We've Moved!

I received an urgent call from our ladies a few weeks back. The current landlord at our Kaunda Square facility was bullying our ladies. The "Mama Bear" in me asked lots of questions to figure out what was happening. And it wasn't good. The landlord took advantage of the women - and their lack of voice in society - and started using their property as storage for his house. Sounds crazy, right? Imagine this: the entire yard was filled with his belongings and building materials for his own home renovation. He tore down a part of our concrete wall to make more room for his things - exposing our facility to everyone around and putting our women at risk. He instructed his workers to come and go freely into that property, so women would often be the first to walk into the sewing training facility to find that they weren't the first inside. Some strange men were already there collecting and delivering this landlord's items for him. 

To put it plainly, this Mama Bear wasn't happy. Our ladies were being taken advantage of simply because they were women. But they knew things weren't right. That's why they called. 

Without any legal options to keep this man from abusing our rent money and taking our facility from us even as we were paying for it, we took the situation into our own hands. No longer will the women of Kaunda Square believe that they can be preyed upon because they are women. 

So this Mama Bear told the ladies to move. Get the heck outta there. For their safety, for the safety of our staff and equipment, and to find a place that wouldn't abuse and take our money - your money. 

The ladies of Kaunda Square scoured the entire compound and had just days to do so. The next rent payment was due, and there was no way that it was going to that corrupt landlord. So they found this amazing facility. Gated, secure, with a huge yard, so many rooms, much bigger than the already-cramped facility we were currently renting. As if that wasn't amazing enough - it has running water with a sink, toilet and shower, which is like striking gold in a compound. It also has electricity. What a gem they found! 

It was also the only other facility that was big enough to hold the 20+ students in the Kaunda Square class that was available ASAP. 

Here's the catch. It is $100/month more. Instead of $150/month, it's $250/month. And while that may not seem like much (and it sure sounded like a deal to me!), it's money that wasn't budged for or anticipated. 

I think we can handle it - you and me. What if just 10 people sign up to give $10/month to cover this facility that gives these women safety, a few luxuries, and room to grow? Our ladies deserve that, right? 

Just 10 of you to sign up for the amount of a Netflix subscription to give 20 women every year the opportunity to experience life-change through skills-training education. Can we do that together, friends? 

Sign up with the button below. And here are a few pics from move-in day in our new Kaunda Square facility with women already hard at work on their custom outfits for their Graduation Day coming up soon!

Let's do this. 
With Chikondi (Love),
Amy/CiH Mama Bear

Women from Kaunda Square thank you for their new training facility. "As you can see, it's very big! It's nice! Well kept!" We need an additional $100/month to cover this unexpected move and increase in rent as a result. Give $10/month to keep our ladies in the facility that they love. www.clothedinhope.org/hopeclub

We Need YOU...

Friend, we need YOU!
We are just $3,036 away from our goal! 

$3,036 away from giving 15 vulnerable women the opportunity to change their lives and lift themselves out of poverty through sewing and business training. 

$3,036 away from altering the path of families in poverty, creating a ripple effect of HOPE and prosperity for generations to come. 

Maybe you can't afford to give $3,036. And we totally get that. But would you give $100? $25? So far 72 people have joined this campaign to give HOPE in 2017, and we want you to be the 73rd.

We promise you won't regret being part of this story. Join us today. 

With Chikondi (Love),
Amy Bardi
CiH Founder & Executive Director

Where Are They Now: Jessy's Story

The story below is pulled from our first installment of "Where Are They Now?" as part of our 2016 Giving Campaign. You can find photos and supplementary material here.

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Jessy is one entrepreneurial woman. 

A mother of 5 and grandmother of 6 children, she joined our program in 2012 with the very first group to complete our skills-training program. Jessy appeared to be shy and timid, but we now know her to be a woman of less words spoken because of the many thoughts she's constantly entertaining in her mind - she's brilliant. 

After graduating with excellent sewing skills, Jessy hit the ground running with her business endeavors, despite the cultural hardship of having been left by her husband and enduring the loss of all of her siblings. Jessy applied for our first microloan cycle, was approved, and passed the difficult exam required to receive the microloan funds. With that money, she bought a sewing machine to begin her tailoring business. 

