Question: How do you empower a woman who lives in poverty?
Answer: You give her an education and a sustainable trade and watch her thrive!

Peacekeeper Cause-Metics--and you!--can fund women living on a dollar a day in a sustainable trade so that she can take care of herself and her children.  Click here to donate now!

Just a dollar a day (or US$365.00 a year) will train a woman in a trade that is sustainable and fund her with a micro-credit loan in that trade. Funding her keeps her away from exploitation.

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Read the Stories

Just a dollar a day (or US$365.00 a year) will train a woman in a trade that is sustainable and fund her with a micro-credit loan in that trade. Funding her keeps her away from exploitation.  Scroll down to read about some of the organizations we support:  Micro-Credit Enterprises (and Lucky's success story), and the DEPDC.

Lucky’s Star Shines

Determined not to give in to poverty.  Driven to care for her children.  Desperate not to find herself enslaved.  A woman named Lucky never gave up hope…

Married at 16, illiterate and enduring a daily grind of absolute poverty while trying desperately to care for her children, “Lucky” might’ve seemed an inappropriate name.  But one day, someone trusted Lucky with a loan of $80.  It was more money than she had ever held in her hand at one time, an she was determined to make the most of it.

Lucky Oghuvwe grew-up in the rural poverty of West Africa’s Nigerian delta where most people live on less than a dollar a day.  Her father didn’t believe in educating girls so Lucky stayed home and waited to be married.  She didn’t wait long.

Although her husband gave her food and shelter, Lucky knew dependence on him was dangerous. Remembering her mother’s life, she knew that “dependence on the husband is slavery.” But it seemed she was headed for the same fate. Three children came along quickly and Lucky found that she did not have enough money to pay for food, medicine, clothes or their school fees. But she would not give up. “I did not want my children to suffer in poverty the way I did,” she said.  

Lucky set her sights on a home-based business so she could provide for herself and her children. She planned to sell food and basic kitchen supplies from a corner of her tiny house, but she needed capital to get started.  Without collateral, a credit history, or even the ability to read, Lucky’s prospects were bleak.

But the answer was just around the corner. Micro-Credit Enterprises’ permanent fund to alleviate extreme poverty places its trust in women like Lucky.  By loaning cash to women who want to start businesses, the fund proves that no one is more trustworthy than a woman determined to beat poverty. With a loan to start a business and their own determination, women like Lucky can lift themselves and their families out of poverty…but only with your help!

Lucky’s $80 loan immediately turned her life around.  She became an entrepreneur, attentive to the customers who regularly bought flour, sugar and matches from her.  She asked them what they would like to see on the shelves of her tiny store and made plans to expand. Quickly repaying her first loan, she took out a second loan for $96, and then a third for $160. Each time she took out the loan, she added new items to her stock, bought in greater quantities, and made more money.  She started setting aside money for emergencies, made plans to move her business to a market stall, hired workers to build a better house for her family, and suddenly realized she could afford the fees to send her children to school.

Never missing a payment, she took pride in paying the interest on her loans. For Lucky, there would be no handouts, no gifts, and no dependence. Every penny she earned was a source of pride. On the first day of school, Lucky’s daughter walked through the gates with her head held high.

Micro-Credit Enterprises' permanent fund to alleviate extreme poverty gives donors the chance to put their support directly into the hands of women like Lucky. The fund works with strong local, nonprofit partners to ensure funds are well-managed and that, as each loan is repaid, another is loaned.

Through a special commitment made by Micro-Credit Enterprises executives, every penny donated to the permanent fund to alleviate extreme poverty goes to loans for women and not a penny to administrative overhead.  As women repay their loans, the fund recycles the money into new and larger loans—empowering more and more women to become entrepreneurs.  

“I tell other women to try this, too,” says Lucky. “We help each other.” Her story of triumph has just begun. “The sky is my limit,” she says. “I am self-fulfilled.  I have what I need now and all my children will go to the university level. Without these loans, this would be impossible.”

Can every woman in poverty be “Lucky?” Only if you help. Micro-Credit Enterprises' permanent fund to alleviate extreme poverty turns every penny you donate into a loan. Each loan changes a life. And like Lucky, each woman can have her chance to become a shining example of success.

Learn more on their website, http://www.mcenterprises.org/

Supporting the work of the DEPDC in Thailand

The Development and Education Programme for Daughters and Communities (DEPDC) is one of the organizations that is near and dear to our hearts here at PeaceKeeper Cause-Metics. The DEPDC is a non-profit situated in Thailand that is dedicated to preventing the trafficking of women and children into the sex industry as well as forced and exploitative labor situations. The DEPDC offers free education and vocational training, as well as full time housing for young girls and boys.

PeaceKeeper has donated to the DEPDC Mekong Youth Net and Mekong Youth Union programs. This program aims to:

• Create a group of youth leaders to network against human trafficking in the Mekong Sub-region.
• Educate potential leaders on how to start a prevention program at the community level in their own countries.
• Form a link between individuals and NGOs for future collaboration and support.
• Share the experience and knowledge of DEPDC with others.
• Support the start of a children’s and women’s rights protection centre covering the entire Mekong Sub-region. 

Women and girls enrolled in the program receive free education on:

• An introduction to the Mekong Region and its politics, social problems and changes.
• Cultural studies regarding the language, ethnic culture and hill tribes of the Mekong region.
• Specific social problems facing the indigenous peoples of the Mekong such as poverty, HIV/AIDS, drug addiction and lack of education, etc.
• International issues such as human rights abuses, trafficking, illegal drugs etc.
• Research skills such as basic research methodology and report writing.
• Management training to teach skills such as team building, organizational development, office work and administration.
• Sociology studies such as women’s studies, hill tribe family studies and family planning.

PeaceKeeper is proud to support the work of the DEPDC, and encourages you to learn more about their efforts by visiting their website at http://www.depdc.org/