Sebastiana's Story of Hope

Sebastiana has known nothing but poverty her entire life. She lost her husband a few years ago and was left alone to care for her nine children in the difficult environment of the high Peruvian plains. And yet she has hope for the future. Learn why.

Standing with her youngest child, Aurelio, Sebastiana shows where she has raised her nine children — a task she has borne alone since losing her husband.

When Credit with Education arrived in Sebastiana's remote village in the high Andes, she was eager to join. And with her very first loan, Sebastiana began to feel hope. It was the first time someone had trusted her with a loan to build a business; her first chance to receive business training; and her first lessons on child nutrition and illness.

At 12,000 feet, Sebastiana's village is nestled into a mountainside that is green most of the year. But farming can be very difficult due to harsh weather and difficult soil. Sebastiana is caring for her children as best she can, bravely facing hardships that would probably bring the rest of us to our knees.

Sebastiana is 42 years old but looks older. Having lost her husband a few years ago, she says, "I alone have to see to all the problems of my children."

When she learned about Credit with Education, she knew the opportunity was special. "Not for the loan," says Sebastiana, "but for the training." It took a great deal of courage for her to take her first loan. "I knew others with loans, but I never dared to become involved," she said. "I worked with what I had." It was the training — and the encouragement of other women in her village — that gave her the confidence that she too could productively use a loan.

Sebastiana, who recently received her first loan, learned the business of raising pigs from her parents. In addition to the loan, Sebastiana joined Credit with Education to receive training on how to grow her business.

Sebastiana is wise to value the training as much as the loan. According to an independent, rigorous study conducted in Peru, women who received Freedom from Hunger's business training in addition to their loans made more money than those who did not. And, when times were slow, women who received this training also knew how to manage their enterprises to reduce losses so their families didn't suffer. Learn more about the study.

Sebastiana's loan is 200 soles, or about $64. She is using the money to raise pigs — a trade she learned as a child from her parents. She plans to sell the pigs in the market of a large village several miles away — a distance she will travel on foot with pigs in tow — when the time comes. She has plans to grow her livestock business. "I want my business to grow bigger to be able to support my big family. It's difficult because it's hard to buy groceries, rice, or pasta. My kids sometimes get sick."

To supplement the food she buys, Sebastiana farms a small plot of land with the help of her older children. "It's impossible for us to go without food. We work hard in our field. We sow corn, beans, peas, wheat, lentils, and with this, we are able to feed ourselves. We save food for times when there's no harvest."

Through her participation in Credit with Education, Sesbastiana hopes her children will have a better life than she has had. She says that all of them went to primary school, but none of them had the opportunity to attend high school. But now that can change. Little Aurelio, Sebastiana's youngest child, stands close to his mother. She smiles and bends to hug him. "I want to get whatever I can for my children," says Sebastiana as she shares her dream. "A little bit of land; the land helps sustain families — and for them to have a place to live — but more than anything, the land."

Sebastiana is one of over 697,000 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 Sebastiana 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 millions 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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