AGENCY
The capacity for people to make their own choices.
Welmince weaving her way to success
Building more climate resilient communities
Ika’s Ticket of Opportunity
Give someone a Ticket of Opportunity
Living in Australia, it’s easy to take for granted the privileges we enjoy, privileges that are unattainable for those living in poverty. Things like comfortable beds, food readily available in local supermarkets, and air conditioning are luxuries for the families we serve. A holiday is often completely out of reach, as is basic education for children.
But for families who take out a small loan, their journey to improving their livelihood starts with a single step. That journey can begin with one very powerful piece of paper...
The Ticket of Opportunity campaign is an exciting new initiative from Opportunity International Australia, aimed at providing more women with the support they need to break the cycle of poverty.
When you purchase a ticket, you are giving a woman living in poverty the chance to prosper — to become a resourceful, hard-working business owner who can provide a better life for her family.
These women have ambitious dreams for their families’ futures, but they simply lack the opportunities needed to turn those dreams into reality.
A story of opportunity that has stayed with me is that of a seaweed farmer in Rote, Indonesia, called Aranci. I met her in 2022, and she is one of the most resilient people I’ve ever encountered. Her tenacity, ambition, and love for her family were second to none. When Aranci received a small loan from one of our local partners, she was able to grow her seaweed farm in the challenging years following the pandemic. That small loan was her Ticket of Opportunity. With an increased income and savings, her children were able to stay in school and eat nutritious meals for the first time.
There are so many other women like Aranci who need your help. They have the drive, skills, and ambition to succeed — they just need an opportunity.
If you’d like to help us amplify the voices of the women achieving incredible things with small loans, please consider sharing the Ticket of Opportunity campaign with your family and friends. You can read the story of Ika, another remarkable entrepreneur from Indonesia, on page 14, or find out more at opportunity.org.au/ticket
When we work together, we can create a world where all women and girls have the chance to reach their full potential. Imagine the opportunity!
Thank you for your support.
With blessings and gratitude,
Scott Walters Chief Executive Officer Opportunity International Australia
Above: Scott Walters with Aranci, a seaweed farmer from Rote, Indonesia.
Linking health education and gender-based violence prevention
Opportunity International Australia is integrating gender-based violence prevention alongside health initiatives in partnership with one of our local partners in India.
In addition to providing community health education and facilitating access to health services, female Health Leaders are raising awareness about genderbased violence and supporting survivors through established pathways.
The additional content covers topics such as power and control, negotiation, communication, problemsolving, non-violent conflict resolution, intimate partner violence, and women’s rights.
A mentor counsellor is also available to help survivors navigate the local care system.
In October 2024, Health Leaders and the local project team received training on women’s safety materials, which will now reach 2,250 households. Learnings from the pilot will inform our approach to enhancing women’s safety across all health projects.
Project supported by the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).
Below: Health Leaders receive training on gender-based violence prevention.
Running 30 for 30 for Opportunity
In November 2024, Opportunity International Australia’s Campaign Manager, Louise Kwok, ran 30km in the Ultra-Trail Kosciuszko race in the Snowy Mountains. Louise went above and beyond, pushing her limits by running 30km for 30 families living in poverty. Though not as long as a marathon, the Ultra-Trail was a demanding challenge set against the backdrop of Australia’s highest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko.
Louise raised $3,245 for Opportunity! Well done, Louise, and thank you on behalf of the women and families you have helped.
If you would like to start your own fundraiser for Opportunity, find out more at fundraising.opportunity.org.au.
Farewell Simon Lynch
After 29 years with Opportunity International Australia, Simon Lynch said goodbye in December 2024 as the Indonesia Director.
Simon was an integral part of Opportunity’s expansion and growth in Asia, first working alongside founder David Bussau in the 1990s. He served as the Asia Regional Director for the Opportunity Global Network, the founder and CEO of Opportunity Timor-Leste, and the first Community Development Director, establishing Health and Women’s Safety programs at Opportunity International Australia.
Many of our loyal supporters have met Simon or travelled with him on insight trips, witnessing firsthand his kindness and dedication to people living in poverty.
“Simon embodies the very DNA of our organisation and will be deeply missed by all,” said Mark Daniels, Microfinance and Innovation Director at Opportunity. “His unwavering commitment to building strong relationships is a testament to the kind of person he is. Simon is passionate about addressing injustice and supporting those with fewer opportunities.”
