As a working mom with two amazing young children, I can say without hesitation that there is no greater joy in my life than caring for my children. My life revolves around their every need – making sure they are well-fed, well-dressed and thriving in every way. Like many mothers I know, I serve them more food than they could ever eat and rarely refuse a request for dessert. I fuss over their every runny nose and flu and get their doctor’s advice on every developmental milestone. I schedule their days with music class and play groups, hoping to give them every opportunity to learn and grow.

By following the work of Opportunity International, I’m reminded that there are millions of mothers who love their children just as dearly but work with a very different set of resources. Rather than pleading with their children to eat one more bite of vegetables at the dinner table, they struggle to put food on the table at all. Rather than building a college savings fund from the time of birth, they must tell their children that they cannot afford the small monthly school fee required to provide a decent education. Harder still is that each day, a mother somewhere loses her precious child to malnutrition, easily preventable disease or unsanitary conditions.

95 percent of Opportunity International’s loans go to women, many of whom have experienced what it means to struggle to provide the barest of essentials for their families. Based on collateral of nothing more than a trust group of similarly-situated women, Opportunity International provides financial resources, education and training to women who have nowhere else to go. In return, these determined women create sustainable solutions to poverty and bear a 98 percent repayment rate. Most importantly, studies show that women clients reinvest 90 percent of their incomes back into their families – sending their children to school, ensuring they are clothed and fed, and saving for the future. But to any mother, this is probably no surprise – we share a common understanding that the greatest investment we can make is into our children, our families and our communities.

This Mother’s Day, in addition to honoring the women in my life, I honored the connection among all women in the common experience of motherhood. Opportunity International is building a network of women investing in women to end the cycle of poverty, and I am humbled to be a part of it.

Last October, my good friend and Opportunity Governor Deyl Kearin ran 155 miles across the hottest desert on the planet. In support of his pursuit, he started Run4Poverty to raise awareness and sustainable funds for people in impoverished circumstances. Not only did he complete one of the toughest endurance events out there, he raised over $42,000 for Opportunity International.

Many people in Deyl’s community and those who followed him on his journey were inspired. They were inspired by the strength and endurance of one man. They were inspired to support and give. They were inspired to share it with their friends. This is exactly what Deyl had in mind, and hundreds of Opportunity loan recipients’ lives were changed.

What Deyl didn’t necessarily foresee was how he would inspire another (slightly crazy) person to attempt the same feat. He also didn’t know that this person would be a woman.

After hearing straight from Deyl about the grueling, humbling, elating and life-altering experience, I was intrigued. I was not only compelled by the physical event, but also the mental challenge and the clear purpose that went into Deyl’s race. These are the things I love and I believe we were made for.

There was only one hiccup. I, this inspired and empowered woman, had never even run a marathon before, let alone six in a row! I quietly considered the possibility at first and then subtly inquired of Deyl, “Hey, what do you think you’re going to do with all of that gear?” Immediately, Deyl’s eyes lit up and he said to me, “Ness, you can do this. It is 10% physical and 90% mental. You would kill it.”

How’s that for a pep talk? Well, if it wouldn’t have worked for you, it did for me. I was hooked. I could not think of a better way to test my physical and mental capacity and loved the idea of supporting Opportunity International’s clients in the process.

What further inspired me to attempt six marathons in six days was the fact that in looking deeper into the organization that Deyl ran for, I learned that Opportunity International’s loan recipients are 95% female. In some ways I think it is very appropriate for me to struggle physically and mentally, across inhospitable terrain, carrying all of my own gear, in order to raise awareness and funds for women that struggle as much if not more on a daily basis to provide for their families. I am inspired by these women and dedicated to making an impact by raising funds for sustainable change for women worldwide.

So on June 2, I will be carrying the baton for the next leg of Run4Poverty. My adventure will be in the Gobi desert in China, which is marked by mountainous desert terrain, dramatic ranges in temperature from up to 100 degrees to freezing daily, and a rich culture.

My goal is to empower one woman for every kilometer I run. That is 250 women at $150 per loan (the average size of a microfinance loan), for a total of $37,500. This is going to be a tough race. Knowing that one woman is given the opportunity to start her own business or find a creative solution to provide for her family for every kilometer I run will add fuel to my body and my mind. Help me empower these women by supporting one or more of my kilometers.

You can also follow me on my blog while I’m on my journey and share my mission with your friends! I can use all of the support and encouragement I can get. Wish me luck in the Gobi desert!

