Roughly 1.5 billion women in the world live on less than a few dollars per day. When Mary Dailey Brown traveled internationally for her former job, she personally witnessed many women who were overworked, underpaid, and who had little respect or honor in their communities.
"Women are the largest, most repressed group in the world," says Brown.
This awareness eventually led her, her husband Doug Brown, and many helpful friends to start an organization that provides hope for these women.
SowHope, an international nonprofit founded seven years ago, was created to inspire women around the world by providing wellness, educational, and economic opportunities. Its name comes from a quote by St. Francis of Assisi: “Where there is despair, let me sow hope.”
Since 2006, SowHope has positively impacted the lives of more than 33,000 impoverished women in nine different countries within Africa and Asia. And last December, they raised their one-millionth dollar, which is a milestone Brown is proud to share.
"Helping women is the most effective way to combat poverty," she says, and admits she didn't realize this when she first started the organization.
Brown now believes if you help a child, the impact may be limited to them; if you help women, they will then help others and that's how to go about changing nations.
The way the organization works is that they find and partner with individuals and organizations already on the ground helping women, or as Brown puts it, "local leaders with local solutions to solve local problems."
These local leaders are asked how could they do what they do better and what dreams they have. The next question asks what could be done with more resources. If the answer is measurable and realistic, SowHope helps them financially and in other ways. All they ask is that the local leaders keep track of where the money goes and the number of women helped. Sometimes training is needed for reporting the information, and SowHope provides that as well.
SowHope focuses on helping women through three program areas: wellness, education, and economic.
When it comes to wellness, the organization supports projects that provide clean water, maternal care, and the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDs. They also back programs that offer counseling for and help to prevent abuse, rape, and sex trafficking.
To advance women educationally, SowHope funds literacy, vocational, and technical training programs. They also assist women economically through micro loans and small business training.
In order to support these programs that help women, SowHope relies on donations. Nearly 98 percent of their funding comes from individual donations, with the remaining amount contributed by foundations and corporations.
SowHope has six volunteer working teams to help it operate -- administration, finance, fund development, personnel, program, and public relations. A description of what each team does can be found on the organization's website if you're interested in volunteering.
The last few years have been busy for SowHope as they continue to support women around the world. Right now, they're in nine countries, but Brown expects to expand that to 12 countries soon.
"We have helped more women in the last two years than in the five years before that," she says.
If you want to support women around the world by giving them hope, here are some ways to get involved with this international nonprofit:
- Visit
SowHope online to find out more about the organization.
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Volunteer your time and skills to one of the SowHope working teams.
Source: Mary Dailey Brown, President and CEO of SowHope.
Writer: Heidi Stukkie, Do Good Editor
Images provided by SowHope.