Standing in Solidarity When the World Turns Away

We cannot fix every broken system. But we can choose to stand in solidarity with those who cross our path. This choice, this posture of care and action, is what fuels us at One Day’s Wages. And it’s why we need each other, now more than ever.

Recently, our Global Impact Director, Daphne Fowler, spoke with Amisi, Executive Director of SOFERES, and Shabani, their Field Supervisor, in Malawi. Their voices were steady but heavy with grief.

SOFERES is a refugee-led organization dedicated to strengthening food security for women farmers in the Dzaleka Refugee Camp. Established in 1994 by the Government of Malawi and UNHCR, Dzaleka became a shelter for families displaced by violence and instability in Burundi, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

We have partnered with SOFERES for a year, and because of the generosity of our community, we recently approved a multi-year partnership. When Daphne visited Dzaleka in July, she brought home stories of resilience and hope. But on the recent call, the tone was different.

Because of steep reductions in foreign aid, UNHCR Malawi is operating at only 18% of its needed budget this year. Reports are emerging of staff going without pay, health clinics closing their doors, and food assistance winding down. The few supports Dzaleka’s residents once depended on are now rapidly drying up, leaving families with fewer and fewer options for survival.

The result is devastating: more than 50,000 displaced people are facing what feels like total abandonment. The desperation is so deep that some residents are making the unthinkable choice to return to active warzones—because hopelessness feels heavier than conflict.

And yet, even amid heartbreak, Amisi told Daphne:

“We don’t consider you [ODW community] only a donor, but as someone who is bringing hope. You are helping people to stand on their own.”

Clearly, we can’t fix the situation in the Dzaleka Refugee Camp. Truthfully, some days it feels too big, too much, too hard; like what we are doing is too small to matter, but we stand strong. We don’t look away. We show up. 

This is what solidarity looks like.

Women arrive daily at SOFERES’ office—14 single mothers in one day alone—asking for help to start small businesses and feed their children. The work continues, even when the world turns away.

I’ll be honest: my heart is breaking. But I am also resolute. Keeping our hearts soft is our strength. Refusing to look away is our calling.

And so here is our manifesto of hope:

• When the world turns away, we will lean in.

• When systems collapse, we will still choose solidarity.

• When despair takes root, we will be relentless in hope.

Even in the face of systems that fail, love endures. Even when abandonment threatens, communities continue to rise up to care for each other. And even when despair hovers, solidarity insists on stubborn hope.

Together, we carry this bold softness—hearts that stay open in the midst of pain, and hands ready to walk alongside others, no matter how heavy the journey.