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One Goat Named Mpemdwa.

There were as many goats on the dirt pathway as there were people. The crowd shifted from side to side, speaking so loudly that if we paused, we could catch our thoughts, even if for a second.

Across the dirt road and patchy grass lawn, Gladys locked eyes with me and let out a smile that reassured me we were going to get along just fine.

From what we knew of Gladys, she didn’t have a lot. She comes from an area that often faces issues with widespread malnutrition and poverty. Children and adults with extended bellies and receding hairlines can be commonly seen. It’s enough to make you wonder, how can we make a difference, and where do we start?

As I stood there, Gladys shifted her attention to white-haired Mpemdwa. My gaze followed.

Mpemdwa is her 2-year-old female goat who helps her sustain life with her 5 children as a single mother.

Gladys let out a grin as she shared that Mpemdwa means “the loved one.”

“A loved one” indeed, because according to medical doctors who fight malnutrition, owning a goat gives you access to life-sustaining nutrients needed to survive.

Gladys uses this milk to make chai, care for her children, and sell in the village to support her family. Plus, Mpemdwa’s three baby goats provide additional income at the local market, offering a path to stability.

One goat, tremendous impact.

As Gladys and I listened to nearby laughter, I thought, what a gift it is to not be alone.

What a good thing it is to have a companion just like Mpemdwa.

“His name was Dennis.”

Racheal’s body language shut down after she said the name of the man who abused her…eyes fallen, hands rubbing nervously together in her lap, voice shaky. There she was, 18, the mother of a two-year-old, but getting a shot at a high school education. Dennis may be her abuser’s name, but Hope is her daughter’s name. What a powerful name it is.

Thanks to donors who have supported our Scholarships for Teen Moms Project, Racheal is able to get an education and take her story back. You can see it in the photos of her: she’s confident, there’s a certain steadiness to her. This is the power hope can bring, from defeated to empowered. Thank you for supporting her and other girls like her.

Spare Clothes to Sanitary Supplies.

Sara. A mother of seven, pregnant with her eighth. For some of her previous pregnancies, she would go to the hospital fully dilated with some spare clothes to be used to catch the baby. On those occasions, she would also hemorrhage because the doctors didn’t have the supplies they needed to help her.

On our most recent trip to Uganda, we were able to give Sara a Mama Kit with all the medical supplies she needs for a clean, safe, and dignifying birthing experience. It’s amazing to think how far $7—the cost of one Mama Kit—can go. A Mama Kit not only impacts the mother’s life, but the child’s as well. I’m grateful for donors and overseas partners who see the worth in getting supplies into mothers’ hands.

Fourteen and Grass in Her Hair.

She came running up the hill toward us in her school uniform dress, the sun low and glowing behind her.

She got to us, panting, smiling, grass in her hair.

“Woah girlfriend, take a second. Take a breather,” we said as we welcomed her and all giggled together. I picked the grass out of her hair, she caught her breath.

Angel was her name. She was 14 and smiley and eager to chat with us. I hadn’t met a personality like hers yet in this context; most recipients I interview are a little shy at first…understandable. Not to mention, Angel was a Scholarships for Teen Moms recipient, which means she was likely abused when she conceived. Even more reason to be shy about an interview, but she wasn’t.

She and I sat down and talked, and she shared her story with me as casually as if she was telling me what she had for lunch that day: she was 12 and working her mom’s maize stand. A local man came by and raped her. She had gotten to know him as a customer before the event. He’s in jail now for what he did. She went to Wakisa during her pregnancy, had her baby, and later received a scholarship from The Hope Venture to go back to school. Again, she’s only 14.

I sat there, shocked. At her story, at how able she was sharing it with me. I asked her how school was going, and she told me she was the dorm captain, class monitor, and overall school prefect. She loved leadership, the discipline of it. Being somebody her peers could go to. She had such a bubbly personality for all that she had been through, and she wasn’t letting her circumstances stop her potential.

We wrapped up and went back to the group. We heard cheering at the bottom of the hill and wondered what it was. It was a soccer game. Her soccer game. Her team was playing and she took a break to come talk with us. That’s why she had grass in her hair. She was 14 and a mom and playing in a soccer game. In her dress, at school.

