Bring a Family Together this Christmas

“I was never at peace because I was always thinking about how I was going to provide for my children.”

Aginess is a mother of four living in rural Zambia. Every day, Aginess and her husband would walk long distances from their home in the hope that they would find work doing labour for others. With no other sources of income, it was the only way they could provide for their family.

“The greatest challenge with this was that we used to do a lot of work for very little money,” says Aginess. “It was not even enough to sustain us.”

“It was difficult to send my children to school because I could not afford to buy books and uniforms,” Aginess says. “It was difficult even to buy basic needs like soap. It was also difficult for us to buy enough food for the family, especially for our children. Sometimes we ate once per day.

“It was also hard because we lived in a very small house that could not accommodate all household members, so my children were sleeping at their grandparents’ house.”

Their financial situation was constantly on Aginess’s mind. She was always thinking about how to make ends meet. So when she heard about ADRA’s project, she was eager to participate.

“I talked to my husband about it,” Aginess shares. “I said, ‘Looking at our current situation and the problems we are facing, I feel joining the ADRA project would be helpful to us.’”

Aginess’s husband agreed that the project would be beneficial to the family and so Aginess joined her local ADRA savings and loans group and participated in the financial training.

“It is a group formed with the purpose of saving money, and then we can take a loan from the group’s savings,” Aginess explains. “The money we borrow can be used to do business, and then we pay back the group with interest.”

For villagers like Aginess, securing a loan from a bank is near impossible. A local savings and loans group is the solution people like Aginess need to get their dream of starting a business.

Aginess and her husband decided to start a goat business. With their first loan from the group they purchased two goats: one male and one female.

“The female was pregnant,” Aginess says. “It is what has multiplied the goats you see today. We have been in business for three years now.”

In those three years, Aginess’s life has transformed. Her anxiety for the future is gone, and she can provide for her family.

“Sometimes, I make three times more money in a month than what I used to make,” says Aginess. “Because I am now able to support my family, I feel extremely happy, and my family is happy too. My children are now going to school because I can support them with what they need, such as books, pens, shoes, and uniforms. We are now able to buy enough food to eat. We also buy goats so that the business continues. In the past, I was unable to do all these things.”

As well as meeting their daily needs and ensuring her children could go to school, Aginess and her husband began saving with plans to build a larger home so the whole family could live together again.

Aginess says, “From part of the sales money, we began purchasing building materials, such as iron sheets and bricks, until we built a bigger house that accommodates all household members. My children are now sleeping in our house with me and my husband.”

“I am very happy now that we are living together and sleeping in the same house with mum and dad,” says Ruth*, Aginess’s 13-year-old daughter.

Aginess wants to set her children up for the future so they don’t have to struggle like she did.

“I want my children to have a good education and get good jobs so that they do not go through what I have gone through, and in the future, they can also help others,” she says.

Ruth wants to become a nurse when she leaves school, a job that requires finishing school and going to university.

“I am in grade 5 and my favourite subject is Chinyanja (the local language),” says Ruth. “Now, mum buys us uniforms, books, schools and pens for school. When I finish school I want to go to university to study nursing.”

Aginess doesn’t like to think about what her life would look like if she hadn’t joined ADRA’s project.

She says, “If this project had not reached my area, considering the difficulties we were going through, my children would not be in school today, and I cannot imagine what would have happened to me and my family. Our lives would have been much worse than before.

“This project has transformed my life and my family. The people funding this project should continue because there are others out there whose lives can also be transformed, just like mine has been transformed. Thank you.”

Your gift this Christmas can help mothers like Aginess start their own business so they can feed their children, send them to school, and live together as a family. Donate today at adra.org.au/Christmas

* Name changed for child protection purposes