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When Remzije lost her husband at a young age and was left to raise their five children alone, she never imagined she would become a local business leader. “I never thought that I could make it on my own, […] that I would be able to provide for my family myself,” remembers Remzije, who up until that...

“I am very happy that I managed to pay for my daughter’s college semester this year,” says Violeta Mulaj, a graduate of Women for Women International’s program in Kosovo. She herself struggled to finish her education. “This makes me so proud. […] I never thought that I would be able to pay for my...

“I have a vision and a direction,” says Martha Mukambonera, as she describes the changes she has experienced in her life over the past year. “I am more confident, more motivated to do business and help others to do so. And in my business, I think more in terms of improving what I didn’t do well.”...

“She found me empty, but left me a totally different person,” says Francoise Niyodusaba about Jane Abatoni, her life skills trainer. “She inspired me to hope again and feel alive again.” When Francoise first met Jane, she remembers how, “I […] didn’t want to meet people. I used to hide from my...

Political instability ended Makfire’s dreams of graduating from college, but it didn't stop her from trying to reach her potential. A student at the University of Pristina in Kosovo in the 1990s, she remembers how the school was forced to close its classrooms. “We held classes in private houses that...

Lisa Shannon, the founder of Run for Congo Women, shares how one woman in DRC inspires her with her courage, humanity, and determination to defy the odds. Run for Congo Women is a global campaign benefiting Women for Women International’s programs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I only...

Three years ago, WfWI Ambassador Amanda Ulrich began a journey to raise support and awareness for women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She shares who inspired her to begin this work, and how she has stayed motivated through difficult times. I remember the morning I learned about the women...

Sabina had completed elementary school and two years of high school when war broke out in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She was never able to return and finish her education. “I was always ashamed because of this,” she says. “After I married, I just stayed home and took care of my family and mother-in-law...

It takes a lot of courage to advocate for yourself and your dreams. Maryam was inspired to return to school and become a teacher after enrolling in the WfWI program. Although she finished primary and secondary school before marrying and having two children, Maryam didn’t know much about her rights...

When Christiana was unable to become pregnant and bear children, her husband became abusive. She found support in her network of friends in the WfWI training program. “When my husband came and beat me up, seized my clothes, and dragged me around, disgracing me in the village, I ran to my women for...

Breaking the cycle of violence isn’t easy. But by sharing and applying what she learned in the WfWI training program, Mary was able to put a stop to the violence in her home. Mary enrolled in the Women for Women International program in 2013. “My group was so interesting,” she says. “I learned many...

Growing up in rural South Sudan, Regina never learned basic hygiene practices. She did not know that quickly rinsing utensils before serving food would not clean them. She did not realize that washing clothes with soap and sweeping her home were important to keeping her and her family healthy...

Living in a village in rural Bosnia, Camila and other women in her community had few opportunities to leave their homes, and no say in public decisions. Patriarchal attitudes towards women reinforced Camila’s isolation and added to her family’s difficulties. Unable to leave her home to work, they...

When her husband died suddenly a few years ago, Roseline, age 50, knew she needed to find a way to support their eight children on her own. What she didn’t know was that she was going to have to fight for the right to her late husband’s property, including the profitable palm, coconut, and wild...

Edita Veseli, a Life Skills manager for WfWI-Kosovo, shares the story of how women in the program inspire her and each other. Over the years I have gathered so much inspiration and strength in so many different ways from every woman I have encountered. When I was asked to share a story about a woman...

For Phibi, a program graduate in Nigeria, a small savings bank made from mud clay represents the power she has to change her life – and the life of her daughter, too. Phibi is a 40-year-old widow with two children. She had been forced to drop out of school and marry after her father died suddenly...

War has almost always been a part of Regina’s life. It forced her to drop out of school, led her to flee to the Democratic Republic of the Congo with her family, and even took the life of one of her eight children. With the support of her Women for Women International training group, Regina changed...

Before joining the WfWI training program in 2006, Huma didn’t get out much – she cared for her children, her home, and the cows that were the main source of income for her family. “At one point I was spending so much time with cows that I was afraid I would start to moo,” she says. She didn’t have...

Sara is a divorced single mother who has survived war and exile from her home country. She says she has been inspired by her trainers to keep working and striving. Sara enrolled in the Women for Women International program in March 2014. She is receiving training in growing vegetables, and has...