By Lynellyn D. Long, Ph.D. | Chair of HERA Trustees
Thank you for your continued support for HERA! As 2015 draws to a close, we are reflecting on the record impact made this year and looking forward to an exciting new year ahead.
In 2015, HERA funded 31 women-owned ventures in Central and Eastern Europe! During March-April, HERA held a Third Annual Grants competition, during which we received 94 applications. Following field assessments, HERA teams funded 31 ventures across 5 countries: Moldova (12); Armenia (10); Ukraine (6); Georgia (2); and Romania (1). Read about three of the ventures below:
In Armenia, a young mother who started a preschool center for over 200 children is developing a nanny services venture. She is training young women to become qualified in-home childcare workers. She also places and follows up with the women and families to ensure all is working well. Her first training, held in November, included young women at risk of trafficking as well as recent unemployed graduates.
In Moldova, HERA has successfully supported greenhouse agricultural production. The far South is a tomato-growing region. A young couple met in Russia, where they migrated for work, married, and decided to return to their home village to start a tomato farm on land given as a wedding gift. They had already built the greenhouses and were into their second year of production, but wanted to increase their return. HERA contributed toward the cost of purchasing and installing a heating system. With the expanded production, they employed young women to tend and harvest their tomatoes.
In Ukraine, HERA's two projects directly support young women in the IDP/refugee settlements. One provides reproductive health training and counseling for refugee and returned trafficked women who become pregnant. The organizer provides prenatal care, training, and support and information to the women and has also developed relationships with the local hospital and medical teams.
HERA’s vision is to prevent the growing business of trafficking and re-trafficking through women’s entrepreneurship. Women developing their own new businesses are the most effective in countering trafficking of young women for sexual and other forms of exploitation in their own communities. They can make and are making a difference by launching their own legitimate businesses. Many in turn employ and train more young women and thereby provide a serious alternative to the growing industries of dangerous migration and trafficking.
Your support helps to make this vision a reality! We invite you to consider sponsoring a HERA entrepreneur this holiday season. Every gift you make – no matter the amount – will positively impact a woman’s life. Thank you for helping young women in harm’s way pursue their career aspirations and achieve economic autonomy!
For USA donors: Maximize your giving this holiday season! Every recurring donation made in December will receive a one-time 100% match. Click here to give!
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*Please note that, in order to protect the identities of trafficking survivors in our programs, we do not publish their names or pictures.
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