Hope for Korah

We love Tigist and Lemma's story and it gets even better as their community joins in to help! After Tigist received her loan and purchased a used table and chairs for their business, numbers of the young adult/teens came together along with Lemma in order to sand, paint and recover the furniture. Once done everything looked brand new! Lemma's son Henok was part of this group and later that same day, he and his friends prayed for his family and the success of their new business. Talk about working together! Next step - Moving Day!! more photos...

Last week Tigist obtained the first loan ever from her Self Help Group (SHG) - A FEW DAYS LATER she and our staff went shopping for her family's new business!    THE Goal - to purchase a table/desk, bench and printer for the computer they have earned. This was a very empowering moment as Tigist shopped for the best bargain on used furniture and learned all about new printers and the operations of various ones, eventually picking out and paying for the one she preferred.   Tigist and Lemma have worked hard to get to this point; having earned this furniture through points saved at our HFK Benefit Souk (store) and   personally saving two thirds of the cost of the printer, the remaining third coming from their SHG loan.   This is HUGE for their family and everyone is so excited! If you would like to read more about this family, how they came to HFK, as well as Tigst & Lemma's romantic love story - how God kept them together in spite of war, separ...

Are you looking for an opportunity to make a tangible impact in someone’s life? We currently have 2 Korah families who need to be matched with a new sponsor. Family sponsorship is a unique opportunity to help keep families together and thriving by providing them with participation in community and Self-Help groups, medical support, education and income generation training, and provision of other basic needs. For more information, and to learn about how your partnership can change lives, please contact Jacqueline Strating at jacqueline@hopeforkorah.com .  TWO FAMILIES AVAILABLE FOR SPONSORSHIP: FATUMA'S FAMILY FATUMA HAS BEEN SPONSORED!! Fatuma is currently raising her three precious children as a single mother. Prior to sponsorship, Fatuma had received no formal educational training, but did have some skills in weaving and basket making. She worked as a laborer for next to nothing, and was forced to beg in order to provide food for her family to eat once or twic...

What an Exciting Day!! It has been a long and prayerful journey to get to this point, but yesterday Tigist was awarded the first loan from her Self Help Group (SHG), in order to help her family launch their business.  I cannot tell you HOW PERSONALLY EXCITED I am that we have reached this important milestone!! So many of us serving with Hope for Korah have been working for numbers of years, towards this crucial step that we believe is key in order for our families to become independent and break out of the cycle of poverty they are in. This is a BIG milestone, for Tigist, her husband AND her SHG! To apply Tigist had to follow the by-laws that her Savings & Credit SHG has been developing over this past year. This includes being a member in good standing and having consistently invested (for a minimum of at least 10 months) into the SHG savings account the required weekly amount as voted for and decided upon by all of its' members. In addition, Tigist had to present ...

A memorable highlight from our most recent trip to Korah was taking our HFK-KGHC Leadership Team away from the hustle and bustle of Addis for an overnight Leadership Retreat.  We spent two days in deep discussion and prayer.  Our time together included program visioning, leadership development sessions and social work assessment skills training.  We also spent time focusing on our HFK model for independence/interdependence and transition planning of our savings & credit self help groups (SHGs), as well as prayerfully considering our story in light of God's story; how they intertwine and impact the work that we do. In between all of this, we made sure to have lots of time for  building relationships and having fun through games, good food, conversation and buna (coffee)!  It was a very special and productive weekend that is sure to have a direct impact and will make a difference in the lives of the children and families we serve.   Here ar...