Maureen's Story

Maureen is a mother of 5 children whose ages range from 3 to 19 years old. She joined our program in September 2013, as part of our second group in our life-skills training program in the Ng'ombe Compound. Maureen lives in the compound, which is home to around 120,000 people living in 2 square miles. 

Maureen has a smile that lights up the room. But that smile took a long time to show itself, due to the hardships Maureen carried into our classroom. She faced difficulties at home in her marriage, financial difficulties, and her family would often find themselves without enough food to eat. 

Maureen was a quick learner, and she even brought a Jewelry Making skill to our ladies that she shared generously. She graduated, receiving her Diploma in September 2014, and what a happy day that was!

Maureen applied for our first round of microloans soon after. With the funds, she purchased chitenge fabric to make garments for customers nearby. Maureen learned from our classes, and chose to reinvest the profits from her business to see her businesses grow. With hard work and determination, Maureen saved up enough money to open 2 shops in the Ng'ombe Compound: a tailoring stand and a restaurant. These opened in February 2015, and offer customers custom outfits, rice, tea, and other goods. 

It doesn't stop there. Maureen has just raised enough money to send her oldest son to university. He will begin his education in the next few months. Maureen even opened a bank account with a local bank to keep saving, depositing her profits, to see her business and family thrive. 

For us at Clothed in Hope, this is the dream. We equip women with the skills they need to start and run a small business independent of us. While we love the products they design and make with us, we love even more that they are thriving on their own. Maureen took the skills, knowledge, and opportunity, and now has the pride and confidence of providing for her family and watching them thrive. She's doing it on her own - the best solution for Maureen's family, and for her entire community. This entrepreneur is unstoppable!

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. 

She Doesn't Want Pity

This little shack could be an image from the latest child hunger advertisement. The dust, the raggedy tarps, the garbage strewn about, the destroyed structure in the background. And the “normal” reaction may be, “I feel so sorry for whoever’s this is” or “we need to do something about this.” 

It was my reaction when I’d see images like this at the beginning of this CiH journey. 

Let’s call it what it is- Pity: the feeling of sorrow and compassion caused by the suffering and misfortunes of others (definition from Google). 

There are plenty of instances of suffering and misfortunes in the Ng’ombe Compound in which we work, but friends, this isn’t one of them. 

Here’s the real story behind this photo:

This is Patricia’s grocery stand. Patricia is a mother of 3, a graduate of our Skills Training Program, and the designer/producer of many of our top-selling bags. She’s sharp, she’s shy, she’s kind, and she has the best chuckle around. 

Patricia worked her butt off (for lack of a better term) for this grocery stand, for this little shack that might evoke feelings of pity if we’re not careful. 

She applied for a microloan after she completed our skills training program. She received a good chunk of cash after she passed a very challenging business class and exam. She then had to manage that cash, only investing in her business (like building THIS stand from scratch), keeping up-to-date business records audited by our staff every 2 months with a home visit at her house. She had to and successfully did repay the microloan within 6 months of receiving it. 

In a society where much of life is day-to-day survival, this accomplishment is pretty miraculous, and one that doesn’t come easy. 

This little shack is actually Patricia’s Beautiful Grocery Stand. This is her trophy of hard work, dedication, and relentlessness. This is her symbol of hope, of redemption, of self-sustainability. This stand means food on the table, rent paid, kids in school, and a happy, healthy family. 

Friends, let’s reframe our thinking when it comes to the vulnerable- the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized. What may not be our Western standard of success could actually be the greatest success in an impoverished society- one of self-sustainability and entrepreneurship in the form of a roadside grocery stand. 

Patricia doesn’t want your pity. She wants your pat on the back. She wants your celebration.  Let’s give it to 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

She Will Fly

Emeli sits with a huge smile as we begin our staff meeting. I have just returned to Zambia after a few months away, and am eager to catch up with our Zambia staff women. Emeli doesn’t know much English. She always has someone else write and read for her. She’s a mom of 4 grown children and a grandmother. For years, decades even, Emeli has survived by making fritters, fried dough enjoyed for breakfast in the compound. She’s famous for those fritters, and they sure are good. 

