10 Reasons Zoe Empowers is Unlike Other Children’s Charities

Zoe Empowers started as a relief-based organization with short-term, marginal results. In the early 2000s, the AIDS pandemic devastated communities in sub-saharan Africa, leaving hundreds of thousands of orphaned children in its wake. Globally, there was a push to donate to Africa, support orphan charities, sponsor an orphan, and fundraise for an orphanage. Zoe Empowers […]

From Hopelessness to Hope, Clarisse tells her story.

The sun was almost set when Clarisse climbed up the mango tree. Warm tears traced her cheeks as she processed what she was about to do. She had no choice, she believed and only wanted a way to stop the pain.  Since her parents and eldest brother went to prison a few years ago, Clarisse’s […]

Daniel’s Ascent into Fatherhood

Daniel was 11 years old when he became the head of his household.  His mother unexpectedly passed away of a mysterious illness, and his father had died a couple of years before that. As the eldest of four siblings, Daniel acquired the role of caretaker.  Still a child himself, Daniel’s understanding of parenting could be […]

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 […]

Nowhere to go: Street children cope with isolation orders

To control the spread of the novel Coronavirus, countries around the world have asked its people to stay inside to practice social distancing. Social distancing involves keeping space (6 feet is recommended by the CDC) between yourself and other people outside your home, avoiding large groups, mass gatherings and crowded places.  The recommendation to social […]

When “Stay Home” Means Sleeping on a Tree Branch

The concept of staying home is simple—unless you don’t have a home. Then what? As rules and regulations surrounding COVID-19 protection are being issued, children who live in trees, latrines, fields and other public places are being chased away. 

The Key to Gender Equality

When you sat down at your computer this morning, you didn’t think twice about typing in the Web address you wished to visit: email, news, social media, Zoe Empower’s blog. You simply typed it in, and within a few seconds, you were there reading, scrolling, clicking your way around.  But, you would have noticed if […]

Rwanda Graduates Create Empowerment Training Center

“Before I joined Zoe Empowers, I use to complain to God, asking why he made me suffer.” said Samuel. “Now, I see what I would have lost if I would have given up. I would have missed so many things. I would not be here to help others.” ‒ Samuel, 2018 graduate of Zoe Empowers […]

The Multiplying Effect of Investing in Empowerment

“Before Zoe, I prayed to God, asking him to help me complete school. I made a promise to God that when I got a job I would help other children. When I was hired by the government, I made good on that promise.” ‒ Madeline, 2014 Graduate in Rwanda Even before she knew about the […]

Dignity is Found When Paying it Forward: From a Traveler’s Perspective

High in the hills, in a village of Rwanda, Jeanie, Cheryl, Katherine and I sat in a small and tidy house listening to the stories of how four young men’s lives had been transformed through Zoe.  Samuel, Emmanuel, Daniel, and Ernest each took turns sharing how desperate their lives used to be. Similar themes of […]