Now, four years later, Jessy has greatly expanded her business to include brickmaking, renting out an addition she built on her home with business profits, and renting out a small salon and boutique that doubles as her retail space for her skirt and dress designs. 

Jessy has diversified her business plan to ensure that she will always be able to turn a profit and further the success of her family. Jessy is looking for colleges for her youngest children, a rarity when most children do not complete secondary school. She purchased a new stove and fridge to introduce better foods into the family diet. 

She is flourishing as a businesswoman, mother, grandmother, and staff member of Clothed in Hope. And is if that's not enough, Jessy even gave up a room in her home to a woman with HIV/AIDS who was rejected by everyone else in the community. 

Jessy is now thriving, and makes sure others around her are too. Her success is her community's success, and we are so proud to know her. 

Drumroll, Please! Exciting News...

Drumroll, please! We have some very exciting news to share!

After months of planning and fundraising and preparing, we are launching our new training site at Kaunda Square Compound!!!

We are still have a bit to go to have this program fully funded, but we’re launching in faith that it’ll come in, because the women in Kaunda Square are so very ready to begin their life-changing journey. 

Last week I had the opportunity to meet with the new group of women in their new training space. I hyped up the announcement and shouted out, “SURPRISE!!” I had different expectations of how the women would react. Instead of crazy shouts and screams and impromptu dancing (per usual), there were just hesitant smiles and a few quiet cheers. 

What on earth?! Wasn’t this supposed to be the best news ever for this group of women who has been meeting weekly for over 6 months at the possibility of them starting soon?

Then I surveyed the room. On the outer edges of the room, surrounding the group of women in the middle, was our staff and current students. Those were the women with the hugest smiles written across their faces, cheering to each other, busting out some moves in their chairs. 

Because they know. They know the life-change that these women in Kaunda Square are about to experience. They know that this program is real and is powerful, and is so very effective in vulnerable communities. They know their own success stories, stories of empowerment and rising above oppression to take steps on a journey of HOPE. 

That’s worth getting excited about. The hope-filled potential in 16 women’s lives. The journey ahead of them is worth cheering for. They may not know all that lies before them, but friends, we sure do. You do, you’ve seen it too. 

As we begin this program for the 16 women below, we want to invite 16 of you to join the HOPE Club in a symbolic and necessary step to get this program going. When you join the HOPE Club from the button below, you’ll receive a thank you note from one of the 16 women. You can know that you are directly involved with this launch, and that we couldn’t do this without you. 

Introducing, our new 16 in Kaunda Square Compound:
Gladys Kamanga
Unice Witi
Angelina Phiri
Clementina Mwamba
Clara Zyongwe
Mwengu Maninga
Monica Tembo
Florence Zulu
Jacklyn Mwakatobe
Doreen Nyimbiri
Gloria Banda
Christine Liswaniso
Grace Mudenda
Jocelyn Zyongwe
Precious Mukanda
Bwlya Lesa

When I asked these women if they wanted to share their stories, almost half of them rose out of their chairs and followed me outside, so eager to be heard. Here’s one of these powerful stories:

Mwengu is almost 26 years old. Her dad died before she finished grade 12, and when he passed, so did the income for her to continue her education. She has 6 siblings, and still lives at home as the second born child with much responsibility in the family. All of Mwengu’s friends are prostitutes in Kaunda Square. They go to the bars as early as 7am to begin working. They have children from different fathers, and the children can’t attend school because their mothers are essentially absent from their lives due to their lifestyles. Mwengu is passionate about helping her friends. It’s so hard for her to watch her friends choose such difficult lives. Her ultimate dream after finishing our course is to start a specialized training course specifically for women involved in prostitution, reaching out to such a hurting and needy people group in the compound. 

Mwengu's Enrollment Photo

We invite 16 of you to step up and join our 16 women in Kaunda Square, taking brave and bold steps to give HOPE to a new community. Join us.

 With Chikondi and HOPE, 
Amy

Welcome, Meredith!

We hope you will extend a warm and friendly welcome to the newest member of our CiH family, Meredith Walker! Meredith has joined us as US-based Creative Director. She's the mastermind behind our One Stitch at A Time T-shirts, the 2015 Year-End Mailer, and loads of other projects and content. So we're thrilled to have her on our team!

