I stand outside the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre looking out over the beautiful city of Kigali, Rwanda, where a progressing, strikingly beautiful city is growing. People are warm and friendly. There is a strong ethic to move forward together for positive growth. Compared to many places, things seem put together, peaceful, hopeful, happy.
Standing there outside the memorial, I am reminded that people carry stories within them that are not expressly apparent on the outside. Every person’s story is different. Some have found forgiveness, some still cannot move past the pain, some have found incredible healing.
![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)