A Rwandan artisan turns recycled paper into designer greeting cards via Cards from Africa. HOPE introduced savings groups to the vibrant young staff—all orphans—of this organization.
Cards from Africa. After the recycled paper is blended into a pulp, it is dyed and dried under the Rwandan sun.
In this video interview, Lalaine Naquita, the Savings and Credit Association program specialist for HOPE’s partner CCT, talks about how the very poor in the Philippines are finding a way to save.
Lalaine’s team of 35 savings facilitators targets nontraditional clientele, including street dwellers, indigenous populations, fishermen, and even children. Some wouldn’t think these individuals could save—sometimes they don’t think they can—but the importance of saving is nowhere more evident than among these populations, where a savings account can provide a vital safety net. Already the program has grown to reach over 2,600 savers throughout the country. Lalaine’s goals for the program are ambitious, to say the least: “My goal is that all of the SCA partners would know God as their Savior and learn why savings is so important,” she says.
In the Lancaster, PA, area? Join HOPE International and Community Fellowship Church this Wednesday, June 20, at 7 p.m. for “When Helping Hurts,” a free live webinar with Dr. Brian Fikkert, executive director of the Chalmers Center for Economic Development and co-author of When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor … and Yourself.
In When Helping Hurts, Fikkert and co-author Steve Corbett draw on years of experience in international development to discuss common pitfalls Christ’s followers face as we seek to overcome poverty. They also detail practical strategies for developing sustainable solutions that empower the poor rather than hurting them.
In Wednesday’s webinar, Fikkert will draw on themes from the book and engage attendees to move beyond good intentions to concrete actions that can make a difference for those living in poverty. Moderated by Peter Greer, president and CEO of HOPE International, the webinar will be broadcast live at Community Fellowship Church (200 Bethel Drive, Lancaster, PA) and is free and open to the public. Unfortunately, we are not able to stream the event for those unable to attend in person.
Learn more through Facebook or by contacting Lori Scannapieco, events manager, at [nohide]lori@hopeinternational.org[/nohide] or 717-464-3220 ext. 140.
Photo courtesy of Covenant College.
It was her five children who first motivated Alphonsine Kimuzaza to join “Peaceful,” a community bank an hour outside Kigali, Rwanda, in 2009. They needed books, uniforms, and supplies for school, as well as healthy food to eat—but Alphonsine says she felt “like a parasite” approaching her husband day after day with a list of needs she knew he couldn’t afford to meet with his income as a driver. But she’s quick to add that things have changed: “Now I contribute. … We’ve joined together to make something big.”
Alphonsine identifies a loan of $167 from HOPE’s partner Urwego Opportunity Bank as “the spark.” It enabled her to purchase plantains and other food stuffs for resale, and the business has prospered. Alphonsine has become a wholesaler, selling up to eight tons of beans and sorghum a week while maintaining her plantain sales. Her income varies, but she earns over $50 a day. She’s purchased a hybrid cow that produces more than two gallons of milk a day, and after her children have had their fill, she sells the remainder. Her income helps pay for all five of her children to attend school.
When she learned that three young relatives of her husband had been orphaned, she had sufficient resources to open not only her heart but her home to the children, adopting them, sending them to school, and meeting all of their needs.
“The fact that I have a successful business is not just my hard work. It’s God who led me to the right business,” she says. But Alphonsine is working hard to achieve her dream, and she has eight powerful motivators. “I want my children to go to university,” she says. “That’s the reason I have to work so hard.”
It’s the hard work of our clients and the transformative love of God that changes lives—but a small loan can be “the spark.” Spark change today in honor of a woman you love.
HOPE’s president, Peter Greer, recently addressed the Christian Alliance for Orphans’ annual Summit at Saddleback Church on the topic “Microfinance and Orphan Care: An Essential Alliance.” Having witnessed how clients like Alphonsine open their homes to orphans, we see microfinance as a powerful, local solution to the orphan crisis with the potential to positively impact thousands of orphaned children around the world—by keeping at-risk families together, by providing a livelihood for orphans as they enter adulthood, and by enabling families to take in those who are orphaned within their own communities. To read an interview with Peter Greer on the intersection of microfinance and orphan care, see this blog post.
Just in time for Mother’s Day comes the release of Mommy’s Heart Went POP!, a children’s book co-authored by Peter Greer detailing his family’s personal journey with international adoption and providing a resource for other families. For more information or to order your copy, visit http://www.pop-theadoptionbook.com.
In the below Q&A, HOPE’s president, Peter Greer, speaks about international adoption, his new book, and the intersection of microenterprise development and orphan care.
You recently spoke at the Christian Alliance for Orphans’ annual Summit at Saddleback Church. As president of HOPE, how does your work tie to the global orphan crisis?
Adoption has forever changed our family. But as powerful as international adoption is, and as much as it has changed our family, we know that it only reaches a small number of the children globally who need a home. My “day job” at HOPE helps mothers and fathers start or expand small businesses so that they can work their way out of poverty and provide for their children. My hope is that the faith-based adoption community and the faith-based development community will realize how much overlap they have in heart and desired outcomes.
What did you speak about at the conference?
According to UNICEF, there were 132 million orphans living in developing countries in 2008—132 million children dearly loved by God who need a home. But studies have also found that many children in orphanages have a surviving family member who could provide them that home. In Zimbabwe, for example, 40 percent of children in orphanages have a surviving parent, and nearly 60 percent have a contactable relative. The orphan crisis is interconnected with poverty. Parents put their children in institutional care because they don’t have enough money to care for their children. The solution isn’t building more orphanages but rather helping parents earn enough income so that they can care for their children. What parent would prefer for their child to grow up in an orphanage if they had the resources to care for them on their own? We need to broaden the discussion about the orphan crisis to include employment-based solutions that help families work their way out of poverty. Continue Reading…
“We can’t drive through the area where the explosions happened—security risks. The closest we can get is about 1.5 kilometers [about 1 mile] from it.” Upon my request, the staff had offered to give us a sense of the devastation in the area where explosions had rocked the city on March 4, when a munitions depot exploded in the middle of the city of Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. As we approached the 1.5-kilometer perimeter, the effects of the tragedy—even over a month later—were clearly evident. All windows were either boarded up or missing, and smaller houses with less-solid structures had collapsed altogether. As we looked in the direction of the explosion, we couldn’t make out any structures that resembled buildings. “This does not look like a conventional munitions depot exploded,” I commented. Our companion simply raised his eyebrows and nodded thoughtfully. The explosions happened at 8 a.m. on a Sunday, so most people were in their houses when it happened. Later, back in our accommodations, a friend showed me a picture of their room, with glass on the bed next to the window. “If it was not for the curtain in front of the window,” my friend said, “I’m not sure what would have happened to me.” The house was about three miles away from the explosions. Continue Reading…
