November News

I can't believe it's November already! Where did the time go?

Now it's time to start thinking about turkey and pumpkin pie and Christmas decorations, music and fun with family and friends.

We are staying home this season. My Roberto starts radiation for prostate cancer on the 15th. At first I freaked out because that is what happens when you hear your husband has cancer. Fears race through your mind and you wonder what you would do if he doesn't "make it." Your emotions leap onto a roller coaster and go from contemplative to gripping fear--from "I know he's going to be okay" to wanting to crawl under the covers and stay there.

A family friend who has been through prostate cancer wrote: "It's such an odd thing to hear from your doctor, that you have cancer, and I know it's also incredibly difficult for family members. No one is quite sure what to expect."

Once we visited with the oncologist and went over the tests and treatment options it was easier. I studied Robert as he calmly stated he would take radiation treatments. I wondered what he was really feeling. He said, "I know I'm going to be okay. Let's get this taken care of."

Okay. So I now I know he's going to be okay too. I know that Robert is in God's hands and that is the best place to be.

Will I still waver? Will I still stare at him and try to burn the image of his face into my mind? Will I grip his hand in the middle of the night and pray that God will let him stay? Will my imagination go where it doesn't belong?

Probably. But this I know is true--God is in control. I know that God has a plan and I have confidence that Robert's work on this earth is not finished.

I also know that none of us is promised a tomorrow so we will enjoy the gift of today. We will cherish the moments and trust God for our tomorrows.

So at first I will sit in the waiting room each day while Robert has his treatment and then when we make it through the first week I will know that it's not that scary and we will settle into the routine of --Roberto goes to radiation each day--then he will stop at the gym and work out-- and what was so foreign will become the norm.

Safe Birth Project in Uganda

My friends have joined Hope 4 Women International and will be traveling to Uganda next month to train medical professionals in the safe birth project. This project will help prevent infant mortality as well as save the lives of mothers.

We are so proud of what they are doing. Please look at their blog and encourage them along the way. http://www.safebirthproject.blogspot.com/

Here's What Jeanette is doing to Help with the Gardens

You too can help with Seeds 4 Hope. email rachel@h4wi.org

Demonstration Gardens in Uganda

Robert started demonstration gardens with three teams in Uganda. The purpose of the gardens are to demonstrate planting, growing and harvesting procedures. From there others will be trained and helped to become successful gardeners--thus being empowered to feed their families and to make money selling their crops.

Co-op/Demonstration Gardens Name

Unique Eden Co-op

The names of the three Gardens are:

1) River Valley

2) Compost

3) Jungle Yum Yum

A variety of seeds were tried in the three different locations. Hot beds, composting and many different crops were grown:

1) Egg Plants

2) Watermelon

3) Cucumbers

4) Varieties of squash

5) Varieties of steak tomatoes

6) Green peppers

7) Green beans

8) Green onions

9) Pumpkin

10) Okra

11) Jalapenos

12) Variety of herbs

13) Variety of flowers

The garden overseer took many notes on how things were planted, growing, etc.

Plans for 2010 & 2011

1) Soybeans will be added to the other crops in September.

2) The plan is to sell crops to restaurants—the Rock Classic is already interested.

3) Grow sweet onions in a low sulfur area

4) Introducing “onion rings” as a road-side business

5) Introduce more herb gardens

6) Holistic Studies

7) Experimental cooking with herbs and other plants—this is now being done with okra and pumpkin leaves

8) Learning different uses of wild yams and papaya for holistic health

Purchased for $250

1) Seeds

2) Sprayer

3) Protective gear

4) Gum boots (3 pair)

5) Wheel barrow

6) Hiring weeders

7) Garden rakes (2)

Needs

1) Oxen & Plow =$1000

2) Chicken raising

3) Motor Bike for transport of vegetables to market & business use=$2000-2500

4) More variety of seeds

There are also young girls in the villages around the gardens--thus generating "dress a girl at the garden" which is a part of Dress a Girl Around the World

Rita's Story

Rita was married and living in Kenya where she had six children. One night while the children and Rita were sleeping her husband talked with men who wanted a head for sacrificing to the demons. There is a belief that if you sacrifice a head to the demons you will get riches.

