Overcoming Poverty Together

OPT's beginnings are full of interesting serendipitous twists and turns. Inspired by a fundraising event he attended in Baltimore for Women Entrepreneurs of Baltimore, Jack Wilson, a U.S. Vietnam war veteran, returned to his home in Yogyakarta, Indonesia and launched Women Entrepreneurs of Yogyakarta using his military benefits to start and fund 100% of the operations.   After the devastating earthquake in 2006, Jack started a new organization, PPMK, to help families get back on their feet after in many cases losing everything they owned, including their means of supporting their families. Through the dedicated and impassioned work of Executive Director, Sulastri Trimiharjo, and her small team, PPPK's mission has continued to be pursued even after Jack's death.

PPMK is strategically designed to eliminate the root causes of poverty: lack of economic opportunity; limited or poor educational opportunities; and poor health. To date, PPMK has an almost 100% repayment rate on the loans it provides to poor women in rural villages in Indonesia.  PPMK has worked collaboratively with the village women to launch job creating businesses such as plastic waste recycling, pot making  and organic composting.  Leveraging the work of other NGO's, PPMK has also provided scholarships to send poor children to school and supporting a mobile library to provide access to books to rural villagers. To improve health, PPMK has supplied nutritional milk to poor school children, educational booklets to parents and children about preparing and eating healthy foods and health screenings.

Read more about the life-enhancing work of PPMK at http://www.ppmkjogja.org/statis-13-ppmkhistoryforwebsite.html

And on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/PPMK-Empowering-Women-to-Fight-Poverty-125213724195367/