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.
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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.…
Read MoreField Update: My Trip to India, Part 4
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 and Part 3 here. What most intrigued me about Regina's story was her opening remark, “I always wanted my own business.” I can underestimate the sense of independence and empowerment our tiny loans deliver…
Read MoreField Update: My Trip to India, Part 3
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 and Part 2 here. Eleven members of her group, one they titled "Satia" (Hindi for "Friends"), gathered to make their monthly loan payments. It was a new group, about 7 months into their first one-year loan, and each one…
Read MoreField Update: My Trip to India, Part 2
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. What I remember most about the next entrepreneur I met are her figures and how readily she could recount them. For the sake of this vignette, we’ll call her Shruti. Shruti owned 4 cows that together produced 30 liters…
Read MoreField Update: My Trip to India, Part 1
Opportunity's Senior Vice President of Global Philanthropy, Mark Lutz, traveled to India to meet some of our incredible clients. Over the course of the next two weeks, he will share a few of the stories of the powerful moments he experienced and inspiring people he met. I had to bend over to get through the door. Once inside, we sat cross-legged on the floor facing each other. Chairs were a luxury absent from most of the homes we visited. A single light bulb hung from an electric cord, dangling…
Read MoreField Update: My Best Espresso
Last fall, I traveled to Bogotá to meet Opportunity International clients and visit our staff in the field. One morning, we loaded our car and drove to Opportunity's branch in a neighborhood in the southern part of the city, where poverty and violence are daily realities. As we approached the office, I noticed a small coffee shop across the street. An admitted coffee aficionado, I asked to make a quick stop so that I could pick up an espresso: my regular caffeine of choice. The small shop was…
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