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.
Opportunity Malawi Sends Two Clients to Child & Youth Finance International (CYFI) Summit in the Netherlands
Last week, April 3-4, was the first Child and Youth Finance International (CYFI) summit in Amsterdam, entitled “Reshaping the Future of Finance.” Two young Opportunity Malawi clients were sent to the summit to represent Malawi as special guests, participating in youth panel discussions. One is Grey Katsilizeni, 23, from the rural Lilongwe area of Nambuma. He’s involved in buying and selling of crop produce. The other is Agnes Kwelete, a 17-year-old girl from Mulanje who attends Chisitu Community…
Read MoreApril is the Month of Microfinance
April showers bring more than May flowers in the world of microfinance. Shawn Humphrey, an Economics professor from the University of Mary Washington, has started the Student Microfinance Movement, designating April as the Month of Microfinance, and with it comes a showering of educational events and fundraisers. The Month of Mifi raises awareness and support for both domestic and global microfinance, and unites and prepares students to become the next generation of microfinance practitioners. Throughout…
Read MoreDeath of Malawi’s President and Swearing in of Former VP Joyce Banda, Malawi’s First Female President
Last week, on Thursday, April 5, Malawi’s President Bingu wa Mutharika died of cardiac arrest, and his vice president, Joyce Banda, was sworn in on Saturday as the new president of Malawi. President Mutharika’s funeral will take place on April 23, and the country is observing a 10-day period of mourning for the departed leader. Upon her inauguration, Banda became Malawi’s first female head of state and Africa’s second female head of state after Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.…
Read MoreMy Lunch with Ghanaian Staff Member Vida
Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to have lunch with Vida Marfo of Opportunity International. She is the Regional Head of Small/Medium Enterprise (SME) and a Manager for Property Folios at Opportunity Ghana. Vida was kind enough to do an interview with me so I could share what I learned from her with all of you! Elizabeth Knox: Tell me about a loan client who has shown great growth.Vida Marfo: We had one client named Mary Addo. Her husband passed away and her brother-in-law told her she could…
Read MoreFinding Renewal Through Faith and Opportunity this Easter
Blessings to you and your family from the entire Opportunity International family. This Easter, as we commemorate Jesus’s crucifixion and celebrate His resurrection, I’m reminded that resurrection need not only mean the miracle that occurred 2,000 years ago, but that renewal can take place in a number of ways in our own lives. Nothing that I encounter as a marketing writer at Opportunity exemplifies this more than the extraordinary hope, courage and the power for change exhibited by our clients.…
Read MoreAt Lent, How Do You Recharge to Find Purpose?
As we near the end of winter and enter spring, many of us celebrate Lent, the six weeks leading up to Easter. It’s a time of quiet and peace, as winter leaves a stillness in the air, as if the earth itself is holding its breath waiting in anticipation for new life in the Easter and spring season. Lent is also a time of solemn self-reflection—a time taken by many to evaluate their own spiritual walk. Most of the time, we associate Lent primarily with making small sacrifices–giving up our favorite…
Read MoreHunger is Not a Game
My 14-year-old daughter Hannah was upset at me for failing to read the book before seeing the movie. At 12:01 a.m. on Friday, I was one of the thousands of people who turned out to view The Hunger Games on its opening night. Hannah had been encouraging me to read the book for several months because she knew its themes would appeal to me. She has read the trilogy three times already. To be honest, I was worried about the idea of teenagers being encouraged to brutally kill each other for sport. Despite…
Read More“The Hype is Long Over” – Microfinance CEOs Respond to Washington Post Article, “Microfinance Doesn’t End poverty, Despite All the Hype”
The following post was published today on the Center for Financial Inclusion’s blog. The Microfinance CEO Working Group consists of the CEOs of leading microfinance organizations ACCION, FINCA International, Freedom from Hunger, Grameen Foundation USA, Opportunity International, Pro Mujer, VisionFund International, and Women’s World Banking. In the post below, the CEOs respond to the recent Washington Post article by David Roodman. This may surprise you. As the CEOs of eight global microfinance…
Read MoreMeet Our Staff: A Closing Interview with AJ Renold as He Prepares to Leave Tanzania
AJ Renold, mountain trekker, pizza maker, kite surfer, manager of business development and donor relations for Opportunity International Tanzania, hails from Chicago, Ill. He joined Opportunity-US as an intern in their suburban Oak Brook headquarters in 2009. That summer, he helped plan and traveled on the first-ever Young Ambassadors Insight Trip to Tanzania. AJ quickly decided he had to find a way to work for Opportunity in Tanzania, even if a position for him did not exist… yet. I met AJ in…
Read MoreA Photo Tour of Colombia & Nicaragua Insight Trip
In January we had the chance to visit Colombia and Nicaragua on one of our first Insight Trips of 2012. We could write pages and pages about the trip and all that happened, but sometimes, pictures just say things better than words. So here are a few pictures from the trip! We have more trips coming up this year. Check out our Insight Trips page (opportunity.org/insight) for more information.
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