Fiona’s Fight for Family
Days before Fiona’s mother passed away, she made one last request of her eldest daughter: “Take care of her three younger siblings.” Despite being thirteen and still a child herself, Fiona promised her mother she would honor this request. Moments later, her mother died in her arms. Shortly after her mother’s death, Moussa, Fiona’s seven-month-old […]
Miles, Maize and Miracles
The first time Sungano attended a Zoe Empowers meeting, she arrived so late the meeting was nearly finished. Not only was she late, but she was breathless, sweating, and covered in dirt. The Zoe Empowers program facilitator leading the meeting was concerned about her desperate appearance and began asking Sungano questions. Sungano, then 15, replied […]
Zoe awakens Salome’s spirit and ignites her purpose
The day Salome’s father disappeared is one she’ll never forget. She and her two younger siblings had gone to school. Their mother was tending to the small home the family of five shared, while their father provided for the household. This pattern of life resembled many other families living in rural Tanzania. When Salome’s father […]
Gladness empowers young girls to claim their rights.
As a child, Gladness dreamed of being a hairdresser. When she wasn’t in school, she often hung around the salons in her neighborhood, observing the shop owners. Sometimes, they’d even let her help with small, easy chores, which always seemed big and important to Gladness. Gladness’s mother worked in the fields with other women in […]
Jones Learns to Forgive
When 23-year-old Jones thinks of his childhood, he remembers chaos and anger. His father was an alcoholic who terrorized the house with his drinking habits. Meanwhile, Jones’s mother, a skilled seamstress, tried to make ends meet for Jones and his younger siblings, Elisha and Avalina. Her income could afford food or school for her children, […]
Timothy and His Giving Tree
Timothy’s grandmother gave him two gifts before she passed away. The first was a small gourd, meant to symbolize giving. The gourd only darkened if he gave to others. “The darker the gourd, the richer his life will be,” she told him. At the time, Timothy didn’t believe he had anything to give. He was […]
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 […]
How Fridah Became a Zoe Empowers Donor
We asked why Fridah became a Zoe Empowers donor. She said, “I believe poverty is the behaviors, values and characters you’re forced into, like digging through garbage bins to find leftover food, being forced to dropout of school or not having a secure place to sleep at night. That took away my dignity. I want others to have the dignity I didn’t have.”
Not All Heroes Wear Capes
What a time it would be if, instead of idolizing those with big muscles, fancy cars and expensive homes, we admired those who had the exact opposite. What if we looked up to people like Gentil, a young Rwandan boy whom you’ve never met but likely won’t forget.
Defying Cultural Norms in the Name of Fatherhood
Although Emmanuel is not genetically the father of Moses, caring for him and his sister has brought significant meaning and joy to his life.