Shruti and her husband didn’t know how to save before joining a savings group—they just wanted to better provide for their three sons.
She couldn’t have guessed it at the time, but setting aside 200 rupees ($2.40 U.S.) each month with her savings group in South Asia would empower Shruti to respond when her family needed it most.
Have you ever been rejected because of something you believe? Or looked down upon because of your faith?
As a Christian woman in South Asia,* that’s Farah’s* daily experience.
I met Farah on a humid summer day last year. HOPE and one of our partners in South Asia were conducting a training for women who wanted to start savings groups in their churches—including Farah. Although she quietly kept her eyes on the floor for most of the training, she approached me afterward and asked to share her testimony.
By the time she was finished, we were both wiping tears from our cheeks. Continue Reading…
Pictured above: Divya (on right) with other members of her savings group
Divya’s* son, Rakesh, had been sick for years. His coughing, fevers, and colds were nonstop and left him feeling weak. Eventually, he couldn’t walk even a short distance. She’d taken him to hospitals and doctors in their community in South Asia* but never received a clear diagnosis for his worsening symptoms.
Then she received startling news: “One day, the doctor said that my son had a hole in his heart, and he [needed] to undergo the operation,” Divya recalls. “I was shocked.”
But a second blow was soon to come: how to pay for the procedure without falling into a lifetime of debt.
Continue Reading…
