Hope in their faces
Todd Smith
I’ve talked many times about ZOE and what an amazing success it is in transforming the lives of children. I see the numbers and at times realize it seems a little too good to be true. Tens of thousands of children’s lives altered with hope and purpose for what amounts to a trickle of funds. It all seems a bit too grand. But what you hear about ZOE over and over again is that it works.
I was lucky enough a few years ago to make the pilgrimage to Kenya to meet some of the empowerment groups and can only say that the experience is eye opening and life changing. You hear of poverty, starvation and disease in the world; you hear the stories from the children themselves of what life as a teenage orphan with younger siblings to care for was like when you had no resources and no hope.
But the ZOE story is not a sad story. The image I can never forget was the look of hope in their eyes. More then hope, the children had been instilled with a sense of purpose and pride that they could provide for their families and be a productive and respected member of their society. There was a fire in their voice when they talked about their businesses and how they had food to eat and money so their younger siblings could go to school. You could hear the spirit of an entrepreneur when they talked about their future and how they could contribute to their community.
These children have been dealt a horrible hand in life, but ZOE is giving them the resources and path forward to make a huge difference. They know people care and are willing to train them and the effect is transformative. After several days of meeting with empowerment groups (the groups then were made up of about 60 to 70 children and young adults that would be together for 3 years) I had the unique opportunity to see an initial meeting of children that had yet to be formed into a group. What a striking difference. All of a sudden you saw the fear and skepticism of what may lay ahead. Many came to that first meeting equipped with bags to collect the handouts they had become so dependent upon and assumed would be available. What was so evident was the lack of hope. But in that first meeting with some of the staff and in particular Reegan (you will hear more about him in the coming months) you could see the beginning of a three year journey that would establish trust and self reliance.
This program works, and through it lives are changed forever. I encourage anyone interested in the program to visit the ZOE website zoeempowers.org to read more stories and the details of how children’s lives are transformed.