But Emeli doesn’t have a college degree. She doesn’t have nonprofit management experience, or any management experience beyond the home (though that experience is pretty mighty!). Some might have said along the way that Emeli will always only be known for her fritters. 

As we open our meeting, I fearfully ask for feedback. I know it is good and healthy and all that jazz, but I also know how these meetings go. With a myriad of cultural differences and misunderstandings between us and between continents when I’m away, it’s almost expected that something big surfaces when I come back. Not beyond repair by any means, but something worthy of much attention. 

Upon asking this question, Emeli’s face shifts. I can tell she has an answer to contribute, and she begins speaking in Nyanja soon after. She says many words I ashamedly still don’t understand after 5+ years of this, but she is also communicating in a way that I can. She’s smiling the largest smile, her eyes squinted at the corners and full of sparkle. 

Elina translates what Emeli says, and simply states, “She says that she loves her job. Very much.”

I sit there, and let that sink in. 

Emeli, a woman in her fifties, is helping to run an international nonprofit. Emeli doesn’t have a college degree, or even speak English. Emeli has only ever made fritters. 

But given the wings, Emeli will fly. Not could or might or should be able to.  

Culture and injustice may have kept Emeli from gaining the education or experience, or even the language. But ain’t nothing stopping Emeli from soaring when she’s got her wings on, when she is able to live out her full capacity on a team that believes in her, pushes her, encourages her, and wants to see her do her best. 

And it goes beyond our 4 walls. Emeli casually shares that one-day she decided to build a grocery stand outside her house, and now it is very successful. A woman with no prior business training, no understanding of profit or entrepreneurship, is crushing it in every way imaginable. 

As I walk through the compound for the long trek home, dirt roads lined with women sitting idly waiting for the day to pass, unable to earn an income or do much else, I see Emelis everywhere. 

I see shoulders ready for their wings. I see brilliant minds not yet exercised because of the hardships of life they’ve had to endure along the way. I see so much potential in this compound of poverty and abuse and injustice and hunger and lots of terrible things. I see women who are ready to fly, ready to soar above it all and show the world what they’ve been capable of all along. 

Will you believe this with us? Will you help us continue to encourage, foster, and showcase the potential of vulnerable women in Zambia? The capability is absolutely there. 

Mirriam's Kids Need Shoes

Mirriam is the mom of 2 boys, Twinza in primary school and Temwani on his way to preschool (or baby class as it’s called in Zambia). In order for Mirriam’s boys to attend school, they each need a pair of black school shoes, a uniform, a backpack, and various school supplies, on top of the trimester tuition Mirriam will pay for them to attend community schools. 

This can be quite a burden for Mirriam’s family, and will continue to be 16+ years from now when both boys are done with their schooling. In a community where rent money is hard to come by, this expense alone can cause much stress and cripple a family’s income. 

Twinza and Temwani need shoes, but we won’t be providing them. We won’t be providing uniforms or backpacks or school supplies or anything like that. 

Because we can provide a longer lasting solution, a dignifying solution to this ongoing need. Because we can change our ideas of charity through sustainable community development.

What we can do is give Mirriam the opportunity to earn an income through the production of our bow ties (since Mirriam is our bow tie queen). We can give Mirriam the business training and microloan to launch and successfully run her own business, not dependent on our bow tie sales. We can give her support, skills, resources, and a boost of confidence. 

Because Mirriam is able. And she is the best person to give school shoes to her kids. Her boys will see their mom and dad confidently providing for them, furthering the unity of a healthy home. And Mirriam and her husband will have the joy and pride of meeting the needs of their family independently as capable and skilled parents. 

Mirriam and Temwani (her youngest child)

A long-term win that keeps families together and forges a path of dignity. Did you know one bow tie led to so much goodness? 

With Chikondi,
Amy
CiH Founder & Executive Director


P.S. Mirriam is the sole producer of our Eddington Bow Ties. If you buy one, you better believe she's the one who made it, and her kids are the ones who benefit. You can find her work here (and on sale!).

Esther is Back!

Happy New Year!

