Posts Tagged ‘Women’
Transformation through Savings for Life™
In June, Second Presbyterian Church of Memphis, TN took a Vision Trip with World Relief to Mozambique and Malawi. One team member, Cory Brown, an attorney at Rainey, Kizer Reviere & Bell, PLC reflects on his trip:
Our small team traveled to Malawi to explore a potential partnership with World Relief. On our second day in Malawi, our World Relief hosts led us to a small village in the Ntchisi district to meet with staff members, local leaders, ministry personnel and volunteers. We were introduced to numerous village program participants, dined with a local pastor and toured a small livestock operation.
However, the initiative that made the greatest impact on me was a small group of village women engaged in micro-finance.
Gathered around the edges of a large blanket sat about a dozen women of varying ages. The group’s leader opened a wooden box with multiple locks. Inside the box were account books belonging to each member that recorded the respective member’s investment. With the account books was a small stack of cash representing the collective investment from which the group gave out individual loans.
As we watched, the members engaged in a myriad of transactions: applying for loans, granting loans, rejecting loans, inquiring on the status of existing loans, detailing foreclosure rules and discussing interest rates.
It was not only encouragement or hope that struck me – customary emotions for an outsider witnessing such an event – but humility.
As a transactional attorney, I often spend days drafting complicated agreements between sophisticated parties memorializing complex arrangements, purchases and sales. The ensuing legal fees incurred by those parties are often substantial. But here were a dozen parties, unrepresented by counsel, buying and selling shares in a business entity of their own imagination, borrowing funds, and paying back principal and interest all without lengthy contracts or corporate authority.
Fortunately, once back at home I was able to convince myself that business attorneys perform an indispensable service for the companies they represent, but I could not help but think that maybe the ladies of that particular village were better off without “advice of counsel.”
Savings for Life™ works by educating trainers to mobilize and train groups of community members in how to build and manage their own savings fund. As the savings fund accumulates, group members access small loans from the fund to finance business or consumption needs. Loans have fixed terms and are repaid with a service fee, which is retained within the group in order to grow the group’s savings fund and provide a return on their savings. Groups are self-managed and set their own policies for their operations.
To support a Savings Group, click here.
Recycling to Beauty: Un/Plastic Project
Ibu Aci is an Indonesian woman who is part of World Relief”s up-cycling program in Indonesia. This program, The Un/Plastic Project, teaches women to turn their plastic waste into beautiful products and income.Here in her own words, she shares how she gained confidence and pride in her work:
Fifty percent of Indonesia’s population lives on less than $2 per day. The Un/Plastic Project is a livelihood project that re-purposes plastic and paper into jewelry and household items.
World Relief volunteers teach young mothers skills such as beading and plastic yarn crocheting, but also important life skills. As products are sold, these young women are empowered with incomes that help support their families while surrounded by a faith community.
Check out World Relief’s Catalog of Hope to find products made by Ibu Aci and other gifts from around the world.
Lynne Hybels in Congo with World Relief
By Allison Schroeder In just a matter of days, World Relief in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will welcome a team of women led by Lynne Hybels. Lynne has been an advocate for the Congo since she traveled there with us in 2010. This time, there will be six women joining Lynne on the trip; three others are traveling in spirit, adding their voices to the journey. I am honored to be one of the three — you can read more about the “Ten for Congo” team at Lynne’s blog: www.lynnehybels.com. Here’s an excerpt to give you a taste:
Together, we are calling ourselves Ten for Congo. Our goal is to raise awareness about the DRC. Most Americans are like I was just a few years ago, totally clueless about what’s happening day after day after day in Congo. We women of Ten for Congo want to change that. We want to provide a voice for the voiceless people of the Congo. Actually, we want to shout for Congo! We want to be loudspeakers for Congo! We want to bellow for Congo!
Will you join us?
With your help, our ten voices can become 10 x 10 voices, or 10 x 10 x 10 voices, or 10 x 10 x 10 x 10 voices.
Imagine 10,000 voices bellowing on behalf of Congo!
A pretty awesome vision! I’ve travelled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo several times in my work with World Relief. Each time I’ve been undone, outraged by the violence and poverty, the cruelty of the circumstances. But I’ve also been inspired by beauty and humbled and encouraged by the perseverance of local churches that are empowered to respond. I’ve been awed by the simple clarity of Christ’s presence around me as churches come together to build peace and care for those who have been ravaged by war. Each experience has changed me, and I have no doubt that the women who are traveling there next week will be changed as well.
Our prayer, though, is that this trip will do more than change a few women. Our prayer is that it will change thousands of women — in the U.S. and in Congo. May all those who read about this team’s experiences be outraged, inspired, humbled, and moved to speak up — loudly! — on behalf of the most vulnerable.