CiH's Creative Director, Meredith

You'll enjoy getting to know Meredith, and maybe you'll find you have some things in common with our newest staff member:

1. What is your favorite CiH product? I absolutely love the twist bracelets! They are such a great staple that can be worn with just about anything.

2. What do you love about CiH? I am so encouraged by the bravery in all of the people involved with CiH. From Amy's obedience to follow the Lord's calling, to the women who set aside a year of their busy lives to learn new skills and build up their families and communities— it truly is an amazing organization. 

3. How did you first hear about CiH? I first learned about Clothed in Hope when I was in school at University of South Carolina. A friend who was involved with the organization at the time told me they were in need of a poster design calling for interns. So I made the poster, and simultaneously applied for an internship in 2011. 

4. If you could be any animal, what would it be and why? This is a SUPER tough question, but I'll go with a french bulldog. I love people, I'm sometimes athletic, but I'm mostly interested in food and naps.

5. What is your favorite TV show? The Office. Hands down. My husband thinks I'm crazy because I've watched every season, probably, about 6 times. 

6. What is your favorite dessert? All of it. If I have to choose one, it would be ice cream. No, oreos. No, ice cream WITH oreos. 

7. What is your dream destination? Italy!

Meredith with her adorable pup, Rocco

“Ever since I made that first poster for CiH I have been so encouraged to see this organization grow and continue to impact the lives of real people! When this opportunity came up, it truly felt like an answer to an unspoken prayer. I am so excited to work with a group of such smart, hardworking, dedicated women!”

— Meredith

We feel like the luckiest to have Meredith on our team. She's brilliant, she's creative, she's innovative, and she's so very kind. When you see all of the great content we have planned for 2016, you'll know it too. Welcome to Clothed in Hope, Meredith!

Hope is Flowing

You did it!!

Our Clean Water Well at the Chikondi Community Center in Lusaka, Zambia is now fully funded and fully operational!

Because of your generosity, clean water pumps from 230 feet below the surface directly into the buckets and barrels of thousands of people in the Ng’ombe Compound. 

Every morning starting at 5 a.m., dozens of women, school children, and families line up outside our gate to fill up with clean, healthy, life-giving water. No more water-borne illness. No more dehydration. No more fear during drought. No more water shortages. 

These water jugs mean life for households without running water. We love watching individuals walk away with full buckets, knowing the difference that water will make for entire families. 

Our well is an unlimited supply of water, making far-reaching impacts throughout our entire community. 

Because you chose to give. To give water, life, HOPE. To give generously. 

Thank you from all of us at Clothed in Hope, and from the thousands benefitted from our clean water well. 

Our tank rises high above the surrounding area, a beacon of hope to many. We love that Clothed in Hope is known for loving our neighbors, just as the Chikondi Community Center was named after. Chikondi means love, and we feel the love stretching from so many states in the US (and even from a home in Australia!) all the way to a vulnerable community in urban Zambia. 

We are so grateful for each one of you, and hope you realize just how much of an impact you’re making in the lives of real people in a community with a real need. 

(Water flows from the clean source to the giant tank through this blue hose into the hundreds of buckets that line up outside our gate every single day)

With Chikondi and many thanks, 
Amy

Hope-Infused Update

Here’s the thing. It’s only been one week since this post and you all have been so generous to help fund our clean water well at our Chikondi Community Center! It’s time for a little update to catch you up. 

I just arrived in Zambia a couple days ago to connect with our ladies and hear of the amazing things they’re accomplishing. And today I laid eyes on this mega tank myself. Standing high above the other houses in the area, our big green tank symbolizes life. Water in the drought. Water flowing even when day-long power cuts keep all other water from flowing at other wells. 

As I reconnected with the ladies and made my rounds at CCC, I watched as person after person dropped off their buckets and jugs at our gate to be filled by our staff. Each person who walks away with a bucket of clean water is joining our Clothed in Hope family by becoming part of our story. This story is reaching far beyond our training students and their families. This story is flowing throughout an entire vulnerable community. And I just love that. 