We hope each of you have had a joyful and HOPE-filled start to 2016. We are so excited to share the results of our year-end campaign soon, but first we wanted to share this story. And if you’re new to our CiH family, welcome!

As many of you know, one of our ladies, Esther, was in a tragic accident a couple months back, resulting in the death of her husband and two of their children. Esther is part of the House of Moses Orphanage partnership class, identified as vulnerable to having her children taken away if her and her husband couldn’t find a way to earn an income. This vulnerable identification was placed on them from the Zambian government before the accident. 

Imagine the past couple of months that Esther has faced. Not only did she bury her baby and first born child, but she also attended the funeral of her husband, housed all out-of-town relatives for months, lost her primary income source (her husband), and struggled to survive. 

After we shared her difficult story, you all stepped up, big time. You donated almost $1,000 to cover her immediate expenses of food, soap, child’s school fees, etc. And together with the community of our CiH classes, Esther and her remaining child have survived. They have been comforted, encouraged, uplifted. They have felt great pain, but they have also experienced great hope through the women surrounding her who have spent hours praying with her, cooking for her, cleaning her entire home. 

We expected Esther to be out of class for weeks, months, potentially a year, until she could get herself out of bed and re-join the group. But just THIS WEEK, the start of a new year and her graduation year, Esther walked back through our doors. Still tender, still hurt, but walking forward, stepping into community, and making progress in her healing process. 

(Esther in yellow, working on her end-of-course practical exams)

We are so proud of Esther. We are so overjoyed to have her back at our Chikondi Community Center. Esther thanks each one of you who have played a part in her story of rising from the ashes. It’s just the beginning, but she is so very thankful. 

And also just as exciting, Esther is looking forward to the future now. She is dreaming of ways to care for her child, not out of desperation but out of pride and hope. With your contributions made in 2015, we are able to provide Esther with a seed for her to launch her own business, a long-term solution to her immediate needs. 

Esther will receive a sewing machine and materials, an opportunity given to her by you. A rare occurrence in our programming, but a bright solution to a tragedy in our family. Esther will graduate this March, and she has already started working on her final examination sewing projects. She will start sewing and selling curtains as her business, and she is so excited about it. 

We are, too! For a woman to grasp a long-term solution rooted in education and independence, especially coming out of such a dark situation, is incredible. Her forward thinking and desire for dignifying work is such an encouragement to us, and I hope it is to you also, as Esther paves a new way for women in Zambia. 

Esther’s story has touched more lives than we thought possible. And she’s just one woman in our program. Thank you for being a part of a movement so impactful in the lives of so many. 

With Chikondi,
Amy

Update on Esther

Friends, this post is hard to type and will be hard to read. But please join us in the valleys as you’ve joined us on the mountaintops. 

You may have read our first post about the tragedy that Esther has faced. Since then many new details have come to light regarding this situation. The facts are as follows: Esther’s husband drove her and their 3 children to a village a couple hours away from Lusaka to visit with his family, specifically an ill grandmother. On the way back to Lusaka, a large hog ran across the dirt road in front of the car. Esther’s husband swerved in an attempt to avoid hitting the hog, but the car crashed in the process. The baby and oldest child were killed on impact, as seatbelts and car seats aren’t the norm in Zambia. As Esther and her middle child tried to arrange transportation for them to return to Lusaka to receive adequate medical care for their injuries, Esther’s husband fled the scene. Fear, panic, guilt- we’re not sure why he fled, just that he did.

Over the past days and weeks, Esther and her middle child have recovered from their injuries. But we have just learned that Esther’s husband was found dead outside a village near his family’s village. Details are unknown regarding the cause of death, but it isn’t good. 

As you may imagine, Esther is really struggling. Her grief is unbearable. Her sorrow is intense. Her cries leave her paralyzed. No one would’ve thought that a trip to see an ill grandmother would result in the loss of 3 family members, instantaneously. Not only has she lost her husband, but she lost her friend, her partner, her provider, and her primary income source. This leaves Esther in a very vulnerable state, emotionally, physically, financially, mentally. 

Our CiH family aches over this most recent news, in a situation we didn’t think could get much worse. We hate that our sister has to suffer so intensely. 

