Day 7: Transitions

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Nearing the end of our in-country launch, I realized it was just the opposite of an end. It’s a beginning. Our Clothed in Hope women are confident, they’re empowered, and they are fueled by sacrificial generosity. They want to give back what they’ve been given. The women have formed a partnership and relationships with 12 women of a remote village 2 hours outside Lusaka, called Muchochoma. The village lacks any wells, schools, clinics, community buildings, stores, industry, and so much more. They’ve even created their own language as a result of their remote lifestyles. Yet our women all connect on one common belief: hope is real and love is powerful. They’re not separated by cultural differences but rather united by humanity. What a beautiful example of hope spreading beyond Ng’ombe, beyond this city, to a remote village to begin again what was established in the lives of the original 11 CiH women from Ng’ombe.

We’ve brought in a local tailor, a widow, who shares the heart of our organization, to continue the training for our CiH women. Looking around the room during our first session with her there, I sat stunned at all that had happened. Women who started out reserved, silent, and discouraged are the same women with permanent smiles on their faces, whose laughs echo throughout the room, and whose confidence is renewed in ways that are simply unexplainable. In addition to the continuation with training in new ways, another huge thing has happened...

Day 6: Paperwork & Change of Plans

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The PaperworkAs the representative of a foreign NGO, I was fully prepared to follow the timeline of others here: 6 months for full approval and certification, thousands of dollars spent in the process of stamping, collecting, copying, preparing, and seeing the legal documents through the journey to completion. But my expectations were way off. When a community catches onto a vision that seeks to benefit its members in huge ways, the community takes you in as their own. And that’s just what happened with us. Represented by a community leader in the Ng’ombe slum compound, I was led through the process of forms, lines and offices, in just one short week with minimal fees paid, to receive our official documents in my hand. Clothed in Hope is as official in Zambia as it is in the United States, and it gives us great freedom and joy in knowing that we’re really just beginning here. The possibilities are endless.

Change of Plans I was ready to continue our routine of daily lessons and production of Chikondi bracelets, but I soon came to grips again with a too-low expectation. Elina came up to me after one training day and said, “Why don’t you stay home to work for 2 days out of the week? We have it under control here.” Maybe in America this sounds normal, but it shatters every cultural stigma in Zambia. Our women have taken ownership of and pride in our organization. They manage each other under a set of group-organized rules complete with a judicial board to regulate any issues that arise. Going into month 2, community-owned was becoming a deeper-rooted aspect of our organization, and we are so thankful for that.

Day 5: Not Just Producers

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One weekend “homework” assignment turned into a beautiful part of our organization. When women were asked to create bracelet samples using their stitching knowledge, most faces were frozen and blank. This culture isn’t one that fosters independence. It doesn’t celebrate creativity or individuality. Transfer this into years of education and imprinting it into the way the women live their lives, and this homework assignment was proving to be a much bigger deal than I thought. Monday morning came around and the women were beaming, proud to show off their work. Cutting out fabrics, Margaret exclaimed, “I’m a designer!” Talk about empowerment. These bracelet designs didn’t stay samples for long. The creations were incredibly unique and beautiful, and the women decided on 2 bracelets to start producing for income-generation in hopes of CiH becoming self-sustainable after this start-up period. Thus were born the Twist bracelet and Knot bracelet. With the announcement of our first purchase, the women cheered, whistled, screamed, and sang songs of joy. It’s not a bracelet. It’s someone telling the women that what they create, that who they are, is beautiful and worth investing in.

Our Clothed in Hope women branded our handmade chitenge (African fabric) products with the name “Chikondi” meaning “love” in their native tongue.  Hope cannot exist without love. When a person wears a Chikondi bracelet, they’re not only wearing “love” but also giving HOPE. An idea, a simple task, represents the very heart of our organization, while providing valuable incomes for 11 incredible women.

Day 4: The Beginning

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We started our training course pretty strong with 5 days a week of training for 2 hours each day. We were thankful to use space in Elina’s house at her request. Community encourages change, and our CiH women have shown us that in huge ways. Counter to cultural practices, the women showed up early to class and left long after. When we asked Doreen if they were enjoying the format of the program, she responded, “Why else would we stay around so long?” The launch of the class facilitated the launch of beautiful friendships, a group of women to encourage, teach, and care for each other. They’re in it together. True to our model, we began classes with a strong foundation in business practices for the change to truly be community-owned. Profit was introduced as a completely new concept, as were different types of costs. Whether running a roadside tomato stand or selling handmade chitenge dresses, the women now know how to operate a profitable business. Sewing came alongside the business education, as we started out at the basics of threading a needle, went all the way to pattern making, and covered everything in between.

