A Well of Hope: How Your Support Changed Everline’s Community

When Everline wakes up and steps out of her home, it’s onto hard, dry, dusty ground: here in her community in rural Kenya, both landscape and livelihoods are shaped by the climate. Barely enough grows here for their livestock to eat – there’s never any left over for the farmers themselves. Even when it rains, it sometimes seems like the water simply vanishes into the ground, as though it had never been.

Everline’s finances were in a similar state. The mother of three supported her family through a small shop connected to her home, and took additional work doing home repairs. But whatever little money she made always seemed to evaporate as quickly as it arrived.

Schooling in Everline’s area is often incomplete, and financial education is even more limited. Access to traditional financial institutions is also hard to come by:

“The banks are very far away,” explains Everline, who relies on walking as a sole mode of transportation. “I do not have a bank account. I also did not have money to take to the bank.”

Everline’s situation was not unique in her community. In fact, it was the norm. As much as Everline wanted to help them, and they wanted to help her family, no one was in a position to do so.

But other people were – and those people chose to help. Thanks to donor support, Feed the Children was able to set up programs in Everline’s community that would make a lasting difference.

One of the most important programs was a Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA), an alternative to traditional banking. During the process of creating the VSLA, Everline and her neighbors received financial literacy training. With the combined efforts of the community, the VSLA was up and running. Like a well that holds water in reserve, to be drawn from as needed, the VSLA allows villagers to pool and save their resources, taking what they need when they need it without exhausting the source.

“I am so happy that Feed the Children started the VSLA in our area,” Everline says gratefully. “I have more control of my family financial circumstances. My business is growing and will continue expanding. My family is living happily because basic needs like food and medicine can easily be afforded.”

We’re thrilled to share Everline’s story of success with you, but there are still families around the world waiting, hoping for their own happy endings. Together, we can help make those stories possible!