Poverty fighter wins Australia Day award

from The Sydney Morning Herald

After 30 years helping poor people realise their dreams David Bussau has received one of Australia's most prestigious awards.

Mr Bussau shook hands with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd outside Parliament House in Canberra after being named the Senior Australian of the Year.

Mr Bussau has spent much of his working life helping out people in the most dire situations.

It all started in the 1970s when he went to Bali to help rebuild rural areas devastated by an earthquake.

While there he found that families were still being left in poverty despite the foreign aid being offered and realised poor people wanted jobs so they could start to solve many of their other problems.

In Bali Mr Bussau masterminded his solution - offering small business loans to the impoverished as a hand up rather than a handout.

The non-profit Maranatha Trust was established, fulfilling Mr Bussau's dream of helping the poor help themselves.

In 1979 he formed Opportunity International with a like-minded counterpart in the USA.

Almost 30 years later, Opportunity International has 1.25 million loans to people in 23 countries, averaging $220 per loan with a total of $500 million.

The organisation creates a job every 30 seconds of the day.

After the ceremony Mr Bussau told reporters that he was determined to use his prestigious new standing to encourage the Australian government to be more generous with foreign aid.

"I'm hopeful that organisations like ours, Opportunity International, will be able to change government's attitude so they will see the value in using the marketplace and micro-finance as a strategic way of alleviating poverty."