Throughout his time at Opportunity, Simon has been invaluable to our journey and success. We will deeply miss his development expertise, wisdom, and deep understanding of Indonesian culture. While not quite retiring yet, he is embracing a slower life with his family. We wish him all the very best in this next chapter.
Working together to create a Safer World For All
Australia is one of the safest, healthiest, and most generous countries in the world. However, our international aid contribution is only 0.68 per cent of the federal budget.
Between 2010 and 2015, the Australian aid budget was over 1.2 per cent of the federal budget, but it has been in decline ever since. It is now at its lowest point in over two decades—at a time when families in low-income countries need our support more than ever.
As part of the Safer World For All campaign, Opportunity International Australia fully supports increasing the Australian international aid budget to 1 per cent — which still leaves 99 per cent of federal government spending for Australians. It is a modest yet impactful target that aligns with Australia’s moral duty, strategic interests, and public support.
Australians are generous, caring, and look out for our neighbours. We believe all people deserve peace, opportunity, and security.
If you’d like to get involved in the Safer World For All campaign, visit saferworld.org.au, add your name, and send an email to your MP using the online form. It is quick, easy, and will make a huge difference!
Above: Simon Lynch, meeting Sherly, one of the women Opportunity serves, in Indonesia last October.
Welmince weaving her way to success
Mother of five, Welmince, from Soe in West Timor, Indonesia, has built a successful weaving business with the help of a small loan.
She first started with a loan of A$200 from one of Opportunity International Australia’s local microfinance partners to buy materials and increase her productivity.
Year by year, her business grew, and she received additional loans. These increased loans have had a significant impact on Welmince’s business and brought a brighter future for her whole family.
“In the early days of my weaving business, I could only afford a few pieces of basic fabric, so if I wanted to increase production, I had to wait for the woven fabric to sell,” said Welmince.
Now, with access to larger loans, she can stock more materials, create a diverse range of motifs, and attract customers for traditional and religious events.
Today, Welmince’s woven fabric business is thriving, enabling her to send her children to school and university. One of her daughters is now a teacher, another is a nurse, and her third daughter is studying maths at university.
Opposite: Thanks to a small loan, Welmince was able to start a weaving business. She creates beautiful designs and sells them to her local community.
With the increased income, Welmince and her husband were able to renovate their home and create more space to extend their family.
They adopted two girls who were orphans from Papua, giving them a stable, loving home and an education from a young age. The girls now attend the local junior and senior high schools and are doing very well.
Not only is she a successful businesswoman, but Welmince’s generosity and kindness shine through. She is well-respected in her community and is always willing to help those in need. She is an inspiration to her five daughters, who are all on their way to successful careers.
Welmince is grateful for the support she has received from Opportunity’s local partner and recognises the importance of women in her community earning an income and creating their own pathways out of poverty.
Above: Welmince and her husband and their two adopted daughters.
Building more climate resilient communities
Climate change and poverty are closely interlinked. To protect livelihoods and build more resilient communities, Opportunity International Australia is working with our health and microfinance partners to understand how climate change is impacting the communities we serve and to develop products and programs that meet those needs.
Climate change threatens to exacerbate poverty and inequality globally. Women and people with disabilities are disproportionately affected, as they typically have less access to and control over resources that can help them manage and recover from its impacts.
People living in poverty in Asia, including families supported by Opportunity’s partners, are among those most vulnerable to climate change. Climate-related impacts such as typhoons, flooding and drought can threaten the livelihoods, health and safety of families living in poverty.
Climate change compounds the social and economic stressors experienced by these families and can threaten their safety, stability and access to essential services.
Families in poverty are also much more likely to rely on climate-sensitive industries like agriculture for their livelihoods.
Opportunity’s approach to building climate resilience
Opportunity leverages our existing microfinance and health initiatives to holistically address the complex nature of poverty and support communities in building climate resilience on their pathway out of poverty.
To develop effective, client-focused solutions, Opportunity and its microfinance partners need to understand the climate needs of affected communities.
In 2023, Opportunity piloted a first-of-its-kind climate resilience scorecard to assess the climate challenges faced by farming families and support the development of new products and services.
The pilot survey found that:
• Only five per cent of respondents had crop insurance.
• Less than two per cent had livestock insurance.
• Financial literacy levels were low, with many unaware of the availability and benefits of insurance and its role in protecting against climate shocks— highlighting the need for financial education.