As I’ve been conversing with Elina, our In-Country Director, I’ve been broken-hearted over this loss in an already difficult time in Esther’s life. But I’ve also been challenged, encouraged even. 

Elina just informed me that all of the classes came together and decided it’s best for every single person of CiH- current students, past students, graduates, staff- to meet at Esther’s house tomorrow. She lives in a compound further away from our Chikondi Community Center, as she is part of our House of Moses Orphanage partnership. All 50+ people will use their own money to catch a bus to go to Esther’s house. Meeting there at 7am (after a 1+ hour trip to her house by bus). And returning back in time for their classes to resume as normal. 

They have chosen to come around Esther in a profound way, offering prayers over her and her child, giving words of encouragement in this dark place, cleaning her house, and taking care of chores that Esther is unable to tackle in her current state. 

They have also chosen to give donations. To give their own money, no matter how small, to Esther so that her family can survive. Let’s pause right there. Many of the current students in our class live on less than $1/day. And yet they have chosen to give generously, sacrificially, because they know the power of community, they feel the weight of their sister’s struggle. And they will help. 

I didn’t prompt this. I couldn’t even dream a story so beautiful in the midst of such awful tragedy. The warm sunlight breaking through the darkest valley through 50+ people of our CiH family. Giving, not out of their excess, but out of their pockets, out of their already-strained finances. 

This is what Clothed in Hope is all about. Take away the classes, take away the products. Stripped down, we are about community. We are about exposing others to a life-changing HOPE that can’t help but be shared in a profound and moving way. We are about visiting our sister in her distress, in leaning down with others in their struggle to sit with them but also to rise with them. Sure we are about breaking the cycle of poverty, but we’re also about thriving in the midst of poverty and anguish and loss. Because HOPE is greater than fear. Love greater than pain. Community stronger than crippling isolation. 

While the visit to Esther’s house will be when many of us are sleeping (Midnight-3am EST), I invite you to carve out your own 7-10am or any other time during the day tomorrow to offer your own thoughts and prayers for Esther. This community is strong, and you are just as much a part of it as those 50 traveling the distance to meet with their dear sister and her son tomorrow morning. 

We are here for her emotionally, spiritually, physically, and practically as we work closely with her neighbors, friends, and classmates to work toward a long-term solution for Esther and her child. And we are grateful for a family so supportive, so sacrificially generous, serving as a light in this dark world. 

With Chikondi (Love),
Amy

Some of you have expressed interest in wanting to give to help Esther with her immediate expenses like rent payments, food, school fees for her middle child. We are so encouraged by your kind and generous hearts. If you would like to donate for this specific need, click on the button below: 

Also, if you would like to share an encouraging quote, word, verse, or prayer, you may leave it in the comments section and it will be translated for Esther and/or our CiH ladies to hear. Thank you for your outpouring of love. 

Tragic Loss for Our Family

Yesterday tragedy struck our Clothed in Hope family. One of the women in our program, Esther, lost 2 children in a road accident. Esther is 28 years old, and a member of the House of Moses partnership Class of March 2016. Esther was traveling back to Lusaka after visiting family over the weekend, and before her and her 2 youngest children (one was only 9 months old) reached home, the bus crashed. Esther survived and will be okay, but her babies didn't. Esther’s family has gone from 5 members to just 3 within one day, and we cannot begin to imagine the pain she is experiencing from this traumatic loss. 

We cry with Esther. We grieve with her. We sit in her pain. We have hearts full of love, belonging, and empathy toward Esther. Sadly, she’s not the only woman to have lost a child this year, and that hurts all of us. We hurt having to attend the funerals of each other’s children, but still there is comfort in not doing so alone. Esther will have over 50 women attending the burial of her children, women who have experienced similar loss, who understand the pain, who will cry with her, sit with her, and rise with her. 

Esther, a few months back during her training at our Chikondi Community Center

We invite you to join us in lifting up Esther. First, bending down in sorrow and sadness with her. Join us in sending up your thoughts and prayers for Esther and her family. Our Clothed in Hope family will provide support to her in person, but your thoughts and prayers are also powerful to Esther. You can make a difference in her heart right where you are. Let’s all join together and surround her as a CiH family, stretching across oceans, holding each other up, and uniting as a people who are familiar with pain but also full of hope. 