Day 3: The Need

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The statistics are all there. The high prevalence of poverty, HIV/AIDS, unemployment, and injustice against women shape this country into one of extreme, often overlooked need. For more stats check out our website. But for now, allow me to let you in on the untold parts of women’s oppression here. Single mothers struggle to provide for their children. Many women turn to prostitution as the only reliable source of income. Others seek out a husband to relieve the financial burden, but can only do so at the expense of their children. A man who marries a formerly single mother will not accept her children as his own. Children are often starved and deprived of a basic education as a result.  Just talk to Tresa about the intense struggles faced by single mothers…

Widows not only face the grief of a lost husband daily, but also are seen in their culture as “unfit” for another marriage. It’s believed that something was wrong with the woman for her husband to die. The widow is left without any rights to her deceased husband’s finances, land, property or assets, leaving the family homeless and with a long road ahead of them. Elina, mother of 6 and grandmother of 2, unfortunately knows all about life as a widow, after her husband died just 7 days after a mosquito bite.

So it sounds like marriage is the way to go, right? We’d love it if that was the case. Married women often enter marriage for the sole reason of financial provision. With little access to jobs, women see a man as a way out of a life of poverty, but it rarely works out as planned. Many married women experience domestic abuse and neglect. The hardship doesn’t ease up for women regardless of their marital status. Emeli knows all about it.

We’re shocked at the courage these women possess to take on each day on behalf of her children, wanting a better life for them than they’ve experienced themselves. We’re inspired by their belief that hope is real, and has the incredible power to change their lives for good.

Thankfully the story doesn’t end at oppression….

Day 2: Our Model

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We seek to meet the vulnerable woman of Zambia in her oppression, to educate and empower her through sewing and business training and to provide financial opportunity for lasting benefit and sustainable community change. It’s not about us. It’s about her. It’s about a community-owned initiative. Education is at the core of what we do. When you teach a woman how to run a business, she creates a sustainable small business for the betterment of her family. When you teach a woman how to sew, she creates beautiful handmade bracelets for income to help start up her small businesses. When you teach a woman that she’s important, treasured and loved, she is unstoppable. In a culture that tells her “no,” she is empowered to stand up and say, “yes.”

In order for our organization to truly be community-owned, our women must be involved in every decision-making process here in Zambia. And they are. From sewing machine brands to facility options to the design of bracelets, Clothed in Hope women have had a say in every part of what we do. That involvement is what sustains community development regardless of American involvement. It’s their organization, and we are overjoyed to be a part of it all.

Day 1: Are You Ready?

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Just 3 short months ago, I was boarding a plane to Zambia unaware of what these months would hold for me. Two years of planning led up to this in-country launch, and I thought I had an idea of how things would happen. But if I’ve learned one thing in Zambia, it’s that nothing is predictable. Things are chaotic and difficult; corrupt, even, tending to put a damper on any foreign organization that wants to come into Zambia to work. But for us as Clothed in Hope, the pendulum has swung the opposite way. Every expectation I had has been exceeded, every timeline greatly quickened. Zambians have soaked up the success of this empowerment model, and I can confidently say that hope is spreading. This isn’t just some cliché; it’s tangible here. It’s visible on the faces of 11 women in the Ng’ombe slum compound. It has written stories here, ripple effects that create an unstoppable force against oppression and poverty. From all that has been accomplished here, it’s so apparent that Clothed in Hope is just beginning in Zambia. The doors of opportunity have been swung wide open. The need is great, and we’re ready to take our next step. But before that, I’d love to share some of these stories with you, beyond blog entries and posted photos. Huge things are happening; are you ready to be a part of them? With Chikondi, Amy Woodell, Founder & Executive Director

10 Days of CiH

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It's been almost two weeks since our founder has returned from Zambia, yet our Zambia program continues to flourish. We've tried our best to keep you all updated every step of the journey, but we think it's time to reflect and recap all that really happened over the last 3 months, and all that will continue to happen over the next years. That's just another perk of Stateside reliable internet, right? So join us as we recap the Zambian launch during the first 10 days of November. Each day will be another step in our journey as we share untold stories, highlight great memories, and make an exciting announcement near the end of our 10-day reflection. You won't wanna miss it...