These findings will enable Opportunity to assist communities in India and Indonesia by working with local partners to develop products that help families protect their livelihoods and build more climateresilient businesses.
Over 1 billion unbanked adults — more than 80 per cent of the world’s unbanked population— live in the most climatevulnerable economies.
100 million people are at risk of falling into extreme poverty due to climate change by 2030, with the majority in developing countries.
The direct damage costs to health from climate change are estimated to reach between US$2–4 billion per year by 2030.
Climate-smart health education
The One Health approach recognises that human health, animal health and environmental health are intrinsically linked. Health education has largely overlooked climate change — we want to change that. Opportunity’s Health Leaders initiative trains female microentrepreneurs to provide health education in their communities across Asia.
There is a great opportunity to empower these trusted community members to deliver climate-informed health education, improving the climate resilience of rural communities. In 2024, Opportunity worked with health partners in India, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Nepal to develop climate modules, locally adapted for each geography, that will be incorporated into community health education.
Financing sustainable farming
One of our local partners in India has launched financing services for innovative biogas solutions. This new product, the biodigester, aims to foster sustainable agriculture and environmental conservation for small and medium-scale dairy farmers, who typically have livestock loans.
By adopting biodigesters, farmers can transform organic waste like cow dung into biogas that they can use as fuel for cooking and to operate farming machinery. The bio-slurry, a by-product from the digester, can be used as fertiliser to enrich the soil and reduces their dependency on chemical fertilisers. This initiative is enabling farmers to transform waste into a valuable resource, facilitating a transition to eco-friendly and sustainable farming practices.
Resilient Village program in Indonesia
In Indonesia, a project with one of our local partners is focusing on building more resilient rural villages, transforming the lives of many women and families experiencing poverty.
This will be achieved through:
• Job creation and the establishment of productive small businesses
• Community health initiatives
• Disaster risk reduction and climate resilience training
East Nusa Tenggara in Eastern Indonesia, one of the poorest parts of the country, is highly prone to climate-related extreme weather events, including tropical storms and drought, and locals are already experiencing changes to rainfall patterns. In each village supported through this initiative, a village committee will be formed to identify and address climate risks and develop strategies for climate adaptation, building greater resilience in communities. Opportunity’s local partner is working with villages in Indonesia that are highly susceptible to climate change to develop strategies for resilience.
Left: Opportunity’s local partner is working with villages in Indonesia that are susceptible to the threats of climate change to develop strategies for resilience.
Above: Leela, a small loan client, has created a profitable agricultural business.
Opposite: Smallholder farmers like Madina provide a third of the world’s food, but are among the most vulnerable to climate change.
Disability is no barrier for Hafzarun
Living in a village in northern Bangladesh, Hafzarun works as a Health Leader, delivering health education to improve the health and wellbeing of local families.
Born with a visual impairment due to a damaged right eye, along with permanent burn damage to her hand, Hafzarun has never allowed her disability to limit her passion for learning or her determination to help others in her community.
Hafzarun began working with Opportunity International Australia’s local partner, BURO Bangladesh, after meeting a Health Supervisor in her village. Inspired by the chance to serve her community, she embraced the opportunity.
Through perseverance, Hafzarun successfully passed both written and oral examinations before undertaking four days of training for her new role with BURO. However, not everyone believed in her abilities. Her mother-in-law and husband initially questioned whether she was capable of fulfilling the role, even expressing concerns that her disability might be inherited by future generations. Hafzarun took great satisfaction in proving them wrong.
In addition to her role as a Health Leader, Hafzarun also runs a tea shop with her husband, Maifizur. With the help of a small loan from BURO, they were able to establish their business, which provides them with stability, flexibility, and a steady income. Maifizur also experiences mobility challenges, and having their own business allows them to support each other while working in their business.
The tea shop enables Hafzarun and Maifizur to better support their two children. Their eight-year-old son has recently been enrolled in a quality local school, and their seven-year-old daughter will be enrolled once they increase their earnings and savings. Hafzarun finds deep purpose and fulfillment in her role, as she provides vital health education to her community, helping others lead healthier lives and making a tangible difference to local families.
“My family and I are very grateful for the Health Leaders program. Words cannot express how much I have benefited from this work,” said Hafzarun.
As she continues her work in the community, Hafzarun hopes to see the Health Leaders initiative expand to every village in Bangladesh. She believes that such programs have the power to uplift not just individuals but entire communities and, ultimately, the country as a whole.
