Equipped for Life

Thanks to the support of our partners, we are able to provide valuable education and life skills training for girls around the world—those who wouldn’t otherwise be able to attend due to cultural or financial barriers.

In so many nations, girls are considered a burden and unworthy of basic human rights. And when it comes to receiving an education, they are often passed over. Many families want their sons to go to school, yet they don’t see a future for their daughters. Some families go to the extreme of selling their daughters to relieve the burden of having to care for them.

For example, throughout rural Zambia, large, colorful flags can often be seen flying high above houses—a beautiful reminder of a terrible practice. Those flags signify that a young girl has reached puberty, and it is time for her to marry. Although child brides are illegal in the country, they are still part of the culture and parents frequently sell their daughters into marriage.

But you are helping to rescue girls from this practice and offer them a whole new future! Hand of Hope has partnered with Reaching a Generation to support five Imagine Hope Centers throughout Zambia. These centers are providing girls with a safe refuge, an education, and the chance to learn about God’s amazing love for them. Young Nelly is the perfect example…

Nelly’s chances at a better life were dwindling quickly. When her father died, her mother was left to care for all six of her children—alone. Nelly knew that her mother would struggle to pay the fees to keep her in school; but she also knew what happened to young girls without a plan for the future.

“When you reach 13, 14, 15, they get you married,” said Nelly, talking about her community. Although child marriages are illegal in Zambia, they’re still common in rural parts of the country—especially in families that are struggling financially.

But the trajectory of Nelly’s life changed entirely when she received a scholarship to attend the Imagine Hope Center near her—one of five throughout Zambia. It allowed Nelly to receive regular meals, a house mother who cares for them, a safe place to live, and most importantly—an education, job skills and a chance to learn just how much Jesus loves her.

These Imagine Hope Centers are just some of the one many vital outreaches worldwide that provide girls with an education and an opportunity to dream about their future.

In South Africa, you have made it possible for us to install several Classrooms of Hope—portable classrooms that provide preschoolers a safe place to learn and play, a nutritious meal, and learn all about Jesus. These projects are literally making all the difference for so many young girls who couldn’t afford school otherwise.

You also provide education for girls at nearly all of our feeding centers worldwide—more than 600 in all.

Thanks to you, women and girls everywhere are receiving opportunities to learn, grow, and understand just how valuable they are to their Heavenly Father.