For many poor families around the world, immediate and pressing needs prevent long-term thinking and limit the opportunity for growth.
Families and communities move from one emergency to the next.
As a small-scale farmer and mother of three from Burundi, Gaudence was focused merely on survival. She held very short-term goals, seeking to provide daily meals to her children and trying to ensure they didn't get too sick.
When Five Talents sponsored literacy and business training in her community, Gaudence learned to move from a survival mentality to a financial and development plan.
Through workshops in numeracy, literacy, and business, Gaudence gained confidence and the skills to read signs, count change, and develop and manage her own small business.
Rather than merely bartering and growing food for her kids, she could now supply and sell to others.
Gaudence's church not only coordinated the skills training, it also provided small group members with access to community savings and loans. As a result, Gaudence gained capital to expand her farm, and she began to raise livestock and plant new crops.
Today she takes care of chickens, goats, and rabbits and sells tomatoes at a local market.
The added income enabled Gaudence to take her kids to school and purchase health insurance for the family. She's also been able to save, creating a cushion for family emergencies and a pool for further business development. Now she's saving to construct her own shop and hopes one day to buy a vehicle to ferry farm products to market.
When you support Five Talents, you help families like Gaudence's move from Survival to Development through four simple steps: Financial Literacy, Financial Planning, Financial Inclusion, and Business Development.
Learn more about how Five Talents brings lasting change.