Here is a list of our initial goal for this life-giving project:
3 partners of HOPE to give $1,000
4 world changers to give $500
10 difference makers to give $100
10 big hearts to give $50
10 compassionate souls to give $25
25 generous people to give $10

And here’s what we still need to fully fund our clean water well:
3 partners of HOPE to give $1,000
3 difference makers to give $100
5 big hearts to give $50
6 compassionate souls to give $25
25 generous people to give $10

Thank you so much to everyone who has already donated to partner with us in giving clean water to the Ng’ombe community! We’re almost halfway to our goal and would love to share a fun video with you once we reach it. And just like before, every tax-deductible contribution also gets a handwritten thank you note from a CiH lady. We are so grateful for each one of you. 

With Chikondi (Love),
Amy
CiH Founder & Executive Director

Hope-Infused

Earlier this year, a truck smashed through our wall fence. Men destroyed our yard, leaving debris all over our property. They trapped us in the Chikondi Community Center for over 6 hours. 

And we all thanked them for it. We cheered, we danced, we shouted, we rejoiced. We even bought them some donuts and Cokes. 

Because that truck and those men drilled a deep clean water well in the middle of our property. A dream of ours from the very beginning has now become reality. 

I thought I knew just how valuable water was to the Ng’ombe community after being around for a few years now. I know that it takes women an immense amount of physical strength and valuable time to walk around to find an operating well, carrying upwards at 40 pounds of water in jugs back to their home.  I know that some children wake up before sunrise during dry season in hopes of finding a well with water, exposing themselves to the danger of being outside in the community in the dark. I know that water isn’t free. I know that the vast majority of houses don’t have running water, but instead jugs and barrels that are used for bathing, cooking, and cleaning. 

Water is valuable. Water is a challenge. Water is life. 

The Ng’ombe community, where our Chikondi Community Center is located, is home to over 125,000 people within just a few square miles. This compound is still in Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia, a more advanced part of the country. Yet it is estimated that 65% of this community does not have access to clean drinking water. 

Because when the good wells run dry, the shallow-dug wells are all that are available. Dirty surface water carrying diseases and parasites like Giardia, typhoid, and many others. 

This is the reality for the ladies in our program. This is their struggle. This is the life for their families. 

We simply had enough hearing stories of women drinking dirty water or sending their tiny children who skip school so that they can wait at the well all day to fetch water for the entire family. So when we found out that right that very moment carried the perfect conditions for drilling, we decided to go for it. No time to build a fancy crowdfunding campaign, but just enough time to drill this well. 

We (this amazingly efficient drilling company) were able to drill down 70 meters beneath all the mess to reach an unlimited supply of clear, fresh, healthy water. As the drill hit the water and it shot up high into the sky, women inside the center who were peering through the windows in amazement cheered. They danced. They yelled out in joy. Because to them this wasn’t just a cool thing to see, this was life changing. This was another way that hope was brought to their lives. 

Jessy asked if I would step aside to chat with her during all the chaos of the drilling day. She looked me straight in the eyes with depth, deep joy, and long-battled victory, and simply said, “Thank you for giving me water.”

What seems like another accessible resource to most of us in the West, even fancied up to have flavors and colors and health benefits, is a resource that many developing nations simply don’t have. A resource that our dear friends, students, and neighbors didn’t have until now. 

To our ladies at the Chikondi Community Center and the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of families who will now get to draw water from our clean well, this is a glorious gift. A gift of life, health, hope, and a little bit of relief from the many tough burdens of life. 

Yvonne dispenses water from our clean water well to this girl coming from school. Look how crystal clear that water is!

All with one giant truck, a huge mess in the yard, a water tank bigger than our car, and a bunch of women who are crazy amazing in how they love each other and care about their community having tasted this glorious hope of their own. 

Giving hope and clean water, one stitch at a time. 

We need your help to cover the cost of this life-giving well, benefitting thousands in a vulnerable community in Lusaka, Zambia. The entire cost of the project is $7,000. To fund this project, and allow our monthly funds to cover our life-skills training program, we need:

3 partners of HOPE to give $1,000 
4 world changers to give $500
10 difference makers to give $100
10 big hearts to give $50
10 compassionate souls to give $25
25 generous people to give $10

To donate and receive a Handwritten Thank You Note from a life you’ve impacted through providing this clean water well, simply click below:

Thank you for making this possible and for partnering with us as we continue to share HOPE with the Ng’ombe Community in Lusaka, Zambia. 