Just the Beginning

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With bags (almost) packed and a plane ticket booked for tomorrow afternoon, it’s finally starting to hit me that this stay here in Zambia is coming to an end, for now. But the great thing is that it’s not the end at all. While I’m flying for over 30 hours back to America, our Clothed in Hope women will be continuing their skills training, specifically in pattern-making, to become incredible seamstresses. Our Clothed in Hope women will continue bracelet making for income-generation, to save enough money to launch their own small businesses.

Margret’s grocery that she’s built with her bracelet profits will be opening at the end of this month, providing an income for her entire household of extended family. Carol’s business of making and selling bed sheets has just begun, and she’ll be gaining more customers through her small business and marketing knowledge gained through our program. Carol’s business provides schooling for her kids.

Our Clothed in Hope women will continue traveling to the remote village of Muchochoma to encourage, train, and love their new friends. They call themselves the “Chikondi Club” in the village, women motivated by love and experiencing love through our Ng’ombe women.

Continuation in itself is an incredible word for us. It means that our women have taken ownership of the program to keep it going. They have been empowered and now experience hope, and they can’t help but to share it with others. They understand the effort involved to sustain a program like this, but they’re wiling to make that sacrifice to keep it going. They’ve caught the vision and believe that great change is possible in their communities and nation. They are now community leaders, women of influence, in a culture that tries to keep women believing they are of any worth. When I look among this group of women who have become great friends of mine, I am so, so proud of them.

But what if continuation wasn’t all there was to it? What if I told you that something big is brewing in our program? That the program’s impact won’t stop at the lives of 11 women and their impact circles, but will be affecting hundreds of others? This exciting news is another story for another day, one you’ll have to wait a bit longer for, but today just know this: this is just the beginning.

With Chikondi, Amy

HOPE gives life

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Given, pictured on the right in this photo from our training day at Muchochoma, wasn't at training class today. The one woman who comes super early and stays way past ending time didn't show up. When asked where she was, we found out that Given has been in the hospital with a terrible case of malaria. Not just a mosquito bite or a fever, but the very same illness that stole the lives of Elina and Margret's husbands, and countless others in Zambia. So it's extra personal and extra difficult for us. But this time is so different.

Margret and Elina's husbands passed because they couldn't afford the one pill used to cure their cases of malaria. One pill. One pill that makes the ill even more ill for a short while. But one life-saving pill.

But this time is different, because this time Given has hope. It sounds like she'll be okay. Why? Given used the money she earned from the production of Chikondi bracelets to buy that one pill to save her life. She'll be okay, and she'll live to tell the story of how HOPE has saved her life.

We hoped we'd have an impact in the Ng'ombe community and in the lives of our women, but we didn't know that this simple model of hope through love from empowerment and education would save a life this tangibly.

So when you purchase a bracelet, one that could be made by Given, know that that bracelet has saved her life. You have helped to save her from the biggest killer in Zambia. Zikomo.

The Beauty of Chikondi

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The second weekend of our training program here in Zambia, way back in late July, the CiH women were given an assignment to design fabric bracelets. Back then we had no idea just what this would mean for our group, for our organization, and for each individual involved. Our women came back with 2 beautiful designs, the Twist bracelet and the Knot bracelet, and we’ve been making them ever since.

Bracelets weren’t part of the plan. But hope motivated by love always has been. Bracelets are just our method for spreading and cultivating hope in the lives of so many across Zambia. If I don’t say it enough already, our CiH women really are incredible.

As mentioned in the last post, Hope is Contagious, our women couldn’t keep the skill to themselves once they saw what it’s done for their lives and the lives of their families. They had to give it away, to share it generously and sacrificially.

This past Thursday we all boarded a Zambian mini-bus (an experience in itself), and traveled over 2 hours to the remote village of Muchochoma. Down a bumpy dirt road and taking a turn that looked like it was into a bunch of bushes, we arrived at Muchochoma after hours of singing, laughing, and celebrating what CiH is doing in the lives of many. Not even just CiH, but hope and love. Chikondi. Each Ng’ombe CiH woman wore her {re}styled shirt sample and matching accessories from the previous week’s training sessions, all so proud of their beautiful designs and great sewing talent. Thinking back to this one day in particular, we couldn’t be prouder either. Those women not only feel inspired but they are inspiring to us, and we hope to you also.

