On October 8th, NYC Women of Vision hosted our 2012 Fall Kick-Off Event where 3 women shared inspiring stories of how they were each moved by God to utilize their backgrounds, talents, and skills to make a difference in Africa.
Although none of them thought they would develop a desire to help those who were marginalized and hurting due to poverty, God transformed their hearts so that they started to break for what broke the heart of God. The results were awe-inspiring as each of the women made life altering decisions.
Sarah became a co-deacon for the Rwanda Missions at her church and has traveled to Rwanda 3 times to love the people in Rwanda, specifically to encourage and equip the pastors there. Connie decided to stop climbing the corporate ladder by leaving her marketing career in luxury skincare, but instead joined a small company which seeks to bring about social and economic change that benefit women in developing countries (currently in Rwanda). Margo took a sabbatical year from a top executive job in a high profile tech company to offer up her "5 loaves & 2 fish" to God and ended up helping 70,000 girls in Kenya to attend a secondary school and escape FGM (Female Genital Mutilation).
It was really awesome to hear these inspiring stories of 3 "ordinary" women doing "extraordinary" work on behalf of the most vulnerable.
"Wow, that's great!" might be a typical reaction of someone who just heard these stories and just walk away. But that wasn't the point of having NYC WoV's Kick-Off Event. The purpose for the event was to inspire and empower each person at the event and those reading this newsletter to ADVOCATE for those who are hurting and suffering as a result of poverty. After each event as such as this, our advocacy goals for each person who attend our events/meeting and reads our newsletter are:
- Know and remember that we each have a voice and the ability to bring about a positive change
- Use our voice/ability in a fight to end poverty, injustice, and human suffering
- Encourage everyone in our community (family, friends, colleagues, neighbors) to join us
After we learn about issues of human suffering, injustice, and poverty, we often feel paralyzed because we feel that the problem is too big. Most of us think, “I can’t make a difference.” We, at NYC Women of Vision, would like to encourage you to think differently. You can take one small step in making a difference. Here are some ideas that we have. Of course this is not a comprehensive list, but it will help you get started in taking action to bring about a positive change.
Be a Conscientious Shopper! (Start with just one product and use your purchase power as a way to bring about change.)
- Buy Fair-Trade, Rainforest Alliance and/or UTZ certified chocolate (also coffee, tea & other products) to ensure that the chocolate did not use cocoa beans from farms/plantations that used child slaves
- When you go into a store, ASK for Fair-Trade, Rainforest Alliance and/or UTZ certified chocolates
http://www.equalexchange.coop/chocolate-bars/
http://www.fairtradeusa.org/products-partners/cocoa
http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/about/poverty
http://www.utzcertified.org/en/aboututzcertified - Research the products that you buy, before you make the purchase
http://www.free2work.org/
Call Hershey’s (or another chocolate company).
- Tell them you are glad that they made a commitment to make their chocolate 100% certified by 2020 and that you will be following their progress. (They will follow through on their promises quickly if they know that consumers will be watching them!)
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-10-03/hershey-vows-to-use-only-certified-cocoa-by-2020
http://www.raisethebarhershey.org/take-action-call-hershey/
Read and learn about more ways you can make a difference.
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