Rita's husband offered to sell her head to the men. One of the sons pretending to be asleep heard the whole plan and when they had gone he woke his mother and told her that her husband had just sold her head.

She gathered the children and escaped through the bush. She met a kind man who gave her enough money to come to Tororo, Uganda. She is living in a small hut with her six children but they are all safe. She is trying to support her children by selling charcoal.

Once Rita is sponsored she will receive help with her business, will take business classes, reading and writing and simple math classes and mission character for running an ethical business.

For $36 a month and a one year commitment you can help Rita realize a life of dignity and self sufficiency. For more information contact Lisa@h4wi.org

Medical Problems at the Tororo Public Hospital

Our team visited the public hospital where conditions are shocking. As we went from bed to bed praying for the sick and trying to bring smiles to faces without hope.

We stopped next to a woman who needed prayer and when we asked why she was in the hospital she showed us a large tumor on the heel of her foot. We asked what they were doing for her and she replied: “Nothing. I don’t have money for treatment so they just leave me here to die.”

When we left the hospital my husband showed me a picture of a baby whose picture I wouldn’t dare put on here. His little head was severely infected and much of his head didn’t appear to have skin on it. Robert was told there was nothing to be done for the baby as his mother had no money for treatment.

I asked our Ugandan friend who escorted us to the hospital if he could find out more information on those two. The next day he returned to the hospital and the woman was no longer there. He talked to the mother of the baby and told her some people wanted to help her son but he would need to go to another hospital—she agreed and was so grateful.

Our friend, Eric then went in search of the woman in her village. He found her under a tree with a mosquito net hanging from the tree and a rag wrapped around her tumor to protect it from the flies and mosquitoes.

Her story?

When the tumor appeared her husband left her for another woman, taking their two children with him. He would not allow her to see her children and the house he left her in collapsed, leaving her homeless and alone. She was forced to go to her in-laws who are extremely poor but allowed her to stay with them. I was told, “It is an abomination to have to live with your father-in-law because most of these homes are one-room huts and you have to undress in front of him because there is no room for privacy.”

She told Eric that she was lying in the hospital and decided, “Why don’t I go back to my village and let me die there.”

Eric told her that someone wanted to help her get treatment. He told me: “She was in such sorrow and pain but when I told her about the treatment she smiled and she now has hope.”

We gave Eric money for a taxi so she could get to another hospital where she will be treated. The tumor was leaking and smelly so the driver refused to take her. Eric searched for a “special hire” who for more money agreed to take her.

She is now in the new hospital where they are caring for her and will do a biopsy before deciding what to do with her.

The baby? They did surgery on him immediately and declared it successful!! We are looking forward to receiving an update on him.

If you feel moved to help us with these expenses, please send a check to Hope 4 Women,

P.O Box 74010, Phoenix, AZ 85087. Or call our office to use your credit card 623-979-5516. If we collect more than we need we have others waiting in line for treatment.

God bless you.

For more information contact Rachel@h4wi.org

Party With the Women of Rose’s Village

Rose, as you may recall is one of the women Hope 4 Women International helped recently. She had a very large tumor on her neck that was threatening to cut off her air and cause her to suffocate if surgery was not performed. Generous supporters on Face Book and other friends pitched in and raised enough money for Hope 4 Women to pay for Rose’s surgery.

A widow with eight children, Rose had no money and would have died without intervention. Her surgery was successful and now she is able to attend to her children.

Our Hope 4 Kids International team arrived in Rose’s village to honor her with a Hope 4 Women tea/spa. She invited other women—women who had ridiculed her when she walked around with a large growth on her neck. These same women who mocked Rose were invited to an afternoon of pampering by our team.

