Baba Trust Group members, led by Sheela Shantakumari (center) of Chennai, India, meet for their weekly Trust Group Meeting.

“Opportunity International is grateful to The UPS Foundation for its dedication to helping impoverished families receive access to financial education and support,” said Dennis Ripley, our SVP of International Business Development. “Their support of our organization over the years has helped countless clients work their way out of poverty and toward a better life through entrepreneurship.”

In India, Opportunity’s mission is to serve people who do not have access to financial services. The grant from The UPS Foundation will help us expand our impact in the lives of Indian clients in both rural and urban communities.

The program funded by The UPS Foundation Grant includes microfinance services, such as Trust Group lending and financial literacy training programs on earning, spending, borrowing and budgeting. In addition, clients will benefit from insurance products provided by our subsidiary MicroEnsure, a leading insurance intermediary for people living in poverty.

“For nearly 40 years, [Opportunity] has fostered entrepreneurship in the developing world through education, savings programs, insurance services and training,” says Eduardo Martinez, director of philanthropy and corporate relations for The UPS Foundation. “We are proud to continue our support of Opportunity International’s efforts to increase economic literacy in India.”

For more on this exciting grant from The UPS Foundation, read the press release here.

I want you to believe in Sheela.  She is  a leader of  Opportunity International’s Baba Trust Group meeting in Chennai, India. Nineteen women have joined together to repay loans, learn accounting skills and socialize They are doin it for themselves.

 One powerful way that women are doing it for themselves  and helping to make sure their dreams come true is by starting  businesses.  Businesses that they own. You guys  already know that  microfinance organizations make it a priority to serve the particular needs of women, since a unbelievable 70 percent of all those living in extreme poverty are female. Women are often excluded from education, the workplace, owning property and equal participation in politics. They produce one half of the world’s food, but own just one percent of its farmland. Nearly 85 percent of Opportunity’s loan clients are women…

Continue reading about Sheela on desireeadaway.com