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Testimonials

Video Testimonials

Elena

Mother of five children
Abandoned by her husband, Elena was left to care for her 5 children alone.  Elena’s extreme poverty led her to begin work as a washerwoman, ironer, and housekeeper. With no daycare options, Elena was forced to leave her children at home while she worked, often late into the night. Oftentimes, her young children did not know how to feed or care for themselves while she was away at work. Ten years ago, she returned home at night to find her 11 month old daughter running a very high fever. Although her daughter survived the meningitis, she requires full-time care.

With the help of the Global Fund for Widows’ Micro-Social Capital program, Elena launched a small grocery store in her house. Now she is able to work and earn a good living while caring for her disabled daughter. With the profits of her grocery, Elena is not only able to provide food and shelter for her children, she is also able to finance the expensive transportation of her older daughters to school.  Most importantly, Elena takes her Social Contract commitment seriously, and makes payments from her profits to a Social Fund, the proceeds of which will be used to launch another virtuous cycle for another widow in her community.
"Thanks to Global Fund for Widows. I sleep in calm because my kids and I know that we have food, transport and also we are safe…thank you, for giving me this great opportunity of having my own things. I am very happy and grateful to God and to you."
Elena

Maria Elena

Mother of four children
Widowed at a very young age, Maria Elena was left to care for her 4 children alone. A wonderful cook, Maria Elena started a small home restaurant to earn a living. Unfortunately, with the tropical rains in Bolivia, her ability to feed her customers was limited by the amount of covered seating room she had. This impacted her proceeds, and ultimately, Maria Elena was no longer able to afford sending her sons to school.

With the help of the Global Fund for Widows, Maria Elena was able to build a roof over her courtyard. With dedicated seating, Maria Elena’s restaurant is thriving.  Importantly, Maria Elena takes her Social Contract commitment seriously, and plans to hire another widow to help her with the demands of her restaurant so that her sons can return to school, thereby launching several virtuous cycles.
"God has rewarded me because with the help of Global Fund for Widows, I have a roof for my restaurant.  Thanks to Global Fund for Widows, my dream is now reality. I am very happy!"
Maria Elena

Massouda Sami Kamel

Mother of three adult children
Massouda is a 55 year-old widow. She has three children; two married daughters and a young married son. She lives with her son and his family in the same house. Massouda receives a 320£ EGY (US$45) pension.Massouda joined the Amal Project Social Fund with some skills in livestock breeding. She none-the-less took training courses to improve her skills.  She soon qualified for a 200£ EGY (US$71) loan to buy feed for cattle. Her project succeeded and she now earns a strong profit fattening livestock. Additionally, she is using her profits to buy more cattle to further grow her income.

Nafeesa Ismail Ahmed

Mother of four children
Nafeesa is a 28 year old abandoned widow.  She has four children (two boys and two girls) she lives with her children in the main family house. They have no income and she struggles with expenses. Her family helped her to open a small store selling domestic appliances, however customers requested more inventory, but Nafeesa didn’t have the capital to expand.

Nafeesa learned of the Amal Project. Her dream was to grow her inventory to carry valued appliances needed by brides for their new homes.  Nafeesa qualified for a 2000£ EGY (US$285) Amal Project loan and restocked her store.  Now, her store is profitable and is the source of income for her and her family. Nafeesa says “Thank God there is business every day.” After the success of the business, she wishes to take a bigger loan at a lower interest rate to improve her profit margins and further grow her business.
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