Opportunity International creates transformative change with Milliman Giving Fund contributions

A Colombian mother of two teenage girls was desperate. Living in extreme poverty with little education, she had only $1 and no way to get a job or provide food for her family.? She was in despair when she learned about an Opportunity International program funded by the Milliman Giving Fund (MGF).

“She now has a successful little business,” said Dawn Helwig , a retired equity principal who serves on the Milliman Giving Fund Committee. She’s been a volunteer with Opportunity International and in 2018, proposed that the newly formed MGF consider partnering with Opportunity International.

“The stories are heartbreaking because you see that these people have no other options.”

MGF committee members realized that Opportunity International’s mission to empower people living in poverty to transform their lives is closely aligned with Milliman's.

MGF funding for Opportunity International’s Opportunity Zones has created jobs and educational opportunities in Mityana, Uganda and Cartagena, Colombia, for families struggling with extreme poverty.

The MGF funded an initial grant to pilot a new concept called an Opportunity Zone in Mityana from 2019 to 2022. Opportunity Zones provide capital and financial services, expand educational opportunities, and support farmers with financing and training.

“The combination of services and support leads to increased economic activity in communities,” said Simona Haiduc , Opportunity International’s senior vice president, institutional advancement.

“And when you increase economic activity, you start moving the needle on people’s income and their ability to educate their children, pay for health emergencies, build better living conditions, and live healthier lives.”

“Despite the pandemic, which hit Uganda hard, the Opportunity Zone was still very successful,” said Deborah Wolf , who has served on the MGF Committee since its inception and is now co-chair.

Coffee is a major crop in Uganda and micro loans enabled farmers to buy more land and plant more trees. School proprietors expanded the number of classrooms, which also added jobs for teachers, janitors, and other support staff.

Uganda is a rapidly growing country of 44 million people, with 70% of the population under age 35.

“The population has grown so much, and the population is very young, and the government can’t keep up with providing enough schools,” Simona said.

Graduation model leads to business opportunities

In 2023, the MGF agreed to fund a Phase 2 project in Mityana and phase 1 of a project in Cartagena, Colombia, that would adapt successful techniques from Uganda to Colombia’s culture.

About 18% of Colombia’s 52 million people live in rural areas. Outside of Cartagena, 37% of residents live in poverty and 14% of residents, mainly women, live in extreme poverty on less than $1.25 a day. And homes often don’t have running water or electricity.

“More than half of the people in the country don’t have jobs, and they have to earn money where they can by doing piecemeal work,” Dawn said.

People need to build skills to earn consistent income, so Opportunity International created an 18-month training program called Camino de Oportunidades (Road to Opportunities). It includes a stipend for students to buy basic necessities and food and ensure their children can attend school.

Students receive training in financial, personal, and social well-being, and attend a community college to learn job skills, including how to be nail technicians, hair stylists, seamstresses, and janitors. “They’re basic skills that allow them to start a business,” Dawn said.

The students were determined, walking eight to 10 miles each day to the training center, and the program has a 96% graduation rate.

Graduates also receive $500 to buy a physical asset such as a sewing machine or equipment for a hair salon, or rent a fruit and vegetable stand in a market.

The goal for graduates is for them to eat two or more meals a day, have daily sustainable income of $2.15, send their children to school, and be able to access to health services.

Due to the program’s success, the city of Cartagena has committed to provide funding that will double the number of graduates in the next cohort.

Celebrating graduation day

Dawn visited Cartagena in 2024 and attended a ceremony for more than 200 students in Colombia’s first graduation program. When everyone entered the room, the students created quite a stir, Dawn said.

The graduates had all decided to wear white as part of the celebration. Each student shared what they had accomplished.

A student designated as the class leader spoke about living conditions in their community, which often experienced severe flooding and lacked access to roads.

“We were a forgotten community,” the student said. “We kept asking the government for services, and they turned us down or told us you have already gotten that. Then Opportunity International came along, and you didn’t forget about us.”

“The program gives them an opportunity, and it gives them hope,” Dawn said.