The Women of Hope Program has blessed a remote community in Nigeria with skills, vision, resources and encouragement. The Pegi Village hosted a Christian Women’s Business Conference for 40 Nigerian ladies who came to the event full of excitement. They were ready to soak in knowledge and energized to get to work.
A Welcome Return
Residents of Pegi Village are already familiar with Healing Hands International because of the borehole drilled by the Clean Water Program. They report that the well continues to flow, sustaining the church and the entire village. They are thankful for the way our donors care for people worldwide, so they were already anticipating success and joy when the Women of Hope Program made plans to come to Pegi.
Time Returned is Time Invested
Women in Pegi explain that because there is no market close to them, they have had to travel long distances to purchase household necessities. After the Women of Hope classes, they are able to make the things they need locally. They have regained ownership of their most valuable resource: time. Instead of using their hours to travel to distant markets, they invest their efforts in baking small cakes, and making liquid soap and petroleum jelly.
Not only do their new capabilities fill demands for friends and neighbors, but they also create an economy for the village. Funds that would otherwise be used outside of Pegi can now be poured into the church, school and livelihoods of the families at home. Revolving loans are granted and paid forward, creating an inspiration for sustained, positive progress as businesses are born and further developed. Women now have active roles in forming new opportunities that put food on the table and pay for school fees and supplies. They are empowered to nourish their ideas, setting confident examples for their daughters.
Messages of Success
Lillian Cono is a 58-year-old mother of three children. She remembers that many women in Pegi used to be idle, with goals beyond reach and existence defined by survival. Her prayers are now full of appreciation for God’s provision of purpose for these women. She also prays that they can bless others in the villages beyond Pegi, because life does not improve in a vacuum after Women of Hope training. Time and time again, women come away ready to take the hand of as many sisters as they can reach, and lift each other to success.
Mrs. Ademola is a wife and mother in Pegi. She attended the Women of Hope training as well, and she is eager to build her new business. She looks to the future with a message for our faithful family of donors: “I promise that when next you come to this community, our financial status will change for good. I want to say a very big THANK YOU to Healing Hands International, for the opportunity and the good works they are doing. May God bless them more in Jesus name, Amen!”