The Impact of the Women’s Empowerment Fund
We all want children to thrive. Yet in impoverished rural communities, the opportunities to earn a good income are rare—leading many families to live in extreme poverty. Children often go hungry and drop out of school. For families, dreams of a better life are often crushed.
Until now. With the support of generous partners like you, World Vision is helping families pursue their dreams of a better life and a brighter future. Thanks to the Women’s Empowerment Fund, women now have access to:
- Savings groups
- Microloans
- Business training
- And other financial services
In the case of Alice Mkumbadzala, she used the Women’s Empowerment Fund to change her life.
Prior to the loan, Alice and her family seemed to be in a constant struggle against droughts and crop failures. And with little to show at each harvest, she and her husband could barely provide the basics of life for their children Clemencia and Benadetta.
“It was so heartbreaking,” she notes. “We didn’t know what would become of ourselves and the children.”
Life changed when Alice received a $70 loan from World Vision. She used some of that money to purchase fertilizer. The remainder went to fuel for a communal pump that was used to bring water from a nearby stream to the family garden. While she hoped to grow enough vegetables to feed her family, her yield was better than expected. In fact, she was able to sell her extra vegetables for a profit.
“If it wasn’t for the loan and these vegetables,” she says, “I am sure that we would have sold our goats or split up the family in order to search for employment in the city.”
Alice is just one of many hardworking women who have escaped extreme poverty thanks to generous partners like you who are helping families fulfill their dreams.