Dorcas's Story

"I tell [other women] about my own life experience—that I am able to feed myself and my children and my business is still growing." - Dorcas, Ghana

Dorcas Aidoo lives in Akoti, Ghana, a rural village not far from the seaside. She comes from a long line of hardworking women who never seem to tire in spite of their hard labor and many challenges. Like so many other women living in poverty, no sacrifice was too great for Dorcas if it meant that life could become better for her family.

A mother of four, Dorcas’s oldest child is 17 and her youngest, Comfort Adja Adgei, is five years old. Caring for four children can be taxing, especially when providing food and clean water is a daily challenge.

Since she first joined Freedom from Hunger's Credit with Education program nearly eight years ago, Dorcas has seen many positive changes in her life. She recalls that before she joined the program, her life was very difficult and she wanted to “free herself” from the poverty she had always known.

Although Dorcas still faces challenges, life is much easier now. Through Credit with Education, she receives regular loans, and uses these loans to purchase oil, rice and raw materials for her business. Dorcas says that the loans "allow me to buy in bulk, which lowers my cost. I can make money and also have food for my children.” And, Dorcas adds proudly, “I save $56 every month.”

But Dorcas knows that it takes more than money to be free from poverty. She happily talks about the important things she has learned over the years in lively education sessions facilitated by a local field agent.

“I have learned about malaria and it has helped me protect my children. I can now recognize when malaria is coming and quickly take my child to the hospital. I have also learned about diarrhea—to protect my food from flies and we will not get diarrhea,” Dorcas said. This is critically important because diarrhea is the most common illness in the developing world. “I also learned that breastfeeding prevents diarrhea,” she adds. With the knowledge Dorcas has gained from the Credit with Education program, she is not only able to provide food for her children, but also protect them from common, yet treatable illnesses.

Dorcas says that she happily encourages other women to join the program. “I tell them about my own life experience—that I am able to feed myself and my children and my business is still growing.”

Dorcas is among the nearly 700,000 women in 15 of the poorest countries across the globe moving beyond a subsistence life through Credit with Education…women who are empowered because they can feed and educate their children, save for the future, and become self-reliant.

But there are still so many—just like Dorcas before she joined us…

Won’t you help hard-working women all over the world to make better lives for their families? Freedom from Hunger is on the verge of reaching hundreds of thousands of women and families in need.


A world without hunger is within reach. Please make a tax-deductible donation to Freedom from Hunger today.

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