“I had low esteem because I had nothing,” Penina, a slender woman who confidently sports red streaks in her hair, explains while rearranging a stack of cabbage. It’s a warm,…
Deep in the heart of the Lomako reserve — thousands of kilometers northeast of Kinshasa, a city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo — a man named Limbute has…

When you give, you’re not just changing one life, you’re changing generations. My life was completely changed by one person who believed in me and invested in my future. Imagine…

I follow Santa through tall grasses, past banana plants that are slightly bent as if in a mid-bow after a tremendous ballet, and by sorghum and maize fields. She pushes…

This month, Village Enterprise celebrates reaching the one-millionth life influenced by our work in poverty alleviation. One million lives is hard for me to get my head around. It’s easier…
I grew up in unimaginable circumstances of poverty, disease, and scarcity. My family of ten lived for the moment, and meal times could be compared to a silent battle for…
In the 30 years since Village Enterprise was founded, a lot has changed. Our program has grown tremendously in both scale and nuance. We’ve embraced innovative digital solutions for data…

I end each interview with our business owners with a question: Do they have any questions or feedback for our team? Almost always a business owner will shyly request that…

Among the most powerful insights I’ve gained through my fellowship with Village Enterprise so far is an understanding of the complexity of what it means to live in extreme poverty….

Empowerment is a buzzword. It is also a concrete result of our program. “We feel so empowered!” exclaimed one of the women in Bed Mot savings group in Olwelai Village. Empowerment….