AMINA, A STORY OF HOPE
A small loan can change everything for a family living in poverty
MEET AMINA
When Amina and her sister were growing up, her mother, Remy and father, Bienvenido earned just $4 a day to provide for them. Living in poverty in the Philippines, they struggled to afford safe shelter, the children’s education and even the most basic of food. Some days they survived only on the leftover scraps they could pick up after harvest time.
At the start of each school year, Amina and her sister would take their old school books and sew any blank pages together to have something to write on in class. There were even days when the family had no food at all, and they would go to bed hungry.
“I don’t like to cry because of those times in the past. I didn’t have anything and I couldn’t buy things for my children. I was not able to provide food or education. It was very hard,” Remy says.
But everything changed when Amina’s mother found out about the small loans available through Opportunity International Australia. Remy took out a loan for $123 from one of Opportunity’s microfinance partners and bought three piglets to start a small farm. With the regular income the new business earned, the family was able to break the cycle of poverty that had trapped them for so long. Amina and her sister were able to finish high school – and it didn’t stop there. Through their hard work and the family’s determination, they went on to graduate university – with Amina even getting a scholarship to study at a college in America. Amina now works with other families in need, helping them break the cycle of poverty, too.
It’s incredible what a small loan can do.
How small loans break the cycle of poverty
How small loans break the cycle of poverty
How small loans break the cycle of poverty
STEP 1
Your donation enables Opportunity to reach out to families living in poverty like Amina’s.
STEP 2
We provide small loans to these families to help them grow their own small businesses.
STEP 3
The new businesses help generate the regular income they need to afford food, shelter, medicine and education.
STEP 4
Each small loan is repaid and recycled to help more and more families over time.
WHO IS OPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL AUSTRALIA??
A smart, sustainable solution to poverty
Opportunity International Australia was established some 50 years ago by an Australian entrepreneur, David Bussau, after David gave a small microfinance loan of $50 to a poor farmer named Ketut in Indonesia. With this $50, Ketut bought a sewing machine and started a tailoring business with his wife. As the business grew, Ketut was able to pay back the loan and begin to leave poverty behind. He went on to open an import/export business and own a fleet of taxis, employing many others in his community, too.
Since then, Opportunity has grown to serve millions of families like Ketut’s and Amina’s, giving them the tools they need to work their way out of poverty so they can live safe, healthy lives, send their children to school and create a new future for generations to come.
PARTNER WITH US
Today, families living in poverty need us more than ever.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has meant that families have lost livelihoods and loved ones, but with your help they can rebuild. Please, partner with us today.
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Photo credit: Vince Catacutan.
