Susan is a devoted mother in Katete, Zambia, facing an overwhelming challenge: her child was born with a disability and requires constant medication just to stay well. In a region where access to specialized healthcare and medication for children with disabilities is often out of reach for ordinary families, Susan found herself in a heart-wrenching position — struggling to cover her child’s basic needs while also shouldering the ongoing cost of essential medicine, all without a stable income to fall back on.
The Process
Rather than a one-time handout, our team believed the more lasting solution was to give Susan the means to build income for herself: capital to start a small business of her own, so she could keep affording her child’s medication long after any single gift ran out. Once the project was fully funded, our team put together everything Susan would need to get her business started and set out for her home to deliver it in person — as a surprise. Our team arrived by bicycle, with a large basket of supplies tied to the back. At first, Susan assumed the visitor was there to sell something; it wasn’t until our team told her the entire basket was hers to keep that her confusion turned into disbelief, and then into radiant smiles.
Susan's story
The Results
This wasn’t just a business start — it’s the beginning of financial independence and dignity for Susan and her family, and the assurance that her child’s medication will keep being paid for long into the future. Watch below as Susan goes through everything in the basket, her gratitude plain on her face as she realizes exactly what it means: a mother now equipped to provide for her child’s health and her family’s future on her own terms.
Our team surprises Susan with her new business supplies