Impact 2007 Winter

quarterly newsletter

Winter 2007

Bishop John Speaks For John Rucyahana, Bishop of Shyira Diocese in Rwanda, a dream has come true. The Urwego Opportunity Microfinance Bank (UOMB) in Kigali, Rwanda is now open.

Long committed to restoring personal dignity to the war-ravaged and poverty-stricken people of Rwanda, Bishop John sees the new bank as a major step forward. The UOMB makes possible—for the first time—safe and secure financial transactions to poor entrepreneurs, and provides essential services that will build up the country’s economy.

Bishop John Rucyahana

“This is the beginning of God’s restoring His dignity into His creation,” said Bishop John. “I want to thank you for being there for the glory of the poor.”

Clementine Uzabakiriho and her family

Celebrating our one millionth client

On September 3, in Kigali, Rwanda, the day began like any other. But, for young Rwandans Clementine Uzabakiriho and her husband Andre, the morning’s events would be significant. They would visit the Urwego Opportunity Microfinance Bank (UOMB) to open their first savings account, and be awarded a ceremonial “key to the bank” by Opportunity International’s CEO Chris Crane. The key symbolized Opportunity’s celebration of them as our one millionth client worldwide, and represented a tribute to their success as entrepreneurs.

“We chose to honor Clementine and Andre as our one millionth active loan client worldwide,” said Crane, “because they are a stellar example of the tens of thousands of clients who have started small and quickly grown larger, successful businesses. They employ 41 neighbors, all of whom benefit from the business this hard-working couple has built in only a few years’ time. We celebrate the continued on page 2

inside

“The rich and the poor have a common bond; the LORD is the maker of them all.”

—Proverbs 22:2

Ceo Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Opportunity’s policy department . . . 3 Smart Giving with Chuck Day . . . . . . 4 Women’s Opportunity Network . . . . 4 Board of Governors in action . . . . . . 6

ceo corner with chris crane

As the holidays approach, our thoughts turn to family, friends and all the blessings we have received in 2007. I would like to take time now to give thanks for the Opportunity International family and to share my hopes and dreams for the coming year.

First, let me say that I am deeply grateful for another year of leading the world’s largest and fastest growing Christian microfinance organization.

In 2007, we celebrated our one millionth loan client and are now helping more than eight million people work their way out of poverty. While we are proud of these milestones, this is just the beginning. We are committed to helping 100 million people by 2015.

Our technology and innovations will continue in the new year, enabling us to enter more countries with banks and “value-added” microfinance services. Through our new Microschools of Opportunity™ initiative to make loans to proprietors of private schools for the poor, we have a chance to brighten the futures of children in developing countries and break the cycle of poverty once and for all. And our microinsurance products will safeguard families from unexpected losses that would otherwise wipe out their small assets.

Fighting poverty is truly a God-sized task that none of us can do alone.

I want to thank you for your investment of time, talent and treasure in support of Opportunity’s mission, and I wish you joy in the year ahead.

2

Celebrating our one millionth client (continued from the cover)

‘ripple effect’ that our entrepreneurs can have in helping to alleviate poverty in some of the poorest countries in the world.”

It was just five years ago that Clementine and Andre, who live in the village of Rubindi in the Northern Province, were supporting their young family on about $10 a week by selling a single sack of sorghum. Beginning with a $36 loan from Opportunity in 2003, they were able to expand their business. Now, on their 11th loan cycle, they sell more than 1,000 sacks of sorghum weekly, which they purchase in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, and transport to their village via a hired truck. Their employees process the sorghum, which Clementine sells to 80 local retailers. Sorghum can be used to make ubushera, a local beverage.

With her business profits, Clementine has acquired four fields where she grows vegetables, corn and potatoes for her family’s consumption, as well as to sell for additional income. She and Andre have also built a new house and bought furniture, purchased livestock and enrolled their children in school.

“My dream is to use the savings to buy my own truck and start an international business of importing corn from neighboring countries like Uganda,” said Clementine. She also hopes to help her husband install electricity and running water in their house.