We honored Rose first and the one man on our team washed her feet, applied nail polish and lipstick and gifted her with a beautiful scarf. Our team sang as we did the same for 29 other women who gathered in the circle. Rose was overwhelmed with joy and when the opportunity to accept Christ was presented Rose was among the ten women who raised her hand. When the pastor prayed with the women Rose said, “I want to kneel” and knelt in the dirt to accept Jesus as her savior.

It was a beautiful afternoon of rejoicing ending with presenting the women with basins, beans and garden hoes.

Once the women were taken care of we called for the girls and dressed them in our famous pillowcase dresses from dress a girl around the world. You can see photos on the dress a girl website http://www.dressagirlaroundtheworld.com

Why We Give Lipstick to Homeless Women and Other Women Living in Poverty

A couple of years ago I received this letter from my friend Jodi Potter and felt it was worth repeating as Hope 4 Women International steps out to put lipstick in our hygiene packets to homeless women here at home and prepare to hold tea parties in Uganda this summer.

Here is what Jodi wrote:

"I have shared with some that my first reaction to the tea parties held for widows in Uganda--well--I just didn't get it. I thought. . . these ladies need food, medicine, beds,etc. Seriously--lipstick, nail polish? How are these things important in their lives? Well, I have changed my mind based on the witness of the people involved and have seen the hope & dignity this time with the widows brings.
Yesterday I was reading a book, Sex God--Exploring the Endless Connections Between Sexuality & Spirituality. Hey. I bought it at church. . .
There was a story about a concentration camp in Germany where a British soldier described the disgusting, tragic conditions that they encountered while liberating a camp called Bergen-Belsen. The horrors he saw designed to strip people of their humanity was unbelievable. He said: "It was shortly after the British Red Cross arrived, though it may have no connection, that a very large quantity of lipstick arrived. This was not at all what we wanted , we were screaming for hundreds & thousands of other things and I don't know who asked for lipstick. I wish so much that I could discover who did it. It was an action of genius, sheer unadulterated brilliance. I believe nothing did more for those internees than the lipstick. Women lay in bed with no sheets & no nightie but with scarlet red lips, you saw them wandering about with nothing but a blanket over their shoulders, but with scarlet red lips. I saw a woman dead on the postmortem table and clutched in her hand was a piece of lipstick. At last someone had done something to make them individuals again, they were someone, no longer merely the number tattooed on the arm. at last they could take an interest in their appearance. That lipstick started to give them back their humanity.
Because sometimes, the difference between heaven & hell, may be a bit of lipstick." Wow! So, when you see pictures of us loving on these women & putting otherwise frivolous cosmetics on them, just remember that we are a part of this--We will be meeting their needs of food, shelter, etc. but, first & foremost, we will be reminding them that they are human beings! They are not objects or numbers in the vast expanse of widows in Uganda that appear to be forgotten by the world. They are beautiful children of God. Created by Him in His image!
'For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Eph 2:10)' "

Can You Help Little James Owori?

Pastor Ruth of Smile Africa Ministries is at it again. She found little James Owori—or should I say they found her. His little feet are twisted and he will need to go for therapy once a week and also have his feet in casts to straighten them.

Recently Pastor Ruth took another child who is a bit older than James—in eight months of treatments she is now able to stand. Here’s what Pastor Ruth wrote about James:

“James Owori is one and half months old. His mother is 20yrs old. She is a single mother and has headed a family of four as a child headed family since their parents died when they where young. She told me that she thought marriage would solve her problems but instead the man she trusted got her pregnant and left immediately when he noticed that she was pregnant, adding more responsibility to this girl. It broke her heart when she gave birth and realized that her baby was disabled. It was when she heard the testimony of Auma the girl who got surgery recently,that she gained hope that God might have a way to save her baby from being disabled.She visited Auma's home and that is where she got directions to reach Smile Africa.”

