Blog Archives

A Trip Down Memory Lane with Some New-Old Photos

We have a lot of great photos at Opportunity International. With all of the amazing clients we get to meet and all of the places we get to work, great pictures aren’t hard to come by. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts to keep them neatly organized, some of those photos get buried underneath all of Read more…

Posted in Local Staffing, Rural Outreach, Technology, Where We Work
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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
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My Inspirational Meeting in Malawi with Microfinance Client Mary Jackson

Recently, Opportunity International staff members traveled to Malawi, seeing firsthand how technology enables us to deliver microfinance services to rural people living in extreme poverty. They met with Opportunity Malawi clients and local staff to capture the stories of entrepreneurs who are working hard to break the cycle of poverty. Below, read staff member Cynthia’s account of her meeting with Read more…

Posted in Loans, Our Work, Rural Outreach, Savings, Strategic Partners, Training, Where We Work
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Opportunity Co-Hosts Financial Literacy Conference in Kenya

This week in Nairobi, Opportunity International and The Financial Education Fund (FEF)–which is funded by the Department for International Development (DFID)–are co-sponsoring a Financial Literacy Conference to explore how access to financial services can be facilitated and enhanced through financial education initiatives. The Financial Literacy Conference opened with remarks from Professor Njuguna S. Ndunu’u, governor Read more…

Posted in Our Motivation, Uncategorized, Where We Work, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
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New Microinsurance Product Helps Protect Mozambican Families

Launched on Jan. 3, 2011, Opportunity Mozambique now offers its clients the protection of a credit life insurance policy that includes funeral coverage. This policy, developed with the help of Opportunity International’s microinsurance subsidiary MicroEnsure, helps families maintain the progress they have achieved even when faced with life’s tragedies. This enhanced policy is being offered Read more…

Posted in Microinsurance, Where We Work
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Opportunity Mozambique Is on a Roll with Three New Mobile Banking Vehicles

Last week, Doug Pond, head of operations for Opportunity Mozambique, announced the Mozambique Central Bank’s approval of our three newest mobile banking vehicles. Opportunity plans to deploy all three mobile banking vehicles in the coming weeks to significantly increase its outreach to families living in Mozambique’s rural villages. With the rollout of its agriculture finance Read more…

Posted in Bank Building, Loans, Local Staffing, Microinsurance, Our Work, Savings, Technology, Where We Work
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Five Million People in Five Years: Bank-Building in Africa

Last Wednesday, Opportunity staff and supporters gathered for the quarterly conference call hosted by the Board of Governors. The topic was “Bank-Building in Africa” and Opportunity’s Banking on Africa campaign, a discussion led by two of our experts in the International Business Development department: Dennis Ripley, SVP of  programs, and Simona Haiduc, VP of program management. Young Ambassadors for Opportunity (YAO) Read more…

Posted in Bank Building, Board of Governors, Insight Trips, Loans, Local Staffing, Microinsurance, Our Leadership, Our Work, Rural Outreach, Savings, Strategic Partners, Technology, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
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The Power to Fight AIDS: A Mozambiquan Microfinance Client Shows His Strength

This week, Wednesday, Dec. 1 marks the 22nd annual World AIDS Day. Since 1988, it has become one of the most recognized international health days and provides a key opportunity each year to raise awareness, remember those who have been victims of AIDS, and celebrate progress in the fight against this devastating epidemic. We all Read more…

Posted in Events, Faith in Action, Where We Work
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Microfinance Loan Officers Go Green with Electronic Bikes

Opportunity International’s loan officers are going green. They are traveling to loan client locations with the assistance of electric bicycles. If electric cars are the epitome of a culture that is constantly trying to reduce its carbon footprint, then electric bicycles (e-bikes) rank in the same category. That’s why Daryl Skoog, Opportunity International’s SVP of Read more…

Posted in Local Staffing, Our Work, Rural Outreach, Technology
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SEEP Conference Breakfast Workshop, “E-Banking with Agent Networks”

The 25th Annual SEEP Conference ended Friday after five days of sessions for microenterprise practitioners to learn and connect on the challenges and opportunities faced by microfinance institutions and policymakers. A number of Opportunity staff were at the Arlington, Va. conference, including SVP of technology Daryl Skoog, director of knowledge management Estelle Berger, COO of Read more…

Posted in Bank Building, Events, Our Leadership, Our Work, Strategic Partners, Technology, Trust Groups
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