Reflect Light Seed Effect Turns 7 | October 27, 2016
Welcome to
Turns 7!
Joyce Diko
From the beginning, Seed Effect has been committed to bringing economic
empowerment and the Gospel to the people of South Sudan. But South Sudan is a
hard place to work. War, corruption, a volatile economy, and hyperinflation are just a
few of the barriers that make this work so challenging and yet even more crucial.
Tonight you’ll meet Joyce, Charles, Alice, Moses, Jeska, Jane, and Milly and you’ll see
the impact of 7 years of economic empowerment. This has brought hope, opportunity,
and dignity to a people who have spent much of their lives burdened by war.
As we celebrate the past 7 years, we also look forward. And we’ve got some exciting
news in store. Welcome to Seed Effect Turns 7!
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All works are for sale via silent auction
tonight only. All proceeds from the sale of
the photography by Christena Dowsett will
go to support the work of Seed Effect.
Donations above the listed starting bid are
tax deductible as allowed by law.
Joyce was only 17 years old when she began selling
homemade doughnuts at the market in Kajo Keji,
South Sudan. Her mother was ill, and though her
father worked hard, he could not make enough
money to support his ailing wife, his daughter,
and Joyce’s four brothers. When he passed away
suddenly, the full burden of supporting the family
came to rest on her. Joyce moved to Yei, got
married, and kept selling doughnuts to support
a growing family of her own. But marriage made
things more difficult. Joyce’s husband often came
home drunk. He frequently beat her. Once, he even
tried to shoot her with a bow and arrow. When
Joyce finally made the decision to leave him, she
had five children between the ages of nine and 20.
Joyce joined Seed Effect in 2016 and with her first
microloan, she was able to buy a bag of onions to
sell. With the profit she made, she bought two more
bags, and soon, she was selling onions along with
her doughnuts.
Joined 2016
Yei
“The loan is helping my business to grow so
that I can send my children to school and still
have some savings.”
Though this goal is still a ways off, Joyce remains
hopeful. “I am happy Seed Effect came because I
see love in them.”
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Alice Bidiana
Charles Bida
Joined 2015
Yei
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Though Charles grew up in a poor family of nine,
every Christmas, he received a small amount of
money from his mother. One year, instead of using
the money to buy clothes, he bought petrol instead,
which he divided up and sold in the market in Yei,
South Sudan. His goal: to make enough money
to purchase pencils and books for school. But
he made so much money off of that first sale, he
soon began selling petrol full time. With his first
loan from Seed Effect, Charles was able to buy
additional commodities, including petrol and sugar,
which he used to bake biscuits and sweets to
sell at the market. The result? He made $1,000
in four months, and promptly repaid the loan.
“It gave me hope and a vision for the future,” he
says. Since then, Charles, now 22, has opened a
phone charging station, a mixed goods store, and
a music shop. He’s also begun studying business
management, paying his tuition with the profits from
his business. After graduating, Charles dreams of
one day building a supermarket in Yei.
“I trust God because he has now given me a
way that will make my future different.”
Alice was a child growing up in Uganda when the
first South Sudanese refugees fled to her country
from the violence in their own. Without enough
money for school fees, she pretended to be a
refugee, hoping to receive free schooling at the
refugee camp. When that didn’t work, she dropped
out of school altogether, helping her mother brew
and sell alcohol to the refugees. A few years later,
Alice married one of those very refugees with whom
she then moved to Nimule, South Sudan, where
they had two children. Though her husband was
Muslim, Alice found herself drawn to the Christians
in her village. One day, she attended a prayer
service, where she claims a demon came out of
her. After that, she professed faith in Christ. Her
husband, however, would not have it. “He said to
either chose him or Christ,” says Alice. “I wouldn’t
let him stop me from worshipping my God.” Unable
to resolve their differences, the two divorced. Now
on her own, Alice began selling basic cooking
supplies, like oil and eggs. With the profit she made
after investing her first Seed Effect loan, Alice was
able to send her daughter to school in Uganda.
And with subsequent loans, she’s traveled to Dubai,
Khartoum, and Uganda to purchase additional
stock and supplies.
Joined 2014
Nimule
“If it weren’t for Jesus, I would never have
reached here.”
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Jane Kiden
Moses Marle
Joined 2012
Kajo Keji
Joined 2011
Kajo Keji
Moses already owned a business selling onions,
cooking oil, shoes, and clothes, when he first heard
about Seed Effect on a local radio station. He was
immediately interested in the opportunity to receive
a business loan. “I really needed the loan,” he says.
“When you don’t have extra money, you cannot
improve or grow your business.
You’re stuck.”
With his first Seed Effect loan, Moses bought
clothing in Kampala, Uganda, to sell in South
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Sudan. After repaying the loan, he had enough
money leftover to rent a permanent structure for
his business. Since then, Moses has taken classes
from Seed Effect staff, learning about how to keep
records, save money, and plan for the future. With
the money he earns through his business, he sends
his four girls, ages three, six, 10, and 16, to school.
Moses is rare among South Sudanese fathers, most
of whom do not believe in educating women. For
Moses, “educating girls is so important because in
the future, all my children will be able to do things
for themselves,” he says. “Seed Effect ensured that
all my children go to school.”
