An unexpected metamorphosis is taking place behind the crumbling walls of an abandoned house in Kanyama, Zambia. Inside, Elizabeth Mwiinga cultivates mushrooms, a simple but precious commodity that is helping her family escape the throes of poverty.

"When I get the seeds, I spread them on the floor," Elizabeth says. "Then I get a black plastic bag and cover them for three weeks. It's called an incubator."

What actually happens, Elizabeth clarifies, is that she adds "spawns," or seeds infused with spores, to balls of cotton, dirt and agricultural lime and then places them in plastic bags. When she finally removes them, they expand to form mushroom "stones."

The spawns soon sprout into oyster mushrooms, a flavorful fungi the 50-year-old grandmother grows to feed her extended family. She packages the mushrooms in bundles and sells them at the local market for 3,000 kwacha (about 70¢). On a busy day, Elizabeth can earn between 10,000 and 15,000 kwacha, which is somewhere between $2.30 to $3.50. The mushrooms are a popular topping for beef, chicken and nshima, the local cornmeal porridge.

Elizabeth started growing and selling mushrooms to support her orphaned grandson, Justin, after his mother passed away. Her husband was earning $25 a month as a bricklayer, and his income wasn't enough to feed another hungry mouth.

Shortly after she began the project, Justin was enrolled in sponsorship, along with Elizabeth's son, Sailas. "Before Children International, we used to find it difficult to get things like school fees or shoes," Elizabeth recalls. "But since the establishment of the center, the center has provided shoes, clothes, blankets and school fees." The sponsorship center in Kanyama also helped Elizabeth with her mushroom-growing business. When the agency found out about her project, she was awarded one of 10 micro-enterprise loans to help her cover the costs of supplies and cultivate a larger crop.

"This business has helped," she says. The mushrooms provide a healthy addition to her family's diet, and she's been able to buy books for her children and cover their transportation costs to school.

Cultivating Change

A metamorphosis like the one transforming mushrooms into income and extra food for Elizabeth's family is also changing the role of women in Zambian society.

Despite their discouraging odds compared to men - a lower literacy rate, a lower life expectancy and a higher rate of HIV/AIDS - women in Zambia are taking responsibility for the social and economic shortfalls in their communities. They are utilizing resources like micro-enterprise loans made available by Children International in order to provide their children with opportunities they themselves didn't have growing up.

In recognition of International Women's Day on March 8, it is a privilege to share the story of a woman like Elizabeth Mwiinga. Her life has been harrowing and humbling but also heroic - a true testament to the strength and determination exhibited by countless other women affiliated with sponsorship.

As the mothers of sponsored children, women are so often the backbone of our sponsorship communities. As volunteers and field officers, they organize and distribute life-altering assistance. And as sponsors, women represent the majority of our dedicated donors.

The success of sponsorship hinges upon the involvement of women. Their tireless, resourceful energy is changing attitudes about the fate of children in need and transforming poor communities into areas that blossom with hope.