By Olivia Schultz | Project Personnel
Young Ambassadors for Opportunity just hosted a Jump for Opportunity skydiving event on Feb. 19, 2011 in Orlando, Fla. The 29 dedicated young professionals, entrepreneurs and Opportunity supporters who jumped have already raised over $100,000 to empower Opportunity’s microfinance clients in Tanzania. YAO chapters sponsor social and educational events to build awareness and to raise funds for the creation of an Opportunity bank in Tanzania.
Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world with approximately 90 percent of Tanzanians living on less than $2 per day, and 60 percent living on less than $1 per day. One out of every three Tanzanians is self-employed, yet less than five percent of the population has access to formal banking and financial services. Recognizing this great need, Opportunity International is building a bank, and since 2008, has doubled its outreach in Tanzania. The organization is currently in the process of converting into a deposit-taking institution.
Contributors to “Jump for Opportunity” will be helping to expand access to financial services so that more people in Tanzania will be able to secure their savings, borrow capital for their businesses, receive training to develop professional and life skills, and purchase insurance to protect their assets. With their help, Opportunity International can empower people to work their way out of chronic poverty, to transform their lives, their children’s futures and their communities.
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