Opposite: Hafzarun doesn’t let her disability hinder her work as a Health Leader.
Below left: Maifizur, Hafzarun’s husband, helps run the tea shop they started thanks to a small loan.
Below right: Hafzarun earns an income as a Health Leader, and enjoys passing on her knowledge to her local community.
Enhancing education in Pakistan
Pakistan faces some of the world’s most pressing educational challenges.
With nearly 23 million children aged 5 to 16 out of school — 44 per cent of the total population in this age group —the need for a transformation in education is clear. Barriers to education in Pakistan, particularly for girls, are significant, ranging from poverty and cultural norms to a lack of infrastructure and qualified teachers.
This has created an urgent need for innovative solutions to provide quality education in both the public and private sectors.
In 2023, EduQuality, a program of Opportunity EduFinance, was launched in Pakistan. Focused on affordable non-state schools, EduQuality provides school leaders and teachers with professional development tools and resources to enhance the quality of education. The program combines digital content with in-person training, supporting schools in strengthening leadership, teaching, and learning practices over three years.
In its first year, EduQuality partnered with 150 schools across Punjab in eastern Pakistan.
Early results are promising, with school leaders embracing structured support and training to improve school management, financial planning, and classroom instruction.
One of the schools in the EduQuality program is the Muslim School of Science, located in a small village in Punjab. Founded in 2015 with just 35 students and two staff members, the school was established to meet a critical community need. The nearest government school was far away and it was unsafe for children to travel long distances.
By providing a safe and accessible learning environment, the new non-state school addressed this gap. Initially opening with just two rooms, it has since expanded to 15 classrooms with basic amenities, offering pre-primary, middle, and secondary education.
Since partnering with Opportunity EduFinance in 2023, the Muslim School of Science has benefited from school improvement loans, receiving PKR 500,000 (A$2,883).
These funds have been used to expand classroom space, build a boundary wall for security, and improve overall infrastructure. The school has since grown to 15 teaching staff and 473 students, with a significant rise in the number of girls attending (203 girls and 270 boys).
School leader Ghulam credits Opportunity EduFinance for introducing effective financial management and school improvement strategies.
Pathways to Excellence is a selfassessment tool that helps school leaders identify strengths and areas for improvement across 18 domains of school quality, grouped into school culture, school management, and teaching and learning.
“The Pathway to Excellence materials provided us with a thorough framework for school self-assessment, and the School Leader Exercise Booklet has greatly enhanced our approach to school culture and management,” said Ghulam.
Leaders use the results to create focused development plans, targeting two to five areas for growth each year. This process empowers them to drive continuous improvement, ensuring long-term quality enhancement beyond the EduQuality program.
Left: The Muslim School of Science in Pakistan has benefited since taking part in the EduQuality program since 2023.
Trekkers see the value of Opportunity’s work firsthand
For the second year in a row, the Trek for Opportunity in October 2024 was a life-changing experience for five passionate Opportunity supporters. It also raised much-needed funds for families living in poverty.
Over $40,000 was raised by the 2024 trekkers, enough to help 250 families with a small loan to build a business and leave poverty behind!
The Trek for Opportunity is a wonderful chance for supporters to personally achieve a life goal while also meeting some of the women supported by Opportunity’s programs in India. Once again, Opportunity’s corporate partner, RedZed, sponsored one of their staff members to join the trek. This time, Business Development Manager Tamara was the lucky participant.
“There have been some challenging parts, but it’s been mostly enjoyable, with lots of delicious food along the way,” said Tamara. “Overall, it was an amazing experience.”
The seven-day adventure began in Darjeeling, where they were driven to Dhotrey to start the trek. On the first day, they trekked just over three kilometres to Tonglu, their base camp for the next two nights.
“It’s tested my fitness,” said Peter from Queensland. “It’s good to experience another culture and be among a group of people who don’t think exactly like I do.”
Each day, the group would rise early, have breakfast, then begin their daily adventure. Rather than a straight trek to a destination, they explored the surrounding mountains each day, returning to their camp each night for a well-earned rest.
“I have loved the trek — the great scenery, the fun camping, the terrific food — I just loved it,” said trek participant and long term Queensland supporter, Kate.
The final day of trekking ended in Chitrey, where they enjoyed lunch before heading back to Darjeeling and then taking a train ride to Varanasi.
