Why 2020 is the Best Year to Give
[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default”][vc_column_text] Over the last few years, there have been several changes to charitable giving rules that have caused would-be donors to pause their giving. Recently, most of the tax benefits for cash giving to your favorite charitable organizations have been restricted based […]
COVID-19 UPDATE FROM SOWHOPE PARTNERS
[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default”][vc_column_text] COVID-19 UPDATE FROM SOWHOPE PARTNERS Around the world, COVID-19 is wreaking havoc in the lives of people. Those who were suffering due to poverty face even more struggles and danger due to unemployment and food shortages caused by lockdowns. At SowHope, […]
2019 Annual Report
International Women’s Day 2020
SowHope celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8 by offering a public screening Disney’s Queen of Katwe. Although it was a beautiful spring day – the sunniest and warmest to date in Grand Rapids, Michigan – more than 160 people supported women by attending the event. Queen of Katwe is about the struggles a widowed mother […]
An Oasis in Egypt
Twenty-five impoverished women, most of them widows, learned how to make leather bags and wallets at a SowHope-funded project in Egypt. Our partner, Bassem, reported that in addition to attaining financial independence, the women also became more social and loving, their personalities improved, and there was no jealousy between them. He said they worked cooperatively […]
Board Member, Fridah Kanini
“My soul was touched,” answered Fridah Kanini, Board Member of SowHope, when asked what attracted her to the organization. In 2015, when she attended the Annual Gala at Frederik Meijer Gardens, she was mourning the loss of her mother, who had died nearly three years prior. “My mother was my best friend. When I watched […]
Hope Versus Violence in DRC
Few places have endured violence and unrest for as long as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Nine pregnant women and a nurse were brutally murdered at a SowHope-funded birthing clinic last year. Because of this ongoing conflict, it was with some relief that SowHope recently received communication from Ngadjoy, a longtime SowHope partner. […]
New Opportunities in Asia
Always on the alert to find countries where women could benefit from SowHope-funded projects, President Mary Dailey Brown and Board Member Kathleen Muedder traveled to Myanmar and Nepal last December with Kate, the Executive Director of Harvest Bridge, an international nonprofit that has done work in South Asia for years. This exploratory trip gave Mary and […]
Reunion in Sierra Leone
Reunited and it felt so good! Dr. Sylivia Juta, who served on the SowHope Board and Program Team from 2012-2017, hosted a SowHope team that traveled to Sierra Leone in June. Her husband Papa, originally from Sierra Leone, wanted to move back to help rebuild his country. They are both university professors who desire to boost […]
Finding Support Through Tragedy
A SowHope team recently visited rural India to evaluate a tailoring training project impacting 160 women. The team was treated to an opportunity to watch the graduation ceremony for 40 women along with hearing stories of how the project impacted their lives. Renuka took part in the class because she wanted to work from home […]