It’s sometimes so hard for me to wrap my head around our recipients’ stories. But it makes me that much more grateful for The Hope Venture and the work our partners do to make sure recipients’ stories don’t end at the heartbreak. To make sure they get to play soccer in a dress at school as a mom.

Change Your Story.

How do you change the story of your life?

Delphine is a girl who believes in the power of her dreams, and has spent her life working hard to achieve those dreams. She has a passion to help others, and a commitment to follow through on the goals she sets her mind to. As the oldest of three, she learned responsibility early on caring for her two younger brothers and helping her parents in whatever ways she could. But Delphine also spent the better part of her elementary years getting chased out of school.

Although her dad worked hard as a security guard, keeping all three children in school was an impossible feat. But because of the generosity of others, Delphine was able to stay in school and continue to dream and work hard toward a better future. At age 12, Delphine joined Acts4Rwanda, and was able to receive the financial assistance needed to complete her high school education.

Throughout high school, Delphine learned where her skills and passions most aligned. She set her sights on a Bachelor’s degree at the Ruli Institute of Health, so she could become a midwife. Unfortunately, with big dreams can also come big expenses, and the fees for college were exponentially higher than those needed for high school. Covering the cost of rent, classes, materials and a computer were all more than her family could afford.

Without hope, this could have been the end of the story.

But to change your story, you fight for a way when there is no way.

Delphine applied for The Hope Venture’s College Sponsorship Project through Acts4Rwanda, and is now currently enrolled in the college of her dreams. Thanks to her own hard work and dedication, paired with the kindness and generosity of others, Delphine is changing the story of her life. She’s getting the education needed to help bring new life into this world—changing not only her own family’s future, but hundreds of families throughout Rwanda.

Often, the very best way to change your story is by helping others grow in theirs.

Two Dreams.

Big dreams often come from the most humble beginnings. Dreams for a better future, a bigger impact, and a greater purpose—the kind of dreams that can feel impossible when you go at it alone. This is a story of two dreams, and how despite the odds, they found courage and hope to keep chasing after them.

This is Timothy.

Timothy is a thoughtful and hardworking man who was born and raised in India. In pursuit of a better life for his family, he moved to Bangladesh with his wife Christina, and together they sought to start anew with better opportunities for their three children. Timothy had big dreams for what possibilities could be waiting for them in a new country, despite all the challenges of starting over. He found rich community in a local church, and would gather together with other believers every Sunday to worship and praise God. But as a day laborer, even his best wages weren’t enough to make ends meet. As he toiled tirelessly to provide, Timothy struggled to believe his biggest dream would ever come true—the dream that his children would have a better life than he did.

Now, let me introduce you to Honok.

Honok is a kind and friendly young boy, who grew up in a small Telugu community in Bangladesh. He loves studying math and science, and playing cricket every afternoon with his friends. Even by 3rd grade, Honok already had big dreams for his future, his biggest aspiration being to help people. Honok dreamed of combining his love for science and people to one day become a nurse, so he could serve and care for those who are hurting. 

But Honok came from a poor family. His parents were immigrants, who struggled every year with the fees needed to keep him and his two sisters in school. As much as he loved his classes, Honok knew he couldn’t become a nurse on a 3rd grade education alone. It was going to take years of hard work, finances and academic investment. Without help, Honok would be forced to drop out of school to find menial jobs not requiring much skill or training. Still just a small boy, he needed the help of others who believed in him and saw the potential in who he could become, willing to advocate on his behalf. 

He needed his father, Timothy. 

Knowing it would be nearly impossible for Honok to continue his education on his limited income alone, Timothy sought help. He reached out to The Hope Venture for assistance through the Backpack Project. He knew his son’s education was his responsibility, and even when inflated expenses had depleted his income to almost nothing, there was still hope. 

This past year, Honok received a new backpack, filled with an exercise book, geometry box, pencils, and everything he needed to stay in school for a full year. But more than just a backpack, Honok was gifted one more year to chase after his dream—one year closer to the education needed to become a nurse. And Timothy got one step closer to his dream, too.  As a father who would do anything to see his children succeed and have a better future, this backpack brought them both one step closer to their dreams.

