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.
Christmas Blessings from Opportunity Colombia
The clients and staff of Opportunity Colombia have prepared a special Christmas message. The Opportunity family wishes you a joyous Christmas and a new year full of hope.
Read MoreMy Family Traditions at Christmas
In the U.S., Christmas is a time when we anticipate the falling of snow, and pine-scented candles, and friends and family. I look forward to most of that (although I actually hate being cold so I’m not looking forward to snow). All things considered, this season is pretty spectacular. Every circle of family and friends celebrates Christmas with different traditions and customs. In mine, we all live near each other, and enjoy celebrating Christmas Eve with lots of extended family, lots of food,…
Read MoreAs I Consider Advent this Year
This advent season, my church’s sermon series is “He is our King.” It’s a refreshingly challenging one as it looks not so much to a meek baby in the manger, but the hope of a powerful God coming to meet humankind within drastic poverty and political oppression. On a recent Sunday, as I listened to the pastor speak to the political and cultural environment at the time that Christ was born, I realized how different my current context is living in 21st-century Chicago. I’m grateful for my…
Read MoreSolar Panel Loans Offer a Beacon of Light for Ugandan Families
In November, Opportunity Uganda launched a solar energy microfinance loan to provide power to families currently living with no or unreliable electricity. Opportunity Uganda is now offering clients like Betty Aute, a papyrus weaver and mother of two, a solar panel loan of about $300, which covers panels and installation and is repayable over two years, to bring light to their family homes. The implications are life-changing and endless–when it becomes dark at night, so many productive activities…
Read MoreCelebrating 40 Years of Microfinance with the “Holiday Fête” in Scottsdale, Arizona
On Tuesday evening, Dec. 6, 2011, the members of Opportunity International’s Arizona Board of Governors hosted the “Holiday Fête: Commemorating 40 Years of Client Impact and Transformation,” a 40th-anniversary celebration at the Gainey Ranch Golf Club in Scottsdale. “Opportunity International is proud to celebrate our 40th year of working alongside our clients, staff and supporters to fight global poverty,” Jon Yasuda, Opportunity’s SVP of resource development and interim CEO, said about…
Read MorePrayers for Peace in the DR Congo
We wanted to provide you with a brief update surrounding the situation that is unfolding on the ground in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in response to last week’s elections. International news agencies such as Voice of America, BBC, and United Press International (UPI) have reported that tensions surrounding the elections resulted in violence that led to 18 civilian deaths and hundreds of injuries. Election results were scheduled to be released on Tuesday, Dec. 6, but have been postponed,…
Read MoreWorld AIDS Day 2011: Ending AIDS in a Generation
Today, Thursday, Dec. 1, is World AIDS Day. This year’s theme, Zero new HIV infections, Zero discrimination, Zero AIDS-related deaths, is an optimistic one but there is good reason to hope. The latest Report on the Global HIV/AIDS Response by the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and UNAIDS indicates that increased access to HIV services has resulted in a 15% reduction of new infections over the past decade and a 22% decline in AIDS-related deaths in the last five years. Launched in 1987…
Read MoreSkip the Mall Today
We’re offering a way for you to skip the mall and spread the joy all at the same time. Instead of fighting the crowds on Black Friday, order Opportunity International gift cards at opportunity.org/giftcard for all your family and friends. With our gift cards, they’ll experience the joy of helping an entrepreneur like Margaret Wangui (pictured) grow her business with a small loan—enabling her to feed her family, send her children to school and improve her community. In addition, right now, your…
Read MoreWe’re Grateful for You
On behalf of Opportunity International’s global family, we want to wish you a very blessed and happy Thanksgiving holiday. This Thanksgiving, we’re grateful for contributors like you who work side by side with us to empower families in poverty and create lasting change in the world. Your support means so much to both our clients and our staff. It makes it possible for clients like Ghanaian cocoa farmer Beatrice Duku Frimpomg Boaten to obtain a savings account, loan and insurance from Opportunity.…
Read MoreInnovation to Aid the Horn of Africa: USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Last Thursday, USAID administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah spoke at The Chicago Council on Global Affairs lunchtime talk entitled “America’s role in Food Security and the Horn of Africa Famine.” Administrator Shah began with slides and stories from the amalgam of refugee camps that make up the Dadaab camps in Kenya. The camps, which were built for 90,000 people and currently house 380,000, now make Dadaab, according to Shah, the third largest city in Kenya. And every day, more people, mostly Somalian…
Read More