Odong

The impact of living well above the extreme poverty line is difficult to fully articulate. Families experience many firsts: becoming food secure, sending children to school, learning how to read and write.  

Our program systematically addresses all of the barriers that keep families living in extreme poverty. A shift in mindset is chief among these barriers and we provide the services required for clients to experience meaningful and durable change.

We don’t share Margaret’s story because she is an anecdote amongst our clients - she is proudly the norm.

Margaret is a 53 year old widow with 7 children. A few years ago, her whole family was working hard using basic hand tools to grow just enough to eat. Growing up Margaret never attended school and her biggest dream was to see things be different for her own kids. Unfortunately, she lacked the resources to provide this opportunity for her children. 

Margaret’s story is not unique. She had the wisdom, the work ethic, and the perseverance to change her circumstances - she just needed an opportunity. During her time participating in the Capable Cooperative Accelerator Margaret scaled up her farming from 2 to 25 acres a season. She had access to modern technology to open more land, cutting edge farming techniques taught by her Agronomist to increase yield, and stable demand for her maize through our brokerage network. 

She reinvested her profits into opening up additional acreage, purchasing oxen, and constructing a general store at her local trading center. Over the years she’s worked with her Business Mentor to diversify her income to ensure stability.

Long gone are the days of the whole family working on the farm. Margaret finally has enough money to send  her children and grandchildren to school for the first time. Her eldest son helps run her businesses and is forging a new path for the next generation. Margaret’s success extends well beyond her own family: she’s providing seasonal employment to members of her community too. 

You’d think that the highlight of Margaret’s experience would be the transformational economic change, but you’d be wrong. She says that the support from her Counselor was the crux. “Talking to my counselor helped me understand what I was capable of - my stress has gone down and I no longer overthink everything. I no longer look down on myself, but I know I can accomplish what I set my mind to.” 

Margaret didn’t stop there. She enrolled in training from our Counseling team and is now a certified peer-counselor, offering the same services to other members of her Cooperative and community.

‍