Sometimes, it takes more than a willingness to work to earn your way out of poverty – it takes the right training, support and guidance!
For the Aleman family of Masaya, Nicaragua, owning a small clothing business was no guarantee that they would earn enough money to meet their needs. Although the Alemans were self-employed and working hard, the family was only bringing in $187 per month and had no savings. With a wife, two daughters and an infant child to support, Vanegas Aleman realized that the family of five could do better.
Aleman is head of one of many families across Latin America that have reached out to receive training and support through Cause for Hope. “Before being trained by the foundation, our clothing business was not very successful. After attending the self-employment workshops given by the foundation, we started to improve production and learned how to increase our number of clients. Our profit has also increased because we are not paying a high interest rate on a loan,” Aleman said.
Cause for Hope was there to support the Aleman family with training on small business ownership, help to navigate financial processes and guidance on best practices for business and family budgeting. Since participating in the Cause for Hope program, the Aleman family has so far been able to achieve a regular monthly income of $600 and even saves $340 – each month!
Teaching families how to start and maintain a savings account is an important part of the Cause for Hope mission. We encourage people to break the cycle of poverty by building up the savings they need to protect and guard against emergency situations and to ensure that they remain self-reliant.
Vanegas Aleman said that having a savings account has been an important part of the success of his family and business. “Cause for Hope taught us the importance of savings. We now have a savings account in the bank. Our business keeps growing and we are receiving good guidance from Cause for Hope.”
We invite you to learn more about Cause for Hope, and how we’re working to transform lives! Did you know that every dollar you give will increase the earning of a family in a developing country by an average of $2.67? That’s a two-to-one return on your investment! And the benefits are long lasting – helping a family to become self reliant changes lives forever.