Opportunity International Australia is proud to announce the release of its mini documentary, In Her Footsteps. An abridged version of the 2008 feature length production, this latest version, while only 38 minutes long, illustrates the extreme poverty of India and the positive impact microfinance is having on the lives of the women who live there. In Her Footsteps follows six Australian women on a trip to India. Supporters and advocates for Opportunity International Australia, the women left their comforts in Australia to witness firsthand the conditions the poor live with in the slums and impoverished areas of India. In Her Footsteps goes on to illuminate the hope that microfinance is bringing to families struggling in these desperate situations. There are close to 900 million people living on less than US$2 dollars per day in India. Where many of these people live, there are severe sanitation and water issues, which often leads to chronic health problems. Food shortages and the increase of food prices only amplifies their already adverse state. In Her Footsteps explores how microfinance can be used to help solve poverty by giving people a hand up, and how this very thing is being done by Opportunity International Australia’s partners in India. Narrated by Channel 9’s Today Show presenter, Lisa Wilkinson, In Her Footsteps is available for use by Opportunity International Australia supporters who want to host their own information session or fundraising event with friends, colleagues or others. We need your help to spread this important message – please email opinfo@opportunity.org.au for your copy, and help encourage others to make a difference. Click here to a view a client story featured in In Her Footsteps. “When you empower a woman you empower an entire family. When women get together, miracles happen.”
This March, Opportunity International Australia is celebrating International Women’s Day by inviting you to take part in the In Her Footsteps Challenge. You will have seen Opportunity International Australia’s newly released mini documentary, In Her Footsteps (if not register now to hold a screening by emailing clawson@opportunity.org.au) This illustrates the extreme poverty of India and the positive impact microfinance is having on the lives of the women who live there. You have seen the story of Nasreen and Samina and how a small loan has changed their lives – helping them educate their families and provide the daily necessities we take for granted. There are many others exactly like Nasreen and Samina who just need a hand up – you can help them today. Please donate now and help us reach the goal of helping 250 women start a business this March in celebration of International Women’s Day. $200 = one loan = one business = one family beginning their journey out of poverty!
Opportunity International Australia is a non-profit organisation using a business approach to alleviate poverty. Providing small loans to people living in poverty to start or grow their own small business, enabling them to earn a regular income, no longer struggling to provide for their families. http://www.opportunity.org.au