Can you help little James have a normal life? For a donation of $20 you can pay for one treatment. If enough people send $20 we can give little James the gift of using his feet and legs. Please send $20 to:

Hope 4 Women International

P.O. Box 74010

Phoenix, AZ 85087

Or contact Rachel@h4wi.org

My Mom

My mom was one of my heroes. I remember as a child wishing I could stay home all day and do whatever I wanted--just like my mom:) I didn't know she had to do dishes, wash clothes and cook for her family of seven kids. I thought she just wrote stories on her typewriter all day.

She was a great story teller--we questioned the accuracy of her stories but they were always interesting. I wanted to be a writer just like my mom. She died before I was published but her fingerprints are all over the book I wrote with my brother Tom.

Her mother died when Mom was 14 and her father wasn't poor and indulged her and her younger brother. Her two older sisters were married at the time. Mom secretly took flying lessons when she was 17 and one day invited her dad to go to the airport with her for a "surprise". It was the day she took her solo flight:) I wonder how surprised her dad was! She received her pilot's license in 1940 at the age of 18 and begged her dad to allow her to go for her commercial pilot's license but family members intervened saying that that was no profession for a young lady--so with that dream aside she went on other adventures--a motorcycle trip to Texas--Once she settled down with my dad and they formed a family of seven kids her adventures mostly took place on the typewriter.

I always thought being a mother wasn't really what she had in mind for her life and was disappointed for her sometimes but she was a great mom and her "free spirit" remained within her and her need to "soar" was instilled in all of us.

She passed on her love of the Lord, her love of life and great sense of adventure and I'll always be grateful. Because of our faith in Jesus Christ I believe we will meet again in Heaven and I know she is there now on the greatest adventure that none of us can even imagine.

I love you Mom. Save a place for me:) I'll be there soon.

Sponsored Women of Uganda Receive English Participation Certificates

Under Hope 4 Women's Sponsorship program women are being trained to read and write in English along with their business skills training, spiritual guidance and life enrichment classes.

Bonnie, from Wisconsin just spent three months in Uganda teaching English to women. Each participant in the program received a certificate.

With Bonnie back in the States a Ugandan woman has taken over the English class and the women are enjoying it thoroughly!

Here's what Pastor Ruth of Smile Africa Ministries writes:

Here are pictures of the Certificate Awards for the sponsored women as well as the second class.There was great joy and ululations as the ladies proudly received their certificates.The ladies expressed great confidence and satisfaction for what God has done for them through H4Women.

Sabina and Catharine's statements caught my heart the most.

Catherine said, "God is so great,people study and get Certificates from within Uganda,but ours have come all the way from America." She exclaimed: "God is no respecter of persons,He has loved us the widows with a great love."

Then Sabina spoke next. She said: "Pastor Ruth i am going to frame my Certificate and when i die, my Certificate should be placed on my coffin for every mourner to know that i achieved a certificate in my lifetime. May the Lord bless Rachel and all the people who have supported us to achieve an education."

Okay. THAT makes me cry when I think of how a certificate can bring such dignity to a woman in Uganda. There are many more Catherine's and Sabina's waiting for you to sponsor them. For more information please contact lisa@h4wi.org

On My Father's Side

Lisa Witham Foerster--Director of Women Sponsorship

Hope 4 Women International is proud to introduce Lisa Witham Foerster as our new director of women sponsorship! She comes to us with a great background in business, management and leadership skills.

Her role? Her biggest challenge will be to keep me organizedJ With her attention to detail and ability to problem solve we are looking forward to keeping our personal touch with those who are passionate about empowering women around the world.

Here is what the sponsorship program is doing in Uganda:

For $36 a month you can send a Ugandan woman through our business training course and put her on the path to owning her own business. Your donation is tax-deductible and you will receive information and a photograph of the woman who is benefiting from your monthly gift.

