When men and women are equipped and empowered through HOPE services—discipleship, training, a safe place to save, and loans—the impact ripples beyond them. Any one of these services can be the catalyst to change a whole family’s life, affecting everyone in the household, even—or especially—the children.
The domino effect is easy to follow: When parents have consistent income, they can provide their children with secure and stable housing, consistent nutritious meals, and pay for their ongoing education. With savings for emergencies, parents also become more resilient to crises and less vulnerable to traffickers and loan sharks who would exploit them in a moment of desperation.
Single mothers support each other
Pascasie (pictured above) is a single mom in Rwanda, where women in her position are often viewed as prostitutes, rejected by their communities, and even kicked out of their homes. Without community or family support, struggling to put food on the table, Pascasie’s future—her children’s growth and development—seemed bleak. “I was lonely. I was desperate. My children were hungry. I had no hope for the future,” she remembers.
To serve moms like Pascasie, HOPE Rwanda’s church partners started savings groups specifically for single mothers, where these women could find belonging, be supported and discipled, save for the future, and work toward financial stability for themselves and their children. Joining one of these savings groups, Pascasie shares, “Now, the story has changed.” Through her savings group, she found community, saved money, and she’s been able to provide for her children’s basic needs with confidence.
Wanting others to experience a similar transformation, Pascasie has invited other single moms to her group, helping them save for the future and start small businesses to better care for their children. She gives God all the glory for this ability to give her children a better life and help others provide a brighter future for their own children.
A new generational trajectory
Clarisa had a difficult childhood in Peru, but always dreamed of being able to set her own children up for a different, brighter future. In 2020, she joined a savings group and saved $5.19 a week, enough to invest in growing her small animal breeding business. Following in her footsteps, all three of her children joined a savings group for kids and began saving for their own futures. Today, her children watch her example as she trains to be a facilitator for a new local savings group.
Showing up for others’ children
Growing up, Lony Kathebwe was used to missing school due to her family’s inability to afford school uniforms. Years later, after joining a savings group in rural Malawi, Lony Kathebwe used her savings and a loan from her group to start a grocery store. With her profits, she bought fabric to supply her tailoring shop and even started a third business renting out wedding dresses. When she noticed students being turned away from school because they didn’t have money for uniforms, she was reminded of the hardships of her own childhood.
Equipped now with capital to take action, she stepped in to sew new uniforms for children in her local community. Armed with new uniforms, these children now had the chance to return to school. She shares, “Now, having been blessed, I felt I should give back to God by making school uniforms for children in my community.”
We praise God for these incredible people who are diligently working to provide a different life for their children and other young people in their communities, and we are grateful for the opportunity to affect change for the next generation.
Watch this video about Naomi, a mother in rural Tanzania, who is saving up to put a more sturdy roof on her family’s house.
Featured image: Pascasie and her children