Jane was only 14 years old when she married
her husband, a young man from Kampala,
Uganda. She moved from her home in Kajo Keji,
South Sudan, to live with him, but quickly their
circumstances deteriorated. Jane’s husband
refused to build her a house, forcing her to build a
home for the two of them and their three children
all by herself. He soon began drinking excessively,
and eventually wound up in jail for abusing another
woman. Barely able to support herself, Jane
moved home to Kajo Keji where she lived with her
parents. “I used to cry all the time because I was
so depressed,” she says. “I had to take care of our
children alone.” When Jane joined Seed Effect later
that year, however, she began to feel encouraged.
She attended an education seminar hosted by
Seed Effect and started praying, eventually giving
her life to Christ. With the money she made through
her small business, Jane was able to buy a plot of
land where she eventually plans to build a home.
“I sleep well at night and I eat well during the day,”
she says.
“Now I can afford to take care of all my needs
and the needs of my children.”
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Jeska Juan
Joined 2010
Kajo Keji
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Jeska was barely making ends meet fetching water
and baking bread to sell at the market in Kajo
Keji, South Sudan, when she first learned about
Seed Effect. With her first loan, she invested in
soap, which she used to open a second business
washing and styling hair, and cooking oil, which she
used to bake additional loaves of bread. The result?
She was suddenly able to support herself and
her two children. More than that, Jeska found a
community through Seed Effect. “In the beginning,
I felt like I was in a jail,” she says. “I didn’t have
friends or my own relatives around. When I joined
Seed Effect, I felt like I had finally found a family and
could share my issues with others.” As the second
wife of a husband with ten wives, Jeska struggled
with feelings of loneliness and abandonment.
Through Seed Effect, however, she found comfort
in the love of God and her new friendships. Now,
she often counsels other women struggling in their
own marriages. “I always encourage people to give
their lives to Jesus,” she says.
Reflect Light
Kajo Keji
“ There are two ways
of spreading light,
to be the candle or the
mirror that reflects it. ”
–Edith Warton
“When you accept God’s love, that’s when you
start to grow.”
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Milly Asienzo
Joined 2009
Kajo Keji
“I felt weak,” Milly reflected. “I regretted dropping
out of school the most.” At 15, she was pregnant,
scared, and alone.
she set out to provide for her children on her own.
She gathered firewood to sell. And eventually she
began making and selling pancakes on the side of
the road.
After her parents separated and her father
remarried, her stepmom began abusing her. She
thought that getting married would be the best way
to escape this torture, but when they refused to let
her get married, she was stuck.
Looking back, she wonders, “If you don’t want
the responsibility, why are you marrying so many
women and having so many children? He didn’t
even want my girls going to school.”
She re-enrolled in school after her baby was born
but had to flee when the war broke out.
Milly was 18 when she met her husband in the
refugee camp. He was much older and she
became the 2nd of three wives. But instead of
being loved and supported, she was still alone. She
never received any help from her husband and so
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But she knew first-hand how important it was that
they had the opportunity to get an education. Milly
joined Seed Effect in 2009 when the program
was first offered to her community in South
Sudan. Her first microloan was just $100 and after
paying it off 4 months later, she had earned a profit
of $15.
With the profit she earned after her first loan, she began selling
onions in the market and was able to expand her business from
there. And now, 7 years later, she says,
trainings. She’s learned so much about self-control, carrying
one another’s burdens, good stewardship and even investing in
others when they need help. She says,
“The financial challenges I used to go through have
become so much easier. I’ve now been able to send two
of my boys to university and that was only made
possible through the help of Seed Effect.”
“I love Seed Effect for the counseling, guidance, and
discipleship programs.”
With seven children to feed, care for, and educate, Milly had
been struggling to make ends meet, often having to choose
between feeding her children and investing in their future. But
now, she says, “I feel great knowing that I can provide for them.”
“The microloans have improved our lives and taken the
poverty away.”
But the impact has gone beyond Milly. Her oldest son went to
university, got a great job, built his own house, and even owns
two cars. If Seed Effect didn’t exist, she says that none of this
would have been possible.
As she walks her grandson to school before setting up her stall
in the market, Milly is still dreaming. She hopes to expand
her business by putting a kiosk next to her house so that people
passing by can also purchase from her there.
Milly has also really appreciated Seed Effect’s discipleship
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We’ve added a NEW tool:
Savings-Led Microfinance
Since launching we’ve focused our efforts on credit-led
microfinance to empower thousands of entrepreneurs.
But South Sudan is a hard place to work. War, corruption, a
volatile economy, and hyperinflation are just a few of the barriers
that make this work so challenging.
And so, we’re adaptable. We’ve added a new tool that furthers
our mission to provide access to economic empowerment
and Jesus while adapting for South Sudan’s ever-changing
environment. That new tool is savings-led microfinance.
Through the addition of our new savings program, self-selected
groups of 15 to 25 individuals meet weekly to pool their savings.
As their pool of savings grows, they can provide loans within
their group. Members can use these loans in many different
ways: to pay school fees, to buy medicine for their children, to
purchase a solar panel and other necessities for their home,
or invest in their business. And we can provide access to
training and the Gospel just like before.
As we look forward, our vision remains the same: for the world’s
most insecure and underdeveloped communities to be stabilized
through economic empowerment and the hope of Jesus Christ.
We believe adding savings-led microfinance to our program
will empower more South Sudanese to know Jesus and fight
poverty despite overwhelming challenges in South Sudan.