Sheeja was a Grieving Daughter Looking for Hope
Sheeja was in school when she got the news: Her father had suffered a stroke. At first, Sheeja thought there had been a mistake. Someone had confused her father with another man. Her father was healthy. He had only just turned forty. He worked all-day shifts for as long as Seeja could remember. Sheeja and […]
Winfred’s rise to resilience and motherhood
Nearly three years ago, on a warm July afternoon in Kenya, Winfred grabbed a jerry-can and walked toward the river. The task of gathering water was standard for the seventeen-year-old, who had acquired the role of primary caretaker for her four younger siblings. Their mother had become an alcoholic following the death of their father, […]
Beyond Graduation: Children Thrive Into Adulthood
When Diffati, a 2017 Zoe Empowers graduate welcomed us into his Malawi compound, our jaws dropped. How did an orphan who once lived in extreme poverty acquire the means for such a lifestyle?
An Unexpected Challenger
When Ann married a man she barely knew at age 14, she believed the union was the only quick fix to escape her household, where an abusive step-father made life unbearable. Ann’s situation is not uncommon in Kenya, a country ranking 18th highest in the world for the absolute number of women married or in […]
Josephat’s Bridge to Success
Josephat always felt like his ambition never aligned with his life circumstances. He loved to be in school, but his parents could not afford the fees. There were often gaps in his enrollment, dropping out to work for several weeks or months at a time. Then, inevitably, through sheer will and determination, he would scrape […]
A Portrait of Gratitude
Chenesai was ready and waiting outside when the visitors arrived. On the ground, unable to walk with legs tucked to one side, wrists crossed in her lap, she takes in the unfamiliar scene unfolding in front of her: three Americans, along with a few faces she recognizes as Zoe Empowers Zimbabwe staff, have just parked […]
The number of orphaned children increases as the pandemic shows no mercy.
She was no longer known as Sangeetha. In the eyes of her “owner”, she was a product, not a human being. It wasn’t until Amara, a courageous and clever Zoe Empowers graduate, learned of Sangeetha and devised a plan to rescue her that Sangeetha became free.
How Chickens Turned Into a Home
A busy paved road runs through the village center of Chimwaza, Malawi. On either side is an assortment of tattered-looking shops, freestanding kiosks and persistent peddlers ready to serve the steady stream of loitering locals there to eat, shop and socialize. Two years ago, entering this scene would have invoked shame and anxiety for Mike […]
Shifting gender norms through education in rural Kenya
Lidiah was born with a love for education. As a young girl, sitting inside a small, one-roomed classroom, learning new subjects and socializing with her peers was her favorite pastime, and it showed in the high marks she received from her teachers. She didn’t know it then, but she was one of the lucky ones, […]
Life Beyond an Orphanage
After being found on the streets when she was one day old, Esther was taken to an orphanage in the Northern Province of Rwanda, joining the ranks of tens of thousands of other parentless children in the orphanage system across Africa. When she turned 14, Esther moved to another orphanage in the Southern Province where […]