Thank you for being our family, whether you’re a HOPE Club member walking closely with us, a customer providing valuable support, a one-time donor helping us continue our work, or a volunteer/supporter/advocate growing our family. In times like this, we cling to one another, and are so thankful for each one of you. We hold onto hope. We stand firm in love. 

With Chikondi, 
Amy

Through Rose's Eyes

Rose is 45 years old, a mother of two children, and part of the newest graduating class from our Chikondi Community Center training program in Zambia. On Saturday, September 12, our entire CiH family gathered together at our center for a most joyful graduation day as we celebrated our largest graduating classes yet, a total of 8 women! Rather than recap all of the details that just don’t do the day justice in how incredible it was, I wanted to share the day through one story- Rose’s story. 

Rose has lived in a house just a stone’s throw from our center. She woke up each day seeing the walls of our center painted with our logo and describing our program for women, hearing the clickety-clacks of sewing machines and cheers of women. But Rose just sat idle at her house, defeated from over 40 years of struggle. She had no business to run, no skills to utilize, seemingly no purpose to fulfill. 

In what was surely a gradual decision and after much convincing, on one ordinary day, Rose stepped through our gate door thanks to the persistence of another student, Justina, and our local directors. Here at CiH, we don’t let each other suffer alone. That’s just not how life is meant to be lived. So on that day 12 months ago, Rose became part of a beautiful family, our CiH community of over 60 women who learn together, grieve together, celebrate together, and overcome together. 

Rose's CiH Registration Photo from September 2014

Rose, still skeptical and burdened, started her learning slowly, but when the switch flipped in her mind that she was capable of learning big things, and able to achieve great things, she quickly excelled. Rose, like the plant we all know, was only noticing the thorns until we began to see her bloom into the most beautiful creation. She hasn’t stopped blooming since. 

On Saturday, we celebrated her and 7 of her closest friends and classmates, who ranged in ages from 29 to 46, all mamas to precious little ones. The day was special for all, but the second Rose walked through that gate door as she did for the first time 12 months ago, we knew it was especially special for her. 

Rose strolled in with a bold confidence, a loud joy, and a powerful beauty, with her hair in curls, and the most stylish chitenge outfit that she designed herself. Adorned with a bright patterned fabric, Rose was rocking a peplum top and pencil skirt with unique detailing throughout the outfit. I can’t come up with any word to describe her that day other than “EMPOWERED.” 

Rose (far right) stylin' and dancin' in her own custom design outfit. 

As songs played and the ceremony progressed, Rose kept her huge smile, the type that makes your eyes squint at the corners because it occupies your entire face. That type of real joy, of real victory, of real accomplishment. On Saturday, Rose danced to celebrate not only that she passed our program, but that she now carries a newfound respect, purpose, and dignity for herself, qualities that reach far beyond sewing machines and business. Qualities that have truly changed her life and her family. 

The time came (after delicious snacks, of course) for the graduates to receive their diplomas. Rose sat nervously in her seat, in great anticipation of this moment that she never imagined possible for her life. She was to be recognized by many. She was to be celebrated for completing a difficult course that would equip her with a valuable skill. 

Then Rose’s name was called. The eye-squinting smile was replaced with tears. Overflowing tears. Raw emotion like we have never witnessed in the 3+ years of our program. All of us held our breath as we witnessed this brilliant moment together. Rose ran up to the front, dancing her way there, proclaiming, “Tears of JOY!”

I could tell that these were tears of joy. But also tears of overcoming immense struggle. Of victory over the darkest places that have held her back for so many years. Of being known and seen and accepted. Of belonging. Tears of the greatest worth, coming from the deepest place inside her soul. 

We all cheered her on, celebrated her vulnerability, her joy, her victory, her story. We screamed, we danced, we hugged, and we, too, shed a few of our own joyful tears. Because what one of us feels, we all feel, and we weren’t going to let that moment slip through our fingers. We savored her celebration together. 

