50 Weeks of Opportunity
Each week for the next 50 weeks, we will share a piece of Opportunity’s history—major or minor, sobering or inspiring, we have gotten where we are today by facing some of the world’s greatest challenges, with you by our side. Please join us in celebrating the many impactful moments that have built the foundation on which we will embark on our most audacious vision yet: ending extreme poverty.
Celebrating Mothers: Sorany's Story
In honor of Mothers Day on May 13, we are celebrating some of the amazing women we know around the world who are working tirelessly to support their families and create bright futures for their children. Honor the mothers in your life at opportunity.org/mothersday. Like many girls in her neighborhood in southern Bogotá, Colombia, Sorany found herself pregnant at age 16 and dropped out of school. Her family made her move out of their home, and she was left without a plan and without options. As…
Read MoreCelebrating Mothers: Abdul's Story
In honor of Mothers Day on May 13, we are celebrating some of the amazing women we know around the world who are working tirelessly to support their families and create bright futures for their children. Honor the mothers in your life at opportunity.org/mothersday. Abdul has her hands full. She has three children—the oldest is 23 and the youngest is one and a half. In order to support her family, she processes rice and sells it in the local market. Yet despite her hard work, Abdul struggled…
Read MoreCelebrating Mothers: Caroline's Story
In honor of Mothers Day on May 13, we are celebrating some of the amazing women we know around the world who are working tirelessly to support their families and create bright futures for their children. Honor the mothers in your life at opportunity.org/mothersday. When Caroline Musoke’s two children faced challenges that left them unable to care for their own kids, Caroline stepped up and took in her four grandchildren to raise as her own. As the primary provider for her family, Caroline…
Read MoreCelebrating Mothers: Grettel's Story
In honor of Mothers Day on May 13, we are celebrating some of the amazing women we know around the world who are working tirelessly to support their families and create bright futures for their children. Honor the mothers in your life at opportunity.org/mothersday. When Grettel married her husband Winston, she immediately got involved in the family business. Winston’s father Raymundo learned to make rope from his father, and purchased a rope-making machine from Costa Rica 36 years ago. He…
Read MoreCelebrating Mothers: Jayanthi's Story
In honor of Mothers Day on May 13, we are celebrating some of the amazing women we know around the world who are working tirelessly to support their families and create bright futures for their children. Honor the mothers in your life at opportunity.org/mothersday. As a relationship officer at Opportunity’s Saidapet Branch, Jayanthi serves entrepreneurs throughout India who are working to build businesses and livelihoods. She serves clients, supervises a team, and has pursued her own training…
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Announcing our May Book Club Selection: China in 10 Words
Join us for the Opportunity Book Club and read with us! Each month, we will select a book about a country in which Opportunity works, an issue that is relevant to our clients, or a topic of interest. Read with us, join our discussions online, and broaden your perspective of the world. During the 1960s and 1970s, China underwent its Cultural Revolution—a season marked by political struggle, violence, and Mao Zedong, the Chairman of the Communist Party, returning to power. This portion of China’s…
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Field Update: My Trip to India, Part 6
Opportunity's Senior Vice President of Global Philanthropy, Mark Lutz, traveled to India to meet some of our incredible clients. Over the course of two weeks, he is sharing a few of the stories of the powerful moments he experienced and inspiring people he met. Read Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here, and Part 5 here. After a week in India, we headed to the Philippines to look at a program that serves the ultra-poor. The women we met, rather than borrowing from a bank or microfinance…
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Empowering Women in Agriculture
Half of Africa's farmers are women, yet they consistently have lower access to resources and opportunities than male farmers. Research and Knowledge Coordinator, Abbie Condie, explains how Opportunity is working to better understand how to support and empower these incredible women. See what we learned from our clients in Ghana and Mozambique. Empowering Women in Agriculture from Opportunity International
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On the Ground in Rwanda: Experiencing the ‘Extra’ in the Ordinary
To the casual observer, Violet Mukamukangahe is an uneducated farmer eking out a simple living. It takes spending a day with her to realize just how extraordinary she is. With grit, hard work and a little help from her friends at Opportunity International, this 35-year-old tends her rice and sweet potato fields, educates her three children and built a home with her own two hands. I met Violet while on a trip with our partner of 25 years, the Caterpillar Foundation, to capture on video the stories…
Read MoreField Update: My Trip to India, Part 5
Opportunity's Senior Vice President of Global Philanthropy, Mark Lutz, traveled to India to meet some of our incredible clients. Over the course of two weeks, he is sharing a few of the stories of the powerful moments he experienced and inspiring people he met. Read Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, and Part 4 here. It had been almost 10 years since my last visit to India, and several notable changes struck me. The cities seemed more orderly. Expressways connected major cities to airports.…
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