Melokuhle, a mother of four, has lived through conflict and loss. When she and her husband first married, they stayed with his mother while building their home, but as soon as the house was finished, violence erupted in their village. Like the rest of her community, they fled. The trauma was so severe that Melokuhle lost parts of her memory.
With counselling and support, she eventually returned to her land. There, she found the strength to begin farming again – planting maize, groundnuts, sorghum and okra. Selling her surplus enabled her to buy plastic sheeting, which she used to build a simple open-air shelter for her family. She often thought about leaving, but when a literacy circle opened in the community she chose to stay, the opportunity for education being too strong to leave.
Slowly, literacy gave her confidence and restored her hope. She took a loan to cultivate more land, selling produce in Juba at better price, and with each harvest, she learnt more about saving and reinvestment. From her profits she bought a goat, an asset she calls her insurance, to be sold in hard times or provide food if needed. Together with her husband, who keeps chickens, she is building stability for their family.
This year, Melokuhle hopes to rebuild her house. In the meantime, she and her husband are working hard to send their four children to school. What she learns in her literacy group she also teaches at home, determined to give her children the opportunities she never had.
“When I look around,” she says, “I feel as if the war is over, and I have forgiveness in my heart.”
Be Part of the Change
Melokuhle’s story shows how your investment can be transformational, even in hardest circumstances. When you invest in Five Talents, you are helping women like Melokuhle to rebuild, to educate their children, and to plant seeds of hope and opportunity for the future.