Rose was met by her daughter, one of the few family members to attend our graduation ceremony, and their embrace was witnessed by us all in what seemed to be suspended time. Nothing else mattered in that moment except for the HOPE, the joy, the victory that Rose got to express and share with all of us there. It was one of the most beautiful moments of my entire life. 

As I sat there, watching it all happen in slow motion and savoring every single bit of the emotion, the celebration, I just couldn’t get over the thought that “I feel so lucky.” To be sitting in the middle of the dusty Ng’ombe compound with noises blaring, babies screaming, despair easily noticed all around, yet surrounded in that moment by the most glorious hope and victory, I felt so lucky. 

Life is hard and is especially hard for the women in our program and our community. Many bury their children, many suffer disease, many are abused daily, many face hunger and oppression. Yet in the thick of the hard and seemingly insurmountable pain exists this little thing called HOPE. Hope that changes lives, hope that empowers, hope that lifts up, hope that believes in one another, hope that introduces us to true, powerful, real love. And to inhale that hope in the midst of the hard is one glorious gift. 

I am so lucky to get to be a part of Rose’s story of overcoming, of redemption, of new life. And you, HOPE Club Members, donors, customers, are also so lucky. Your contribution has made this possible. Not in some far-fetched way, but in a tangible way. Evidenced by the tears, by the cheers, by the dancing, by the life-change in 8 amazing women on Saturday. You made this possible. You gave opportunity where many women could only see defeat. You believe in these women by supporting them monthly through our program, and they know who you are and are encouraged by that generous gesture. 

Maybe it feels like you’re thousands of miles away and thus distanced from the change, but let me just tell you today that your involvement with CiH matters. It has changed Rose’s life, and is changing dozens of others today and next month and next year. You are also the lucky ones to get to be a part of something so huge, so empowering, so far-reaching in its impact. Thank you for making this possible. We couldn’t do it without you. And if you’re on the fence about joining our HOPE Club family to provide this opportunity for others who are waiting, join us today. I promise you won’t regret getting to invest in the life-change of others. It’s so worth it. 

With Chikondi (Love) and HOPE, 
Amy

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To join the HOPE Club, providing monthly support for our current and future students, click here:

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. 

Anastasia's Story (Video)

This is Anastasia's Story of HOPE. Because of your contributions and purchases that make it possible for her to complete our skills training program in Zambia, she is empowered and equipped to pave a new path for her family. Thank you for joining us in breaking the cycle of poverty, one stitch at a time.

Unlikely Students

Our heartbeat has been for the vulnerable women of Zambia since the very beginning. And in telling those stories, the cultural norms often come out strong, presenting husbands and fathers as the abusers, as the neglecters, as the ones who don’t care and don’t want to care. And while that’s most always the case with the stories we hear from our ladies, there’s always an exception to the rule. And for this particular story, there are two exceptions to the rule. 

When we signed a partnership with House of Moses Orphanage, we were overcome with the excitement and hope that we get to play an active role in orphan prevention and family perseveration through empowering mothers with a skill before they are forced or encouraged to give up their children for them to experience a better life. We always just assumed that these willing participants, so passionate about keeping their children in their home, would be mothers. And while that’s true of the majority of the class, it’s not the complete truth. 

Enter: Francis and Richard. Dads. Husbands. An incredible inspiration to all of us at the Chikondi Community Center, from students to staff, and now reaching across the ocean. These men aren’t like the others.

They don’t abuse their wives; they speak openly against it. Francis tells our ladies  that no man should ever lay a hand on them. 

They don’t run from their families when the going gets tough; they enter in. Francis and Richard have both stepped up to do everything they can to get their family out of this desperate situation and into financial independence for the sake of their children.

They don’t sit by apathetically; they work hard. With an 85% unemployment being the reality in this compound setting, these men break the mold by seeking out a skill that will turn into self-employment. They are taking their future into their own hands by becoming skilled entrepreneurs, and putting in the hard work to get there. 

They don’t leave family responsibilities to the mother; they share the load. Francis brings his 5-year-old son, Blessing, to class daily so he can play with the other kids and witness his dad working hard for his family. And while Richard’s wife has struggled to learn a skill, rather than shame her, he has stepped up and joined the class, helping her carry the weight of the current situation. 

