by Ugochi Obidiegwu (pictured third from left), 2022 Innovation and Design fellow
Joining HOPE International as an innovation and design fellow, I was curious about HOPE’s operations. I particularly wanted to see if the amazing things I saw on the website happened in real life.
Therefore, when I saw there was an opportunity to see the work of Esperanza International, HOPE’s microfinance partner in the Dominican Republic (D.R.), I signed up. And I was not disappointed. HOPE’s method of Christ-centered economic development works.
Simon Rurihafi (pictured right) is a coffee farmer who owns 350 trees—but he almost gave up on farming them.
![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)