I love food. I love eating food, making food, sharing food, even just talking about food. It provides me with more than just basic nourishment; it’s my go-to stress reliever, pick-me-up, and icebreaker. I cater friends’ cocktail parties. I measure my exercise in terms of treats earned. And despite my mother’s best training, I constantly play with my food (see the edible football stadium and Peeps Diorama contest entry).

My favorite part is taking something ho-hum, something ordinary, something expected… and making it a surprise. Frosting strawberries to look like Christmas trees. Cheeseburger sliders made out of cake. Bite-sized grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup shooters. Adding a twist creates what I’ve always considered the higher purpose of eating: to delight.

When I signed up for the Live Below the Line challenge, I thought the hardest part would be stretching my daily $1.50 allowance. So imagine my pride as I rung up my purchases for the week (2 boxes of orzo, 2 cans of corn, and a bell pepper) and my total came to less than $7. The “hard part” done, I merrily skipped home to make my first serving of pasta.

After my fourth meal of plain, unsalted pasta with microwaved corn, all I wanted was a cookie. I even went so far as to take one out of my freezer stash, put it on a plate and set it in the microwave, before guiltily putting it back. I wasn’t really hungry but I was so far from satisfied, both nutritionally and emotionally.

By Thursday I was sluggish from my starch-only diet, grumpy from the thought of eating another bowl of reheated orzo (which I may never eat again), bored from avoiding cooking for my family and friends, and coping with simultaneous caffeine and Pinterest withdrawals. But mostly I was deeply humbled by my misguided thinking on Monday that the “hard part” was doing math and shopping smartly.

I realize now how naïve it was to think that the only challenge to hunger is quantity of food available. Even when there is plenty of food around, is it the right food? Does it provide the right nutrients, a balanced diet, or fuel for the body and mind? My diet last week did none of this and only fueled my own frustration at committing to give up even healthy eating for five days. I spent most of Friday contemplating why I had ever thought this challenge was a good idea, and even with only a few hours left in the challenge, I nearly quit. So much for Monday being the hard part.

Food is such a basic but pivotal part of our existence. In the past, I have donated bags of rice to families in extreme poverty and thought, “Wow, they must be so grateful that we’ve provided this.” Now I realize that just isn’t enough.

In the end, this challenge meant more than just giving up fresh produce for a few days. It meant radically changing my thinking about the broader societal impact of extreme poverty… and orzo.

It was Christmas morning and I was eager to open all of the presents to get to the final envelopes in the tree. In our family, we always save any envelopes in the tree for last… the envelopes are often our biggest gifts; they might include a picture and a check towards a big ticket item. There were two envelopes left… one with my name and one with my sister’s name on it. What big new item would it be this year? I thought as I ripped it open. I found a gift card for Opportunity International and a letter from my parents about the joy of giving. This card allowed me to go online, look through stories of women all over the world who live in poverty and are in need of a small amount of capital to get their businesses going, and see the face of the women I could help by redeeming my gift card.

I am grateful to have a mother who passionately dedicates her time to an organization like Opportunity International. Her involvement with Opportunity – from hosting people from all over the world in our home to setting up an Insight Trip for me to go to the Dominican Republic when I was 13 to see poverty with my own eyes – has been an example for me to make giving a priority in my life. My sister and I both chose to become Young Ambassadors for Opportunity when we graduated from college and began our careers. It has been such a special experience to remain a part of the life-changing organization our Mom introduced us to growing up.

–Julia Smith

Thanks to my mom’s passion for serving others and combating worldwide poverty, Opportunity International has been a part of my life since Mother’s Day of 1986, the day I was born. Yes, my mother became a mother on Mother’s Day.
My mom has a heart that is wide open to God’s unbounded plans for her. Or in other words, she never turns down the chance to visit with Opportunity clients in any corner of the world. She is fearless.

She has traveled throughout Latin America, Africa & Asia to connect face-to-face with men and women whose lives have been transformed by Opportunity International: parents now able to send their children to school, women supporting and praying for each other in trust groups, communities turned around by newfound economic growth. Witnessing such transformation has driven my mom’s dedication to Opportunity for 27 years and counting.

While my mom loves to tell me what to do (sorry Mom, it’s true), I have learned far more from observing how she treats others. Not only has she impacted lives across continents, but she has also opened up our family home to more people than I can count. She cares deeply for each visitor, student or intern that steps through our doors. Through her involvement with Opportunity, our family has come to know some of the most inspirational people you’ll ever meet.

This Mother’s Day, I am thankful for a mother whose heart is open to life’s greatest adventures and possibilities, and whose commitment towards serving others remains stronger than ever before.