The celebration of Clementine and Andre coincided with the opening of UOMB as Opportunity’s 17th microfinance bank in the developing world. Crane told the crowd of well-wishers at the bank that Urwego Opportunity’s doors would always be open to the working poor who are vital to the bank’s success.

The bank is the result of a merger between World Relief, Hope International and Opportunity International and will offer savings and expanded financial services to its 28,000 current clients and the people of Rwanda.

“Opportunity International came to Rwanda because there is great hope in this country today — hope for a growing economy and an end to poverty,” said Crane. “With the increased income from their small businesses, our clients can provide better quality food for their families, buy books and uniforms to send their children to school, and even adopt orphans in their villages.”

For Clementine and Andre, the commemorative key they received at the bank may mean more than just being Opportunity’s one millionth client. Along with their new savings account, it may well symbolize the key to their future.

Opportunity’s policy department enlists both sides of the aisle Public advocacy has become an integral part of Opportunity International’s work. As Opportunity’s policy and advocacy team, Susy Cheston, Senior Vice President for Policy, and Whitney Rhoades, Policy Director, are working to increase the quantity and improve the quality of public funding available to the microfinance industry.

Opportunity’s commitment has paid off in the passage of the Microenterprise Results and Accountability Act of 2004, increases in appropriations for microfinance, the opportunity to testify at two congressional hearings and the creation of a new United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funding mechanism for microfinance.

Key to Opportunity’s success has been our donors who have effectively called, emailed and visited Members of Congress on behalf of the poor.

Below: Opportunity Governor John Struck (far right) is a true ambassador for Opportunity. Here John and his wife and fellow Governor Beatriz Struck are pictured with U.S. Representative Patrick J. Kennedy (D-R.I.) (far left) and U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (second from right).

John strategically used this meeting — and prior ones — to educate lawmakers about the difference microfinance can make in the lives of the poor (June 2007).

Top (from left): Opportunity International Policy Director Whitney Rhoades, Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), Opportunity Senior Vice President for Policy Susy Cheston, and Opportunity Ambassador Tony Hall meet to discuss microfinance legislation in the Senator’s office (June 2007).

Senator Brownback is especially concerned about the crippling poverty of sub-Saharan Africa and recognizes that microfinance is a powerful solution there and in other parts of the world.

Above: Gordon V. Smith (left), Opportunity’s 2005 Philanthropist of the Year, travels to the Philippines several times a year to serve on the board of the Opportunity Microfinance Bank. In July, Smith met on Opportunity’s behalf with U.S. Representative Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.) (right), the Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs. Representative Wolf is a strong congressional supporter of microfinance.

3

smart giving with chuck day

Smart Giving Tips for Year-End 2007 As December 31 approaches, here are some quick tips on how to maximize your charitable dollars so that you can feel good about how you gave, as well as to whom you gave.

Women in Opportunity— viewing success a decade later It was ten years ago that a poverty-stricken Filipino seamstress received a small loan from Opportunity International through one of our Trust Groups in Manila.

Today, through her own efforts and support programs developed by the Women’s Opportunity Network, she operates a thriving business selling clothing.

Look beyond the checkbook: The stock market is up again in 2007, and the Dow has increased in value by over 20% since the beginning of 2006. Therefore, consider giving those appreciated stocks to charity instead of cash, so that you can deduct the full fair market value of the stock and avoid the capital gains taxes; Consider your IRA: If you are age 70- or older, this is the last year of legislation that allows you to give up to $100,000 to charity directly from your IRA and pay no income tax on the withdrawal; Join the Fund: Donor Advised Funds operate like “charitable checking accounts” and are extremely flexible, simple to use and provide wonderful tax benefits; Gifts that give back: You can give cash or stocks, receive back a lifetime income stream and qualify for a current tax deduction.

Chuck Day is Opportunity’s Director of Gift Planning Services. You can email him at cday@opportunity.org or call him directly at (800) 793 -9455 ext. 4136.

Diana Negroponte chats with tailors in Manila this summer, getting a firsthand look at how they make products and develop their business. Photo by Joven Cagande/STAR and reprinted from the STARweek, the Sunday magazine of the Philippine STAR.

