Mary, Elizabeth, Evelyn, and Rosina’s circumstances were heartbreaking but not uncommon.

In many Ghanaian communities, families living in material poverty find themselves forced to send their children to the city to work menial jobs to make ends meet. Due to their desperate situation, the four families were planning for their daughters to leave Somkwah, their small farming community in central Ghana, to look for work in the city. 

Imagine the hardship that awaits teenagers who travel from their rural home to an unfamiliar city, where they will be vulnerable to exploitation and the dangers that come from living on the streets or as an indentured servant to an unknown ‘master’.

Help from the Savings Group

By God’s grace, the members of their savings group intervened.

One of the beautiful facets of Chalmers’ RESTORE church-centered savings groups, like the one in Somkwah, is that while increasing financial stability is an important goal, the story doesn’t end there. As the group fostered spiritual growth and social connection, the members were moved to give generously. 

At the end of the savings cycle, they organized a fundraiser for the young women. They collected contributions and donated the interest from the group’s loans.

With the funds they raised, all four girls purchased a sewing machine and received tuition to attend a sewing trade school. In total, the group donated over $1,000 to support the young women. Instead of being separated from their families, they are nearing the end of their training. They are all gifted dressmakers and are eager to begin dignifying work in their new trade.

Praise God for the savings group in Somkwah, which demonstrates the Good News of the Kingdom of God! Deeply understanding the suffering caused by poverty, they gave not out of abundance, but out of great love.