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Success Stories

Since 1956, Global Impact has raised more than $1.8 billion to help the world’s most vulnerable people. Each day we work with our charity partners to fight poverty, heal the sick and support communities in need, meeting real needs with real results. Below, please find a sample of success stories from our charity partners.

PACT: Not an easy job, but a better one

Jean-Marie works hard to support his family.

Five days a week at 7 a.m., Jean-Marie arrives at a mining site known as Rwamirambo I, located in Giteranyi village, in the province of Muyinga, Burundi. With a pickaxe and torch, he extracts tungsten in one of the mine’s pits. It’s arduous work, but mining offers a better life for Jean-Marie, his wife, his four children and his younger brother and sister.

PACT: For a young woman, a better life through entrepreneurship

Woman sells her goods in Vietnam.

It isn’t hard to find her in the center of a crowded market in Long Phu commune, Tam Binh district, Vinh Long province. Everyone here knows To Thi Thu Thao, a young woman who always has a shining smile on her face.

To look at her, you’d never know the difficulty she has faced.

PACT: With Pact's help, 'Ukraine's Jon Stewart' promotes tolerance, critical democratic reforms

Ukrainian journalist works to expose goverment corruption with Pact.

Two years ago, most Ukrainians had never heard of Roman Vintoniv. Now he rarely goes a day without a stranger on the street recognizing his black-framed glasses and signature blonde mustache and asking for a photo or a handshake.

PACT: With new skills, a young mother in Ethiopia hopes for a brighter future

Nigisti Mokonen Niguse overlooks the gold mine where she works.

For Nigisti Mokonen Niguse, nearly every morning is the same: She wakes early, says goodbye to her young daughter, and makes the grueling trek up a nearby mountain to the gold mine on which her livelihood depends.

Her husband, Aman Gebrehiwot, is usually already there. Because the trip from home is so exhausting, he sleeps on site most nights to save his energy for mining.

SIGHTSAVERS INTERNATIONAL: As Featured on NPR, Emmanuel's Story

Emmanuel shares his story with NPR.

60-year-old Emmanuel lost his sight while earning a living as a fisherman. How? Due to a disease called river blindness.

River blindness (onchocerciasis) is a disease caused by a parasitic worm transmitted by the bite of a river-breeding black fly. As its name suggests, river blindness can lead to visual impairments and often blindness.

SIGHTSAVERS INTERNATIONAL: Infant Ismail from Bangladesh can see for the first time

Ismail's older brother welcomes him home.

Eight-month-old Ismail Hossain comes from a deeply impoverished village in Bangladesh. Born with cerebral palsy and cataracts in both eyes which have left him completely blind, he lives in a one-roomed hut with his two-year-old brother Ibrahim, mother Monni and father Delowar Hossain.

Frightened and tired, Monni carried Ismail into the hospital in one arm and a plastic bag with his belongings in the other. While Ismail was in surgery Monni couldn’t sit down. After what seemed like an eternity Ismail was out of surgery and Monni could breathe again.

STOP HUNGER NOW: Meals Provide a Way Out of Poverty

Makau lives in Zambia and receives three meals every day.

Makau was 8 years old when she arrived at Kids Alive Zambia. Her father died when she was 4 years old, and her mother is mentally challenged and often wanders the streets. Makau lost all of her brothers and sisters and was living with her 90-year-old grandmother. They survived by gathering wild fruits in the forest and exchanging them for other food. Many times when the major fruits were out of season, Makau and her siblings would beg on the streets for food to survive.

STOP HUNGER NOW: School Means Hope

Samarah receives food during school in Haiti.

Samarah is in the 7th grade at St. Andre School in Haiti. She is happy to go to school because of the food she receives there. “Without food I would be starving and my grades would be lower. Most of us rely on the food served at school to survive; this is the only meal we get for the day. I hope the feeding program will continue.”

Photo Credit: Stop Hunger Now

OPERATION SMILE: Oscar's Journey to Surgery in Honduras

Oscar before surgery in Honduras

At 7 years old, Oscar Landero didn’t speak – he would only communicate through motions, nods of his head and shy smiles. His cleft palate has kept him from learning how to properly articulate words, and out of frustration of not being understood, Oscar quit trying to talk. Over time, Oscar’s cleft lip prevented him from going to school, from making friends and from feeling accepted in his own community.

“They call him ‘el bicho’,” his mother, Gloria said, which roughly translates to ‘weird one’ or ‘little beast.’

OPERATION SMILE: In Ghana, family’s experience turns to advocacy

Deborah before and after Operation Smile surgery.

“A few hours after she was born, my sister-in-law came to the hospital to see Deborah. When she laid eyes on her, she immediately ran out of the hospital room out of disgust,” said her father, Justin. “She traveled back to our town and told everyone that my wife and I had given birth to a godless child. She said that she couldn’t stand to look at Deborah.” Deborah’s mother, Afere, was heartbroken by the situation that was unfolding. “When I first saw Deborah, I was very, very sad and cried,” said Afere. “I cried and cried that I had given birth to this child.”

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