World Vision: Transforming Lives through Empowered Worldview
“World Vision is a lifesaver. Without them, I do not know how I would have managed to take my daughter to college,” says a cheerful Reese Machola.
Reese Machola, 45, has been a sole provider and caregiver for her five children since she got separated from her husband a few years ago. She recalls how hard life was before she underwent the Empowered Worldview training organised by World Vision in 2017.
Over the years, Reese struggled to support her family financially as she did not have any skill that would enable her to generate a sustainable income. From time to time, she earned an income by doing odd jobs and selling fritters at home.
“Taking care of five children as a single parent was not an easy task, and my small business was not sustainable. I was fortunate when I was selected to take part in World Vision’s Empowered Worldview training that focused on providing skills and mentorship in entrepreneur skills using biblical principles,” she explains.
Empowered Worldview is a holistic approach that interrogates certain beliefs and cultures that tend to keep people in the cycle of poverty. It is designed to enable men, women, and children to change behaviours to ensure sustainability and positively reinforce resilience capacities to absorb shocks, adapt to change, and transform risks into opportunities.
After attending this training, Reese joined a local savings group, and it is through her savings, she was able to start her business journey.
“After the training, I joined a savings group and managed to buy 150 shares, of which one share was costing K30 (approximately US$ 1.65). At the end of the cycle, I managed to raise K4500 (approximately US$ 247), which I used to buy 200 by 50kg bags of maize for resale.”
After the maize sale, Reese was able to afford to sponsor her second born daughter to a nursing school and establish a grocery shop.
“It is through this business that I can fend for my children and sponsor them to school without any challenges. We do not lack any home necessities, and my children are doing well in school.” She says
In the next few months, Reese hopes to grow her business by venturing into poultry farming.
“I have observed a high demand for broiler chickens in this community, so I would like to expand my business in this area and hopefully become a well-known supplier of boiler and village chicken in this community” she explains gleefully.
Reese’ story is not different from that of 50-year-old Solomon Mweenda, a Headman of Dunuka Village in Chief Chikanta’s area.
Solomon and his wife Sekester Mweenda, 49, were equally struggling to make a decent living before attending the Empowered Worldview training. Since undergoing the training, their lives have improved both economically and spiritually.
“With this training, my wife and I were able to take steps to realise our dreams and conduct our personal and business activities in a godly way as we were taught during one of the Empowered Worldview sessions of celebrating families. Our children’s behaviour has improved, and they are have also managed to establish small businesses for themselves.”
“With our little savings, we managed to set up a chicken business. From this business venture, we have managed to roof our house using iron sheets and buy home equipment like a TV set. We also managed to buy a cow, and we hope to buy more as our business expands,” he explains.
Headman Dunuka and his wife have not kept the knowledge they acquired from World Vision to themselves. They have set up a class where they share knowledge on entrepreneur skills and the godly way of running businesses with others in the community.
“Without World Vision, we would not have been where we are today. We are passing on the knowledge we acquired from World Vision to other people so that they too might have a chance to transform their lives.” He says.