Opportunity International Australia Blog

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The remote islands of eastern Indonesia are some of the poorest in the country. Opportunity International Australia’s microfinance partner, TLM, recently opened up a new microfinance branch on one of these islands, Flores. Due to the remote location and the island’s dependence on small-scale farming for people’s livelihoods (often reliant on seasonal and unreliable rain), levels of poverty in this area have worsened in recent times and there has been an increase in the costs of basic items, especially food.

Malnutrition is a chronic problem, particularly for children – the area has one of the highest death rates in Indonesia for children under the age of five. About 96% of households have a daily expenditure which equates to less than Rp.17,000 (A$2).

A huge 95% of the labour force is engaged in agriculture. Many people are subsistence farmers who use traditional farming methods without the benefit of modern equipment. Farmers also lack the capital to invest in their livelihood and have no access to financial services to help manage their cash flow during lean periods.

Flores is less then 3,000 miles from Australia, but with statistics like this, it is a whole world away in some respects. Through its new branch on the island, TLM will be providing access to basic banking services that many people living in rural or isolated regions don’t usually have access to.

The branch will also soon provide financial literacy training, allowing clients to learn about the importance of saving and financial planning. This will enable them to become financially stable and less susceptible to external shocks, providing them with the best chance of moving permanently out of poverty.

Local Flores resident, Adrianus, is already benefiting from the new branch. Adrianus runs a motorcycle repair shop and saw a microloan as a brilliant opportunity to improve his business. The capital injection allowed him to expand and develop the shop, and through the additional income, his business is now generating enough income for him to send his children to school. Adrianus has even been able to employ two locals, giving them an opportunity to earn a regular income and progress in their journeys out of poverty, too.

Flores island is just one of the remote locations where Opportunity is making a difference. We are committed to go where others haven’t – or won’t. With your support, we can provide even more opportunities for people living in rural poverty. If you would like to make a difference to families in need, please click here to donate today.

Sources: Nusa Tenggara Timur In Figures, Swisscontact and UNICEF Newsline

On 13 April, Opportunity International Australia will be celebrating World Entrepreneurship Day.

While you might not hear about them in the glossy pages of the ‘rich lists’, there are entrepreneurs living in developing countries doing incredible things for their communities.

Opportunity sees this entrepreneurial potential everyday in its clients throughout Indonesia, India and the Philippines. People like Ambotuo (pictured below) who use their small businesses to not only improve the lives of their  family members, but also make a significant impact on reducing poverty in their communities.

After taking out a small loan from Opportunity’s microfinance partner in Indonesia, TLM, Ambotuo’s dried-fish selling business grew. He even had to employ three people from his village to support the demand for the fish– enabling another three families to benefit from a new income and work their way out of poverty, too.

A small loan can enable someone living in poverty to turn their business idea in to a reality and give them the tools they need to provide for their family. With an average small loan size of $200, it doesn’t take much to give someone a start.

If you would like to provide an opportunity to an entrepreneur living in a developing country, please donate today.

With an average small loan size of $200, entrepreneurs living in poverty like Ambotuo can rewrite their family’s future, all they need is an opportunity.

Photo of the week: After her husband died nine years ago, Dortia had no income. With a small loan from Opportunity International Australia's partner, TLM, she was able to start a vegetable business and can now afford to comfortably support her family and give her grandchildren the education she never had. She plans to expand and diversify her business in the future – a true entrepreneur!

Photo of the week: Papaya, corn, chilli, coriander…the list of fruit and vegetables goes on and on for Eny Lestari – and she couldn’t be happier! With a small loan from Opportunity’s partner in West Timor, Indonesia, Eny has been able to improve her small business; increase her income and enable a secure future for her children.

This means many isolated villages – where many people live in poverty – have limited access to financial services, creating many difficulties for people when managing what little finances they have. They tend to keep their money in unsafe places, such as around their home or hidden in holes.

Opportunity International Australia’s microfinance partner in West Timor, Tanaoba Lais Manekat (TLM) is working to increase access to financial services for the poor in West Timor through a pilot program using mobile ‘banking vans’. The specially designed vans travel to strategic locations in remote areas (such as markets), offering access to savings and loans for people who live out of reach of TLM’s standard microfinance branches.

The vans play educational videos, teaching the importance of savings and addressing local issues, and the project will also see a number of Electronic Delivery Channels (similar to EFTPOS machines) placed with loan officers or in strategically selected locations so that locals can deposit and withdraw money easily. So far, the vans have taken deposits from 219 clients like Amos (pictured).

