by admin | Dec 6, 2022 | Economic Empowerment
Mdana was struggling. Her husband left her. She was unable to feed her children. School fees nearly impossible. Then she registered for Y-Malawi’s sponsorship program for women and her life began to change.
She became food secure. Her house was improved, her children able to attend school. Things were so much better that Mdana decided to apply for a new Economic Empowerment program Y-Malawi was offering. She was accepted and started learning about business and handling money. She was given a grant and combined with a loan was able to start a small business of selling bulk rice.
The business didn’t stay small for long. Mdana had big dreams. She would buy rice in bulk in the city, then transport it back to her village where she would sell it at a profit. Before long she was selling 50 bags of rice each month! In the photo she is sitting on some of those bags. Her business grew and soon became valued at $3,000. A lot of money for someone from the village.
Mdana hasn’t stopped there. With coaching from her Field Officer, she has invested in her own rice field. She has a field of about 5 acres (see the photo) where she will now grow her own rice to make even more profits in the future. She no longer worries about food, clothes, or school for her children. Her life has changed. She is independent, able to stand on her own. Recently she told her sponsor in America, “I am so grateful for what you have done to me. My life is not the same. My life is better now.”
Economic Empowerment is working. Mdana is proof.
You can help someone like Mdana. Learn more by clicking here. Learn More
by admin | Feb 6, 2022 | Economic Empowerment
What is the difference between a hand up and a handout? The answer is hope. Hope that you will no longer depend on someone else to feed your family. Hope that you will be able to send your children to school. Hope that you are not condemned to a life of poverty. Hope in a better future.
Economic Empowerment is working. Here are three stories of proof.
Rhoda is young. She is still in High School, but she had dreams of starting a business to help support her family. With the help of Y-Malawi’s Economic Empowerment program and her mother and aunt she has done just that. Now her new store is earning money that can help pay for her school fees and feed the family. From Rhoda, “I am very grateful for the business opportunity. I believe this will help my family to feed us and give us some basic needs as we go to school unlike before, when we were starving and unable to go to school.”
Asumani graduated from the Y-Malawi Vocational Training Center in Carpentry. Having his own shop was only a dream before. Now he is making furniture for local preschools. He said, “Thank you Y-Malawi, I am very grateful for the training and start-up capital, I will soon be independent and be able to support my family financially.”
Raja also graduated from the Vocational Training Center, but in Tailoring. His new business has started and is doing so well that he has now expanded to selling tomatoes and other vegetables along the side of the road near his shop. He is planning to expand even further with his profits. You can sense the gratitude in his words, “Thank you Y-Malawi for showing me a way to my future. I will not be the same. I am working hard to grow my business and become a source of hope job to others in the community.”
There are so many yet to help. Thank you Y-Malawi family for opening your hearts to help those who need only a hand up to have hope.
by admin | Oct 8, 2021 | Economic Empowerment
Economic Empowerment is working! What God is doing is so exciting!
Since the launch of our Economic Empowerment initiative people are starting new businesses and becoming independent. Others are seeing the success and raising their hands to say “Me too!”
The program is the first of it’s kind. It includes a blending of support to both individuals and local Village Savings and Loan Clubs. In this way, an entire community has a stake in, and can benefit from, the success of these new business.
Upon hearing about the program one group of women in the sponsorship program got together and formed their own Village Savings and Loan Club. They asked Y-Malawi to stop giving them their regular allotment of food and grocery support. Instead, they asked that Y-Malawi help them build equity in their new club so that they can make loans to begin new businesses on their own. Since they charge interest on these loans, they benefit financially too.
Now these women are making their own money. They are playing a key role in building businesses in their own community. Now others are asking if they can be a part too. People are realizing that they do not need to depend on others, they can make their own future. We are praising God because people are gaining hope again.
Dependency go away! We don’t need you here. The love of Jesus is no match for you.
The Village Savings and Loan Club making loans for new businesses!
by admin | Sep 8, 2020 | Economic Empowerment
What does economic empowerment mean? It means having the ability to determine your own future. It means not worrying about where your next meal will come from. It means being able to provide for your family. It means feeling value in yourself. It means you have hope.
Veronica is just 19 years old. She finished grade 9 before dropping out of school. It wasn’t that she couldn’t do the work, Veronica is very bright. She simply couldn’t afford the schools fees to continue attending. So, like 97% of other girls in Malawi she was forced out of high school and down a path that usually leads to marriage, children, and a life of back breaking work just to survive.
Then, unexpectedly, everything changed. Veronica was sponsored by someone in America. She started attending a local church, started reading the Bible and became a Christian. It’s not in Veronica’s nature to do anything halfway. She dove into being a Christian like learning to swim by diving into the deep end of a pool. She started participating in a local Youth Club, then began volunteering, before long she was even leading and teaching at a nearby Kids Club. Veronica was fast becoming a role model for other girls.
Although she was encouraged to return to school many times, Veronica didn’t seem to have an interest. Instead, she wanted to start her own business. She given use of a plot of land. That’s all it took, Veronica dove into the deep end again. This time planting rice. Her hard work is paying off.
With just some small financial assistance from Y-Malawi Veronica expects to have a good yield of rice that will provide significant profits. She has big dreams of planting even more and expanding, even to employ others. Now she is becoming even more than a role model. She is helping to feed her family, she is creating her own future, and she is benefiting her community.
Economic empowerment goes way beyond a handout, it offers a hand up. Veronica is living proof of how lives can be changed. Watch for more on this and how you can get involved as Y-Malawi launches a formal Economic Empowerment initiative over the next couple months.