In Varanasi, they met some of the families supported by Opportunity. Meeting the women and hearing their stories of hardship — and ultimately, hope — put everything the trekkers had experienced into perspective.
The group heard from Suggi, a mother of five daughters, who was forced out of her in-laws’ home because she hadn’t produced a son. Suggi, along with her husband Rajendra and their children, found themselves without a home and with no money to feed their family. They moved to another town, where Suggi set up a small grocery shop, but the hard times didn’t end there. The shop was broken into and robbed, and sadly she lost everything.
Then Suggi heard about Opportunity’s local microfinance partner, who offered her a small loan to start again. Suggi began making and selling pani puri, an Indian fried snack food, and her business began thriving. She has since been able to buy a house for her family to live in and send her daughters to school.
A big thank you to our amazing supporters — Franca, Peter, Kate, Tamara, and Rebecca — who went above and beyond to raise money and help women like Suggi.
Above left: Trek for Opportunity participants meet one of the families supported by Opportunity. (back row) Tamara, Franca, Kate, Peter, (front row) Kieran, Rebecca, Suggi and Rajendra.
Right: Trek for Opportunity participants Peter, Kate, Rebecca, Franca and Tamara in the Eastern Himalayas.
Ika’s Ticket of Opportunity
For Ika, a 25-year-old mother of two from rural Indonesia, her ticket of opportunity came when she received a small loan from Opportunity International Australia’s local microfinance partner.
Ika was married at a young age and moved out of her rural village to live with her husband and his family. She didn’t complete her schooling and worked very hard as a farmhand, not earning much money.
She decided to start her own small business selling vegetables, but she realised that vegetable sales alone wouldn’t be sustainable.
“I was told if I sold vegetables, no one would buy them,” she recalls. Ika then pivoted to selling fried snacks made from flour, nuts and vegetables, slowly building a small but steady income.
Accessing cashflow was a challenge for Ika. Without funds to buy ingredients in bulk, she often had to wait until she had enough money to run her business.
“Sometimes I sold for one day and then had to stop for two days. I was waiting for the capital first,” said Ika.
Everything changed when Ika received a small loan of Rp 2 million (A$190) from one of Opportunity’s local partners. She was able to invest in her business and grow her income. She expanded her product range to include traditional cassava-based snacks like tapai, a fermented rice dish, and gethuk, a sweet cassava dessert made with grated coconut, sugar and salt. In addition to snacks, she began selling fresh fruit such as oranges, mangoes, sapodilla and rambutan.
“After I got the loan, I was able to buy more cassava and produce snacks every day,” she said proudly.
In addition to running her growing business, Ika also works alongside her husband on their seasonal corn farm, a staple crop in their region. She even buys and sells corn from the market to supplement their income. With the money she has earned, she was able to buy a refrigerator, which allows her to store more gethuk and increase production and profit as an entrepreneur.
Beyond her business success, Ika has grown as a leader in her community. Just over a year ago, she took part in the Health Leader training program, equipping her with the knowledge to educate her community about basic health and hygiene. She is now a respected figure in her village, offering guidance and support to families on health and business knowledge.
Ika no longer feels isolated in her struggles and now has the tools and knowledge to secure a better future. Ika is able to provide a better education for her daughters than she had growing up. Her mindset has shifted from survival to ambition, and she dreams of expanding her business even further.
If you would like to give another woman like Ika a Ticket of Opportunity, visit opportunity.org.au/ticket
Below left: Ika has worked hard to provide for her family. Below right: Ika makes fried snacks at home that she sells in her local community.
Thank
you for your continued generosity
It’s thanks to your support that we have been able to increase our investment in programs that create new opportunities for resilient and hard-working women and families across Asia.
Thanks to you, we have been able to protect and build more businesses, help more children attend school, reach more women and girls with anti-violence and human trafficking awareness and protection, and extend our health program by training more Health Leaders.
With deepest gratitude, and sincerest thanks from the Opportunity International Australia team. On behalf of those we serve.
Opportunity International Australia is an Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) Member and is committed to full adherence to the ACFID Code of Conduct.
Opportunity International Australia receives support from the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).
Opportunity International Australia is a member of the Australian Disability and Development Consortium (ADDC). The ADDC is a network of agencies, organisations and individuals with an interest in disability-inclusive development within Australia and internationally.
“
Ika Small business owner and Health Leader, Indonesia