{"id":50650,"date":"2019-04-01T16:24:01","date_gmt":"2019-04-01T21:24:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wearezoe.org\/?p=50650"},"modified":"2020-05-08T13:01:34","modified_gmt":"2020-05-08T18:01:34","slug":"dignity-found-paying-forward-travelers-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/\/dignity-found-paying-forward-travelers-perspective\/","title":{"rendered":"Dignity is Found When Paying it Forward: From a Traveler’s Perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"
High in the hills, in a village of Rwanda, Jeanie, Cheryl, Katherine and I sat in a small and tidy house listening to the stories of how four young men\u2019s lives had been transformed through Zoe.\u00a0 Samuel, Emmanuel, Daniel, and Ernest each took turns sharing how desperate their lives used to be. Similar themes of hunger, abuse, isolation, and desperation unfolded. They went on to recount how participation in Zoe\u2019s three year empowerment program significantly improved their lives. By developing businesses which provide a steady income stream, each of these young men are able to support not only themselves, but also their siblings. Now they each have a home, plenty of food to eat and can comfortably afford the fees to send younger children to school. They each are well dressed, well groomed and appear confident and happy. We enjoyed watching them periodically check their cell phones, a behavior that reminded us all of our own adult kids. In that moment we felt a strong connection to these young men and felt great joy in all they had accomplished.<\/p>\n
During our week in Rwanda we never tired of these stories. Over and over we celebrated with young men and women who proudly described their thriving businesses to us. Whether it was a barber shop, mini-market, tailor shop or bakery, we delighted in the success of these young adults.<\/p>\n
After hearing the stories of Samuel, Emmanuel, Daniel, and Ernest, we were surprised that two additional young men sitting in the back of the room asked to speak. Since we had been told they were not a part of the Zoe program, we assumed we were done and would move onto the next village. Instead, we listened as Bernard and Damascene shared how they had also benefited from Zoe despite never officially enrolling.<\/p>\n
Bernard and Damascene are friends of the four young men that graduated from Zoe. Throughout the three year program, Samuel, Emmanuel, Daniel and Ernest regularly shared what they were learning with their friends. After Emmanuel returned from his carpentry training paid for by Zoe, he in turn taught his friends this valuable skill. Now this group of friends runs a successful carpentry business that provides the village with skillfully crafted furniture. As we prepared to leave, we asked who owned the home where we were sitting and Bernard smiled proudly and responded, \u201cIt\u2019s my home.\u201d Not only do all of the Zoe graduates have safe homes for their families, but so do their friends!<\/p>\n