Hi friends and supporters,
It's been a while since I've communicated via this blog. I think I've been putting off writing this one because of the complexity both of the situation and the fact that I'm still processing how I feel about it. There have been some changes here, and there are both positives and negatives to these changes, hence the confusion.
Basically, we have decided that the women who were initially coming to the DuHope jewellery and counseling program should be graduated from the program, and we will be taking a hiatus from that aspect of our work for the month of December.
Let me touch on the positives of this first: we held a graduation party on Friday and the women had an absolutely great time. They dressed up, had their hair and makeup done, and we presented them with certificates. Each time a woman's name was called to stand up and receive her certificate, all the other women cheered and clapped for her excitedly. There was dancing and food and all around it was a great time. Some of the women shared about the things they had learned and what they were going to take with them from the program - it was so encouraging to hear how they feel they have grown and what they strive to do differently in their lives. Is it guaranteed they're all going to leave prostitution? No. But they are motivated in a way they haven't been before. They learned so much about relationships and family and forgiveness - overall, I think it has been an extremely positive experience for them, and I am extremely happy about that.
One reason we have decided to take a pause is so that we can look at some of the things that didn't go "according to plan" in the first class of DuHope (to be honest, we kind of jumped into this passionately and were figuring out a lot of the logistics as we went..). So that means that my last month here will be spent working out some of those "kinks" and really perfecting the program. I am going to be focusing a lot on our intake and orientation process, which was basically non-existent the first time around; it was basically "show up". We even discovered some of the women aren't in prostitution but have been living in poverty and wanted to make some money. And as much as we are sympathetic to their situation, we have to be selective due to the nature/purpose of the program.
Another positive is that the women have decided they want to form their own cooperative, or business, making and selling jewellery using the skills they have learnt. This is a huge victory for us, as that was really the point of the program - to give these women the skills and motivation they need to be self-sufficient and working in another industry. We are excited to see how this turns out and will be keeping in contact with them for support.
I am feeling very sad about not seeing these women anymore. Even though we could not communicate much due to the language barrier, I grew fond of them (and their children). It is hard to see them go, but I am trying to cling to the hope that they have left different than when they first came in. And I am excited about the work I will get to do during this next month and am reminding myself that it will only lead to better serving the next class that comes in in January.
We are also spending a lot of energy on fundraising. We jumped into this program with what money we had raised, unaware of what it would actually take to run the program. So that is also a part of our month of planning and perfecting. If you are interested in supporting us please visit www.belayglobal.org/hope
This was unexpected, and for a while felt like a failure. I was scared to communicate this knowing how many people had been supporting me both spiritually/emotionally and financially. It was hard to not feel like I had let down the people who had sent me on this trip, which is probably another reason why I haven't written this sooner. But, I am trying not to let those kind of feelings and ideas get into my head too much and realise that the work I do for the next month is just as important and worthwhile, if not more so.
Thank you for reading and please, as always, feel free to ask questions and comment.
And if you are someone who prays, please keep praying for us as a team, for myself, and for the women who we have said goodbye to.
You are appreciated.
Bronte
I learned that in Rwanda you are supposed to write out details of what the certificate represents.
It's been a while since I've communicated via this blog. I think I've been putting off writing this one because of the complexity both of the situation and the fact that I'm still processing how I feel about it. There have been some changes here, and there are both positives and negatives to these changes, hence the confusion.
Basically, we have decided that the women who were initially coming to the DuHope jewellery and counseling program should be graduated from the program, and we will be taking a hiatus from that aspect of our work for the month of December.
Let me touch on the positives of this first: we held a graduation party on Friday and the women had an absolutely great time. They dressed up, had their hair and makeup done, and we presented them with certificates. Each time a woman's name was called to stand up and receive her certificate, all the other women cheered and clapped for her excitedly. There was dancing and food and all around it was a great time. Some of the women shared about the things they had learned and what they were going to take with them from the program - it was so encouraging to hear how they feel they have grown and what they strive to do differently in their lives. Is it guaranteed they're all going to leave prostitution? No. But they are motivated in a way they haven't been before. They learned so much about relationships and family and forgiveness - overall, I think it has been an extremely positive experience for them, and I am extremely happy about that.
One reason we have decided to take a pause is so that we can look at some of the things that didn't go "according to plan" in the first class of DuHope (to be honest, we kind of jumped into this passionately and were figuring out a lot of the logistics as we went..). So that means that my last month here will be spent working out some of those "kinks" and really perfecting the program. I am going to be focusing a lot on our intake and orientation process, which was basically non-existent the first time around; it was basically "show up". We even discovered some of the women aren't in prostitution but have been living in poverty and wanted to make some money. And as much as we are sympathetic to their situation, we have to be selective due to the nature/purpose of the program.
Another positive is that the women have decided they want to form their own cooperative, or business, making and selling jewellery using the skills they have learnt. This is a huge victory for us, as that was really the point of the program - to give these women the skills and motivation they need to be self-sufficient and working in another industry. We are excited to see how this turns out and will be keeping in contact with them for support.
I am feeling very sad about not seeing these women anymore. Even though we could not communicate much due to the language barrier, I grew fond of them (and their children). It is hard to see them go, but I am trying to cling to the hope that they have left different than when they first came in. And I am excited about the work I will get to do during this next month and am reminding myself that it will only lead to better serving the next class that comes in in January.
We are also spending a lot of energy on fundraising. We jumped into this program with what money we had raised, unaware of what it would actually take to run the program. So that is also a part of our month of planning and perfecting. If you are interested in supporting us please visit www.belayglobal.org/hope
This was unexpected, and for a while felt like a failure. I was scared to communicate this knowing how many people had been supporting me both spiritually/emotionally and financially. It was hard to not feel like I had let down the people who had sent me on this trip, which is probably another reason why I haven't written this sooner. But, I am trying not to let those kind of feelings and ideas get into my head too much and realise that the work I do for the next month is just as important and worthwhile, if not more so.
Thank you for reading and please, as always, feel free to ask questions and comment.
And if you are someone who prays, please keep praying for us as a team, for myself, and for the women who we have said goodbye to.
You are appreciated.
Bronte
I learned that in Rwanda you are supposed to write out details of what the certificate represents. 
DuHope Class 1!
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