–Erin Smith

It was a fortuitous, fateful introduction. The kind of moment where you can trace things back in time and see how every decision you made along the way lead you to this perfect, precise place. The sort of moment that reaffirms that things really do happen for a reason. That’s how my mom and I felt when we shook hands with Opportunity.

Years before, my mom and I had spoken about starting a foundation. We were sitting outside in Colorado by a fire, when someone started playing Blackbird by the Beatles on the guitar. (Yes, it was a rather picturesque movie moment.) Instantly we knew that we would call it the Blackbird Foundation. Take what’s broken and help it fly. Empower. Restore worth. Reaffirm dignity.

My mom and I are both fighters in our own way. Mom, who I lovingly call Mama Bear and Gladys, grew up in rural Tennessee without much more than the clothes on her back and an ever-changing roof over her head. You would never know it looking at her. She never complains. She never gripes about her past. Instead, she has taken her intimate knowledge of having little, and has channeled it into immeasurable gratitude for her life now. Her favorite way to express this gratitude is through true sharing—giving.

My story is different. I’ve never known a life with material want. My parents always did everything they could to ensure that my life would be spared the pain of theirs. They succeeded. The only problem is that pain is an integral part of the human experience, and no matter how hard you try, you can’t protect someone from life. Life knocked when I was 15—I was assaulted, an experience that sent a seismic shock not just through my life, but through my family as a whole.

Now back to Blackbird. Taking the combined experiences of my mom’s life and my own, we decided that we wanted to create a scholarship program for survivors of sexual assault and domestic abuse. We always said that “surviving” wasn’t enough and viewed education as one means to break the cycle. So we filed what felt like 10 million IRS papers, selected board members, and had our first board meeting. Finally, Blackbird was happening! And then after two more meetings, we realized we were slightly in over our heads. And by slightly, I mean seriously.

Giving is a lot harder than most people give it credit. It isn’t about putting on a superhero cape and saving the world. It isn’t about recognition and accolades. In truth, giving has a lot more to do with humility than heroism. Giving requires knowing our strengths, and then joining these strengths with others to truly maximize our impact. And this is where Opportunity International comes in—

Opportunity International is a quiet powerhouse of transformation. They are as passionate as they are strategic as they are devoted. My mom and I feel we share the same heart of Opportunity. We are all driven by the restoration of worth—transformation—and above all else, we know that the only way we can uplift humanity as a whole is if we start giving people the tools to do more than simply survive.

The truth is that people don’t fix people. We fix ourselves and make ourselves whole. That’s why my mom and I joined hands with Opportunity the moment we shook their hand. They get it. We know that by partnering with Opportunity, we stand in solidarity with millions around the globe, and can help in a way we never dreamed possible…

And learn….

And continue on our own journey of restoration.

Natalie Hornsby is the former Spokesperson and Vice President of Marketing for Cepia LLC, the tiny toy titan behind Zhu Zhu Pets. Natalie’s success in brand management and crisis management led to various industry accolades for Cepia including: 2010 SABRE Award for Brand Reputation Management, 2010 American Business Award for Crisis Management PR2010 Toy Industry Association Toy of the Year, Most Innovative Toy, and Best Girls Toy. Nominated as a ‘Woman to Watch’ in the toy industry, and voted ’30 under 30’ by the St. Louis Business Journal, Natalie was invited to keynote at various industry and non-profit events, where she fell madly in love with helping others through the spoken word. Natalie now speaks to audiences about transforming insecurity and hardship into true power. She has been called everything from a Hallmark hugging hippie to an inspirational leader and great visionary. She hugs (a lot), is intensely optimistic, and will work tirelessly to help you discover how important you really are. Even if you don’t ask. (Sorry.)

I am expecting my first child this summer, a baby boy named Hunter. As I await Hunter’s arrival, I spend hours each day thinking about the endless possibilities and my hopes and dreams for him. Will Hunter have my freckles? Will he share my husband’s passion for math?

I hope that Hunter will be healthy, that he will have the strength and resilience to persevere through whatever challenges may come his way, and that he will treat others with dignity and respect. I think about Hunter’s boundless potential. As his Mother, I want to make sure that I give Hunter every opportunity that I can – so that he can fulfill any dream he desires.

I realize that while I cannot compare my experience of raising a child in middle-class America to the struggles that many mothers face raising children in the developing world, I know that I am not alone in sharing the dream of a mother wanting to give her children every opportunity that she can. This is one of the reasons I support Opportunity International, an organization that provides five million women with access to life-changing financial products that empower them to build better lives for themselves, their families, and their communities.

Read more the tributes to Mother’s around the world that were added to the Global Opportunity Quilt this year.

