Noonday Collection: An Exciting Announcement!

I have some exciting news to share. I've recently joined an incredible company called Noonday Collection. Here's an  excerpt about their mission:

"Noonday Collection uses fashion and design to create economic opportunity for the vulnerable. We offer stylish accessories of uncommon value handcrafted by artisans from around the world who receive a fair, living wage for their work. Many of the artisans come from destitute situations and purchases enable them to provide for life’s basic necessities. Through fun trunk shows and an inspired social selling team of ambassadors, we are enabling women to join our story...What is more? A portion of the profits of sales will help place an orphan in a forever family."

I feel inspired and empowered by these women and artisans around the world that now have an income to provide for their families and hope for that future. I'm grateful to the opportunity to contribute to this movement.

Noonday is not a charity. It is not a a multi-level direct sales company that has financial benefits for recruiting a team.  The more we sell, the more we can buy from artisans from Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, India, Ecaudor, Peru, Guatemala, Vietnam and Refugee Co-Ops in the US.  It's about dignified job creation, advocacy for the oppressed, and telling the stories of the vulnerable. 

Have you heard the phrase, "Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime"?  I believe that there is a right and wrong way to help our brothers and sisters in need. When we simply send money, or pay to go on short term mission trips, we create a mentality of reliance on our handouts, and helplessness, and destitution to those we want to support.  So much of developing country poverty is based on education and sustainable income.  When we train and teach skills in that same population, they feel empowered to provide for their families.  Think of the pride that you feel when you earn your paycheck and can pay for the things you need and want.  That's what we want to instill in people like Jalia, and Embemebet, and Sidhama, and Carlos, and Astrida.  That is why I'm an Ambassador.

Do you want to join me? 

Host a Trunk Show and invite your friends to use their purchasing power to change the lives of these incredible artisans.  Listen to their stories and know that you are making a difference.  You can also choose to host a trunk show that is a fundraiser for an adopting family.  Noonday Collection started as an International Adoption fundraiser.  I'd love to tell you more about how you can help your adopting friends and family.

You can also shop online.  I always remember that every piece of hand-crafted jewelry, every scarf, every accessory sold is fair and dignified income for families in need of food, healthcare and education. 

I want to thank you in advance for your support. The mission and vision of Noonday means a lot to me, and I'm really excited to start contributing.  Leave a comment and include your email if you're interested in hosting a show!

Happy Easter to you and yours. 

Faces of Ndola, Faces of Hope: Part 2

I've been putting off writing this post, because, honestly,  I was intimidated by all the feelings, sights and sounds that I witnessed during my visit to Ndola, Zambia. It was sensory/emotional/spiritual overload.  I didn't think I could write the perfect words to help you to understand.  But the story needs to be told. So, while listening to my "African Essentials" Pandora Station and surrounding myself with the brightly colored fabrics that I brought back as mementos...here is the story of the rest of my time in Ndola....  (If you missed it, here is Part I.)

 

Taken by Rob Reid

During our 3 days with Bible Way Ministries, the mornings and early afternoons were devoted to conducting a needs assessment from a group of church elders and leaders.  We wanted to know exactly what life was like in their village, so that we could all come up with an efficient and sustainable plan.  Our initial thought was to start a foster care program, but we soon found out that due to the current living conditions, that strategy would not be effective because: 

• The average life expectancy in Ndola is 37 years.
•  Early death due to HIV AIDS and malaria has resulted in families consist of mothers or grandmothers caring for the children in their extended families in addition to their own children. 
• The unemployment rate is rising dramatically. 
• The typical family of 8-10 lives in a 2-room cinder block house.  

We discovered that building a community home for a small group of orphans would be a better use of space and resources.  There would be a house parent to look after the children.  She would receive food and shelter and a stipend for her work.   Through sponsorship from the US, the children would be provided with food, clothing and education.  (Stay tuned for how you can help sponsor these orphans!)