Huddled under the one big shade tree in the village on a hot summer day in late September, we explained the motivation behind CiH: Chikondi. The Ng’ombe CiH women described the value of commitment, quality work, and dedication to the program as core values they’ve thrived upon, values counter-cultural and widely unheard of. There was nothing super similar between the two groups. Ng’ombe women were all dressed up in original designs, Muchochoma women were dressed in worn shirts and traditional chitenge wraps. Ng’ombe women live in a chaotic capital city slum compound, Muchochoma women live in grass huts in the bush with the only 40 or so people they’ve known their whole lives. So many more differences exist, yet they all have one thing in common. They understand the value of love and relationships in life.

It didn’t make sense for 10 CiH women to board a bus on one of their workdays to share a skill that they were taught, much less with 12 strangers. Nor did it make sense for them to sacrifice their time and materials before leaving by preparing strips of chitenge fabric for women to learn how to make the Twist bracelet. But what about love makes sense anyways? We’re talking about real, honest, selfless, beautiful love.

Each Ng’ombe woman paired up with a Muchochoma woman to teach her about hand stitching and bracelet making. Despite all differences, bonds were formed, laughs shared, and a good time had by all of us. The Muchochoma women picked up the skill in record time, just an hour or so, and were making Twist bracelets like they had known how their whole lives. Incredible women, they are. Three 2-week old babies joined the group on the backs of their mothers, 20 children sat on the outskirts of our group just watching, and we all got the sense that this would be a pivotal moment for this village. Crazy stuff happens when we choose to love, only through the recognition of how much we’re loved. Last Wednesday, Muchochoma was a village of skill-less women struggling to survive. Last Thursday we drove away from a group of women empowered, encouraged, and skilled, all because our Ng’ombe CiH women stepped out in love.

I could go on and on about this day in Muchochoma, but words will fail to share the depth of what happened on that day. Photos will even fall short. If I can share anything though, it’s that Chikondi isn’t just a brand of bracelets. It’s love that creates and sustains hope, transforms families and communities, and breaks the chains of deep-rooted oppression. And it’s spreading.

(Check out facebook.com/clothedinhope for more photos and youtube.com/clothedinhope for a couple of videos from the Muchochoma training day)

Hope is Contagious

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con·ta·gious (adj.): Transmissible by direct or indirect contact; spreading from one to another; infectious

What happens when hope is really, truly, beautifully experienced? It spreads. You can’t contain it. You want everyone to know how you got it. You want everyone to experience the benefit and joy that you have. You just can’t keep it to yourself.

The exciting announcement is this very thing. It’s happening. Hope is spreading.

What’s really amazing with the contagion of hope with our CiH women? It’s reaching beyond their families and friends, even beyond their community. These women have a vision for CiH as a vehicle for hope across this entire nation. They want to see the lives of other Zambian women changed despite deep cultural oppression and a class system that tells them that change is impossible. They want all of this, because they now have it. They are empowered, and they will not be stopped.

So tomorrow it begins. A new chapter for us, an incredibly exciting one.

All ten CiH women want to share their skill. It can’t be held within the walls of the Ng’ombe compound anymore; hope is busting at the seams. Elina brought the idea to the group that they should share their knowledge with those so much less fortunate than themselves (our group is made up of women living a slum compound, keep in mind). Those who seem to have nothing still want to give, and give generously. That’s what hope does to you. It makes you alive, it gives you purpose, it makes you understand the true value of love, and it wants to reach out to others.

The women, apart from any direction from US staff, have unanimously decided to sacrifice their own materials (scissors, fabric, hand needles) to start another branch of CiH in a remote village 2 hours away from Lusaka. So tomorrow all of us city folk are cramming on a bus for a 2-hour drive down a bumpy road that shouldn’t really be a road, to a village named Muchochoma in the Manyika region of Zambia.

