{"id":3953,"date":"2021-02-02T17:31:03","date_gmt":"2021-02-02T22:31:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/?p=3953"},"modified":"2021-02-02T17:31:03","modified_gmt":"2021-02-02T22:31:03","slug":"savings-for-transformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/2021\/02\/savings-for-transformation\/","title":{"rendered":"Savings for Transformation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Despite her hard work and long hours, Denise, 34, found she could not meet the basic needs of her family. Caring for her six children, working her farm, and running a small business, it seemed impossible to make ends meet.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2021\/02\/Denise-with-stand-to-sell.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft  wp-image-3957\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2021\/02\/Denise-with-stand-to-sell-300x221.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"452\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2021\/02\/Denise-with-stand-to-sell-300x221.jpg 300w, http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2021\/02\/Denise-with-stand-to-sell.jpg 419w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 452px) 100vw, 452px\" \/><\/a>After she was introduced to the savings group approach, attended training sessions in Savings for Transformation, and became a savings group member, her life took a positive turn.<\/p>\n<p>Denise says it took only six months as a member of the savings group to begin to see progress\u2014enough savings to strengthen her business and improve the living conditions for her family.<\/p>\n<p>Today, Denise is extremely happy to list multiple changes that have occurred due to her participation in the savings group.\u00a0 She can now pay the necessary school fees for her children to attend school.<\/p>\n<p>She can afford medical care for her children when they are ill.<\/p>\n<p>The family has plentiful, nourishing food.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2021\/02\/Denise-with-bicycle.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft  wp-image-3954\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2021\/02\/Denise-with-bicycle-300x224.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"451\" height=\"336\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2021\/02\/Denise-with-bicycle-300x224.jpg 300w, http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2021\/02\/Denise-with-bicycle.jpg 412w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 451px) 100vw, 451px\" \/><\/a>She was able to buy a bicycle, which allows her to transport and sell produce outside Gemena.<\/p>\n<p>The family lives in a new, improved house.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cThanks to the integration in the savings group, my family has been changed &#8230; I say thank you.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-report-this\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand?moderation_action=report_form&object_type=post&object_id=3953&width=250&height=300\" class=\"thickbox\" title=\"Report This Post\">Report This Post<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite her hard work and long hours, Denise, 34, found she could not meet the basic needs of her family. Caring for her six children, working her farm, and running a small business, it seemed impossible to make ends meet. After she was introduced to the savings group approach, attended training sessions in Savings for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Savings for Transformation - Ekstrands in Congo<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/2021\/02\/savings-for-transformation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Savings for Transformation - Ekstrands in Congo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Despite her hard work and long hours, Denise, 34, found she could not meet the basic needs of her family. 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