Walk With Them

Everything Nak has built for her family started with access to clean water

In a remote village in Pursat Province, Cambodia, every day begins the same way for 29 year-old Nak Chheun, a new mother — with empty buckets and a long walk to gather water. The water becomes a thin rice soup for breakfast. Nak and her husband Chin Bon have just moved to Veal Veng to live with his parents and five more siblings. Chin is gone for weeks at a time, crossing the Thai border illegally to work and send home money for their growing family. In 3 months he earns $150. Nak works for others in the cassava fields to make enough money to buy food that day. Working 7 days a week, she makes just enough money to buy rice. Soon, Nak has three more children, a girl and two boys. They are thirsty. They are hungry. They are tired. They are often sick. In the evening they walk to the water again.

Then, in 2022, everything changes. A well is built.

With a source of clean, abundant, nearby water, the walks stop, the sickness fades, the fear lifts. And something else begins. The family plants a garden and their table bursts into colour: red peppers, orange carrots, yellow squash, and green beans. Soon, there’s enough to sell at local markets. With that money, they buy more rice and even, for the first time, meat. Nak is able to bathe herself and her children after a long day of work. Chin moves home. As the children grow healthier and stronger, they start school.

The years are full – of hard work, yes, but also laughter and possibility. Dreams that once felt out of reach begin to take shape. By 2023, Nak and Chin move their family into their own home. She plants cucumber, lemongrass, mint and zucchini to sell. Her harvests now earn her more than ten times what she once made as a day labourer. The younger kids bike to school in crisp blue and white uniforms.

And now?

Today, they’re thriving. Nak is opening her own small business making and selling rice cakes and sweets from a small shop. Chin is home all the time now, farming his land and watching their children grow. They are building futures with pride, with determination – and above all with hope.

Ludivina — a leader in farming and life in her community

Ludivina, a member of the Matigsalug Indigenous group in the Philippines, supports her five children by farming a small plot of land while earning just $15 a month as a community health worker. Good harvests cover basic needs, but poor ones—made worse by drought, climate change, and limited access to quality seeds—often force her into debt.

In 2016, she joins a Sustainable Agriculture Program, learning both modern and traditional farming methods. She begins growing cacao, plants over 200 trees, and transforms unused land into a productive farm. After her first harvest, she joins a cooperative in 2017, gaining a more stable income.

During COVID, Ludivina leaves her health job to farm full-time. Noticing poor management in her male-led cooperative, she starts her own: the Ulungan Cacao Producers Association, with 24 farmers and an all-female leadership team. Together, they improve productivity, invest in better tools, and reduce the risks of bad harvests.

Today, Ludivina and her family are stable and self-sufficient. As a cooperative leader, she supports other farmers, promotes cacao farming, and helps protect ancestral lands—becoming a symbol of resilience and hope in her community.

Alice — a travelling lifesaver in remote communities

In the aftermath of the 2016 war in South Sudan, Alice loses everything. After her husband is killed, she and her five children are forced from their home with almost nothing. They settle in Baamani, Ibba, where they know no one and struggle to survive without proper shelter, food, clean water, or basic supplies. Illness is common.

In 2022, a small health promotion program changes everything. Alice trains as a Village Health Worker, earning a small stipend and a renewed sense of purpose. She goes door to door teaching families how to prevent disease, improve nutrition, and make their water safe. Over time, she becomes a trusted leader in her community.

Change comes quickly. Fewer people fall ill, children are healthier, and Alice is able to build a home, start a farm, and send her children to school. Her family now has food, stability, and access to medicine.

Today, with a new bicycle, Alice reaches even more remote communities, sharing life-saving knowledge. Her work is making a difference—and bringing hope for a healthier future.

Thriving in Business and Life

Shanthamma grows up in a small village in India, leaving school after seventh grade to help support her family. At 25, she marries a farmer, and together they struggle with irregular work and not enough food. They want a better future for their children, but don’t know how to get there.

In 2000, that begins to change. With seed funding, women’s Self Help Groups form in her village, and Shanthamma joins one of the first.

She takes a small loan of 2,000 rupees (about $30) to open a tiny shop. It earns little, but it’s a start. She repays the loan, borrows again for farming supplies, and becomes the group’s bookkeeper. As she gains skills, her confidence grows.

Over 25 years, she borrows and repays more than $8,000. She learns tailoring, buys a sewing machine, and eventually she and her husband purchase five acres of land.

Loans also help fund her daughter’s education. She rises to lead a network of self-help groups supporting women in her community.

Today, her family is thriving. Her daughters are educated—two nurses, one engineer, and one studying accounting. Shanthamma continues to lead, believing self-help groups empower women to become financially independent, confident, and hopeful for the future.

Tizeta — the way forward started with education

In the impoverished neighbourhoods of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, life is hard for children and young people Tizeta. Her father passed away from HIV/AIDS. Tizeta worries that she may lose her mother as well. Alongside her two siblings, Tizeta helps care for their home and earn enough to cover food and medicine. Some days, there’s barely enough to eat. Yet, she walks to elementary school each day, determined to learn, even as high school feels uncertain for the eldest daughter of a sick parent.

Then, in 2011, everything changes.

Tizeta joins a holistic care program supporting children who’ve lost one or both parents in Addis. She receives a school uniform, textbooks, food and tutoring. and is also in a homework club with peers who have lost parents. She finds community, discovers her potential, and dares to dream —perhaps a doctor, perhaps a soccer player.

Over time and with guidance from a social worker, Tizeta heals, grows, and learns to lead. She realizes her future — and the future of her community — is hers to shape. Her mission becomes clear: finish high school, attend university, and secure an income to support her family while giving back.

Today, Tizeta has graduated university and works at a major marketing firm in Addis. She pays her siblings’ school fees, keeps her mother healthy, and mentors girls who have lost parents. She leads with humility, gentleness, and an unshakable belief in the transformative power of education. This is her vision of hope.