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HOPE Intl

Sep 27 2019

HOPE Intl

 Staff / Travels Stories we love
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Moved to tears: a mother’s dream to own a home

by Jeff Rutt, Founder & Board Chair, HOPE International; Founder & CEO, Keystone Custom Homes

As a homebuilder by trade, I’ve been privileged to walk alongside thousands of families in the homeownership process. When I met Rosalie in the small city of Tagatay, Philippines—where I traveled to witness the work of HOPE’s partner, the Center for Community Transformation (CCT)—it wasn’t the first time I saw someone moved to tears by the idea of owning a home. But Rosalie’s tears were different. Continue Reading…

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HOPE Intl

Sep 23 2019

HOPE Intl

 Stories we love
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How a business became a ministry

Tuning her radio each morning to the local Christian station, Yissel Mateo Vasquez places her stereo on the porch so neighbors have the opportunity to hear the Word of God on their way to work. This is just one way she is sharing the Good News in her community in the Dominican Republic. Continue Reading…

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HOPE Intl

Sep 4 2019

HOPE Intl

 Staff / Travels
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Listening is risky: reflections from a HOPE intern trip

by Anna Hofmann (third from left), Writing and Research Intern

Listening is hard. True listening is an active and engaged process, we’re told.

But listening doesn’t feel that difficult or demanding. Yet, I’m learning that listening—true listening—doesn’t just require my full attention; it’s also risky. Here’s what I mean: Continue Reading…

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HOPE Intl

Aug 27 2019

HOPE Intl

 Staff / Travels
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The Wall Street tactics of rural savings groups

by Robert Morris, HOPE Savings Group Technical Advisor

Savings groups are often described in simple terms: a small number of people who save their money together and take small loans from those savings. But when you look a little deeper—and hear what these facilitators were describing—groups are much more complex than they first appear. Some of the issues they face are complicated, like hedging, trading in futures, and calculating inflationary risk! Continue Reading…

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HOPE Intl

Aug 14 2019

HOPE Intl

 Staff / Travels Stories we love

Six years later, a hurricane survivor’s hopeful motto

by Jeff Rutt, Founder & Board Chair, HOPE International; Founder & CEO, Keystone Custom Homes

Earlier this year, I was privileged to travel to the Philippines to see the work of HOPE’s partner, The Center for Community Transformation.

The Philippines is made up of more than 7,000 islands and comprises over 100 diverse ethnic groups. I spent time among the Waray people living in eastern Samar, the easternmost part of the country. Within the Philippines, the Warays have a reputation for never backing down from a fight, but the combination of endemic poverty and natural disasters has given many the fight of a lifetime. But I also see how savings groups are giving them a fighting chance, helping members gain stability in what the World Risk Index rates as the third most disaster-prone country in the world. Continue Reading…

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HOPE Intl

Aug 6 2019

HOPE Intl

 Stories we love
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“I was capable of moving out of poverty.”

Growing up in poverty in rural Malawi, Phanny raised her siblings on her own. Struggling to get by, she remembers often going to bed hungry. With few options to support themselves, Phanny and her siblings would collect firewood to sell over 10 miles from their home. And like many Malawians in her situation, she got married as a teenager, seeing few opportunities to develop herself on her own. Yet after having a daughter, life became even more challenging, and she and her husband struggled to put food on the table. Continue Reading…

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