“Day after day, my children would ask if I had brought food for us. And day after day, I would have to say, ‘No,’” Esther said.
Esther is a participant in Convoy of Hope’s Women’s Empowerment program. She is a successful farmer, gardener, and business owner who sells handmade beaded goods. But in previous years, she struggled to find hope and provide for her family.
“I was married off to a stranger at 16,” she said. “He left us in a mud hut without livestock or a way to feed ourselves, or to pay for the children to go to school … I had no voice. The only thing remaining for me was to die.”
After learning valuable information about her inherent worth and the business practices she could use to provide for her family, Esther and her children began a new, fulfilling life.
“I am a woman at peace,” said Esther. “At peace that my children eat good food and go to school. When we want to eat, we eat. This is our life now — not just food, but a full table.”
Thanks to your support, tens of thousands of women around the world are beginning hopeful new chapters. To learn more about Women’s Empowerment, click here.
About Convoy of Hope’s Approach to Women’s Empowerment
Economic Empowerment
Economic Empowerment provides materials, training, and small grants for startup businesses to women living in extreme poverty. Participants attend 15 trainings focused on health, nutrition and life skills. For six months following the startup, our staff and church-based volunteers visit weekly to provide personal counseling and ongoing support.
Family Health Empowerment
Family Health Empowerment provides women with limited socioeconomic means — specifically those with young children — with health education, nutrition, childcare, gardening and financial skills. We send groceries home with the mothers who attend and monitor the nutrition levels of children younger than 5 years old.
Girls’ Empowerment
Convoy of Hope facilitates weekly after-school meetings where girls learn about relevant topics like general health, nutrition, hygiene, emotional health and harmful cultural practices. Girls also learn about their inherent value and promote it through the creative arts. We want to help them finish secondary school, delay marriage, pursue job opportunities and make decisions that benefit their future families.
