Moms Move The World

There is nothing more powerful than a mom who wants to care for her children.

Alphonsine

Mothers have been reported to pick up cars when kids are in harm’s way. They have sheltered loved ones from collapsed buildings. And you know, when the cubs are around, you never want to mess with mama bear.

The microfinance model works because of moms. At HOPE, 68 percent of our clients are women—mostly mothers. With their passion—coupled with a little more capital and deeper community—moms will fight out of love to provide for their kids. I’ve seen this in my mom and in my wife. And I’ve seen this around the world in women like Alphonsine.

It was her five children who first motivated Alphonsine Kimuzaza to join “Peaceful,” a community bank an hour outside Kigali, Rwanda, in 2009. They needed books, uniforms, and supplies for school, as well as healthy food to eat.

And they just didn’t have enough.

Alphonsine identifies a loan of $167 from HOPE’s partner Urwego Opportunity Bank as “the spark.” It enabled her to purchase plantains and other foodstuffs for resale. And the business has prospered. Alphonsine has become a wholesaler, selling up to eight tons of beans and sorghum a week while maintaining her plantain sales. Her income varies, but she earns over $50 a day. She’s purchased a hybrid cow that produces more than two gallons of milk a day, and after her children have had their fill, she sells the remainder. Her income helps pay for all five of her children to attend school.

When she learned that three young relatives of her husband had been orphaned, she had sufficient resources to open not only her heart but her home to the children–adopting them, sending them to school, and meeting all of their needs.

“The fact that I have a successful business is not just my hard work. It’s God who led me to the right business,” she says.

But Alphonsine is working hard to achieve her dream, and she has eight powerful motivators. “I want my children to go to university,” she says. “That’s the reason I have to work so hard.”

So this Mother’s Day, hats off to you, moms. Strong, beautiful and made in God’s image, every day you move mountains to give your kids a better future.

See the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2012 Women’s Report, which celebrates entrepreneurial women—including moms—around the world.

This Mother’s Day, HOPE is honoring the creativity, dedication, and love of the women we serve as they work to provide for their families. Join us in honoring the many roles mothers like Alphonsine play through our “We Heart Moms” campaign.

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