“Before joining Plant With Purpose, I was a wife doing small activities around my house, and I depended mostly on my husband,” shares Sarafina. She and her husband, in their sixties, raised three sons, one daughter, and now have two grandchildren. Life, she said, felt predictable but limited.

“I thought it was normal, maybe that is how village life is,” she explained. “I lived in a small mud house. In my heart I desired to have a better home for my family.” Yet she could not imagine how it might ever happen. “I knew it would demand a lot of money which we didn’t have, because my husband was a farmer and our income was very low.”

This is where the story of rural poverty often begins. Dreams feel out of reach, not because of lack of effort, but because limited opportunity, low farm yields, and environmental constraints reinforce each other.

Sarafina did what many women in her community did: she sold vegetables from a small garden and kept a few chickens. “What my husband and I earned through farm crops was not enough to have a good house or even meet basic needs like school fees,” she remembered. Still, her dreams persisted. “I wished one day my dream of having a good house, chickens, cows, and goats would come true for my family. I trusted God that one day He would grant me the desire of my heart.”

A New Beginning: Joining a Purpose Group

When Plant With Purpose introduced Purpose Groups to her community, Sarafina hesitated. “I did not see myself as a person who had excess income that could be saved every week,” she said. “I was scared, not knowing where I would get money for saving.”

It was not until facilitators from Plant With Purpose visited her village that she found the courage to join. “They encouraged me that it would be possible, and that there would be training to open my eyes and thoughts. I decided to join and found the courage to say, ‘I can and I will do it.’”

This act of bravery became the doorway to a different life.

Knowledge That Changes Everything

After joining, something remarkable happened. “My worries started to fade as we were trained on different topics that could be a source of income,” Sarafina said. Her Purpose Group received training in tree nurseries, organic farming, poultry keeping, livestock, entrepreneurship, and more.

“I decided that I would use all the knowledge I got so I could help my husband to change our life,” she said. The connection between soil, farming, and income became clear to her for the first time. Environmental problems like degraded soil, low yields, and limited tree cover were not separate from poverty. They were deeply connected. And the solutions needed to be connected, too.

With her new skills, she began practicing organic farming methods. “I have cultivated maize, beans, and bananas, and I have gotten a good harvest each year,” she shared. The improvement to her soil meant better food for her family and extra produce to sell.

As her confidence grew, so did her impact. “Through my achievements, other community members, both men and women, have joined other Plant With Purpose Purpose Groups in our village.”

Restoring Her Land and Herself

Sarafina also began restoring the land around her home in Tanzania. “I have been able to plant about 20 trees around my compound,” she said proudly. “I had a few trees, but now there are many, and I enjoy the beauty of nature by seeing different flying creatures.”

Her words echo a crucial truth: environmental restoration is deeply personal. It restores dignity, beauty, and hope.

Alongside training, her Purpose Group helped her to save steadily. “Since joining the group, I have saved every week and worked hard to make sure I had something to save.”

Over time, she built enough savings to take several loans. She invested each one carefully. The most transformative was the loan she used to buy cattle. “I believed buying cattle would help my family because I could sell milk and feed my family, and the extra income would help our long-term plans.”

She repaid the loan slowly by selling chicks, milk, and farm produce. With the profits, she even bought appliances for her home, something she had once thought impossible.

Building a New Home

The biggest change came when she and her husband decided to build the home they had always dreamed of.

“My family and I lived in a small mud house, and building a modern house was a dream which seemed difficult to achieve,” she recalled. But after joining the group, her hope grew. “I started to see this dream coming true.”

Together, she and her family began purchasing building materials slowly, like paint, bricks, rocks, and sand whenever they could. A later loan from the group allowed them to finally begin construction.

“We constructed our house and moved in, all because of the help of the group,” she said. “Without the group, this dream would have taken a very long time.”

For Sarafina, this was more than a new roof. It was security. It was dignity. It was evidence that change was possible, even late in life.

Sarafina’s transformation didn’t stop at her home or her income. “I have grown spiritually,” she said. “I have been able to give tithes and offerings and help people in need within my community.”

The woman who once doubted she had enough to save now gives generously.

A Holistic Program Made Possible by Supporters

Sarafina’s story shows what happens when environmental restoration, economic empowerment, and spiritual renewal come together. Problems like low farm yields, poor soil, limited income, and inadequate housing are not isolated. They are interconnected. Plant With Purpose’s model treats them that way.

Supporters who invest in this holistic work make stories like Sarafina’s possible. They honor the connection between land, livelihoods, and lasting hope.