give empowerment

Thursday, December 2, 2010

give empowerment

I was looking around one of my favorite stores yesterday (Ten Thousand Villages) and a display of bars of soap caught my eye. Normally, soap would not be that interesting to me, but these were a little different. Each of them had a piece of wax, with a fingerprint impressed into it. So I came a little closer and saw that they were called "Sacred Mark". I don't make a habit of crying in public, especially not standing in a store, but tears were sitting at the corners of my eyes as I read the story of these bars of soap:

"Known as 'survivors,' the women in MCC's Pobitra program receive much more than handicraft training. They are offered an environment of respect and support where they are able to begin new lives. Victims of Bangladesh's sex trade, the women take part in an eight-month vocational training program that also educates about health and hygiene, mental health, human rights, peace and literacy. The program's name, Pobitra, means 'holiness, sanctity, the fresh cleanliness of a newborn.' To join the program, women make a public commitment to embrace new opportunities and on completion, are given a blue sari to symbolize their rebirth. Many of the program's graduates produce handmade natural soaps at Sacred Mark, an enterprise developed by MCC in Bangladesh."

Are there tears in the corners of your eyes? If so, please go to MCC/Ten Thousand Villages and support this program either by buying bars of soap (guess what all my friends and family are getting next year?!?) or by buying a Living Gift - "Give Empowerment" - which, for $25, is the gift of literacy materials for a woman who is beginning a new life (online it's at www.tenthousandvillages.ca/cgi-bin/category.cgi?type=store&item=pageZAAAF39&template=fullpage-en&category=search)

"Your gift of empowerment gives women in Bangladesh the capacity to start over, learn vocational skills and find new sources of employment."