Blog Archives

Opportunity Promotes Entrepreneurship for the Next Generation in Nicaragua

Opportunity International is launching a Technical High School to teach youth entrepreneurship skills in the agriculture and tourism industries as part of its community development initiative in Nicaragua. Opportunity recently broke ground on its Entrepreneurial Technical High School in Diriomo, Nicaragua. The school will provide rural students with the education and training they need to Read more…

Posted in Our Work, Rural Outreach, Where We Work
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

World AIDS Day 2011: Ending AIDS in a Generation

Today, Thursday, Dec. 1, is World AIDS Day. This year’s theme, Zero new HIV infections, Zero discrimination, Zero AIDS-related deaths, is an optimistic one but there is good reason to hope. The latest Report on the Global HIV/AIDS Response by the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and UNAIDS indicates that increased access to HIV services has resulted Read more…

Posted in Events, Where We Work
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Meet Ugandan Staff Member Frida Mungoma, Education Finance Manager

This past Monday, just after arriving in the United States, Opportunity Uganda‘s Education Finance Manager Wakhasa Frida Mungoma–known as Frida–sat down with me at the Opportunity-US offices in Oak Brook, Ill. for a discussion of her work, the challenges she faces and the most rewarding aspects of her job. Below, see brief excerpts of my Read more…

Posted in Events, Local Staffing, Where We Work, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Breakout Session: Banking on Education

A quality education empowers students with the skills and abilities to secure higher paying jobs, build strong families and help in the economic development of their communities. Today, we discovered how Opportunity’s Banking on Education program is increasing educational opportunities for more than 120,000 children in underserved neighborhoods in Ghana, Malawi and Uganda. The panelists Read more…

Posted in Events, Loans, Microfinance Conference, Our Work, Where We Work, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Conference LiveBlog: John Ortberg, Author and Pastor of the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in California

This evening, John Ortberg, pastor at the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in California, spoke from the conference mainstage about why it is important to value every individual person with help and with compassion, because every person is worthy of God’s love. Highlights from Pastor Ortberg’s Speech I’d like to take a few moments to think Read more…

Posted in Events, Faith in Action, Microfinance Conference, Our Mission and Vision
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

What We’re Watching: Banking on Education Video by Students of the World at CGI 2011

We’re watching this video produced in partnership with Students of the World, which had its world premiere on the main stage at this year’s CGI. In it, Opportunity staff and clients discuss the goals and the impact of our Banking on Education program, which provides , and to 280 schools serving 120,000 students in Malawi, Uganda and Read more…

Posted in Events, Loans, Local Staffing, Microfinance Conference, Our Work, Resources, Savings, Training, Where We Work
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Mobile Phone Banking & Technology: Learn from Microfinance Experts

Geoffrey Thige, chief operations officer of Opportunity International Kenya, arrived at our Oak Brook, Ill. offices this week–his first stop in a U.S. tour that culminates as a guest speaker at Opportunity’s conference in San Francisco, Oct. 14-15. With over 15 years of experience in microfinance, COO Thige oversees Transformation, IT, Risk/Compliance and Special Projects Read more…

Posted in Events, Local Staffing, Microfinance Conference, Our Work, Technology, Where We Work
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

What We’re Watching: Opportunity Lifts Up Families with the Support of the Caterpillar Foundation

It’s through the commitment of individuals and strategic partner organizations like the Caterpillar Foundation that Opportunity International is able to do so much to impact the lives of our clients. Opportunity is about building from the base of the economic pyramid. And Caterpillar is about building the infrastructure for the communities and nations where we work Read more…

Posted in Our Leadership, Our Work, Resources, Strategic Partners, Trust Groups, Where We Work
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

CGI Session-Going Small for Big Results: Microfranchise and Entrepreneurial Growth

It’s been a full first day already at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York. This morning, CGI sessions have explored climate change with President Clinton and eight other world leaders, population issues with Clinton and New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, author of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. Then, attendees learned Read more…

Posted in Events, Resources
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Class Is in Session at Neighborhood School Near Kumasi, Ghana

As U.S. students settle into the new school year, we check in with a Ghanaian school in the IDP Rising Schools Program, an initiative created and implemented by the IDP Foundation, Inc., in partnership with Opportunity International and Sinapi Aba Trust (SAT),  which funds the development of quality local private schools in Ghana through school proprietor loans and other financial and Read more…

Posted in Loans, Our Work, Strategic Partners, Where We Work
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,