International Women’s Day Celebration
Forty-five degrees and sunny, a perfect winter day. March 8th, 2023, marked the first ever International Women’s Day (IWD) march in the history of Grand Rapids, Michigan. This event was hosted by SowHope. “International Women’s Day is not very well known in the United States,” said Mary Dailey Brown, President & CEO of SowHope, “and […]
Updates in South Sudan
In 2021, extreme floods displaced an estimated 386,000 people in South Sudan. Some of these Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) were resettled by the government in a town near one of our project leaders, Rhoda. “We heard the outcry from the IDP women,” says Rhoda, “They had virtually no way of making money and were using […]
New Opportunities in Guatemala
A SowHope team recently had the opportunity to visit Guatemala with a good friend of SowHope, Bev Abma. Bev has visited over 90 countries, traveling extensively in the developing world. She also volunteers for SowHope, helping out at almost every mailing and even recruiting 3-5 neighbors each time. So, when Bev approached Mary Dailey Brown […]
Let Me Sow Hope 2: A Documentary
To commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the “Let Me Sow Hope” documentary, SowHope will be showing a worldwide premiere of the second installment of “Let Me Sow Hope” at the fundraising gala on Friday, September 29th, 2023. The documentary will feature brand new stories of women empowerment, success, and tragedy from around the world. Viewers […]
Board Member Dan Balfour
Dan Balfour was first introduced to SowHope in a unique way. “I got to know Mary Dailey Brown”, he said about the President and Founder of SowHope, “when she studied for her Master’s of Public Administration (MPA) in our Program at GVSU”. Dan served as a professor in Public Administration for over 30 years and […]
Liberating Training In Pakistan
Gudia, a recent student at a vocational training center in Pakistan, had been working at a brick kiln since she was a child with her mother, father, and two brothers. Her family worked 7 days a week, 12 hours per day each, and together earned only $12 a week. They ate only one meal a […]
Fall 2022 Matching Gift Opportunity
$35,000 Matching Gift Alert! Dear friend, We are excited to announce that generous donors have offered matching funds, up to $35,000, towards a microfinance project in the Northwest region of Bangladesh. HistoryIn 2006, SowHope began working alongside wonderful partners who had an incredible vision for the future of Bangladesh using microfinance, starting in the southwest […]
Carrying On
Claudaline was one half of a formidable couple until her beloved husband Bishop Desire passed away suddenly two years ago. They worked together to positively impact many people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Despite the difficulties of being a widow, Claudaline continues to build the legacy she and Desire formed by passionately […]
Hope Needed in Myanmar
In December 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic, a SowHope team visited Myanmar for the first time. They met with a few leaders from different areas around the country and decided to fund projects with two of these leaders. One was Lune, who wanted to do a small microloan project, and the other was Esther, […]
Supermarket Success
Our partner Rhoda in South Sudan dreamt for years to open a local supermarket to supply needed items purchased at wholesale prices from the 200 local women farmers in the women’s cooperative she began a few years ago. Last summer, SowHope funded the supermarket, providing easy access to essential items for 5,000 people who live […]