Today is our 8th birthday! This time each year brings about a period of reflection, of where we’ve been, what we’ve gone through, what we’ve accomplished.

But this year when I think back over the years I’m not thinking about the “where” or the “what” but rather the “who.”

I’m thinking of Betty* who smiled for the first time in years when she joined our program. After years of oppression and abuse from the stigma surrounding her HIV+ status, she was only familiar with hurt and tears and hopelessness. Her children only knew a life of struggle, watching their mother be outcast from her community. They watched on as neighbors said she was worth less than the dogs on the streets. They already lost their father to HIV/AIDS, and they were losing their mother to life as a widow. Her body was failing her as she grew weaker and weaker. Her heart shattered day after day from the verbal abuse she endured from everyone around her. One day, months into her training, I was at the Chikondi Community Center and turned around to see Betty’s oldest daughter standing there waiting for me. She said, “Thank you. My mother was crying but now she is smiling. She is happy for the first time in many years.” Betty was happy not just because she had a skill to provide for her family, but because she was part of a community who loved her for her regardless of her HIV status. With us, she was safe, loved, affirmed, and celebrated.

I’m thinking of twin girls and their mama who we almost lost. A corrupt medical system pushed a due date back and denied a bed because of the mama’s financial position. Hours away from losing the babies ans her due to a medical complication from carrying twins past 40 weeks, we were able to take her to a private hospital who would perform an emergency c-section. The twins are now thriving almost-4-year-olds and mama is due with another healthy baby any day now.

I’m thinking of a retired woman here in NC who came across our organization in the craziest of ways and generously chose to use her gift of journalism and writing to get us much-needed exposure in a local magazine. She went a step further to invite the women of her community to an event that she created to allow us to share our story with them and connect with new supporters. She could’ve stayed comfy in her comfy home enjoying her retirement, but she chose to use her talents right where she was to change the lives of women across the world. She did what she could with what she had, and it was incredible.

I’m thinking of our very first interns, fellow college students and sorority sisters at the University of South Carolina, who heard this crazy idea and wanted to put their education into action. They carried buckets around music venues to collect donations. They put on fundraisers. They got others to get excited about a dream that would soon become reality. They could’ve carried on with their full schedules, but they chose to be part of something bigger than themselves.

I’m thinking of Sally* who joined the program to learn how to sew so that she could teach local prostitutes how to sew. She knew they would struggle to join a formal program like ours, so she resolved to take the program to them. She looked beyond her own (many) needs to see how she could be part of the change in her community. She knew that these women also longed for acceptance, love, empowerment, and education. Rather than look down on them like the rest of society, she chose to link arm in arm with them to provide them a way out.

I’m thinking of our HOPE Club family. 100+ of you who choose to give monthly, some for many years now. From $10/month to $150/month, these folks are our foundation. They are the ones who keep this program going, who keep advocating for HOPE for vulnerable women in Zambia. They send encouraging emails, they host their own fundraisers, they invite their friends, they gift our products. They carry Clothed in Hope as their own, as it absolutely is. They are partners in HOPE, choosing to invest in the lives of women and children across the world.

I have met so many incredible people over the last 8 years. From professors to deans who chose to support a crazy dream, to musicians and graphic designers who volunteered their talent to fundraise for us, to single mothers in the US who want Zambian single mothers to be encouraged and equipped, to moms, dads, grandparents, students, millennials, retirees who all choose to be part of something bigger. These seemingly ordinary people are choosing to be part of something extraordinary – proclaiming freedom for the oppressed, giving HOPE to the hopeless, and bringing forth beauty from ashes.

It is YOU who we are thankful for. It is YOU who is making life-change possible for over 250 women in Zambia. It is YOU who is playing an active role in the orphan crisis by keeping families together, providing children with happy, healthy homes through empowering their mothers. It is YOU who is choosing to do more with this precious life we’ve been given.

Here’s to you! Enjoy a cupcake and light a candle to celebrate with us. Because without you, we wouldn’t be us. Let’s keep writing stories of HOPE together, friends!

With Chikondi (Love),
Amy

*Names changed for privacy purposes