The Faces of Beautiful Women

Imagine being a woman in Ethiopia and your husband passed away leaving you with three young mouths to feed. You are unskilled and families with husbands to protect them have the advantage. How is a widow suppose to care for her children with the odds stacked against her? That is why so many innocent children end up being orphans. Their mothers can no longer provide for them, let alone themselves. Imagine losing your husband and then losing your children. It would be a mother’s worse nightmare.


When I heard that FOVC wanted to provide cows for their widows, I fell in love with the idea. In the past, the WMP Fund has assisted families adopting older/waiting children. I had yet to donate to a widows’ cause. This was a perfect fit. So in November/December, we donated cows to the widows of FOVC. I am jokingly referred to as the “Cow Queen”, a name Lory is determined to make stick! :0)


The opportunity to travel with FOVC this June came up rather quickly, but boy, was it meant to be! Besides seeing the beautiful children, I would get to meet these amazing women AND their cows!! Little did I know meeting them in person would deeply touch me.


Once we met them, their beautiful faces said it all: FOVC’s helping hand has given them much more than just hope. It has given them their dignity back as productive members of Shanto. They can now provide their families with nutrition from the cows and they are graduates from sewing school and therefore skilled women! Giving their children up to an orphanage is no longer a decision they have to think about making.


Their faces shined with strength. They have been through so much. God only knows of other hardships they have endured in their lives. They have never given up. They have chosen to fight hard for their families. For some women, the obstacles are too much to bear. They have no choice but to give their children up for adoption in order for their children to be fed and to live. FOVC’s has found ways to give these well-deserved women a helping hand. What a huge difference compassion has made in changing their lives and the lives of their children for the better.

Their faces radiated with pride as Dr. Ryan, Lory, Desalegn, Bev, Rick and I visited several of their homes to do check ups on the cows. Two of the donated heifers gave birth to beautiful calves!!! The widows welcomed us into their very humble tekuls consisting of: 1/3 area portioned for the cow, 1/3 for the cooking area and a 1/3 to living/sleeping area.


Never knew holding a calf could be so memorable!


I was taken aback when we were shown the wonderful things that the widows made with their new talents! There in front of me where Wiley, Morgan and Parker’s names on baskets and coffee pots!!

This is Beauty(that's her name!) working none stop on the foot driven sewing machine.




Doctor Jo comforting me after seeing Wiley, Morgan and Parker's names.


Their faces exuded gratitude. With tears of happiness in their eyes, they thanked FOVC for the help they so desperately wanted and needed. It is almost indescribable how deeply thankful they were. I had never experienced such gratitude like that before. What a beautiful thing. What beautiful women.

People tell me I’m strong for what I’ve been through. To meet these incredible women - they are the definition of STRONG. To never give up on life and to receive these seeds of help from FOVC with such gratefulness -they have become my heroes.

I told the beautiful women how FOVC is so proud of what they have accomplished in just six months! I also told them that it was our hope that they continue to work hard and never give up because they are so strong!! I’ve been fortunate to have a couple standing ovations in my life, but nothing compares to the, “Lu, lu, lu, lu, lu!” that I received from these
amazing women. It felt like a great honor was bestowed to me: from widows to widow. You can do anything when you are surrounded by love.

-Denise (or as the children o Shanto refer to me “Denisa”)