We’re Expanding Financial Access to Rural Malawi. Here’s How You Can Help.

Clients gather at the banking kiosk in Fatima, Malawi. Reaching people in rural areas is an important step to alleviating global poverty in countries like Malawi.

Travel in your mind to the shores of Lake Malawi. In this remote region, extreme poverty is widespread. But because of the donations, hard work and advocacy of Opportunity supporters and staff, the Malawians here have been empowered financially.

To reach the unreachable, http://www.opportunity.org/Opportunity International[/intlink] Malawi has replicated its successful “hub-and-spoke” approach by opening a hub branch office in the district capital Nsanje, followed by the most recent launch of a “spoke”–a banking kiosk in the village of Fatima. Both locations are supported by an Opportunity Malawi mobile banking vehicle. This hub-and-spoke system is successfully increasing Opportunity’s http://www.opportunity.org/our-work/rural-outreach/outreach[/intlink] to more of these very isolated rural areas.

The new operations will initially help:

• 17,000 economically marginalized families to open secure http://www.opportunity.org/our-work/savings/savings accounts[/intlink]
• 3,500 families (approximately 17,500 people) to access small business http://www.opportunity.org/our-work/loans/loans[/intlink] and http://www.opportunity.org/our-work/training/training[/intlink]
• 3,800 individuals to receive coverage with credit life, crop, funeral and product transit http://www.opportunity.org/our-work/microinsurance/insurance[/intlink]

Mobile banking vehicles like this one help Opportunity to reach rural and isolated families like those in Fatima.

With your help, we can bring further expansions and improvements like these http://www.opportunity.org/our-work/where-we-work/microfinance-in-africa/microfinance-in-malawi/Malawian[/intlink] banking locations to more people living in poverty all around the world. To get involved in bringing http://www.opportunity.org/what-is-microfinance/microfinance[/intlink] to the more than two million Opportunity clients worldwide, go to http://www.opportunity.org/be-involved/opportunity.org/be-involved[/intlink].

How can you help?

1. Meet the experts and learn about microfinance. Join us for Opportunity’s Fall Microfinance Conference, October 8-9, in Washington, D.C. http://www.opportunity.org/opportunity-international-conference/Click here[/intlink] to learn more and to register.
2. Start a web-based fundraiser. Go to optinnow.org/fundraisers and launch a fundraiser for events like birthdays, travel, races and other sporting events, or just to raise awareness about this important issue. Engage the support of family, friends and colleagues to support your efforts and help end global poverty faster.
3. See the impact of Opportunity’s work firsthand. Travel on an http://www.opportunity.org/be-involved/insight-trips/Insight Trip[/intlink] to countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia. You will return home inspired to effect global change.

Be a part of Opportunity’s working solution to global poverty.