So this Father’s Day, we celebrate the exceptions in Zambia, the dads who are courageously choosing to stand up in their society and defy the cultural norm to love their families deeply, sacrificially, and boldly. Our hearts burst at the sight of these two men, Francis and Richard, with measuring tapes in hand, eager and quick to learn the skill of tailoring so that their children don’t have to become orphans. For their sacrifice, and for the sacrifice of all of the incredible dads out there, we say thank you. Zikomo Kwambili. 

Francis, father to a 5-year-old son, showing off the skirt pattern he created. 

Richard, dad of twins, hard at work at the Chikondi Community Center. 

Happy Father’s Day!

With Chikondi (Love), 
Amy

Meet our Superwoman: Elina

Meet Elina. She’s our In-Country Director. She was a member of our first graduating class in 2014. She’s a mom of 6, grandmother of 2. She gained valuable skills from our program, and now works passionately to see other women in her community receive the same life-changing opportunity. Sounds like her full-time job would be enough to contribute to the community, right? We thought so too, but we’re quite wrong. 

Elina has always been a giver, a selflessly compassionate woman who wants the best, if not better, for others. And that sacrifice, that joy, that dedication to others is what inspired us way back in 2010 when CiH was only a dream. 

When you see Elina in action at our Chikondi Community Center connecting with women who seem distant, giving encouragement to those who have doubts, making a way for those who are struggling, it changes you. We’ve always known that this generosity and compassion stretches far past her job, as we’ve witnessed her bring orphans into her home and claim them as her own children, as she’s invited others for a meal in seasons when she’s been struggling herself. 

But we heard a story this past week that inspired us even more than we thought possible. 

Elina runs a business in her free time after work and on the weekends with the entrepreneurial skills and mentoring she received at our Chikondi Community Center. Specifically, she purchases goods at wholesale (blankets, fabric, dry goods, etc.) to re-sell to customers in her community and even in other neighboring countries. Talk about impressive, right? She’s making a good amount of money with a new understanding of profit and business management. 

What would one typically do with the extra earnings? Maybe buy some new clothes? Treat oneself to a new hairdo? Splurge on some specialty foods? Enjoy an evening out? Admittedly, that’s what I would probably do. 

But Elina’s different. Not because anyone is watching her, or because she wants the recognition of being generous and amazingly caring. But because she feels it’s her responsibility and her joy to be a part of others’ stories, to expand her family to include the vulnerable, the orphan, the widow, because she’s overcome many struggles in her life as a widow herself. 

Elina recently returned from a trip to Zimbabwe to take care of some family matters. She sold a good chunk of fabric to earn a really high profit from her goods. She didn’t use it on herself. She invested part in her business to buy more goods, but only after she invested in the community. She heard of the need of a primary school building in our partner village, Muchochoma Village, and rather than come to us for help or ask for money, she saw her ability and used it. Elina raised enough money to buy plastic chairs for kids and building bricks to build a primary school in a village. 

One woman. In a compound community of over 100,000. Who has overcome extraordinary pain and hardship. Giving up her own money to provide an educational facility for village children. 

Elina (right) leading games for the children of Muchochoma Village during a past trip

She told me this story in passing, as if it was no big deal. Not looking for a pat on the back or a fancy blog post about her. She was telling me as if to say, “I’m in this too. I’m doing what I can with what I have for the betterment of others.”

A house complex (kitchen, main house, kids house) for a family in Muchochoma Village

Because of Elina, hundreds of village children will have a shelter from heat and rain, a safe environment to gain an education- a privilege of very few in rural villages. All because one woman saw the need, saw her potential to make a difference, and gave generously. 

This mama now gets to provide her children with an education in a safe building, thanks to Elina. 

I know I can learn a lot from Elina, and rather than turn from this story with a short-lived good feeling, I want it to permeate my soul, to change the way I see my potential impact in the community that’s right in front of me and her community 6,000 miles away. Together we’re a force for good. Together we are breaking the cycle of poverty, one stitch at a time. And that’s a beautiful, beautiful thing, friends. 

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