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Uplifting stories to inspire you this season

Even though it’s been nearly seven years since I moved to Seattle, as a southern transplant living in the Pacific Northwest I still struggle to adjust this time of year. With the return of gloomy skies, rainy weather and very short days, I find myself seeking out bits of inspiration and joy to get that warm, cozy feeling that helps get me in the autumn spirit! While hot soups, the beautiful colors of changing leaves and crisp morning walks certainly help, Global Impact thought we’d put together something even more effective in curing the winter blues. This month we are…

Woman smiling with bags on her back and children in the background

The 2022 resolution you need to add to your list

It’s the new year, and our instinct to start drinking green smoothies and hitting the gym is kicking in. It’s the time of planning for the year ahead and thinking through how we want to invest our time, energy and money. Enter: New Year’s resolutions. Most of our resolutions tend to face inward and are centered on the self. How can I take better care of myself? How can I move more? How can I cut back on or add something to my life? These are all important questions to ask, and I commend anyone who is committing to healthy…

Did you think the Salvation Army was just a thrift store?

For a long time, I only knew The Salvation Army for the thrift stores and the bell ringers that we see around the holidays. What I didn’t know until more recently is that they impact lives both here at home and around the world through the Salvation Army World Service Organization (SAWSO). SAWSO has spent over 40 years helping people across 131 countries improve their circumstances, maintain their health and gain financial independence. The charity’s vision is to serve as a dedicated resource committed to responding to the global interests of The Salvation Army USA by: Developing sustainable solutions for…

5 faces to celebrate Opportunity International’s 50th anniversary

Happy 50th anniversary to our Charity Alliance partner, Opportunity International! Through micro-banking, education finance, agriculture finance, and a wide range of innovative programs, Opportunity International (Opportunity) helps families provide for themselves and break the cycle of poverty. They help entrepreneurs grow their small businesses; farmers increase their harvests and income; and children get a quality education. These empowering and transformative interventions have touched the lives of millions, each with their own unique story and experience. Opportunity’s work is centered around the needs of the people they serve. Everything they do, from providing small loans to financial training for marginalized groups, is focused…

6 ways Mote is making waves to save our oceans – and our future

Endangered species. Melting ice caps. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The Pacific Garbage Patch. Growing up with these events and more – and taking a handful of oceanography classes to boot – it’s no wonder that protecting our oceans has become one of my most important personal causes. Yet I didn’t quite grasp just how absolutely, globally vital it was until I started working at Global Impact. Over the last five years, I have seen how caring for our oceans has a far-reaching impact – even extending to international relief and development issues, such as global health, education, refugees, hunger,…

Give from home: Grow hope with Seed Programs International

In much of the U.S., few things exemplify the holiday season like food: heaping plates of turkey and mashed potatoes, mugs full of cocoa and cider, gingerbread houses with sticky gum drop windows, candy canes on trees, pie crust bursting with berries, or a glass of milk with cookies by the fire. However, around the world, millions of families don’t have the privilege of a full plate on any given day, or even a plate at all. Food insecurity and malnutrition threaten the livelihood of over one billion people. An estimated 60% of those are women and girls. Some of…

Images

Title: Paula Coxaj Acabal
Charity: Accion
Country: Guatemala
Photo Credit: Accion

Title: Daniela
Charity: Accion
Country: Chile
Photo Credit: Accion

Title: Rosina
Charity: Accion
Country: India
Photo Credit: Accion

Title: Anjaneyalu
Charity: Accion
Country: India
Photo Credit: Accion

For Anjaneyalu, family is the most important thing in life. He operates his weaving business with the help of his wife and two children, in addition to a few paid laborers. Anjaneyalu looked for ways to expand his business and grow his family’s income to provide a more comfortable life. But, when he approached traditional banks, Anjaneyalu found the application process too complicated, and he wasn’t able to access the funds he needed to achieve his dreams. Anjaneyalu then learned about our portfolio partner Aye Finance, which provides entrepreneurs in India with financial tools to manage their small and medium businesses, including credit to grow their businesses. Anjaneyalu was able to use a loan from Aye to purchase new machines, which allowed him to produce more fabric and grow his business.

Title: Virginia
Charity: Accion
Country: Kenya
Photo Credit: Accion

Virginia Wanjiru Ndegwa, who lives near Nakuru, Kenya, isn’t afraid of hard work. At age 72, she’s raised ten children, is now looking after some of her grandchildren as well, and she’s still rising early every day to tend to the family farm. “Who will help you feed yourself if you don’t work? You have to sweat before you can eat. That’s what I do, that’s what suits me,” she says. Kenya-based Apollo Agriculture is a fintech startup that seeks to help hardworking, vulnerable smallholder farmers like Virginia with the challenges they face. Apollo, an Accion Venture Lab portfolio company, offers a suite of products, including customized packages of seed, fertilizer, advice, and insurance on credit — all enabled by advanced technological solutions like satellite data and digital communication.

Title: Mondisa
Charity: Accion
Country: South Africa
Photo Credit: Accion

The Kids Cooking Club in Cape Town, South Africa, is a cheerful, colorful space with children decked out in aprons and paper chef’s hats concentrating on sprinkling candy bits onto cookie dough. Mondisa, its founder, clearly loves working with kids. She smiles as she describes the club’s weekday cooking classes and weekend birthday parties, where budding young chefs master basic techniques and learn to follow recipes.