It’s nearly impossible to frame a context for this village for you, but we have to give it a shot. Just try to imagine this, and know that this is 100% real and not exaggerated one bit. -Muchochoma village does not have a school. Children must walk 2 hours if they want to attend, but very few actually do due to the inability to afford school uniforms. -There is no clinic or access to healthcare of any kind. With 40 adults and 40 children, the population is extremely young due to preventable disease accounting for lives lost without proper healthcare. -The people speak their own tribal language due to their isolation. None of our current CiH women will be able to communicate with them, but we will have one translator with us. Apart from the assistance we can still manage, as smiles and laughter seem to be pretty universal. -The men of the village have no means of an income, except to produce and sell charcoal, which is a 3-day trip to town to try to sell what they make along the way. They leave the women and children at risk during this journey in hopes of coming back with a few dollars. -The nearest water source of any kind is a 3-hour walk away from the village. Beyond a shortage of drinking, bathing, and cooking water, this also makes farming nearly impossible and extremely inefficient due to lack of irrigation. -Village housing is comprised of mud huts with thatched roofs and dirt floors. The gathering spot for residents is under a giant shade tree nearby.

As far from normal as this village sounds to our American standards, we are quickly reminded that the women of this village are just that: women. Women with hearts, craving hope, experiencing joy despite oppression, courageous women. Tomorrow we are all excited to launch CiH: Muchochoma as our 10 CiH women from Lusaka will be training, encouraging and equipping 12 village women with the skill of sewing, knowledge of profitable business, and most importantly with hope motivated by love.

There will surely be photos and video to come, but until then enjoy this photo of some Muchochoma women from a few weeks back, the first time Elina and I met with them. What a joy.

With So Much Chikondi, Amy

What Now?

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So you've seen all 10 photos, read all 10 quotes of what the women are thankful for. We hope your introduction to them was as meaningful to you as it has been to us. We're getting video ready for you to continue to get to know these great women, but until then, what do we do now? Would it be a huge shock to you if I said that we need your help? Well, we do. We need your help.

We're coming to the end of the official in-country launch. One month away from a time of transition and growth. Again, this isn't a chapter closed but rather a launch into a new one. Exciting things are in the works. Expansion is ahead. The 10 women are continuing their skills training, they're growing in community with each other, they show up early and leave late, and they're creating beautiful bracelets for income-generation and self-sustainability. The "plan" not only "worked" but it's exceeded every expectation. CiH brings a light to the dark slum community through empowerment and opportunity when culture and society shouts otherwise, and it does so through 10 amazing women.

What now?

First, check out our unique, handmade, Zambian-made line of bracelets, the Knot & Twist Bracelets, as a part of the Chikondi brand (meaning "love," chosen by the CiH Zambian women). Motivated by and created by love, each bracelet is a beautiful representation of each woman's life. Each bracelet not only betters the CiH woman and her family through finances and empowerment, but also allows for replication of the program to reach countless others in Ng'ombe and throughout greater Lusaka, Zambia. The Facebook album is accessible here. Check it out. They're pretty incredible.

Next, dream with us. See what is, giving hope to vulnerable women in the Ng'ombe slum compound, and see what it could be, expanding hope beyond those walls to fight the oppression of Zambian women through substituting it with opportunity and joy. And see where you play into this. All of us together as individuals could create a powerful movement of hope and love through education and empowerment. We're not giving money away; we're investing in the lives of Zambian women to allow them to thrive through financial independence, self-sustainability and lasting community development. We're just getting started.

What will you do to help?

If you want to give a sewing machine, do it on our Give page. If you want to invest in lives with us, donate to our general fund on our Give page. If you want to rep CiH in your hometown, buy a shirt on Etsy. If you want to donate your talents, email us on the Contact page. If you have advice for us or if you'd like to sell bracelets with us, Contact us. If you want to keep up, follow us on Rally, Twitter or Facebook. Basically, the possibilities are endless. The greater the involvement, the greater the impact. Let's do this. Together. With chikondi.

Lastly, stay tuned for your first chance to purchase a Chikondi Knot or Twist bracelet, to give hope...

Meet Margret.

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Zikomo for giving me hope to go on with my life.

Margret is the tenth and last woman to be introduced from the CiH program. A mother of one girl, she recently lost her husband to malaria. As a 25-year-old widow in this culture, she will face the rest of her life alone, unable to re-marry. Yet she radiates joy and treasures life. We find her story powerful and inspiring, and hope you have seen the beauty of each one of these women.