Sponsor a woman in the Smile Africa Program and here is what she receives:

Garden seeds and a hoe to jump-start her on feeding her family.

a strengths test to see in which business God has gifted her

a 40-session mission character class which leads her through the Biblical

principles of business

a code of ethics contract

classes in English, reading, writing and math

classes in money management, saving, banking

a graduation certificate once she has completed all the classes and has

completed her apprenticeship

seed money in their bank account to start her on her way to self-sufficiency mentoring and monitoring by our Ugandan partner Smile Africa

induction into the Women's Hall of Dignity when she has successfully completed one year in business

Lisa has just added twenty-one widows from India

In India many of the older widows are forced to live with their families—placing a financial and emotional burden on already stressed, poverty-stricken families. Your financial support will allow our ministry partners to supply her with rice, lentils, wheat, fruit, milk and medical treatment. This will take the financial burden off of her family and they will treat her with dignity instead of scorning and sometimes abusing her for being a drain on their limited resources.

Meet Shanti Kamal Prasad

Shanti Kamal Prasad is an 81 year old widow. She has four sons and two daughters. She lives with her youngest son and his family. Shanti enjoys listening to sermons, going on picnics, and visiting the sick and disabled.

For just over one dollar per day ($36 a month) You can give this precious widow daily sustenance along with her dignity.

Thank you for caring about widows.

To learn more about sponsoring a widow please contact Lisa@h4wi.org

Here are a couple of links for you

My friend Bonnie has been in Uganda since January --teaching women English--her blog is http://teachinguganda.blogspot.com/

My friend Linda is in Malawi for three months working on a rape crisis center. You can follow her at http://underatreeinternational.blogspot.com/

Klove's Amy Baumann interviewed me for Dress a Girl Around the World. You can listen at

http://www.klove.com/redir.asp?/listen/?href=/broadcast/stream.aspx?href=/audio/podcasts/klovenews_podcast4677_20100226.wma&title=K-LOVE+Podcast&author=K-LOVE+Radio&onespeed=True

Have you got a story about women helping women? I'd love to see it. Contact me rachel@h4wi.org

Rose's Surgery a Success!!

Pastor Ruth took Rose to Kampala as her surgery was more complicated than was first thought. She checked in to the hospital and spent a day or two getting ready and finally the doctors removed her 2.2-pound non-cancerous tumor!! She has already taken tea and will be given mashed potatoes for her first meal.

When she woke up from the surgery Pastor Ruth was by her side and said: “That thing is gone! They have removed it!”

A very emotional Rose replied: “People have been laughing at me but God has remembered a poor woman like me.”

Pastor Ruth said she was reflecting upon how this surgery came to pass. When I was there in November Rose arrived at Smile Africa and Ruth wanted to take her picture but the batteries in her camera were dead. I was on the bus ready to leave and Ruth asked if I could step off the bus for just a moment to take Rose’s picture which I did. I went home and forgot about Rose until my doctor told me I might have a small goiter. It was then I remembered Rose and asked Pastor Ruth more questions.

Scroll down to read the background on Rose.

Then I appealed to all of you and you responded generously. I sent the money to Pastor Ruth and the process began. Because the surgery was so involved and had to be done in Kampala we are still running about $1500 short. The tumor was actually pushing against Rose’s wind pipe and cutting off her air. They said if she didn’t have the surgery she would suffocate so I told Ruth we would step forward in faith and Rose should have this surgery to save her life.

Rose’s seven children are blessed and grateful to all of you for saving her life.

If you would like to contribute to this deficit please send a check to Hope 4 Kids International and put “Rose’s surgery” in the memo.

Hope 4 Kids/Hope 4 women

P.O. box 74010

Phx, AZ 85087

Or go directly online and donate: http://www.hope4kidsinternational.org/donation-cart

Check the Hope 4 Women box and email Lisa to let her know you want your h4wi donation to go toward Rose’s surgery Lisa@h4wi.org

An Update from Bonnie in Uganda

Bonnie, Leah, Pastor Ruth, Kathy

My friend Bonnie is in Uganda for three months and is teaching the women English! Here is her first report:
Notes from Uganda

After a journey that started 8:30 Monday morning, Jan. 11, we arrived at our destination on Wednesday, 2:00 p.m. January 13. Needless to say we were exhausted. "We" is Leah, a 26 year old nurse from Minnesota, Kathy, a 66 year old nurse from Arizona and me.

