Businesswomen worldwide work very hard at their jobs and their lives, but one Canadian credit union official discovered that few women work harder than those in Ghana.

Loree Gray, senior vice president of operations at $7.1 billion First West Credit Union in Langley, B.C., recently traveled to the West African nation as part of the Canadian Cooperative Association's credit union coaching program. Gray, who spent three weeks visiting credit unions throughout Ghana with CCA officials, saw first hand how credit unions provide vital services to their members and how hard those members, particularly small scale women entrepreneurs, work to survive.

"The one thing that stood out to me was how hard women there work, both physically and mentally," said Gray. "They mind their children, often carrying them on their backs while working in a small space on the side of the road selling their goods, handling not only the sales, but negotiations and distribution. They do it all, and usually all at the same time."