Amos’ Story
In an isolated area of West Timor, Amos supports his wife Yumince and their three children, Gerson, Dorancy and Leni, with a small farm of just 30x30 metres. Totally dependent on the plot of land, Amos’ income fluctuates throughout the year. Sometimes there isn’t enough money to afford the basics, like food, while a well next to his bamboo house only supplies water during the wet season. At other times, Amos has to walk a kilometre to fetch water from a spring.

Poverty is a reality for Amos and his family, but microfinance is helping him break the cycle. He has recently opened a savings account with TLM’s mobile banking van (pictured), and is putting money away to ensure that he always has enough money to feed his family. So far he’s saved Rp.15,000 (A$1.65) – not a lot in Australia, but for someone who has never had the ability to save before – this savings account symbolises a world of new opportunity and security.

If you would like to help make a lasting difference in the life of someone like Amos, you can support Opportunity’s programs here, or, if you would like to learn more about microfinance and how Opportunity provides small loans and support services to people living in poverty, please click here.

12 September 2011, Sydney, Australia – Chief Executive Officer of Opportunity International Australia Robert Dunn announced today that the Hon. Kristina Keneally, MP, has been appointed to the role of Ambassador for Opportunity International Australia.

Opportunity International Australia is a non-profit organisation that helps provide microfinance and other support services to people living in poverty in developing countries. It supports local microfinance institutions in Indonesia, India and the Philippines, helping them provide small loans (sometimes as small as $100) and other services to families living in poverty, helping them start or grow a small business. With the income they generate, recipients of the loans are able to provide food, water, shelter and an education for their children. 97% of loans are repaid and 94% of the people served by Opportunity International Australia are women.

Ms Keneally will be travelling to India with the organisation in November 2011 to visit microfinance clients and see the impact of small loans firsthand.

"We are delighted that Kristina is joining Opportunity International Australia as an Ambassador," Mr Dunn said.

"Kristina is an influential role model within Australia, and as an MP and as former Premier of New South Wales, she has demonstrated her commitment to helping people. Her passion, experience and drive for social justice, both at a local and international level, will be valuable to us as we build on our previous achievements reaching out to our neighbours in need in the Asian region."

Ms Keneally said, "Opportunity International Australia does amazing and innovative work with incredibly vulnerable people. By using microfinance it is giving not just charity, but hope, and as such, is transforming lives and transforming communities."

"In particular, I’m proud to be associated and assist with an organisation that is making such a difference to women, who still make up a disproportionate share of the world’s extremely poor people."

Opportunity International Australia is currently serving more than 2.8 million people living in poverty – 1.5 million of which are in India. According to the UN Human Development Report 2011, 41.6% of India’s population struggles to survive on less than US$1.25 a day.

About Opportunity International Australia
Opportunity International Australia has over 40 years’ experience in providing microfinance and other support services to people living in poverty in developing countries. The organisation sees 97% of its loans repaid, which go on to help other families break the cycle of poverty, year after year. Each successful business can feed a family, employ more people and contribute to the entire community.

Ms Keneally’s husband, Ben Keneally, currently holds a non-remunerated position on the Board of Opportunity International Australia, having been appointed as a non-executive director in May 2010.

Indonesia holds a special place for Opportunity. It’s where our founder, David Bussau, made the first loans. The intention then was to help transform lives by giving a hand up, not a hand-out – so people could work their way out of poverty. This intention remains our mission today.

Much has changed in the way microfinance is done today. We're in Jakarta – meeting with some business and community leaders and the technical advisor, MicroSave, to consider new models for serving people in poverty.

There’s an interesting aspect to microfinance here; apart from the government-owned Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), there are few large microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Indonesia. BRI claims to be the largest and most profitable MFI in the world, but its focus is mainly the densely populated areas of Java. The absence of other large MFIs has been due in part to the regulatory environment, a shortage of skilled managers and the economic geography in areas not served by BRI (Indonesia has over 13,000 islands). The result has been a lack of funding to Indonesian microfinance.

Indonesia’s population that lives in poverty is everywhere, with higher proportions in the outer islands and greater absolute numbers in Java. Technology, including the use of mobile telephone banking, allows operating costs to be reduced, making it possible to serve those living in rural and hard-to-reach areas. The regulatory environment is also changing. New structures are emerging and there are new opportunities for foreign involvement. And there’s a growing awareness of the need for corporate social responsibility.

Opportunity has a great partner in the remote east of Indonesia, Tanaoba Lais Manekat (TLM). Its 30,000 clients make it the fifth largest MFI in the country. It has grown dramatically in the last two years through a combination of skilled staff, good processes aided by technology and technical assistance, and funding from Opportunity and others. The learnings from TLM can now help drive scale elsewhere.

It’s exciting to consider what can be achieved. It’s a new start.

Robert Dunn
CEO
Opportunity International Australia