“I’m going to send my grandchildren a food parcel.” – my mother
“Can I give you a loan so you can buy more food? Very low interest rate, you can pay me back over the next month.” – my boss
“Would you like to come over for dinner – is that allowed?” – my friend

My well meaning friends have found it strange to think that we – Harry, me and our three kids aged 13, 11 and 6 – are about to embark on a week without food.

I, too, thought it would be extremely difficult to live on just $1.50 per person per day, but after undertaking three simple steps, I don’t think it’s going to be as hard as everyone thinks. I have:

1) analyzed the cost of each item I plan to buy – rather than just choosing the brand I prefer
2) carefully planned our menu for the week, using the same ingredients like rice or pasta several times so there’s no waste – rather than thinking I have to have a different meat and a different carb each evening
3) allowed myself time before each meal to make things from scratch – rather than buying jars of spaghetti sauce, or similar time-saving products

Although our menu for next week looks very different from last week’s, my children won’t starve and I won’t need any extra money to get by. While we’d like to be social, we also don’t need to depend on a meal from a neighbor to bulk up our diet.

In fact, I’m looking forward to the challenge. I’m looking forward to reminding my kids that most people in the world have the same meal every night of the week – for their whole lives, not just for 5 days. I’m looking forward to that slightly gnawing feeling we’ll have before meals that will remind us why we need to eat – not just consuming more food because 6pm has rolled around. I’m looking forward to going without some luxuries – remembering that 60% of the world may have never enjoyed a good cut of beef or the finest dark chocolate.

However, let it be known that while I think we can complete the Live Below the Line Challenge, this is not something I would like my children to have to live with year round. Our diet will be high-carb, low-protein and low in vitamins and minerals. Not ideal for healthy growth and disease prevention. Having worked in poverty alleviation for nearly ten years, I’ve seen the impact of a subsistence existence on thousands of children. Full height is never achieved, teeth rot without a healthy digestive system, stomachs bloat due to insufficient protein, scurvy and anemia can result from vitamin deficiency and diarrhea is an ever-present risk due to unclean water supplies.

So, although living on $1.50 per person per day is possible, it is not desirable. Let’s continue to work toward a better future for our brothers and sisters across the globe. With their own drive and our support they can and will step up into a higher standard of living – so they, too, can enjoy a balanced diet and their children can thrive.

Living in suburban Chicago, it can be difficult to really grasp the effects of extreme poverty. I’ve traveled to parts of the world where hunger is a fact of life; however, in my everyday life here at home, I don’t always feel compelled by a sense of urgency to address this crisis.

I try to budget my food expenses each month, but I don’t actually have to live within those boundaries – if I want or need to go over budget on my daily meals, I can. Some mornings when I’m getting ready for work, I realize I don’t have any coffee beans in the house, but I don’t worry, because I can just stop by the coffee shop for a venti nonfat cappuccino that costs $4.28. (Yes, I have the exact amount memorized, and yes, I know that caffeine isn’t a necessary food group.) When I don’t have enough time to pack my lunch in the morning, I have the option to run over to the deli at lunchtime and spend $7 for a sandwich. When I get home late and don’t feel like making dinner, I can spend $12 for takeout Thai food from the restaurant down the street.

My trips to the coffee shop and the deli and the restaurant aren’t necessities, though – they’re luxuries. Many people around the world don’t even have enough to buy the food they need, and that’s why I’m living below the line. By skipping those trips and instead eating only $1.50 worth of food each day, I hope to experience – in a very small way – what daily life is like for so many people.

Although it’s valuable to have an experience that challenges you to view the world differently, I don’t want to simply take this challenge for the sake of experience. I also want to raise awareness and funds so that more people can have the opportunity to live above the line. Living on $1.50 per day for five days will be difficult, but I believe it’s a small step I can take to advocate for those who live below the line every day.

Join me in Living Below the Line by either taking the challenge with me, or by giving a gift which will help provide opportunities for others to work their way out of poverty.

Lauren Hawley is a Young Ambassador for Opportunity in Chicago. Sign up to Live Below the Line with Lauren at https://www.livebelowtheline.com/us-opportunity, or support her Live Below the Line fundraiser at https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/laurenhawley

A post by Lisa Leslie Henderson

As I reflect on the experiences of the day, in the hopes of choosing one to highlight in this blog, my thoughts drift to Imelda Marcos – the wife of Former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos. I’m thinking of her shoe fetish—she had over 3,000 pairs of shoes at one time, 765 of which today are on exhibit in the local Marikina Shoe Museum—and I think: how on earth did she choose which shoes to wear every morning? Renewed by the idea that I have many fewer items to consider, I circle back to the events of our first full day here, and find myself adding to the list of memorable experiences upon which to write, rather than narrowing. Like Imelda’s shoes, what would you choose?

