled personal doubts about her ability and financial wherewithal to do the assignment until her colleagues and board of directors urged her on saying there was great prestige in being selected as a credit union participant in the Women's Mentorship Program.