December 17, 2022, marked something unprecedented in HIECH Foundation’s journey: our first major collaboration. We joined forces with Irish Africa Saving Lives to reach the widows of the Mama Zimbi Widows Foundation in Dodowa, proving that impact multiplies when organizations unite.
Over 200 widows. One day. Two foundations becoming family.
Why Collaboration Matters
Let’s be honest: organizations can be territorial. Resources are limited, recognition is valuable, and there’s often an unspoken competition for donors’ attention and funds. Collaboration requires setting ego aside, sharing credit, and trusting partners with your reputation.
But when Irish Africa Saving Lives approached us about partnering for the Gift the Gift Project, we didn’t hesitate. The Mama Zimbi Widows Foundation needed support that exceeded what either organization could provide alone. This wasn’t about who got credit; it was about who got help.
Planning meetings with Irish Africa Saving Lives revealed shared values: dignity-centered giving, community partnership, and the belief that sustainable impact requires relationships, not just resources. We weren’t just splitting costs; we were combining strengths, doubling reach, and modeling the collaboration we hoped to see in Ghana’s nonprofit space.
The Journey to Dodowa
Dodowa sits away from Accra’s bustle, where community still means something tangible, where everyone knows their neighbors, and where a widow isn’t just a marital status; it’s a lived reality that the entire community witnesses and, when able, supports.
But community goodwill, no matter how genuine, can’t stretch infinitely. These widows needed tangible support: food that would feed their families, fabrics that could be sewn into clothing or sold for income, chairs that transformed houses into homes, and toiletries that restored dignity one item at a time. We arrived with vehicles loaded, not with token items, but with substantial supplies. Non-perishable food that would last. Quality fabrics, not scraps. Actual chairs, not symbolic gestures. Toiletries in quantities that mattered. This wasn’t about looking charitable; it was about being useful.
Over 200 Stories
Picture this: over 200 widows gathered in one space. Each one carrying a story of loss, resilience, struggle, and survival. Each one raising children alone, managing households solo, and carrying burdens meant for two on shoulders meant for partnership.
Some arrived early, eager and hopeful. Others came tentatively, cautious from previous disappointments. A few brought children, not because they couldn’t find care, but because they wanted their children to witness community support, to see that life offers help alongside hardship.
The distribution was organized but warm. No dehumanizing queues, no transactional handoffs. Names were called with respect. Items were given with care. Volunteers from both HIECH Foundation and Irish Africa Saving Lives treated every widow as family, because that’s what collaboration taught us: when organizations partner, the families we serve become our shared family.
One widow, Auntie Esi, received her bundle: food, fabric, toiletries, and a chair. She stood there holding everything, tears streaming down her face. “My husband died three years ago,” she said to anyone listening. “Since then, I’ve been invisible. Today, I feel seen.”
But Then Came the Dancing and Singing
Here’s where Gift the Gift transcended typical charity: we didn’t just distribute and depart. We celebrated.
Someone started singing a traditional hymn about gratitude and community. Others joined. Voices that had carried sorrow for so long now carried joy. The volume grew until the entire space vibrated with sound.
Then the dancing started. Widows who’d been somber transformed into celebration. Volunteers who’d been focused on logistics got swept into the movement. Irish Africa Saving Lives team members and HIECH Foundation members danced together, with widows, around supplies, between tables, and across the space.
This wasn’t entertainment added to make donors feel good. This was spontaneous joy, the kind that emerges when people receive not just items but recognition, not just supplies but respect, not just charity but community.
One widow in her seventies danced with energy that defied her years. Someone asked her secret. “Sister,” she laughed, “when you’ve survived what I’ve survived, and somebody shows up like this? You dance! You dance with everything you have!”
The Power of 200
Over 200 widows reached. But numbers don’t capture impact.
Two hundred means 200 families eating better that week. It means 200 women feeling less alone. It means 200 households where children watched their mothers receive support and learned that the community shows up. It means 200 moments of dignity restored, of hope renewed, of resilience recognized.
It means 200 women returning to their communities with physical supplies and emotional reinforcement. It means ripples spreading through Dodowa as they shared their experience, as others heard that organizations came, stayed, celebrated, and cared.
What Irish Africa Saving Lives Taught Us
This collaboration wasn’t just about combined resources; it was education. Irish Africa Saving Lives brought experience working with widows, understanding nuances we didn’t know existed, and relationships built over time.
They taught us that widowhood in Ghanaian communities carries specific challenges: social marginalization, economic vulnerability, and the weight of single-handedly raising families while processing grief. They taught us that support needs to be comprehensive, dignified, and rooted in genuine relationship. They also showed us that collaboration doesn’t mean losing identity. Both organizations maintained our values, our approach, and our commitment to community-centered work. We didn’t merge; we partnered. And partnership, done well, makes everyone stronger.
Why December 17, 2022, Still Resonates
Gift the Gift Project proved something crucial: HIECH Foundation doesn’t have to work alone. There are organizations across Ghana doing incredible work. Partnering doesn’t dilute impact; it amplifies it.
It also showed us that the widows’ community deserves sustained attention. This wasn’t a population we’d naturally gravitated toward, but Irish Africa Saving Lives opened our eyes to the urgent need. That education has shaped how we think about future projects, about who gets overlooked, and about whose stories remain untold.
To Irish Africa Saving Lives: thank you for trusting us, teaching us, and showing us what true collaboration looks like. You didn’t need our partnership, but you welcomed it anyway. That generosity won’t be forgotten.
To the over 200 widows of the Mama Zimbi Widows Foundation: your strength is staggering. Your resilience is remarkable. Your capacity to dance after everything you’ve survived is nothing short of miraculous. Thank you for letting us into your lives, even briefly. Thank you for teaching us about joy that transcends circumstance.
To our donors who supported Gift the Gift: you funded a collaboration that honored expertise, respected relationships, and prioritized dignity. You showed that nonprofit work doesn’t require competition; it thrives on cooperation.
Gift the Gift taught us that the best projects aren’t solo performances , they’re duets where everyone’s voice makes the song more beautiful.
December 17, 2022: The day HIECH Foundation learned that partnership multiplies impact.