One Widow Woman's Progress

Touching Success Story of a Widow's Vocation Testimony

This past spring season our ARM Center team captured the essence of our widow's program and we joyfully want to bring to you a business success story. The widow we are featuring and has participated in the last project is Nyachuol Yoal Lual, a 49 year old widow who was left with three daughters, two of whom are currently living with her in the Gambella Refugee Camp Number 3, whose husband died suddenly and tragically of a heart attack in April of 2019. The family are refugees from South Sudan and have lost all their belongings; and they were joyfully able to get the opportunity to fly to Ethiopia as refugees due to the conflict which erupted in South Sudan years previously. (Her family came through Jonglee Akoba).

When asked about her current situation, Nyachuol replied, “I've received 3000 birr ($ dollar) from the ARM widow’s micro finance initiative program in 2020, one week after my husband died. I have been given initial business training on how to manage my business produce and money. Then afterward I felt interested to invest in dura (grain) small business. I started making an assessment and start buying 15 sacks of Dura (grain) from other refugees who are in need of money. This is always during food “ration” receiving time. I brought 6 sacks with total expense of 2400 birr ($ dollar) in which 6 x 400 = 2,400 was used as my start up capital. I kept this in my store for almost one week waiting for what is so call punish time where all food in every household is finished. Then I resell one sack with 700 birr, which means 6 x 700 = 4200 birr as my actual top-up profit is 1800 birr."
 
“I am doing this to be able to provide for my family. I heard about this project when I am still considering ways to continue proceeding with this business for It is of course good to learn methods for investing and also found it useful to learn accounting skills and methods to calculate profits,” she concludes.
 
Her gratitude to our ARM staff is through her conclusion, “I also thought it was helpful that ARM staff members came to see us regularly to check on how we were making products and that they supported us in our sales activities. The [micro finance] project helped me develop an eye for selling, and to produce high quality goods myself, enabling me to sell my products for a slightly higher price than other people. This project really helped to improve the lives of many widows in this camps and may God bless ARM administration in Ethiopia!"

Photographed below is Nyachuol and her now 3 year old successful Dura business. Our latest set of Widows and their new chickens sent to us Oct. 2023.