Follow Lynne’s blog or go to www.worldrelief.org/lynnehybels to find out more about how you can add your voice to the Ten for Congo team.
Allison Schroeder is World Relief’s Church Partnership Director based in Baltimore, Maryland.
A trip in Burundi
by Michael Beeman
I have a card from my grandmother, on the front of which, it is written, “Grandson, life will take you to some faraway places.”, and on the inside, “Know that wherever you go, love goes with you”. It is true. During a trip to a Care Group outside of Gitega, southeast of Bujumbura, I witnessed the power of community and God’s love.
In the Kibuye Health District, World Relief manages a Child Survival Project. Through the Care Group Model, promoters train a group of volunteers on issues pertinent to Child Health, like malaria, diarrhea, and nutrition. These volunteers in turn visit approximately 10 households to share this information. The program is quite effective; malnutrition rates in children under 5 have plummeted to 8% from 36%.
With a few from WR offices, I recently journeyed from Gitega to the Care Group Meeting in neighboring Itaba commune. For one hour, we traversed a severely rutted road. Surrounded by hills of banana plants and coffee fields, we drove through heaps of mud and deep puddles of rain, only to reach narrower roads. Along these roads were men and women coming and going, students at the end of their day, and toddlers who would stop playing and stare at the large, white Land Cruiser slowly making its way over bumps and around bends.
With the help of Lucie, the Care Group supervisor, we eventually made it to the school grounds where the Care Group met. Once there, the welcome was naturally genial; greetings exchanged and a short song sung for an opening.
For this day’s meeting, the topic was nutrition.
They discussed the best practices to nourish children. A couple acted out two skits: one showed the preparation of a meal low in nutritious ingredients, while the second showed the proper preparation of a meal that meets babies’ nutritious needs. The subsequent discussion drew out the importance of a meal rich in micronutrients important for their babies. The participating parents identified the problems in the skit and the solutions, which they in turn would apply themselves and share with their neighbors. The discussion was successful; everyone actively participated and supported their peers in preparing the distribution of this knowledge.
Our departure hardly meant a disconnection. Rather, the exchange strengthened the connection, in the spirit of turikumwe: although separated, we are together. During the ride back home I thought of my Grandmother’s card. Here, in the Itaba commune, the strength of community and the love of God were present. In the beauty of the hills and the energy of the Care Group, the health and strength of families, World Relief, and myself were being restored.
Michael Beeman is a Program Research and Development Intern with World Relief in Burundi.
Photos by Marianne Bach
(1) A few of our World Relief health promoters in Burundi.
(2) Care groups are places of knowledge, learning, and relationship building.
(3) Mothers and children alike benefit through World Relief’s care group model.
International Women’s Day
By Larissa Peters, Asia Church Engagement Specialist at World Relief
We don’t celebrate International Women’s Day in the United States, but my World Relief co-workers in Cambodia have a day off as the government has declared it a national holiday – a well-deserved one in my opinion.
A little over a week ago, I attended the Justice Conference in Portland – two days of intense conversation with over four thousand people passionate about responding to poverty, slavery, and oppression. When Walter Brueggemann spoke, he talked about the “walkers” and the “talkers” – both necessary for a response to injustice. And just a little over a year ago, I had the privilege to meet some of the “walkers” – amazing Cambodian women who, against all odds (and reason), are making a significant difference in their communities.
In honor of Women’s Day, I want to honor two of the many “walking women” I met in Cambodia:
As Nari shared her story, she stood with her arm protectively around a young woman, who seven years earlier had been rescued from a brothel. This young woman’s own family had sold her in order to pay for their own survival. The woman’s story broke my heart – she was very close to my age, and I just couldn’t imagine spending my formative years in sexual slavery.
No girl should be dispensable like that, and Nari’s words could only give me hope for those still in bondage: “I do what I do because God has given me compassion and love. It’s hard to explain. I know that this work is encouraging other women, so I want to be instrumental in reaching other women. Often there’s a lack of education and knowledge … and I love them very much.”
These communities need preventative education and awareness when it comes to human trafficking. Sara is one who ministers to the youth in the villages. I got to be part of the crowd of children who attended one of the puppet shows in Kandal province. Through these Sesame-street type shows and skits each week, hundreds of children and teenagers not only become educated on prevention messages but learn that they are loved and have a hope for the future.
Sara’s love for the youth she works with is evident, and she is affecting change exponentially – “It’s very important for them to have a good future, but also so that they reach out to the community. Teenagers, especially the poor ones, are at risk – and also in the area of trafficking, so I want to tell them and protect them from that.”
Between Nari, Sara, and the puppets, I saw first hand the full circle response to these issues. These women are not only addressing the immediate needs of their neighbors, but they are responding to systemic issues of injustice, transforming the community both in the present and for the future.
And as a “talker”, I’m humbled.