Top 10 SheHopes Moments of 2019
Dear SheHopes friends and family,
2019 was such a full year here at SheHopes. I’ve often said before that the SheHopes nonprofit life is a roller coaster ride. There is a long, slow climb that feels like it’s taking forever - but it’s really laying the foundation for the work that you are about to do, there are incredibly high highs that make you feel on top of the world, drops that make your heart feel like it fell out of your body, and curvy twists and turns around every corner that make you hang on for dear life. It’s all part of this crazy ride - and we wouldn’t change it for anything.
Over the Holidays I was reflecting back on the past year - and realized that I wanted to share a few of the highlights with YOU!
Receiving our 501c3 Nonprofit Status:
This felt like such a long process. Around Christmas Eve 2018 I received a phone call from the pastor of my church where we agreed to take SheHopes out from under the local church. You see, even though SheHopes is a non-religious organization, we had been operating under the umbrella of Restoration Church here in Wichita, Kansas for the last three years. The pastors had been incredibly supportive of getting SheHopes off the ground, and by starting SheHopes under the umbrella of a fiscal sponsor meant that for the first three years I didn’t have to worry about board meetings, bylaws, policies, or red tape - I could just DO THE WORK. I am incredibly grateful for Restoration Church and for all of their love and support. There would be no SheHopes without them.
Branching out meant that it was time to search for Board Members, write the bylaws, speak with attorneys, talk to the head of the local Nonprofit Chamber of Service, and finally apply for our own 501c3 nonprofit status. On October 3, 2018 we received word that our nonprofit status was approved! We were officially the SheHopes Foundation!
Being with Joy in India:
In July we went back to India for the FOURTH TIME, and we once again were able to see our friend Joy. When people ask me, “How did you come up with the idea for SheHopes?” I tell them about becoming friends with a young woman from southern India who told me stories about what life is like there for women and girls, the issues that girls in the local orphanages face, and the domestic violence that so many women go through. My heart broke as she told me the stories, and I wanted to do SOMETHING. That something turned into the work that we do now. I remind Joy all the time that SheHopes is all her fault, and she tells me, “You’re welcome!”
Meeting the new sewing ladies in India:
We always LOVE meeting the new women who have joined our sewing classes in India - and this year we took them handwritten notes of encouragement from YOU! Some of these women were child brides, many are cannot read their own language because they were not able to go to school as young girls, and many of them are single mothers who are now faced with the struggle of providing for their own children. It’s incredible to meet these women who come for our free sewing classes, to see Elizabeth - the instructor that we employ, and to hear the stories of HOPE from the women who have completed these classes! Our graduates tell other women about the classes - and that is how new students find us!
The Children of India:
The highlight of each visit is spending time with the children at the orphanage in one city, and a group of homeless children in another city. We reviewed past self-defense lessons with the girls - and they showed us again their GIRL POWER!
This year we also took them your gifts of LEGOs, books, and SMARTY GIRL leggings!
Providing Water for the Women and Girls of India:
During our time in southern India, we saw for ourselves the devastating draught that the state of Tamil Nadu was going through. We watched as women and girls tried to go to the community water pumps at midnight in hopes there would be a little water available, girls were missing school while they searched for water, and women were traveling across town on foot into dangerous neighborhoods trying to find water for their families. People were literally dying of thirst. This was the biggest need facing women and girls in this area - so when our friends asked us if we could assist, SheHopes purchased water trucks to come and help bring relief until the draught ended.
Sometimes HOPE looks like jug of water!
Meeting Single Mothers in Kigali, Rwanda:
We had the incredible honor of meeting with women and their children this year during our second trip to Rwanda. They shared their stories of trauma, surviving the 1994 Genocide, and their HOPES to create a better life for their own children. They desperately need a chance and a couple of tools - and they can create a sustainable life for themselves. We are working with them to create job training so they can provide for their families and write a brand new chapter in the story of their lives.
Meeting Resistance in Rwanda:
I wrote about my encounter with an Italian man HERE. He introduced himself in the hotel lobby just a few minutes before I headed out to visit two schools in a nearby village. He asked me what I was doing in Rwanda, and when I told him - he proceeded to tell me all of the reasons why we SHOULD NOT be teaching self-defense in Rwanda. Learn more about our conversation HERE. And, yes, I’m still angry.
Teaching Self-Defense to School Teachers in Kitale, Kenya:
It never fails, in every school we visit, the teachers say that they wish they could have self-defense clubs in their schools so the girls could practice. We all know the importance of PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT, so we wanted to try something new in 2019! Instead of teaching self-defense in the schools of Kenya, we taught the SCHOOLTEACHERS how to teach self-defense to their own students!
We wanted to treat these 13 teachers to a day of fun and learning - so we catered in lunch, provided tea and snacks, brought them books for their classrooms from author Brendan Kelso, and brought them their very own self-defense booklets and pads to use to teach in their own schools!
Talking with Women in Birunda, Kenya:
The day after I taught schoolteachers how to teach self-defense, I visited a church in one of my favorite towns. After the service, the women stayed and talked with me. I have been to this village on every past trip to Kenya, but this visit was extra special. We talked about the issues and fears they face every single day. They talked about how their daughters have to miss school during their monthly periods or use strips of old blankets to try to stop the flow enough to go to school. They told me how they struggle to pay the school fees for their children to attend school, how the older girls try their luck traveling to a bigger city and working as a housemaid - only to become the victim of violence, raped, pregnant or contract an STD, and end up back at home and struggling to provide for their own children. This is a story we have heard a lot around the world - in Kenya, Rwanda, and India.
We talked with them about the needs for washable and reusable sanitary supplies for their girls, and for the women themselves. They are using whatever they can to stop their own monthly flow. We talked about how I wished that SheHopes could pay the school fees for all of their children - but when I explained that we want to help THEM provide for their own children, THEY CHEERED! We talked about ideas for job training in their village and put plans into place to start it in 2020!
Women Empowered Holiday Market:
In December we capped off an incredible year with co-hosting the Women Empowered Holiday Market and Fashion Show along with Alegria Fair Trade. Our beautiful venue was the chapel for a former convent here in Wichita. Amazing local vendors joined us in celebrating empowering women here at home and around the world! We ended the night with a fashion show highlighting the purses that we brought back from Rwanda and Kenya, where all of the proceeds to to helping the work around the world - helping our sisters stay safe, providing job training, and keeping girls in school!
We have some exciting things coming up in 2020, and we can’t wait to share it with YOU!
Nandri (Tamil), Asante (Swahili), Murakoze (Kinyarwanda), THANK YOU for being part of the SheHopes family! None of this would be possible without YOU! Thank you for coming along on this journey with us and for giving HOPE to our sisters all around the world.
*Group hug*
Here’s to an amazing 2020 - and as always, here’s to HOPE!
~ Ginger and the SheHopes Team