Microfinance Loans to Give the Poor a Working Chance - Opportunity Blog

Young Ambassador Reporting from Tanzania

By AJ Renold on March 23, 2010

On Sunday, Feb. 21, I flew from Chicago, Ill., to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. After almost two days of travel, I stepped out of the Julius Nyerere International Airport into humid, 90 degree weather. I knew I was in Tanzania. Thankfully, my luggage arrived with me and I went on to the Opportunity Tanzania head office.  Over the next year, I will be working with Opportunity to assist in its transition to a regulated microfinance bank, offering savings, loans and insurance products to the most impoverished Tanzanians. And as the multimedia reporter sponsored by Young Ambassadors for Opportunity (YAO), I will be utilizing internet media, including blogging, video blogging and Twitter, to provide a year-round connection to Tanzania. My goal is to bring updates on Opportunity’s work toYAO members and other Opportunity supporters. YAO champions Opportunity Tanzania as an initiative to directly impact the lives of thousands of Tanzanians through the creation of a microfinance bank for the poor.

If you are still wondering who I am, here is the short answer. I joined the Opportunity International team in Oak Brook, Ill., in May 2009 after graduating from Loyola University Chicago. With an economics background and a strong interest in microfinance, I set out to learn as much as I could about microfinance and the global work of Opportunity. I also became involved  in planning YAO Chicago chapter events and then going on the YAO Insight Trip last September. I returned to the U.S. with one goal on my mind–getting back to Tanzania. I am happy to share that I am finally here! After much waiting for a visa, I am now working with Opportunity Tanzania. I don’t think I can emphasize my excitement enough!

As your Young Ambassador in Tanzania, I will be using the Opportunity blog as a medium to share updates on our banking work, stories of clients and staff that I meet, and my overall experience learning exactly what microfinance does for people living in poverty. Please use the comment feature on our blog to ask questions and comment on the work that we are doing in Tanzania. I am happy to answer! Opportunity Tanzania’s transition into a microfinance bank and growth of client outreach will be an exciting process to share. Let the adventure begin!

At the Opportunity Tanzania Head Office - AJ Renold

At the Opportunity Tanzania Head Office - AJ Renold

Posted in Bank Building, Insight Trips, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
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Celebrating the Board of Governors

By Sonja Egeland Kelly on March 20, 2010
The Opportunity International Board of Governors at an evening reception in Scottsdale, Arizona this weekend

The Opportunity International Board of Governors at an evening reception in Scottsdale, Arizona this weekend

With a common passion to help people in the developing world work their way out of poverty, the Opportunity International Board of Governors is a vital ingredient in the fight against global poverty. Numbering over 600 families nationwide, the governors believe that by joining together and supporting the work of Opportunity, they can leverage their resources to make a huge impact.

This year, Opportunity’s governors have been busy. Hosting international visitors, holding fundraising events, educating their networks, inspiring their neighbors, and involving their hearts in the important work of microfinance. They have gone on Insight Trips, learned the language of financial services and developed the all-important “elevator speech” to share the good news about microfinance.

Almost 200 people came to this year’s conference.

Board of Governors Chair Mary Lynn Staley served as the emcee during one session, and offered the following encouraging remarks:

“Regardless of the details of our individual stories, I suspect that all of us in this room share something very powerful: the desire to expand our ordinary perspectives and see the bigger picture. At the moment we reach out to the global community, we discover that we are part of that bigger picture. And suddenly, the world seems smaller.

“We have the opportunity to profoundly touch the lives of people around the world, and in doing so feel our own lives enriched. When we reach out globally, the illusion of national boundaries dissolves, and we increase our fellowship as God’s family.”

Indeed, the Opportunity governors are a group of people who are reaching out globally. Their world has become smaller, and their love for the poor has become bigger.

Congratulations to the Opportunity International Board of Governors for your dedicated efforts.

If you have been inspired by this conference, or encouraged by the Opportunity International Board of Governors, or energized by the Young Ambassadors of Opportunity, or motivated by the Women’s Opportunity Network, then why don’t you get involved? We would love to have you join the Opportunity International Family.

Together this weekend, we have brought our stories into one another’s lives. And as a result, we emerge with harmonies and beats and vignettes that produce a common narrative. As we end this weekend, please enjoy this celebratory drumming.

 

Posted in Board of Governors, Our Mission and Vision, Our Motivation, Our Work
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Opportunity LiveBlog: Banking on Africa

By Sonja Egeland Kelly on March 20, 2010

Catherine Dailes, 37, with her one-year-old daughter, makes a withdrawal from her savings account at an Opportunity bank branch near her home in rural Malawi. She also uses Opportunity loans to build her business selling kitchenwares.