While the group discussed logistics and long-term outcomes, I ventured outside to shoot the grounds and scenery outside of the church gate.
 

One afternoon, four children came walking down the road, carrying empty containers.  No one spoke. They walked into the yard, filled their containers with the water pump that a church in Downingtown, PA helped to build last year, and went back home.

These kids and their families were completely reliant on this water pump for drinking, cooking and sanitation.  In those 5 minutes,  I gained more perspective and appreciation for the life God has blessed me with than ever before.  I am so thankful for the opportunity to witness this small but meaningful moment.

I met a wonderful and beautiful woman, Chanda, and we we quickly became close friends. Chanda is trained as a social worker and is currently going to school for "catering", what we would call homemaking, so that she can learn how run her own home when she, her baby boy, Divine, and her husband, McDonald are able to move out of their parent's house.  McDonald is an Associate Pastor at the church, but they are not paid for their work, and there are no accounting jobs available.

I also made a little buddy.  Meet Jonathan: 

  

 

 

 Jonathan and his mom lived in a little apartment attached to the church.  I would catch him poking his little head in to the training sessions, and then squeal and run away when our eyes met.  At first he was apprehensive to come too close, but after a while he would leap into my arms, like we had been friends all along.  One afternoon, he fell asleep on my shoulder, his little snores buzzing in my ears as I tried to concentrate on the logistics of converting a chicken coop into a group home for orphans. That little boy stole my heart and I wanted to bring him home with me.

Vince and I spent a few hours each day interviewing some of the widows and children that attended Bible Way, so that we could give them a voice in the states.  Many of them could not speak English, so one of the of the Associate Pastors, Darlington, interpreted for us.

 I could not believe their stories. After her husband died of malaria, one woman was driven out of her house by her in-laws.  Another was beaten at the market, as she tried to sell enough food so that her children could eat that day.  Orphans lived with their widowed grandmothers and their 4 or more other siblings and cousins.  There was no work, and no money for school or food or clothing. Many of them teared up as they tried to help us understand how poverty and disease had causes so much destruction in their community.

Late afternoons and evenings were devoted to traveling around to the homes of widows and families.  I'll let the photos speak for themselves...

...and then there was this one:

This was my favorite photo I took in Africa. There is so much emotion, wonder, and fight in this little girl's eyes.  She stared at me from the front door of her home.  While all the other children smiled and danced when we arrived, she just watched us, almost guarding the entrance to her tiny, overcrowded home.  "Who are you? Why are you here? How long before you forget about me?"

The last night we were there, we visited the family of Pastor Barney's late wife.  It was around 9:00pm and the house was pitch black, except for 2 candles. A 70-year-old woman named Pauline, who had diabetes, was sitting in the front room in the dark, her feet swollen.  She had not had insulin for days.  You can imagine how difficult this was for me to watch.  I could not fathom the pain and deterioration she felt. In the next room, a pot of leafy vegetables boiled over a charcoal burner on the floor.  They had not eaten yet that day.  A baby was sleeping in the bed next to the steaming pot, and a teenage boy who had just been diagnosed with HIV a few days earlier tried to hold his head up to speak to us.  We gave the woman money for her to buy insulin and left in a daze.  We were completely overwhelmed by the destitution we had just seen.   (We learned that Pauline passed away on March 14th.)

Once you hear these stories that begin with continuous, unrelenting struggle, but go on to conclude with gratitude and faith in a Great and Good God, you start to see life a little bit differently.  My goal isn't to make you feel guilty, but I am asking you to just take a second and think about all the blessings in your life, and say, "Thank you." 

Not a day goes by that I do not think of my friends in Ndola. I hope that I can return to visit them someday to see how the aid that Access Services is providing is building them up.  They need our prayers and our help.  If you'd like to contribute to the Zambia Project, you can visit www.accessservices.org.

You can see the videos that Vince from Cotton Field Communications filmed and produced on the Access Services Youtube Station.

More to come about our visit to Victoria Falls!