But adapting to the values and discipline of making loan payments and growing a business sometimes can be a struggle for clients unaccustomed to such structure, says Negroponte, recognizing that their success requires time and commitment. “Our work here is much harder than it would appear on the surface,” she said. “What distinguishes Opportunity International as a successful microfinance organization is its ongoing investment in training, and its essential role of preparing clients to build a business.”

Women’s Opportunity Network’s participation in developing support programs through its Trust Group model is key to helping new and existing clients succeed.

“The Women’s Opportunity Network helped to create a series of training modules for the Trust Groups about subjects ranging from business basics to nutrition and AIDS prevention,” says Susan Gillette, former president of DDB Needham Chicago and an Opportunity board member. “This holistic response to the needs of our clients helps insure that we are providing them not simply a loan transaction but also the means to transform their lives.”

For more information about the Women’s Opportunity Network, please call (800) 793-9455 or email getinfo@opportunity.org.

4

“This woman is a success story for microfinance,” says Opportunity International and Women’s Opportunity Network board member Diana Negroponte, who revisited that same seamstress this past August. “I’ve seen how, in a decade, she’s gone from gathering scraps of fabric from a local factory to owning six sewing machines, employing eight people and selling her products to retail stores.

left: Dikembe Mutombo, center for the NBA’s Houston Rockets, visits Opportunity International clients in a Mozambique marketplace similar to the one he worked in as a child in the Congo. Mutombo is a member of Opportunity’s Board of Advisors.

Partnership adds $5M to impact poverty in Africa Compassion International and Opportunity International, among the largest Christian organizations of their kind, announced a dramatic expansion of their partnership to reach more of the working poor. Over the next five years, Compassion International will invest $5 million in Opportunity to enable expansion of Opportunity’s microloans, savings accounts, insurance and business training services in Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda.

“This relationship is a strategic alliance between two Christian operations, focused on the same mission to reverse the cycle of poverty in the lives of the poor,” said Dr. Wess Stafford, president of Compassion International, a ministry serving more than 900,000 children in 24 countries.

“We believe that our two organizations, each with its own strengths and areas of expertise, can have a much bigger impact on the poor if we work together,” said Chris Crane. The collaborative effort will produce mutually beneficial results for the children, families and communities that both organizations serve.

Shop for Opportunity Be sure to check out the Alternative Gift Catalog, “My Shopping List for the World,” featuring Opportunity International client Dorothy Kanjautso. With loans from Opportunity, Dorothy has built a Microschool™ which employs seven teachers and serves 250 children in her village in Malawi.

To find Dorothy in the Alternative Gift Catalog, visit www.alternativegifts.org/projects/ malawi-micro-loans.

5

Governors in action drew smith in ghana It was while he was in Honduras helping to rebuild a village destroyed by the deadly Hurricane Mitch that Drew Smith, now an Opportunity International governor, decided he would begin a search for a microfinance program that worked to help povertystricken people worldwide. What resulted was a relationship with Opportunity International and the development of corporate partnership strategies that are working now to benefit the poorest of the working poor.

Drew Smith in Ghana with a group of children who gathered outside a Trust Group meeting.

“I was drawn to Opportunity International because it was Christian-based,” said Smith, a venture capitalist and social entrepreneur in St. Louis. “I wanted to match my skills in the construction and manufacturing industries with the values of Opportunity and the needs of the people it serves.”

Within three years of becoming involved with Opportunity, Smith already has made a major impact by successfully assembling a team to partner with Caterpillar, resulting in a $1.2 million donation from their foundation for our work in Africa and China.

Smith’s instrumental role in obtaining the grant was a direct result of his background in manufacturing, construction and business—and his commitment to the working poor.

“My expertise isn’t in fundraising,” said Smith. “But I can talk the same language as some of the companies who can contribute to our mission and that’s where I put my energy.”

Smith has been awed by how Opportunity can transform lives.

“I’ve seen how Opportunity can break the cycle of poverty in just one generation and how the power of a mother can help her kids succeed,” he said, referring to one woman, who with the help of our small loans, has evolved from selling a single pot of snacks daily to putting one son through medical school, another through engineering school and currently supporting a daughter in college. “The lives of these women and their families literally have been transformed through the work of our Trust Groups.”

