An important component of celebrating International Women’s Day is being aware of and recognizing the difficulties and challenges women still face daily around the world. Opportunity International believes you can even take the common cliché “think globally, act locally” and apply it to this day. We plan on doing this for our in-office International Women’s Day event on March 8.

We also realize the significance of thinking globally and acting globally, which is why we’re using this post to discuss the significance of Opportunity’s Insight Trips in connection with International Women’s Day.

What does it mean to go on an “Insight Trip”? What kind of “insight” can you gain? An Opportunity Insight Trip gives you the chance to meet our clients and loan officers. It’s your chance to learn more about microfinance through conversations with clients, exposure to live Trust Group meetings, and observance of entrepreneurs in action. Individuals who have gone on these trips come back with a new understanding of how microfinance is fighting global poverty one business loan, one savings account, one training session and one insurance policy at a time. You see firsthand how equipping a women entrepreneur with microfinance services changes her life, impacts her family and invests in her community.

After an Insight Trip, you won’t be able to keep these stories to yourself. You’ll begin sharing them with family, friends and colleagues. These enlightening and educational stories, when told from one person to the next, are a celebration of the lives of women worldwide who are struggling to change their lives, their families and their communities.   Betsy Perdue, a Women’s Opportunity Network member who has been on several Insight Trips, believes it’simportant to remind individuals that the women we serve are not faceless, nameless victims. Each is a strong woman making a difference in her own world—and these stories provide that reminder. 

Opportunity invites “Mothers, Daughters and Sisters” to travel to Uganda June 19-26, 2010, with the Women’s Opportunity Network to see for yourself how microfinance services empower women.  For more information, click here.

When you celebrate International Women’s Day on Monday, remember to celebrate the lives of women in your own community and communities around the world. If you’d like to post a tribute to a woman in your life with a story to celebrate, visit the Global Opportunity Quilt.