This year — 2024 — is a very special year for Wide Horizons For Children. It marks the 50th anniversary of our founding in the US, which arose from the need to find permanent homes for children orphaned by the Vietnam war. To celebrate this milestone, we are presenting a series of stories — stories of hope and transformation — from across these five decades. Over the next two years, we will publish one new story per month showcasing all areas of our work: Family Preservation, Adoption, and Orphan Care.
Please join us for this journey back in time and enjoy these powerful stories that shine a spotlight on the healing power of love and hope.
Magic Happens When You Empower Mothers!
Six years ago, Desta lived with her four children in one room in a city in southern Ethiopia. Her husband had recently died, and what Desta earned as a laborer didn’t come close to meeting her family’s needs.
Her two elder children had dropped out of school: partly because Desta couldn’t afford to pay for their uniforms or school supplies and partly because they needed to work to keep the family alive and together. And, despite her poverty, Desta had adopted a young girl, Saron, she found living in the streets. So there were five mouths to feed, clothe and house.
A year later, Desta discovered Wide Horizons For Children and we enrolled her family in our Family Preservation program.
Her middle daughter, Mesay, started attending school regularly and loved it. She also got involved with a circus performance group and is a natural! Their performances make enough money for Mesay to contribute to the family income.
Her younger sister, Saron, is also in school.
With Desta’s strong work ethic and positive outlook on life, we invited her to join our first women’s Self-Help Group (SHG). These SHGs are financial and emotional support systems for women, many of whom are single-parent heads of household. Meeting every week, the women each contribute a small amount to a pot, from which members can borrow money to start or grow a business. They share stories, give advice, laugh and have each other’s back — with a Wide Horizons social worker at hand for any further help they may need.
Three short years later, Desta has become an entrepreneurial powerhouse! She sells tea and coffee, has a chicken coop, seven sheep and has been able to renovate her house.
And Desta is proving to be a natural leader. Not only has she inspired other women to take charge of their lives, but she has also started up her own SHG with a membership of 17 women.
As we have consistently seen, an empowered woman lifts up her family and her community. It’s true to say that empowering women to become financially independent is the most effective and fastest route out of extreme poverty we know of.
To help empower more women like Desta, please consider a gift to our Female Empowerment Fund!