Over 75 percent of people in Africa lives on less than $2 per day. So when Opportunity looked at its expansion plan, Africa was the region that began to take priority.

In 2008 Opportunity launched an ambitious campaign to make significant impact on the world’s poorest people in sub-Saharan Africa by 2015. Building upon its 38 years of providing financial services to the poor, Opportunity International is developing a network of banks to address the capital infrastructure needs of poor communities in Africa isolated from the financial system.

This weekend, the Banking on Africa Campaign took center stage.

“Our aim is to reach five million clients in sub-Saharan Africa with financial services,” says former CEO and Board Member Kadita A.T. Tshibaka. He defines these services as “services that unlock hidden capital and create a financial infrastructure within poor communities, laying the foundation for vibrant local economies. When their families and employees are taken into account, some 30 million African lives will be impacted through our work.”

The theme of Banking on Africa was repeated throughout the weekend in plenary sessions, in conversations between participants and in various breakout sessions.

In one such breakout session, Opportunity Board chair Peter Thorrington expressed his own excitement for bank building in Africa.

He said, “The part that humbles me most is that if you look at the last two years, the savings of the poor in Malawi have matched the donations of the affluent in the US.” While he acknowledged that they are two different measures, as the savings of the poor can be accessed again, while the donations of the affluent are charitable, in terms of the ability of the bank to lend capital, they are the same thing. The combination of the two amounts allows for a double leverage effect.

When asked about the potential conflict of bank building versus fostering transformation, a smile spread across Peter’s face.

“It is the power of ‘and,’” he said. “We have got to build banks, and we also have to foster economic, social and spiritual transformation. It takes both to be successful.”

Are you interested in learning more about Opportunity’s Banking on Africa Campaign?
Posted in Bank Building, Our Mission and Vision, Our Work
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Opportunity LiveBlog: “I cannot make my payment”

By Sonja Egeland Kelly on March 20, 2010

Board of Governors Conference participants became Trust Group members today and tried to figure out how to repay their group loan together.

Board of Governors Conference participants became Trust Group members today and tried to figure out how to repay their group loan together.

Today conference attendees gathered into groups of 10, and each took on a new identity. They became Opportunity International loan recipients, each with a unique situation. In the middle of the Trust Group simulation, they discovered something challenging: one of the members, Edif, could not pay her loan.

The president of each Trust Groups alerted the group to the situation at hand: “The Trust Group acknowledges that Edif is unable to pay her portion of the group loan. Because it is her first default, policy prevents her from taking the amount from her Opportunity savings account. If we are unable to repay it in full today, we will all be in default, and will not be able to get another group loan. Therefore, it’s our problem now, not just Edif’s. Edif, you are among friends, and we are here to help one another. Let’s discuss how we can best handle this.”

Conference attendees brainstormed about possible solutions to the problem at hand, and came up with a few creative solutions: going after those customers who have not paid for the goods that Edif supplied, giving Edif food so that she would have reduced costs the next week and even pooling their money to cover Edif’s portion.

Ultimately, the group was able to repay the loan, and conference attendees discovered the nuances of loan repayment, especially in a group setting. They also learned more about community, and about supporting one another even when life’s challenges seem great.

Well done Opportunity clients, for your success in repaying your loan this week!

What would you do if you were in a Trust Group and someone could not repay their loan?


Posted in Events, Our Work
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Opportunity LiveBlog: Celebrating YAO

By Sonja Egeland Kelly on March 20, 2010

The Young Ambassadors for Opportunity is a group of enthusiastic young leaders who are joining forces to help eradicate poverty around the world. YAO firmly believes ending poverty can be done in their lifetime.

YAO members seek to inspire, educate and involve the next generation committed to transforming the lives of the poor through microfinance. The group was founded in March 2008 by Opportunity supporter Liesel Pritzker, who wanted to connect in a meaningful way beyond financial support. Liesel desired a way for younger generations to engage with Opportunity and utilize their energy and passion to make microfinance work.

This weekend, YAO members brought a significant energy and conviction to the conference. Sharing successes with fundraising events, encouraging one another in the fight against global poverty and just plain having fun, YAO members indeed educated, inspired, and involved one another.

Here is YAO member Alana Aldag sharing her excitement for the initiative in her own words:

Do you want to get involved with YAO? We would love for you to join us. Click here.


Posted in Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
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