• Receiving an economic briefing on the Philippines and the state of local microenterprise from the US State Department
• Spending time with women from various OI lending groups at their local centers, learning about their individual businesses and how their success is changing their families’ lives
• Delighting children with the magic of Polaroid photos and taking the time to shoot a few hoops with them in the street
• Hearing from OI lenders and administrators about what makes OI successful and what ancillary products they are offering to further opportunity and reduce risk in their client’ lives
• Connecting with other Insight travelers over meals and on long bus rides?
• Discussing local health reproduction legislation
• Observing passionate discussion about the legality and business consequences surrounding staggered insurance payouts
• Walking through the marketplaces in search of OI clients’ stalls, tasting their garlic cashews and cooked rice snacks dipped in coconut sauce
• Gleaning a firsthand understanding of how the promise of Manila’s economic opportunities draw men and women from rural areas right into the urban slums

What about this one: listening to Filipino mothers talk about their hopes for their children. Hearing dreams like, “I want them to finish school” and “I want them to have a better life.” It made me reflect for a moment about how mothers are so similar everywhere in the world; they want what’s best for their kids and they work hard, day after day, to make this possible.

It was amazing to see the joy on their faces when they told stories their son, an engineer in Dubai, or their daughter, working successfully in Manila – both direct results of OI’s college scholarship program.

It was also gut-wrenching to see the total disappointment of others, their eyes welled up with tears, as they talked about how their college-aged children have had to drop out of school for financial reasons.

Rumor has it that Imelda Marcos once said, “It the shoe fits, buy it.” And that is just it, if the shoes don’t fit, the person wearing them may trip and fall or be unable to walk due to painful blisters. Imelda had plenty of shoes that fit, and these Opportunity International clients are doing their best to equip each of their children with a pair that can take them places.

Read about Day 1 of Lisa’s Trip to the Philippines

A guest post by Lisa Leslie Henderson

I showed up very stupid this morning in a country that I hadn’t intended to visit last night.

Flight delays and missed connections due to electrical difficulties—our plane wouldn’t start—took us to Tokyo, rather than Manila, last night. When we arrived in our hotel room, sometime in the middle of the night and eager for a hot shower, I couldn’t figure out how to coordinate the three knobs to turn the water on; after figuring it out, I couldn’t remember how to turn it off again. This morning I gulped down sake at breakfast thinking it was sparkling water. Yep, I showed up stupid…multiple times in fact.

Some wise person once said, “Every moment, show up stupid.” I love that quote—and not because of days like today, or because I am a fan of foolishness in general. Rather, I believe that whoever originally spoke those words was encouraging us to show up curious, wherever we are, and pay attention. To fight against “psychoschlerosis,” or the hardening of the attitudes, and against the kind of “knowing” that keeps us from “seeing.”

At the kick-off dinner this evening, it became clear that everyone had shown up for this insight trip stupid, in the best sense of the word. We introduced ourselves and spoke briefly about why we had traveled this distance to participate in this insight trip at this particular time. Myriad reasons were given, including: wanting to learn about poverty firsthand and gain insight into how poverty is similar and different across regions of the world, getting a reminder about how we can make a difference, experiencing how microenterprise is lifting families and changing lives, understanding how insurance products developed by OI are benefiting microentrepreneurs, tasting the Philippines—her people and culture— and meeting interesting people, and celebrating a 50th birthday, knowing that this trip would set a different tone for the next fifty years of this woman’s life.

In addition to showing up stupid, I hope to remember to consider the following* often during this trip:

1. This is what I thought….
2. This is what I learned….
3. This is what I am doing next…
4. This is what I’m keeping in mind…

Here are my answers for this evening:

1. As we drove through the streets of Manila today, seeing slum villages to our left and our right, I thought, “I wonder if this trip is going to exhaust me completely.” (Mind you I was already a wee bit tired from our travels.)
2. As the college students performed so animatedly and enthusiastically for us, I learned that in the midst of poverty, Opportunity International is bringing real hope and opportunity (the students’ parents were all Opportunity International loan recipients and these students had won college scholarships through the APPEND Program and the Smith Foundation).
3. This is what I am doing next: going to bed.
4. This is what I am keeping in mind: There is much to be learned here.

*Ponderings borrowed from Steve Blank, entrepreneur and creator of Lean LaunchPad