Gender Equality Angola Project #42737

Enable 50 Women in Angola to Generate Income

by Hope for Our Sisters, Inc.

Project Report | Aug 24, 2023
Hope For Our Sisters August 2023 Impact Report

By Cara Brooks | HFOS Board of Directors Member & Clerk

Celina

Greetings to all! The team at Hope For Our Sisters Inc., in partnership with the Aftercare team at CEML Hospital in Lubango, Angola, is pleased to bring you our latest impact report for our project to "Enable 50 Women in Angola to Generate Income.". As always, we are so thankful for the support of each of you in bringing this program to our sisters who have suffered from fistula and are living at the patient villas in CEML either awaiting or recovering from surgery. This program equips them with literacy, numeracy, and language classes and teaches them marketable skills such as gardening, sewing, and crafting that they can take forward into their lives outside of the hospital to support themselves and others in their families and communities. These women are able, and amazing, and so deserving of these opportunities. We cannot thank you enough for helping them to realize dreams to learn new things and become more self-sufficient.

The team reports that in the last few months there have been new skills added to the course offerings thanks to some new teachers working with the staff! The women have been making earrings and wearing them out as a form of advertisement and to bring themselves joy, even selling some at a recent spiritual life conference. They also are learning to crochet! Additionally, they have had an uptick in local partnerships from groups such as a churches, who offer encouragement and donations to the women and the programs.

A story was shared about a sister named Celina. Though very young, Celina has had more than one surgery to heal her fistula without success. Rather than letting this destroy her happiness, Celina is described as always smiling and dedicating herself to projects and skills like sewing. The team is hoping to purchase her a sewing machine as a present, as they have all been impressed with her ability to both create and tailor clothes and this may be a meaningful way for her to provide for herself. Please keep Celina in your heart as she prepares to transition back to her home without having been physically healed but perhaps with a measure of hope in her heart.

We hope you are continuing to enjoy these reports every four months and, as always, we welcome your feedback or suggestions to Cara, one of our Board members, at cbrooks@hopeforoursisters.org. For more regular updates on all our programs, please visit our website and sign up for our Constant Contact updates 1-2 times per month, or follow us on Facebook! Thank you again for your incredible generosity and support of this cause and these amazing women.

Earring Making

Showing off their work!

Links:

HFOS Homepage

Permalink

Apr 26, 2023
Hope for Our Sisters April 2023 Impact Report

By Brooke Fowler Sulahian | HFOS President & Co-Founder

Making Baskets Outside in the Villa

First of all, it was so very good to see our sisters in person again...those I had met prior and those who were new to me. When I think back to our first visit in 2013 and meeting the fistula patients in the Patient Villa, they were quiet, subdued, chatted with each other quietly, with one or two who would comfortably interact with us. They were also, sadly, waiting there for the next procedure or medical test with nothing to do. They were LOVED by the staff/team, but that had not sunk in to their hearts yet.

That was in 2013. Fast forward to 2023 and the fistula patients met us at the gate of the Villa and "sang us" into their newish meeting area (they originally used a metal shed) and sang to us in full thanks that we were there and the hope we represent. They had sincere smiles on their faces and joy in their hearts. It was a celebration I did not know I had been hoping for all along. It was a gift to everyone there, including our sisters themselves.

YOU helped make this transition happen. YOU said yes to our sisters, like our medical/outreach teams have. The truth of your commitment and sacrifice on their behalf and the love they experience at the hospital, enabled our precious, strong, resilient sisters to see their own priceless value and potential for impact in their world. This was a treasured gift we got to witness. THANK YOU for the part you played! Enjoy the pistures from our trip.

While in Angola, there were 24 sisters in the Aftercare program. We witnessed them sewing/learning to sew and making baskets. We also got to see everything they are making, including these very handy and pretty catheter bags that enable them to be active with catheters inserted into their bodies post fistula repair surgery. We bought some of their beautiful items (31 baskets and 7 aprons) to bring back to the US to sell. The women were paid for the items they had made and any sales proceeds will go back to the Aftercare program.

We received a special update from one of our medical team members involved in the Aftercare Program. I thought you would enjoy it as I did..."I just witnessed, today, a beautiful moment in which I saw again (how it happens with) a patient when they live for awhile in our villa with other (fistula) patients, A very sweet moment of farewell from a girl (who is healed from her fistula, but unfortunately with incontinence*). I saw the joy on her face that speaks of some healing, when she embraced and kissed friends goodbye, while they were all giggling. She was accompanied by four of her teenage friends/patients (as she left)."

We hope you are continuing to enjoy these reports every four months and, as always, we welcome your feedback or suggestions to Brooke, HFOS President & Co-Founder, at brooke@hopeforoursisters.org. For more regular updates on all our programs, please visit our website and sign up for our Constant Contact updates 1-2 times per month, or follow us on Facebook! Thank you again for your incredible generosity and support of this cause and these amazing women.

* Stress incontinence is a common challenge for our sisters healed from fistula. This is another reason we focus on the prevention of fistula as well, so we can partner with our sisters before they get injured and strive to remove fistula from our planet.

Basket Makers, Our Sisters

Catheter Bags for Active Living at the Villa

More Basket Creators

Sewing!

Beautiful Handmade Items

Links:

Permalink

Dec 31, 2022
Hope for Our Sisters December 2022 Impact Report

By Brooke Fowler Sulahian | HFOS President & Co-Founder

Sisters in Aftercare Program

Greetings to all! The team at Hope For Our Sisters Inc., in partnership with the Aftercare team at CEML Hospital in Lubango, Angola, is pleased to bring you our latest impact report for our project to "Enable 50 Women in Angola to Generate Income.". We have an exciting report for you, but want to first share that we continue to be so very thankful for your generous support in bringing this program to our brave sisters who have suffered from fistula and are living at the patient villas at CEML either awaiting or recovering from surgery. As you know, this critical program equips them with literacy, numeracy, and language classes and teaches them marketable skills such as gardening, sewing, and crafting that they can take forward into their lives outside of the hospital to support themselves and others in their families and communities. These women are learning that they are able, and amazing, and so deserving of these opportunities. We cannot thank you enough for helping them to realize their dreams to learn new things and become more self-sufficient.

We are excited to share that there were as many as 40 women involved in the Aftercare Program during these last three months of 2022! This is the largest number of sweet sisters present since COVID began. The team reports that they and the women experienced "hope", "joy" and "contagious joy". What a gift!

The team shared how the women continue to learn to read and write. We included a picture of Chipule signing her name for the very first time! The literacy program was once just a dream and now is equipping our sisters as they step into their future. Even though not yet healed from fistula, courageous and hopeful Irma got married! Since so many husbands leave their wives when they develop fistula, this marriage provides hope to our sisters and speaks of Irma's husband's love for her despite her injury. Our sisters continue to create beautiful items to sell in the local markets. It is our hope that we can purchase some of these items to sell in America later this year. Lastly, the Aftercare Team is working to ensure the sewing and craft arm of the full program is self-sustaining!

Chipule signing her name for the first time!

Irma's wedding!

Sisters making baskets.

New crafts being created.

Aftercare Team.

Links:

HFOS Website

Permalink

‹ 1 2 3 4 5 ›

About Project Reports

Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can recieve an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.