Leonie and her husband are able to work together to provide for their three children. He travels to Bujumbura, Burundi, and purchases shoes, which she then sells in the markets of Gitega. Leonie has accessed eight loans from Turame, HOPE’s partner in Burundi. Her most recent loan was for $218. She says that her business has grown and the prayers of her community bank members have also encouraged her. She can now help sick neighbors when they are in need, and she can provide clothing and medicine for her own family. She and her husband were also able to purchase land. She hopes to buy a cow for her family in the future.
![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)