With Chikondi (Love),
Amy

When Life Gives You Lemons, You Make A Skirt

Back in 2012, our first graduating class was overjoyed to learn new skills, so much so that they had to share them. There was no other option. They believed that women all over Zambia needed to get some of what they were getting: hope, knowledge, community, purpose. On their own they sought out a remote village three hours outside Lusaka, in an area where ox-drawn carts are the primary mode of transportation and the closest government school is over an hour’s walk. This village is called Muchochoma Village, and ever since 2012, they have been part of our Clothed in Hope family. 

These twelve women in the Muchochoma Village training group have endured hardships many of us cannot even imagine. When we first started coming to the village, Muchochoma villagers were known to other villages as the “beggars.” They couldn’t even afford food or soap. Yet these women weren’t (and still aren’t) bound by their circumstances. They are capable, determined, and bright. 

When our once-every-two-month visits turned into twice-monthly visits due to the drive and passion of the village ladies, we needed a facility. A place to learn sewing, business management, health education and personal development skills. A place to gather together and build a community of encouragers and doers. Rather than ask for an elaborate structure, the twelve women came together to make bricks by hand. Mud bricks, hand crafted, did you catch that? They built a structure, and we provided the roofing and support poles. We traded the mango tree shade for this building, and everyone loved it. 

The original structure at Muchochoma Village, with HANDMADE bricks.

Until just a few months ago, during rainy season, when a terrible storm ripped through the village, tearing off our roofing sheets, damaging them, and destroying the handmade bricks. The building was leveled to the ground with materials scattered. Our home of HOPE in Muchochoma Village, destroyed. 

Everyone was devastated. But the sorrow didn’t last too long. The storm that destroyed the facility couldn’t destroy the passion and determination of the Muchochoma Village ladies and our training staff. When life gave them lemons, they made skirts. They made skirts sitting on maize sacks on the ground in the sunshine. The most beautiful skirts from the most inspiring determination. 

Iledi with her beautiful skirt. 

We’ve decided that it’s time to ramp up our partnership in Muchochoma Village. These ladies express such a hunger for learning, for change, for empowering others in surrounding villages, and we want to be a part of that. So we’re currently in the final weeks of building a permanent concrete structure where the old facility stood. 

A new Chikondi Community Center. A new home of HOPE for Muchochoma Village women and their families. And it’s not just a center for CiH programs. The Chikondi Community Center: Muchochoma Village will also serve as a primary school building for village children to learn, some attending school for the first time in their lives since they were previously unable to afford school fees or make the trek to the government school. This is truly a community center, a gathering place, a safe haven, a school, a beacon of hope to this community and countless others. 

The Muchochoma women are the artisans of our Village Twist Bracelets, and have utilized their business training to invest their bracelet income into purchasing farming fertilizer. For the first year in this village, they had a profitable harvest. From training to bracelets to a harvest and a sustainable income source for this village, we continue to be blown away by what is happening in Muchchoma Village. 

Nothing can stop these women from working hard for their families and their community. The once “beggar village” is now a generous village, handing out crops and goods to surrounding villages in need because of their empowerment, their opportunity, and their new business. The headman of Muchochoma Village (similar position to a Mayor for Americans) approached us recently to share, “this is exactly the type of project I want for my village.” Not a handout but an opportunity through empowerment and education. A truly lasting impact for the community. A dignifying path for women and their families. He invites us to continue, to keep on, and is as excited as we are for our permanent facility to be completed in the next few weeks. 

The oldest woman of the village, who the ladies refer to as "Sweet Sixteen," hard at work using the manual hand sewing machine.

All of this because our first class of students in 2012 wanted to pay it forward and give others the skills they have. Zambians bettering Zambia from the inside out. A true inspiration to all of us, and a joy to our always-expanding CiH family. 

Thank you for making this incredible empowerment and sustainability possible. We can’t wait to show you photos of the new Chikondi Community Center, where many more beautiful skirts will be made for years to come. 

With Chikondi (Love),
Amy 

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If you would like to donate towards the cost of this Chikondi Community Center in Muchochoma Village (around $6,000), click “Donate” below. All donations are 100% tax-deductible and greatly appreciated. 

