Donation Gives Hope to Children with HIV in Africa
When 14-year-old Maddie thinks she has it tough, she thinks of Bethany. Besides their age, the two girls have very little in common. Bethany's parents died of complications from AIDS. With three younger siblings to care for, Bethany dropped out of school. She spent her days collecting sticks to sell at a local market so she could feed her siblings. Maddie is from a small town in Michigan. She met Bethany on a service trip to Malawi to build Hope Village, a rural health clinic with Michigan-based NGO Hope Endeavors.
Since 2006, Hope Endeavors' mission has been quite simple: to bring hope to those suffering from extreme poverty. Hope has changed the lives of more than 20,000 underserved individuals by connecting U.S.-based individuals with meaningful volunteer projects abroad. One of these projects, Hope Village, provides care for children with HIV in Malawi. The village is currently home to 30 HIV-infected children who receive the care they need to thrive. Two of them are Bethany's siblings. With her siblings cared for, Bethany can return to school.
From Hope's headquarters in the U.S., it operates as a registered NGO in Malawi with three on-the-ground staff members. In order to coordinate financial reporting between the two offices, Hope Endeavors needed help. A donation of Intuit's QuickBooks via TechSoup moved Hope Endeavors' accounting to a new level. "We are able to have our accountant in Malawi do the books and then send us the QuickBooks file," said Darcy McLane, executive director of Hope. By using the same software system, the two offices have been able to sync their financial reporting, despite being thousands of miles apart.
Donors want to donate to a specific cause, and QuickBooks has helped Hope Endeavors manage its financial records so it can report on the use of donated funds individually and accurately. Thanks to this donation, Hope Endeavors continues to serve girls like Bethany, while providing eye-opening experiences for girls like Maddie.
