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Carol Stream, Illinois 60132

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© 2026 Opportunity Internationala 501(c)3 nonprofit. EIN: 540907624.

News Blog

What We’re Reading: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

by Lyndsey Vanderwelde

Looking for a summer read? At Opportunity, we’re reading The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, written by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer. It’s the story of a young boy with an entrepreneurial spirit who was able to transform the lives of the people in his community. Young William Kamkwamba and his family grew up in Malawisurrounded by poverty. With just an idea and a few resources he was able to make a windmill out of scrap material that eventually generated enough electric power for his…

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Notice anything different?

by Emily Riemer

Regular visitors to the Opportunity blog will notice it has a different look and format than before. Go further. http://www.opportunity.org/Opportunity.org[/intlink] has been completely refreshed and upgraded. Here are a few of our favorite features on the new site: 1. Photos at Your Fingertips On every page, including the http://www.opportunity.org/homepage[/intlink], there is a slideshow of thumbnail pictures of our clients, our banks, and our staff. Get to know us better by clicking on one…

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Knowledge Leads to Understanding: Getting to Know Uganda

by Debby Farrington

Women’s Opportunity Network (WON) supporter Debby Farrington and her 16-year-old nephew Matt Statman contributed this final post about their trip to Uganda, summing up the unforgettable people they met and places they saw on their journey.  The Mighty Nile River Debby: Uganda is a beautiful country: Winston Churchill described it as “the pearl of Africa” because of its green hills, the shores of Lake Victoria, and the Nile River, which flows north through the country. When we had the…

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Meet Betty Mutua of Opportunity Kenya

by Opportunity International

“Working in microfinance has transformed me. We use the word ‘transformation’ to describe our client training, but that word also describes how I feel,” says Betty Mutua, a regional manager at Opportunity International Kenya. Mutua began working for Opportunity as a loan officer in 2001, which was also the year she got married. “I’ve been married as long as I’ve been in microfinance!” she laughs. Today, she is based in Nairobi and supervises five regional bank branches. She…

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Spotlight on the Annual Report: Harvesting Hope

by Opportunity International

Providing access to clients living in the world’s most geographically remote areas is an important part of what Opportunity does. Reaching clients like Malawian farmer Jakobo Chikayiko, or Jakob as he’s known, who live hours from urban areas is crucial to connecting them with financial services, access to markets for agricultural goods, and economic sustainability. Through financial services like crop insurance and loans, clients like Jakob are better able to protect their futures. Read Jakob’s…

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Vote for OptINnow in the Paperless Choice Challenge

by Opportunity International

Opportunity International’s fundraising campaign,OptINnow, is entered in the Paperless Choice Challenge funded by the Overbrook Foundation. The contest is looking to reward non-profits with innovative digital fundraising techniques. The winners receive $5,000! OptINnow is an innovative, multi-functional digital fundraising campaign. Help optinnow.org win the contest, so Opportunity International can receive $5,000 to help end global poverty. Faster. How can you help? Here are several ways. Through…

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Rwandan Women are Crucial to Economy — A Story on CNN.com

by Opportunity International

Check out CNN.com where Lisa Desai wrote a piece, accompanied by a video, that highlights the integral role that women play in the growing economy of Rwanda since the genocide in 1994. Today, women outnumber men in Rwanda and, according to the piece, “there are more women in Rwanda’s parliament than any other country in the world. Laws have been passed so they can own land and wives can legally keep their assets separate from their husbands. All steps the government is taking to help Rwandese…

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What We’re Reading: “Reaching the Unreachable” on Hunger & Undernutrition Blog

by Opportunity International

On Thursday, we wrote a guest blog post on The Hunger and Undernutrition Blog, talking about the impact of Opportunity’s innovations in agriculture finance, including crop insurance, savings accounts and lending–which all mitigate the challenges and risks of lending to smallholder farmers. But we are not the only organization to want to discuss agricultural sustainability. Go deeper and check out other contributors’ past posts about agriculture, hunger and poverty. We especially like…

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Be Inspired: A Traveler Meets Opportunity Uganda’s Microfinance Clients

by Debby Farrington

Debby Farrington, a supporter of the Women’s Opportunity Network (WON) is visiting Uganda with her 16-year-old nephew Matt Statman. Yesterday, Matt sent us a post about meeting teenage students in Kampala, and today, Debby reports on their visits with Trust Group clients and some very inspiring women entrepreneurs. Today, we visited a Trust Group meeting and some very special clients of Opportunity Uganda. Teddy Ajiku, the Insight Trip coordinator for Opportunity Uganda, picks up my nephew…

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Meeting Ugandan Students: Reflections of an American Teenager

by Matt Statman

Sixteen-year-old Matt Statman shares his impressions of traveling to Kampala, Uganda with his aunt, Women’s Opportunity Network (WON)supporter Debbie Farrington. He sends us back this enthusiastic report on the connections he made and the lessons he learned by visiting with students through a local education NGO called Educate! Matt’s experience offers a window into the lives of Ugandan students, highlighting their ongoing engagement and need for educational opportunities. Today, on our…

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