Fatoumata Monomata's Story

"Now I know how to keep my children safe." - Fatoumata, West Africa

Fatoumata Monomata lives in Burkina Faso, one of the poorest countries in the world, with an average life expectancy of 44 years.

Ever since Fatoumata was a child herself, she has known about a terrible disease called malaria. But she and her neighbors didn't know how it was spread, how to protect themselves from it, or when it would strike, what kind of medicine would help when it struck.

Malaria — a ruthless killer — swept through her village on a regular basis, stealing the lives of countless children. Fatoumata feared for her own children, but had no idea how to protect them.

The situation seemed hopeless — but Freedom from Hunger knew better. With over half a century of hands-on experience in places where others have given up, we know what it takes to save lives. Our programs build on what women living in rural poverty already have in abundance: determination, an entrepreneurial spirit and endless devotion to their children.

We transfer skills, knowledge and resources that women can own, share and pass down generation to generation.

Like so many other hard-working mothers, Fatoumata was eager to join our innovative loans and learning program. She’s getting life-saving information about malaria and nutrition — as well as the seed money and business skills to turn her hard work into security for her family.

“I used my loan to buy fresh nuts and potatoes to sell at market. This lowered my costs and increased my profits,” Fatoumata says.

Fatoumata is using her new income to buy medicine, insecticide-treated mosquito nets, and nutritious food for her children. Her thriving business, as she tells us, "made it possible for me to buy a wagon to carry my goods." With her wagon she was able to increase her stock and sell even more nuts and potatoes in the market. So in addition to paying back her loan on time and with interest, Fatoumata is now able to put some money aside for emergencies.

Fatoumata is also reaching out to her neighbors by sharing her most important business tool — her wagon — with the rest of her village, so they can increase their profits as well.

When mothers like Fatoumata are given the tools to take control of their own lives, the benefits spread to their children and neighbors, creating lasting change for their entire communities.

In fact, Freedom from Hunger is having worldwide success with solutions that work! More than 697,000 women in 15 of the poorest countries across the globe are moving beyond a subsistence life through Credit with Education. They are educating their children, saving for the future, and becoming self-reliant.

But there are still so many like Fatoumata before she joined us — who don’t even know that there is a way they can help themselves out of poverty.

Won’t you help hard-working women all over the world to make a better life for their families? Freedom from Hunger is on the verge of reaching millions of women and families in need.

A world without hunger is within reach. Please make a tax-deductible donation to Freedom from Hunger today.

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