“I had the pleasure of traveling with Drew on our Governors Trip to Ghana last year,” said Wendy Cox, Opportunity’s Director of the Board of Governors. “I almost lost him on that trip. Some of the ladies we met wanted to buy him, so we held an auction.

But the bidding stopped once they concluded that he didn’t know how to carry water on his head.”

“My hope is that through my faith and my work with Opportunity, I can make a difference in people’s lives, and bring hope to those who are so desperately in need,” Smith said.

6

opportunity international’s

board of governors is a community of people impassioned with the desire to help lift the world’s poor out

of poverty.

these philanthropic individuals contribute major

financial support and serve as ambassadors for us by developing new sources of revenue.

Board of Governors calendar insight trips Nicaragua February 6–10, 2008 Peru April 8–11, 2008 (with optional four-day excursion to Machu Picchu) Governors Family Week Honduras June 22–28, 2008 Rwanda September 2008 (dates pending)

2007 Board of Governors Annual Meeting More than 190 Opportunity International governors gathered in Chicago in October for the group’s annual meeting—a time for sharing, learning and charting a course for the year to come.

Ghana November 28–December 6, 2008

board of governors annual conference October 3–4, 2008, Chicago

webinars–2008 Maria Elena Taylor Jimenez, Executive Director of Oportunidad Microfinanzas, Mexico, and Michael Okleme, Branch Relationship Officer from Ghana, addressed the transformational aspect of Opportunity’s innovations and work methodologies in-country.

Among the keynote speakers was Tom Walsh, chief of staff in the Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, who noted that “Opportunity is helping to win the fight against AIDS in Africa [by] providing economic opportunities to women who then take AIDS orphans into their homes and raise them as their own.” In fact, Opportunity clients in Africa take in an average of two AIDS orphans per household.

Another highlight for meeting attendees was learning from members of Opportunity’s international leadership about the many ways our innovations, including savings accounts, insurance, smart cards, ATMs and biometric technology are helping to reach and benefit millions of additional clients worldwide.

Governors learned of new ways to become more involved in the work of Opportunity International through three committees that met this year: Microfinance Education, Corporate Partnerships and Church Connections. The Church Connections committee launched a new initiative called “People in the Pews” and invites all governors to become involved to help bring Opportunity International to churches around the country. Those interested in participating in this initiative or hearing more about other opportunities for involvement on a committee can contact Wendy Cox at wcox@opportunity.org for more information.

January 24, 2008 Noon (CST) “A Skeptic’s Guide to Global Poverty,” hosted by Dale Hanson Bourke, author and member of our Board of Directors.

To participate in any Governor activities, please contact Wendy Cox, Board of Governors director, at (630) 414-2567 or wcox@opportunity.org.

impact is published quarterly by Opportunity International 2122 York Road, Ste. 150 Oak Brook, Illinois 60523 Janna Cosby, Editor getinfo@opportunity.org ©2007

Opportunity International

(800) 793-9455 www.opportunity.org

7

The

Opportunity International mission is to provide opportunities for people in chronic poverty to transform their lives.

Our strategy is to create jobs, stimulate small businesses and strengthen communities among the poor.

Our method is to work through indigenous partner organizations that provide small business loans, other financial services, training and counsel.

Our commitment is motivated by Jesus Christ’s call to serve the poor.

Our core values are respect, commitment to the poor, integrity and stewardship.

Opportunity International serves women and men of all faiths and no faith.

2122 York Road, Ste. 150, Oak Brook, Illinois 60523

Clementine Uzabakiriho is Urwego Opportunity’s largest loan client in northern Rwanda. Recently, she received her 11th loan of $1,600 to expand her wholesale grain sorghum business. Clementine sells three truckloads of grain sorghum each week to 80 retailers and employs 41 people. Her husband, Andre, handles sales and marketing for the business.

Above top: Clementine supervises her employees as they process sorghum in the river.

Above bottom: Clementine and her husband Andre with Opportunity International’s CEO Chris Crane.

Right: Clementine at the opening celebration of the Urwego Opportunity Microfinance Bank in Kigali, Rwanda.