Blog Archives

International Women’s Day: What it is/why we celebrate…and more

By Ruth-Anne Renaud on March 2, 2010

Have you heard of International Women’s Day? Do you know much about the history or significance of this day? Although the official date is Monday, March 8, we will be contributing posts this week on everything from the history of International Women’s Day to how it relates to the microfinance services that Opportunity International provides Read more…

Posted in Loans, OptINnow, Our Mission and Vision, Our Work, Training, Trust Groups, Women's Opportunity Network
Tagged Community, Empowerment, Family, Female entrepreneurs, Gender, Girls, Global Opportunity Quilt, India, International Women's Day, OptINnow, Sustainable development, Trust Groups, United Nations, Women, Women Leaders, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON

Two Days of Discovery in Uganda

By Ruth-Anne Renaud on February 8, 2010

Cynthia Greenwood, Opportunity’s public relations specialist, and I recently traveled to Uganda and Kenya to capture the stories of Opportunity’s clients, programs, loan officers and services. We started our trip in Kampala, Uganda, where we spent two days discovering the intersections amongst our clients: a school proprietor, a Trust group, marketplace vendors, and children that Read more…

Posted in Insight Trips, Loans, Local Staffing, Microinsurance, Our Mission and Vision, Rural Outreach, Savings, Training, Trust Groups, Where We Work, Women's Opportunity Network
Tagged AIDS, Banking on Education, Children, Client Stories, Clients, Education, Financial services, Kenya, Loan Officers, Loans, Savings, School, School fee loans, Training, Trust Group, Uganda, Women

The Challenge of Credit Scoring

By Sonja Egeland Kelly on January 11, 2010

A lack of a formal credit score makes risk mitigation particularly difficult and thus has the potential to reduce the effectiveness of microfinance. A lack of some type of credit information can cause microfinance institutions to make decisions that are not in the best interest of the client. In the worst case scenario, either someone Read more…

Posted in Loans, Our Work, Trust Groups
Tagged Clients, Credit Scoring, Ghana, Loan Officer, Loan repayment, Microfinance, mitigate risk, South Africa, Trust Groups

Guest Post: Believe in Sheela

By Guest Post on December 16, 2009

The following is a guest post by Desiree Adaway, Sr. Director of Volunteer Mobilization at Habitat for Humanity. It was first posted on her personal blog. I want you to believe in Sheela. She is a leader of Opportunity International’s Baba Trust Group meeting in Chennai, India. Nineteen women have joined together to repay loans, learn accounting skills Read more…

Posted in Trust Groups, Women's Opportunity Network
Tagged Desiree Adaway, Guest Post, Habitat for Humanity, India, Sheela, Trust Groups, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, WON

Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I will remember. Teach me and I will understand.

By Guest Post on December 7, 2009

The following is a guest post from John Wayman written on November 12th, 2009. Eighteen hours ago, I was one of 10 students from Northern Illinois University preparing to embark on a trip to Guadalajara in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, to learn more about and study in depth the elements that comprise the principles of Read more…

Posted in Our Mission and Vision, Our Motivation, Training, Trust Groups, Women's Opportunity Network
Tagged Clients, Empowerment, Entrepreneurs, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Loans, Local staffin, Mexico, Microfinance, Northern Illinois University, Passion, Students, Trip, Trust Groups, Women

Gender Integration highlighted at USAID Administrator Confirmation Hearing

By Ruth-Anne Renaud on December 4, 2009

We are pleased to share that on Wednesday, December 2nd at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Confirmation Hearing for Dr. Rajiv Shah, the nominee for USAID Administrator, Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) posed a a question to Dr. Shah on gender integration, and specifically asked for Dr. Shah’s commitment to carry out gender integration as part Read more…

Posted in Loans, Training, Trust Groups, Women's Opportunity Network
Tagged Children, Dr. Rajiv Shah, Education, Female entrepreneurs, Food Security Initiative, Foreign assistance, Gender, Gender integration, Infant-mortality rate, Microfinance, Poverty, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Ben Cardin, USAID, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, Women's rights, WON

My Life Changing Experience: What I learned from a Woman Leader

By Guest Post on December 2, 2009

The following is a guest post by Darcy St. John. The events described below took place on November 23rd, 2009. Yesterday was life-changing. I could write a book about this one part of my visit to Nicaragua, so describing it in a few paragraphs is going to be a challenge. I’ll start at the beginning. The Read more…

Posted in Loans, Local Staffing, Our Mission and Vision, Our Motivation, Trust Groups, Women's Opportunity Network
Tagged Client Stories, Community, Education, How Strong Women Lead, Loan Officer, Loans, Mothers, Nicaragua, Opportunity International, Opportunity Nicaragua, Poverty, Ruth-Anne, Trust Group, Women, Women Leaders, Women's Philanthropy

#MifiMon: Women and Microfinance

By Guest Post on December 2, 2009

The following is a guest post by Sheethal Shobowale, Kiva Fellow at MFIs Asociación Arariwa in Cusco, Peru and Emprender in La Paz, Bolivia starting in January. Interested in learning about microfinance? Follow our biweekly Twitter discussion group #mifimon (because Microfinance Mondays was too long for Twitter’s 140-character limit). Our aim is to host an Read more…

Posted in Loans, Our Mission and Vision, Our Work, Training, Trust Groups, Women's Opportunity Network
Tagged #MifiMon, Accion, Clients, Community, Community development, Education, Entrepreneurs, Equal opportunity, Gender equality, Group lending, Healthcare, Kiva, Lending Laws, Loan Officers, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Savings, Seven Bar Foundation, Social Performance Indicators Blog, The Next 4 Billion, Training, Trust Groups, Twitter, WAM, Women, Women Advancing Microfinance, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON

World AIDS Day: Lending Hope to Africa

By Sonja Egeland Kelly on December 1, 2009

AIDS continues to devastate sub-Saharan Africa. Thirty million people have died already, leaving 14 million orphans behind. Without decisive action, millions more will die, at the rate of over 6,600 a day. This figure is likely to increase because of the 9,500 new daily infections in Africa alone. Today marks World AIDS Day. The day Read more…

Posted in Loans, Our Mission and Vision, Training, Trust Groups, Where We Work
Tagged Africa, AIDS, Crisis, Dorothy Kanjautso, Education, HIV/AIDS, Loans, Opportunity International, Orphans, Poverty, Training, Trust Groups, Women, World Aids Day

Live: A Report from Opportunity’s Colombia Staff #BOG09

By Sonja Egeland Kelly on October 3, 2009

Jim Frantz and Olga Perez have dedicated their lives to serving the poor. Working at our bank in Opportunity Colombia, they see triumph and heartbreak. Their story today was one of transformation. Colombia is an exciting place for microfinance. With almost 50% of Colombians living below the poverty line, and with so many displaced people, Read more…

Posted in Loans, Our Work, Training, Trust Groups
Tagged #BOG09, Board of Governors, Client Stories, Clients, Colombia, Jim Frantz, Loan Officer, Microfinance, Olga Perez, Opportunity Colombia, Trust Groups

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