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Give Opportunity this Christmas
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This Christmas City A.M. is once again partnering with Opportunity International, an organisation close to our heart. This brilliant charity helps people all over the world to build and sustain independent, prosperous lives by providing them with access to financial services and training. In doing so they can buy supplies, tools and equipment that will improve their business, increase income and help them provide and save for the future.
Opportunity International provides a Hand up not a Hand out. If you believe, as we do, that free enterprise and economic growth represent the most successful anti-poverty tools, then this is the charity for you.
Ana is Resilient
Ana lives in the Manica province in central Mozambique. She lives with her husband Luis where they farm bananas, corn and tomatoes. Like many people living in poverty she has faced huge challenges – limited access to education, limited access to business and agricultural training and limited access to financial support. She has also seen her livelihood destroyed by extreme weather and now faces the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic.
In March 2019, Cyclone Idai made landfall in Beira, Mozambique. It was one of the worse natural disasters to hit southern Africa in recent times. It bought heavy rains and strong winds that led to flash flooding, hundreds of deaths and damage to property and crops. Many, like Ana and her family, lost everything – their homes, their livelihoods and their hopes for the future.
Fortunately for Ana she had been saving securely thanks to Opportunity International. She used to keep her savings in her house but after receiving training on financial management, she moved her money to a secure savings account. After the cyclone hit, Ana could access her savings to buy food and continue feeding her family. She also applied for a new loan to rebuild her farm and diversify her crops.
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“Opportunity International helped me understand how to keep money in the bank instead of at home. I used my loan to rent a tractor so I could plough and pay labourers to prepare the land again. The loan also allowed me to buy more land for my farm and grow bananas – now I have a good business producing and selling bananas.”
Ana is typical of many of the clients who Opportunity International serve. She is strong, ambitious and resilient. People like Ana are all too familiar with the uncertainty that COVID-19 brings and events beyond their control. Yet they do not have the savings or support packages that we in the UK have been fortunate to rely on this year.
That is why Opportunity International exists. It provides people like Ana with access to the financial security and a safety net that they can fall back on. With access to finance and the right training, they can not only survive but thrive – they can grow their business, increase their incomes and provide a better future for their family and their community.
Give Today and help more people like Ana
As the COVID-19 crisis continues, and the health and economic impacts of restrictions deepen, families like Ana’s urgently need support. I know that this is a tough time for many of us but I also know that The City is tremendously generous, and that we stand in this crisis together. I urge you to consider supporting our Christmas appeal at this critical time. Any donation you make will make a huge difference. You support is needed now more than even. Thank you.
In a rapidly changing world, Opportunity International’s innovative approach to tackling poverty and building resilience has never been more vital.
HRH The Princess Royal, Opportunity International’s Patron
To make a donation click here:
Or visit Opportunity International’s website to find out more.