International (MNN) — Opportunity International has recently designed a program for donors to give monetary gifts specifically to certain people in need. Those who wish to donate can choose from a selection of recipients who they would like to sponsor.
The gifts are given in the form of loans so that those receiving them can start small businesses and have the opportunity to be self sufficient. Donors are able to choose their entrepreneur from various factors including country, gender and business type.
"You can make a connection to a person in the developing world," explains Opportunity's Don Ingle. "Sometimes when we hear the problems of Africa and hear numbers in the hundreds of millions of poor in the world, you say, ‘Gee, that's more than I can handle. I can't get my arms around that.' Well at optINnow.org, you can connect directly to a person in the developing world."
Personal donations not only allow those in need to form a business but also to support a family. Ingles says that after the first loans are paid off, recipients can focus their attention at home.
"[After the first loan is paid], the first thing they do is provide better food for their children. The second thing they do is keep their children in school or put them back in school. And then they begin to start to work on their small homes to make them more safe and more secure."
So far, the program has been extremely efficient. Ingles says one widowed woman who participated in the program began a business and eventually went on to start a school and own other businesses. "[She] is one of the smartest people I've ever met," says Ingles. "She just needed the chance."
Opportunity International is committed to helping those in need as Christ commanded. If you would like to help change a life through this program, visit www.optINnow.org.