Title: Jorge Luis
Charity: Accion
Country: Mexico
Photo Credit: Accion

For Jorge Luis, a small business owner in Querétaro, Mexico, surviving the pandemic has been hard: lack of construction work shut down his building supply business, and his father was diagnosed with cancer. As his income shrunk, his expenses skyrocketed. To pay for his father’s treatment and care for his family, he needed to rebuild his business. Local company Caja Bienestar worked with Accion to find an innovative way to support small business owners like Jorge Luis by partnering with the distributors that supply them and providing credit for their businesses. With their support, Jorge Luis was able to purchase materials, stock his shelves, and reopen his doors to his customers. “I want to open more outlets again and provide faster service to customers. The feeling of relief is enormous,” he says.

Title: Maria Bonifacia
Charity: Accion
Country: Guatemala
Photo Credit: Accion

María Bonifacia owns a textile business in San Juan Sacatepéquez, Guatemala. After her husband died, she needed a way to support her family. “I started this business to sustain myself and my children,” she says. María turned to Accion partner Fundación Génesis Empresarial, which helps women entrepreneurs access the digital tools and financial support they need to seize new opportunities and create better futures. With their support, María was able to purchase more thread, renovate her workshop, and build a thriving business.

Title: Providing Clean Water
Charity: Action Against Hunger
Country: Ethiopia
Photo Credit: Peter Caton for Action Against Hunger

Videos

Success Stories

FINCA INTERNATIONAL, INC.: Prossy Nalule

At FINCA, we operate in over 40 countries worldwide with a mission to provide economic opportunities and security for women. Women’s empowerment is a cause that is dear to our hearts because we know from our experience that women can lead their communities out of poverty.

OPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL: Luz’s Story

Luz is a single mother of six children in Colombia. Luz is a survivor of domestic violence. Every day she lives with the fear that drugs, crime and violence will impact her and her children. Luz used to be married to a man that was affiliated to the guerillas until he was killed a few years ago. After her husband died, she fled to Bogota with her six children. She lives in the area of Cazuca, a community that largely consists of other internally displaced people that flock to the cities looking for safety because the countryside is a very violent place in Colombia right now. Luz never finished elementary school. She earns a living digging through garbage. Every night she leaves her home, leaving her children in the care of a neighbor or a friend, and she goes to rummage through garbage around the city looking for plastic, glass,…

MERCY CORPS: Libia’s story: Farmer, nurse, community leader

In the luscious and fertile green hills of Cauca in southwestern Colombia a coffee farmer and indigenous women’s rights activist works tirelessly to improve the lives of her community and tend to the land where her family is from. Libia Armida Paz lives in La Sierra on the El Oso reserve, a village home to the indigenous Yanakona people. Libia began farming coffee at seventeen years old, against her father’s gendered expectations. She took on a job on her neighbor’s farm in secret, sneaking out every morning before her father woke. She was paid 300 pesos less than the adult workers to pick coffee, but she didn’t mind because the experience was worth it. She studied tirelessly, saving money she earned from working on farms to attend college and earn a nursing degree. She saved enough money over a 15-year nursing career to buy her own land—something most women are…

MAGIS AMERICAS: Growing opportunities for teenagers and youth in Pa’i Puku, Paraguay

Magis Americas helped by providing assistance to Fe y Alegria Paraguay. The objective of the “Growing opportunities for teenagers and youth in Pa’i Puku” project was to increase access to job opportunities for the 160 students (54% women) enrolled at the education center. Over a two-month period, the project provided professional and technical training in sewing, hairdressing, carpentry, plumbing, electricity and handicrafts. Investments included the purchase of materials, tools, maintenance of equipment and salaries for the staff.

HEIFER PROJECT INTERNATIONAL: POULTRY PROJECT OF NATIONAL PRIDE

The Poultry Project of National Pride will transform Cambodia’s traditional poultry production system into inclusive smallholder farmer enterprises that generate sustainable living income. The program will directly assist 53,300 households, and 529,800 indirect families organized into self-help groups and agricultural cooperatives. Farmers will receive inputs, specialized training, assistance and access to capital to create inclusive, profitable agri-enterprises connected to markets. Hea and her husband Set show trays of eggs and one of their chickens that are providing food to eat while generating income through their very successful poultry farm.

FOOD FOR THE POOR: Minuto de Dios Inaugurate Homes for Families in Colombia

Twenty families in Granada, Colombia, have reason to hope for a brighter future and an opportunity to lift themselves and future generations out of poverty. It starts with a new roof over their heads, provided by Food For The Poor (FFTP) donors and trusted partner Minuto de Dios. The 20 newest homes in Palma Real, the first large-scale sustainable community development built by the two organizations, recently were presented to grateful families. In addition to the homes, a community center is being built where the families and potentially hundreds of others in the surrounding area will receive education, training and the tools to help them flourish on their own. Clean water, sanitation and electricity also were included with the homes. “I want to thank my God very much, for giving us the opportunity to have our house,” said Enervey, who shares one of the new homes with her husband, two…