Marion Good, Wellesley, Ontario, MEDA board secretary

Day job: Milverton branch manager, Mennonite Savings and Credit Union. What does she like about MEDA? “I like what they do for women,” she says, pointing to the many programs that empower women while preserving their dignity. “As a single mom who has had to make a living for my family, that’s the shining star for me. It’s so amazing.”

Most fun: On a Nicaragua tour she visited a remote area with MEDA’s local credit manager. “We met in a little Mennonite church at the end of the road,” she says. “Clients came many miles down the mountain on horseback to attend the meeting. I remember, as a lender, listening to those conversations through an interpreter.” Amid the typical borrower complaints about interest rates and fees, Marion remembers hearing that until MEDA came they had no opportunity for credit. “That really resonated with me. These were intelligent young men, they had the skills, they had the smarts, but when they got to the end of their cash, what options did they have? I remember watching them and thinking, ‘If you would be my client sitting across from my desk, I’d give you a loan’.”

Hobbies: Besides her grandchildren (seven from three married children), Marion’s passion is oil painting (see painting, Pedro, at right). “My work is very detailed; they all have a story of where I’ve been. That’s my passion, that’s who I am, that’s what I do for Marion.” A number of her works were displayed at the 2003 MEDA convention in Winnipeg.

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