Faces of Ndola, Faces of Hope: Part 1

In November, I had the surreal opportunity to visit Zambia with 3 gentlemen from my organization, Access Services. The goal of the trip was to help the leaders of Bible Way Ministries develop an Orphans and Widows Advocacy Program, that would guarantee education, food and clothing to a group of children, and provide occupational training for widows in the city of Ndola. Before reluctantly making the commitment to go, I went back and forth, wrestling with the "what if's" and my fear of the unknown. This was my first time traveling overseas and experiencing a third world country. And let's not start about my irrational dreams of getting detained at the airport for carrying needles, vials of clear liquid that Africans might not recognize. Thank the Lord, I have never been hospitalized for my diabetes...but what was to stop it from happening when I would be 3.72 bazillion miles from home? Plus, I've never gone 2 days without at least talking to my husband on the phone. How could I possibly handle going 5 days until we got to a hotel with wireless internet, never hearing is voice for the whole 9? But then again, when was I going to get another chance to go to AFRICA (cue Toto)??

In the past, Fear has had this habit of creeping up at any slight chance of opportunity and risk. But the thing is, I would let it. I would listen to it and hang on it's every word. Being cautious, reasonable, and financially responsible was my home...and I was becoming an invalid. One of my biggest regrets is not studying abroad in college, when I had the chance. I was tired of letting Fear win. This was my time to do something exciting, a little scary and life-changing. I bit the bullet and told my boss "I'm going"...and I'm so glad I did...

After a 16 hour flight, a missed connecting flight and an overnight in one of the coolest hotels I've ever seen, we finally arrived in Ndola, a city in Zambia. Pastor Barney Mulenga, Head Pastor of Bible Way Ministries and our host, welcomed us in the tiny two-room airport in his finest suit and a big smile. Down the bumpy, copper dirt roads we drove, until we made it to the church. It was Sunday, so church had just let out. It seemed that every child in the village emerged and chased the aged Rav 4 in as it entered the gate, screaming and laughing. Many had never seen a white person before, especially one with fine blonde hair like mine. The kids crowded around the car door, even before I could get out. As they stared, stroked my skin, and ran their fingers through my hair, I asked them how they were and their names, forgetting that they spoke their native language, Bemba. They all responded, "Hi, I'm fine." I looked into their eyes and instantly saw their plight. I life they did not choose. Hardship and uncertainty every day. But their smiles, joy and laughter said otherwise. They knew the meaning of gratitude. They knew what it meant to depend on the Lord for everything.


My responsibilities during the 5 days in Ndola consisted of taking photos of the children, the widows, the landscape and culture in Zambia. We wanted to tell their story back here in the States. I also was to assist our documentary filmmaker, Vince Caperelli, founder of Cotton Field Communications with interviews during our time in the city. I realize now how blessed I was to have this opportunity to see into the lives of these people. To hear their stories and feel so deeply, the hope that they hold on to.


I clicked away with my new camera, a gift from David before I left. They bunched together, showing off their gleaming smiles and struck a pose, throwing peace signs and acting like ninjas. "One...Two...Three!!!" They immediately squealed and swarmed me to see their picture on the tiny LCD screen, once spotless and now smudged with their fingerprints and grease from fried chicken. I learned that Joy is the sound of African children seeing themselves in a photo.


I got into my bed in the muggy hotel room that night, feeling confused and angry. Why did these beautiful, faithful and grateful people continue to suffer day after day? They went without nutritious food, clean clothes, education and at times electricity... in the midst of friends and family in the States preparing for Christmas. Since I was sleeping in what seemed to be a closed off room, I didn't see a need to sleep under my mosquito net. But when I heard the familiar buzz in my ear and the burning sting on my neck, I panicked. Even with all the necessary shots and medication, I wondered if this one bite would result in Malaria, an often deadly but preventable illness that has plagued much of Africa. I immediately let down the sheer net and felt the relief of its security, like the blanket I dragged around too far into my childhood.

...Stay tuned for Part 2...