As a widow living just outside of Manila in the Philippines, Tess’s dream of one day seeing her two daughters graduate from college seemed just that–a dream. Her husband had died suddenly of a heart attack when she was only 32, leaving Tess the sole provider for their two young girls.
Tess worked hard in her sari-sari (variety) store to provide for her family’s basic needs, but she knew it wasn’t enough to someday pay for university tuition. Continue Reading…
Edgar Dela Cruz lived for many years in Manila, Philippines without a home, without work, and without a way to provide for himself.
“When we were on the streets, life was really hard—if we had nothing to eat, I ended up stealing,” he says. Sometimes, he recalls, he and others living without a home were arrested, despite not breaking any laws.
Through it all, he held on to an unwavering hope that God would lead him to a brighter tomorrow.
“We had nothing to hold on to except the Word of God,” Edgar shares. “That is what we held on to, believing that our lives would get better and we had nothing to fear.”
By the grace of God, his life was about to flourish beyond what he could have ever imagined. Continue Reading…
Vadym, a determined entrepreneur from Ukraine, is no stranger to challenge. He grew up in a low-income community where job opportunities were scarce, and his parents struggled to provide for him and his sister.
When Vadym had the opportunity to move to a large city in eastern Ukraine, he took a courageous leap of faith to start his own business selling mobile phones and accessories.
Vadym began searching for opportunities to expand his business, and learned about HOPE Ukraine from a friend. In 2014 he took out a loan of $830 to purchase more inventory. His shop did well, just as Vadym had hoped. But his life also began to change in ways he couldn’t have imagined. Continue Reading…
For those living on the vulnerable edge of poverty, just one unforeseen health crisis can set back their progress toward financial stability. The security they’ve worked so hard for can vanish in a moment.
For Cristina Benitez in Paraguay, selling homemade empanadas, sandwiches, and more to her neighbors on weekends was a bustling and effective means of providing for her family. A mother of seven children, she and her husband dreamed of supporting their kids through school so they could secure good jobs. Continue Reading…
Jovelee Maala didn’t know the Payatas Controlled Disposal Facility as the largest open dump site in the Philippines—for her, it was home.
Opening in the 1970s, the site served as a fixture in Jovelee’s hometown, Quezon City. Local families built their homes there, and thousands more traveled to the site to pick through the trash, searching for items to sell—and when she turned 18, Jovelee joined them.
Vincent Habiyaremye has a knack for taking broken or seemingly worthless pieces that many of us might discard and transforming them into something functional and whole.
Fifteen years ago, he used those skills as a carpenter, going door to door in his community in Rwanda to find odd jobs and provide for his wife and children. But his days were long and the demand for his services was sporadic.
Vincent dreamed of moving beyond the fluctuation of day labor. He dreamed of supporting his children through school so that they could one day pursue their own dreams. He dreamed of using his God-given gifts to build beautiful things in his community—and creating a business that would empower others to do the same.
