Grace wanted something different for her daughters.

“I wanted to prepare my daughters for the future rather than think about the cows I might receive through marriage.”

In Grace’s community, cattle may be given to a bride’s family as part of marriage arrangements. For families living in poverty, those cattle can represent wealth and economic security, creating a financial incentive to prioritize a daughter’s early marriage over her continued education. Early marriage, which limits a girl's education, perpetuates generational cycles of poverty and is a significant issue impacting gender equality across the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to the Child Marriage Data Portal, 8 million — or 30% — of girls in the DRC were married before age 18 in 2024.

Despite real pressures, Grace chose another path by investing in her daughters’ education, and all her daughters have now completed higher education. But the story doesn't end there.

Today, Grace leads the team implementing Five Talents' program across the Diocese of Aru in the DRC. Because she has experienced the value of education in her own family, she is a passionate advocate for girls' education and women's leadership, inspiring other families in her community to invest in their daughters’ education. By facilitating Savings Groups and helping members build businesses, Grace is helping families grow their incomes so that they feel confident keeping their girls in school. This is what it looks like when hope takes root — and multiplies.

Five Talents is working alongside communities in the DRC through training in literacy, numeracy, business, and more. And sometimes, as Grace's story shows, the impact reaches into the next generation and ripples throughout the community.

Grace planted something years ago when she chose education for her daughters, and today, we see how beautifully that hope has grown.