Graduation Recap: Class of March 2015

Here's a little peek into what happens at a Clothed in Hope Graduation Ceremony (hint: it's FUN!). Enjoy the photos, and celebrate with us all that this day means for the 7 women who graduated from our skills-training program. Thank you to all of you who have donated and purchased products, because you are the ones who made it happen. You have given the life-changing gift of education to women in Zambia. You have given HOPE. And rather than this being the end of their journey, it's really just the beginning. They've completed 12 months of skills-training in sewing and entrepreneurship, and are now off to run their profitable businesses for the benefit of their families. Congrats, graduates! And thank YOU to all you HOPE-givers out there. 

Many ladies, especially CiH graduates, choose to show off their skills with their own dress designs by creating gorgeous custom dresses for themselves. Aren't they stunning?!

Forget boring vinyl banners. The CiH graduates take pride in and create ownership of their ceremony by creating a custom banner together. 

Empowering mamas (like Mirriam) through education leads to raising up confident and healthy babies (like Temwani), which leads to strengthening and keeping families together, preventing social orphans entirely. Doesn't get much better than that. 

The CiH women nominate a Director of Ceremonies to lead the graduation day. Ireen (a current student, here in green), did a fabulous job leading us in singing, dancing, skits, and making sure all events of the day ran smoothly. You're the best, Ireen!

Hugs all around! Plenty of singing, dancing, and even skits to celebrate the joy of the day. 

CiH Founder, Amy, gives a motivational talk to graduates and current students, affirming dignity, value, capability, and beauty in each woman.

When it comes time for the handing out of the diplomas women run (or dance, like Vene here) all the way to the front in celebration! Elina, CiH In-Country Director, shares "This is just the start. This is just a piece of paper. YOU have the skill!"

Each graduate gets a BIG hug, because this accomplishment is a BIG deal. A past graduate, Maureen, shared, "This opportunity of a diploma comes once in a lifetime, so we must not miss the chance to dance. It's time to dance." For most, this is the only graduation they'll attend, and we love being able to provide this day to brag on them for all of their hard work and determination. It's truly a day for dancing!

Left to right: Mrs. Mulenga (tailoring instructor), Charity (graduate), Amy (founder), Elina (Zambia Director) all pose together for a photo that will be cherished for many years to come. 

CiH Staff with the Class of March 2015 Graduates. Congratulations, ladies!!

Mirriam said during her speech to the group, "When people see what I'm wearing they say 'I want this dress!' I thank God for the gifts you've given me!"

As is customary, the CiH Staff ladies sit under the Presentation Tent together. 

Class of September 2014 graduate, Patriciar, comes back with 2 of her kids, as she's dressed to the nines in her custom design dress. Past graduates and current students all come out to support their peers, their community, their friends. 

Congratulations, Class of March 2015 Graduates!! We are so proud of each one of you!

New Year, New Look

We recently celebrated 4 years since our founding, and that’s something we’re really grateful and excited about! We’ve been a part of over 50 women’s stories, providing valuable skills training in Lusaka, Zambia. And we won’t be stopping any time soon.

We’ve felt for a while that this is a new season for us, a season of growth, of streamlining our program, of opportunity to even more women in Zambia. So with joy and gratitude for the donors, artists, volunteers, etc. who have made this happen, we are pumped to unveil our “new look” with you all.

The new look brings new products of a higher quality and more innovative design elements. Luxe. Chic. Empowering. Creative. HOPE-giving.

Join us in turning this new page. We have a stunning new logo, will be offering fabulous new products (Men’s, Women’s, and Kids), and are operating off of a gorgeous new website. Take a minute to look around and get to know us on an even deeper level. And if you’re new to CiH, thanks for joining us! We look forward to sharing stories of HOPE and redemption with you as our program continues to grow.

Our numbers are increasing, we’ve hired more local staff who are running the program all by themselves, but our heart stays the same. We are dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty, one stitch at a time. We aim to empower vulnerable women through valuable life-skills education. We are in it for the long haul to truly benefit vulnerable communities in Lusaka.

There is just so much goodness happening in and through our organization, and we are humbled to be a part of it all. Join us in writing more stories of HOPE, and we look forward to sharing them with you with our fresh new look.

With Chikondi (Love),

Amy Bardi
Founder & Executive Director