When Linda owned a variety store, she often worried about her four children’s future. She and her husband could barely afford to feed the children, let alone plan for their future. Loans from CCT, HOPE’s partner in the Philippines, enabled Linda to open a restaurant. As the restaurant’s success grew, Linda was able to open additional restaurants – four in total. Linda and her husband now employ 19 others. They dream of sending all four of their children to college.
![Before Eveness Mulungu joined the Walusungu (“mercy”) savings group through our church partner in Malawi, she faced days where she and her family ate animal feed because they couldn’t afford human food. But that changed when she joined the savings group. Eveness used her first group loan of about $1.70 (U.S.) to start a business selling doughnuts and beans.
“By the end of my first cycle I made $140 (U.S.),” Eveness shared. “My life is no longer the same now; [I] was regarded as no one in the community. ... This was the first time in my life that I ever touched and owned big money like this!”
Pictured: Eveness, with her husband in front of their piggery—a third successful business that she operates.](https://blog.hopeinternational.org/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)