We were met in Entebbe at the airport by Pastor Peter, the leader of Kingdom Preparation Ministries. He is a friend whom I first met in 2004 - a beautiful, strong compassionate Christian.

We have rented a 3 bedroom house with 2 bathrooms. That sounds luxurious, and by Ugandan standards, it is, BUT one of the showers doesn't work, the floors are unpainted cement, one of the sinks is hanging off the wall, etc. Although the lease says fully furnished, there is one bath towel per person, no table knives in the kitchen and the kitchen is almost like camping out. There is running water which we must purify and a 2 burner butane "stove". There is a refrigerator which is half freezer which takes the greater part of the "juice' so that the refrigerator part is barely cool - a problem. Also the kitchen is poorly supplied - BUT the mattresses are comfortable. We spent Wednesday afternoon and part of Thursday unpacking and shopping for food stuffs and supplies.

Shopping: Half of the stores contain used articles - the stores with new things are all very poor quality but they do carry some packaged food stuffs. There is an interior central market with little stalls and fresh produce. They have quite a variety of fresh food, but most Ugandans cannot afford it.

Thursday afternoon we went to Smile Africa to meet with Pastor Ruth to discuss what she had in mind for us to do. Then to my surprise, I was scheduled to meet my first class at 2:00 p.m. the next day, Friday.

In the evening, our Ugandan friends, Andrew, his wife Frida and their new baby Rache, along with Andrew's brother, Timothy came over. We served them chapati (a flat bread similar to tortillas which I purchased from a street vendor) and jackfruit which they taught us how to prepare, to serve with water and tea. The Ugandans are great tea drinkers.

Friday morning Leah and Kathy left for Smile Africa at 9:00. I cooked beans I had put to soak the night before. We must purify all the water we use for cooking and rinsing dishes by boiling or with purification tablets. It is a hassle. We clean all the vegetables with a veggie wash. It is obviously time-consuming. I went to Smile Africa at 11:00 - in time to "pick" rice (picking the pebbles and dirt out of the rice) and help to dish up the food (it was given by Feed My Starving Children) for the 400 hundred children fed daily at Smile Africa.

After lunch, I met with Janet, an assistant to Pastor Ruth, to discuss the coming students, class and agenda for this initial meeting. The women, (18) finally all arrived around 3:00 - typical African time. We prayed, we shared our personal stories and as the Ugandans come from an oral history tradition, their "sharing a little bit about themselves" can take 20 to 30 minutes. Thus the stories lasted so ong, we couldn't get to the rest of the agenda but this was okay because it gave each woman some encouragement and gave me an opportunity to see them as individuals and not a class. Some of their stories were heartbreaking. The mothers of 2 of the woemn tried to kill them as children, all of them are either widows or have been abandoned by their husbands. Half of them had very little schooling, some none at all. Some of them, before coming to Smile Africa, felt so desparate they wanted to kill themselves and their children. One woman lived under a tree and one rescued her sons from being poisoned by her husband's family. Pastor Ruth has helped all of these women to now beome self-supporting via micro-loans to set up small businessed. Widows in Uganda are subject to the whims of their dead husband's families. Their land, home and children can all be taken from them. What these women struggle with daily to accomplish care of self and children shows their strength and courage. (Wendy, Janet is teaching the "Mission Principles" material to these same women following my classes.) After this initial meeting we determined to split the women into non-English speakers to concentrate on learning English, and for those who do speak English, we will work on enhancing reading, writing and math skills.

I am very excited about this challenge and I ask for the prayers of all of you who read this that God will lead and guide me in these efforts.

Today, Leah was managing the clinic by herself, while Kathy went out to a village with Pastor Ruth to take some pictures of a child in desparate need of surgery.

Love to all - Bonnie

Udate on Rose

Rose at home with her neighbors

Rose went for a biopsy. Once they receive the results she will once again meet with the surgeon. I’ve added here the preliminary report from her doctor.
Please continue to pray for Rose. She has three children who need their mom.