A blessing in Mathare.

I was sitting at a coffee shop with a friend, days before I flew out to travel overseas with The Hope Venture, sharing what I was excited about and what I was anticipating. I told her I was nervous about the hard stories I was going to hear throughout our travels. You see, I was going to be on a team of four women visiting The Hope Venture’s projects, and my job was to interview people who had been impacted by the projects and document their stories. It was a dream role for me, but also one that I was preparing to be hard on my heart.

Sitting at the table, my friend listened intently and then responded. “Carli, my prayer for you is that the people you meet and the stories you hear would actually be healing for you, instead of hurtful to your heart.”

My jaw dropped. It was profound, opposite of how I was thinking, and such a picture of the hope we try to bring as an organization. Not only that, but it was also a bigger picture of the hope found in Jesus. It was the idea that people are not stuck in their circumstances, bound by a dead end, with their identity cemented as a hard, heavy story. But instead, that there is hope and light and opportunity… there is healing ahead. I loved her response. I tucked it away in my heart and went overseas.

Fast forward a few weeks and I was in Mathare, Kenya, the second-largest slum in the country, located in the capital city. We were visiting one of our student sponsorship projects there, and I was with a group on our way to one of the students’ houses to interview her. Her name was Yvonne, and she could light up a room with her eyes and smile. Yvonne stood out to me and I was excited to get to know her more.

It was about a 40 minute walk through Mathare to get to her house, filled with climbing steep hills, shimmying down narrow passageways, and rounding unexpected corners. Finally, we climbed our last hill and got to Yvonne’s house, positioned so high up you could look out and see the community of Mathare as a whole.

We entered the small house behind us, and her grandma was there welcoming us with chai tea and open arms. I sat shoulder-to-shoulder with Yvonne on the loveseat, and the others crowded into the room and onto the remaining furniture.

Yvonne was 16, the second of five kids, and had lived with her loving, wise grandmother since she was young, along with the rest of her siblings. Her parents weren’t in the picture, and when I asked if she wanted to talk about it, she shook her head no.

I asked Yvonne what life was like before she got sponsored. “Life was challenging,” she replied in her beautiful Kenyan accent. Yvonne’s grandma didn’t work, and therefore couldn’t provide the necessary fees for school. Yvonne spent most of her time at home, and would have to play catch-up whenever she did return to school… a tough cycle that’s not very conducive to learning.

She remembered Fanuel, The Hope Venture’s trusted local partner, calling her and some of the other students to the church on just a normal day—but didn’t tell them why. When they got there, Fanuel told them that they had all been sponsored by The Hope Venture, and she said to me, “I was so, so happy.” Sweet tears filled her eyes as she shared the story. It’s a big deal to be sponsored and the burden of school fees to be lifted.

I asked her what her dreams were now that she was sponsored, and she said after she finishes school, she’d like to go to university to study accounting AND law. She dreams of taking her family to another level and wants to build them a mansion one day, with dark purple walls and red flowers outside.

We were needing to wrap up our conversation and I asked if there was anything else she wanted to say about her story that would make her feel known. She responded, “I would just like to say thank you, because you’ve proven to me that I can achieve my dreams, impact the community at large and also change other children from families like mine. There’s light at the end of the tunnel. Just because you come from a poor family doesn’t mean you can’t achieve your dreams.”

Wow. Suddenly I was the one with tears in my eyes. She was right, and I felt like my heart had just been blessed by her. The conversation with my friend at the coffee shop rushed to the forefront of my mind: “Carli, my prayer for you is that the people you meet and the stories you hear would actually be healing for you, instead of hurtful to your heart.” I felt like Yvonne was an answer to that prayer. Here she was, in one of the largest slums in Kenya, in poverty, and yet was living in a house on a hill overlooking that slum, with dreams for a big career, getting her family out, and helping other people like her. She wasn’t stuck, she was on the move. It was such a picture of hope and healing, and it spilled out from her and impacted me. Beautiful.