Nearly 50 years after lending a Balinese family a small loan, Opportunity International cofounder David reunited with the family.

Opportunity International Australia (OIA) celebrates 50 years of supporting local developing communities work their way out of poverty for good. 

Australian entrepreneur David Bussau is looking back over five decades of OIA’s growth by returning to the very place the organisation planted a “small loan” seed that sparked a worldwide microfinance movement.

In the 70s, David gave Balinese farmer Ketut Suwiria a $50 loan that was “a radical idea for the time”. It not only changed one family’s life but also changed the course of their charitable mission.

Instead of providing temporary aid relief for individuals, David and his OIA cofounder, American businessman Al Whittaker, worked on a way to break the cycle of poverty for entire communities in need. 

Opportunity International Australia is a pioneering microfinance network that now reaches millions of families in more than 30 countries. It aims to “restore dignity through opportunity” by providing the “tools [families and communities] need to work their way out of poverty so they can live safe, healthy lives, send their children to school and create a new future for generations to come”.

David came from humble beginnings himself — he was raised in a New Zealand orphanage and later in an Anglican boys’ home — fuelling his entrepreneurial spirit and desire to see others lifted up. 

In 1974, David and his young family travelled to Darwin to help lead national recovery efforts following the devastation of Cyclone Tracy. Soon after, he found himself in Bali, Indonesia, aiding with earthquake recovery. It was there that he said he encountered a deeper truth.

“While traditional aid could provide temporary relief, it rarely broke the cycle of poverty. That realisation changed everything,” David said.

In Bali, David met Ketut, a farmer who had lost his crops and could no longer afford his land lease, and offered him a small $50 loan. Ketut’s wife Putu was then able to buy a sewing machine to start a home tailoring business and support their family.

Meanwhile, Ketut repaid the loan and expanded work into an import/export business and a taxi fleet, employing others in his community. 

David said he saw the transformative power of “microfinance” and began offering loans to others. 

“Loan after loan was repaid, recycled, and reinvested — each one empowering people not just to survive but to thrive,” he said.

Last month, nearly 50 years after that first loan, David reunited with Ketut and Putu in Bali, and met the family whose lives were transformed by one small act of faith.

“This story resonates deeply with Christian values: restoring families, empowering the poor, and offering a hand up, not just a handout,” Opportunity International Australia CEO Scott Walters said.

Article supplied with thanks to Salt 106.5.

Feature image: All images supplied by Opportunity International Australia