Rose with her three children

A few new speaking titles for 2010

Dress a Girl Around the World Goes to Uganda

If you haven't been to our website http://www.dressagirlaroundtheworld.com please check us out and help us dress girls around the world.

Can You Help this Lady?

Recently I have been feeling fatigued. I chalked it up to traveling around the world and working all hours on my Hope 4 Women International/Dress a Girl Around the world projects.

My friend Victoria from South Korea is highly trained in Korean medicine and ran a test on me. Her findings were that my energy was low and suggested I may have a problem with my thyroid. I dismissed it as I have blood tests every year and my thyroid always is within the normal range. As the fatigue wore on I decided I may as well have my doctor check me out. They discovered two nodules on my right thyroid so now I get to go through more tests. I am sure I will be fine as 85 to 90% of thyroid nodules are benign.

But this caused me to remember a woman I met briefly in Uganda the month before. I was at Smile Africa and in a hurry—we Americans always try to keep on schedule even in Uganda where there doesn’t appear to be one. Anyway, Pastor Ruth stopped me and said, “Rachel. I want you take this lady’s photo.”

I sat at my computer and pulled up the forgotten photo and said, “Thank you God that I live in a country where I have easy access to medical attention and don’t have to face the things my sisters in Uganda face.”

I know that God would have me help this lady. It will cost several hundred dollars to get her treatment. So. I started thinking if I could get my friends and family who have had or know someone who has had a thyroid/goiter problem to pitch in a few dollars to help--together we could help this lady. Maybe we would collect enough money to not only help her but others like her.

If you can help please contact me Rachel@h4ki.org or you can click on this link http://www.hope4kidsinternational.org/donation-cart and put your amount in next to the hope 4 women box and donate directly online. Please email me telling me that that is what you want your donation to go toward.


Thank you so much and God bless you for making a difference in the life of this lady. I’m in contact with Pastor Ruth to find out her name. In my haste I didn’t take the time to write it down. Hmmmmmm. Maybe there is more than one lesson to be learned here. . .

Hope 4 Women 2009 in Review & Looking to 2010

2009 was a great year for Hope 4 Women International!

Learning to make Pillow Case Dresses

In March my sister Joan and I arrived in Uganda armed with pillowcases, bias tape, elastic, and sewing supplies. We taught the women at Smile Africa Ministries how to make pillowcase dresses on treadle sewing machines. We then turned the women loose to create their own designs of the pillowcases. We chose to carry pillowcases because they are light and easy to carry and pillowcase dresses are an easy item for the women to learn to sew.

Distributing Sewing Machines & Supplies to a Village

In July, Wendy Stokes represented Hope 4 Women and helped us distribute eighteen sewing machines for seven villages in Uganda. She also helped Hope 4 Women distribute pillowcases and supplies to these groups.

Women are so eager to learn to sew they will sew on paper if no fabric is available.

In November I returned to Uganda with the Hope 4 Kids team. Hope 4 women provided eight more sewing machines to villages. We gifted a women’s group in Fort Portal two sewing machines and paid three months rent toward a shop so they are able to sew items and sell them from their shop. We decided with these women that they would be self-sufficient in this program within three months.

We daily visited villages, donating sewing machines to women's groups and teaching them to sew on the spot.

Team Member Nancie teaches the art of making pillowcase dresses

In 2009 we distributed a total of 700 pillowcases and supplies to Uganda and held a number of sewing classes teaching different groups to make pillowcase dresses.


We began over 1500 victory gardens throughout Uganda and distributed over 400 garden hoes to women. Team members Hum & Donnie Ybarra purchased 300 hoes and Mae Jackson purchased 100.

See the previous blog for an extensive report on the Victory Gardens.

We purchased hundreds of dollars of hand-crafts from the women of Uganda. Crafts included necklaces, bracelets, earrings, slippers, totes, baskets, and drums. We sold many of these items at our two art shows and through individual craft sales and house parties. The initial purchases in Uganda went directly to the women who crafted the items. The profits made here in the United States go back into the program allowing us to once again purchase crafts from the women and to keep sustaining their work.

