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Chicago Premiere of No Woman, No Cry, Directorial Debut of Christy Turlington Burns
Yesterday afternoon, YAO members, members of the Board of Governors, several of my colleagues and I went to the Chicago premiere of Christy Turlington Burns‘s directorial debut, the powerful documentary “No Woman, No Cry.” It’s part of the Every Mother Counts campaign, which raises awareness and support for maternal health issues worldwide. In her film, Burns shares Read more…
Tagged Africa, Asia, Bangladesh, CARE, childbirth, Christy Turlington Burns, Community, Education, Every Mother Counts, Global Poverty, Guatemala, Health insurance, Healthcare, Latin America, Maternal Health, maternal mortality rates, Mothers, No Woman No Cry, Poverty, Tanzania, U.S., Women, women's health, Women's Philanthropy
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 Read more…
Tagged Africa, Ban Ki-moon, Child & Youth Finance International, Children, Colombia, CYFI, Entrepreneurs, Events, G20 Summit, Ghana, international business development, Kevin Smith, lilongwe, Loans, Makonen Getu, Malawi, MFI, Mulanje, Nicaragua, Opportunity International, Opportunity Malawi, Savings, Uganda, UNCDF, United Nations, what we're reading, Youth, YouthStart
Death 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 Read more…
My 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 Read more…
Tagged Africa, blogger, Board of Governors, Financial services, Habitat for Humanity, International Visitor, Loans, local staff, Microfinance, Opportunity Ghana, Opportunity International, Poverty, Training
Meet 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 Read more…
Tagged Abbi Antablin, Africa, AJ Renold, Arusha, Blogging, Dar es Salaam, Financial services, Insight Trip, international staff, Meet Our Staff, MFI, Microfinance, Mount Kilimanjaro, Opportunity International, Opportunity Tanzania, Peter Olivier, Ross Nathan, Social Media, Swahili, Tanzania, YAO, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
A 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 Read more…
Tagged Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Cartagena, Clients, Colombia, Community, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Granada, Insight Trip, Latin America, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Nicaragua, Opportunity International, Poverty, Trust Group, yucca
Partnering with Nicaraguan Yucca Farmers to Increase Their Profits
A pungent, unfamiliar, almost rancid but still sweet, scent hit my nostrils: freshly ground yucca meets a growling grinder. Five men man the contraption: one filling the large funnel, one jamming a large stick into the funnel to feed the yucca chunks into the grinder, one scooping the pulp out of the bottom, one shoveling Read more…
Tagged Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Asset-Based Community Development, Cargill, Clients, Community, David Kone, Ending Poverty, Farmer, Financial services, Insight Trip, Latin America, Microfinance, Nicaragua, Opportunity International, Opportunity Nicaragua, starch, Technology, Training, YAO, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity, yucca
What We’re Reading: Top 10 Posts on International Women’s Day
As we close out the week, I’m reflecting on some of the articles published in honor of yesterday’s International Women’s Day. Here are just a few of the provocative, interesting, inspiring and even maddening(!) ones I encourage you to read or re-read, in no particular order… “What if Mark Zuckerberg Were Born a Girl in Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agriculture, Climate Change, CNN, Community, Education, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Global Poverty, Huffington Post, International Women's Day, IWD2012, Kenya, Loans, Malawi, MFI, Microfinance, Mothers, ONE blog, Opportunity International, Oxfam, Poverty, Rural Outreach, Tanzania, The Guardian, The New York Times, Trust Groups, UN Women, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON, World Bank
How Will You Celebrate Women on March 8th?
In just one week, on Thursday, March 8th, the world will celebrate International Women’s Day 2012. On this day, organizations and individuals will gather to celebrate the economic, political, and social achievements of women past, present, and future. Here at Opportunity, where 85% of our clients are women, we’re passionate about equipping the next generation of women Read more…
Tagged biometric fingerprint technology, Clients, Community, DR Congo, Education, Ending Poverty, Facebook, Financial services, Global Poverty, Half the Sky, International Women's Day, IWD2012, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Mothers, Opportunity DRC, Opportunity International, Savings, School fee loans, Schools, Social Media, Students, Uganda, Women, Women's Philanthropy