Handcraft display at True Vine Ministries

Our goal in 2010 is to expand our support of handcrafts to other countries. We want to purchase sewing machines in Romania, India, Peru, & Rwanda and teach women to make over-the-shoulder bags using their local fabrics. We will continue to teach pillowcase dresses/clothing and will work with the women of each country on items that will sell in their local areas as well as in the United States.

Hope 4 Women International plans to set up an online store in 2010.

In October of 2009 Hope 4 Women International launched our Dress a Girl Around the World program. http://www.dressagirlaroundtheworld.com Since it’s introduction groups sprang up in sixteen states to create pillowcase dresses for girls around the world. Within two months we distributed 313 dresses to Uganda, the Congo, and Honduras. We tucked 25 dresses into Samaritan’s Purse Shoe Boxes and donated dresses to a local Angel Tree Program.

Our goal for 2010 is to personally take dresses to India, Peru, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Romania, Russia and more. Since we imagined a world where every girl has a least one dress we offer other organizations our dresses to distribute. We ask in return that they photograph the distributions for Hope 4 Women’s Dress a Girl Program.

Dress a Girl Around the World and Water 4 Kids International http://www.w4ki teamed up after Jennie O’Hara, a talented artist who donates her work to Hope 4 Women, painted this painting of a little girl in her pillowcase dress, clutching a prayer doll (found in the pocket of her pillowcase dress)—collecting water at a newly drilled well—a gift from Water 4 Kids International. We now are asking churches, individuals, clubs, etc who are sponsoring a well to ask their members to make pillowcase dresses for girls who will be drinking at that well. When we dedicate the well we will distribute the dresses made by those involved in that well’s sponsorship.

Angie's Love by Jennie O'Hara

We also launched a Women sponsorship program this year. For $36 a month a woman will be placed in a program teaching her to become a successful business woman. If you scroll down the blog you will see our sponsorship program in detail.

Fatuma Raises & Sells Turkeys

Fatuma is in a sponsorship program in Uganda. She had leprosy at an early age and lost her fingers and toes to the disease. When we met her she had no skills and survived by begging in the streets. She now is the proud owner of a turkey business. She is so proud to be a business owner and when Pastor Ruth, the overseer of the sponsorship program invited women to her home for a Christmas tea Fatuma kept reminding her she needed to get home to care for her turkeys.

Fatuma at Tea

In 2010 Hope 4 Women will expand the sponsorship program to empower more businesswomen as well as to aid those elderly widows who have no one to care for their medical, physical and spiritual needs.

We served 100’s of women at our tea party/spas where the women receive an afternoon of pampering with foot washings, nail polish, colorful headscarves and practical gifts.

Along with sponsoring day spas we sponsored hundreds of women in business start-ups from donating garden seeds, to purchasing wholesale charcoal for women to retail; sponsored soap making projects--liquid and bar soap (see blog about Catherine's soap making); purchased sewing machines for individuals whom have graduated from Smile Africa's tailoring course; helped women start road side hot food and produce stands--to name a few.

In 2010 Bonnie from Wisconsin will be in Uganda for three months to teach women English, reading and arithmetic. Watch for updates from her.

Hope 4 Women International held two art shows in 2009. Generous and talented artists throughout the United States donated their work and the fabulous Blue Daddy band traveled from LA to perform. Venues were provided by the Shops at Norterra in North Phoenix and Jazzy's in Prescott. The proceeds funded women empowerment projects in Uganda.

Foot Washing by Jennie O'Hara

New Life by Elaine Toth

We look forward to more art show/musical fundraisers in 2010.

Coming in 2010: our online store selling artist prints as well as handcrafts created by the women we serve.

And

Anna & Her Sisters
a novel by
Rachel Eggum Cinader

To receive our brochures and other information about Hope 4 Women International please contact Rachel@h4ki.org