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SowHope could be the featured nonprofit at Little PINK Book's upcoming Spring Into Ownership event! 

It is always good to hear how people around the world use their resources to improve their lives.  I recently visited a country, south of our border, and passed a guy selling cigars on a crowded street corner.  I then overheard his witty sales pitch to a woman behind me.

Salesman: “Buy my cigars, Ma’am?”

Lady (clearly annoyed by the many sales hawkers all around her):  “No thanks, I don’t smoke.”

Salesman: “Then buy some cigars for your friends.”

Lady:  “I don’t have any friends.”

Salesman:  “Then buy some cigars for your co-workers.”

Lady:  “I don’t like my co-workers, so why would I buy them anything?”

Salesman:  “Then buy them some cigars, their lives will end sooner!”

 

I don’t know if he actually made the sale, but, besides being very funny, I was impressed with his tenacity to find and eventually present a plausible need for his unseemly product to a potential (and mildly hostile) client. His working conditions were not easy.  He was standing in the hot sun all day, a box of cigars strapped around both shoulders making a portable display table at his stomach; all in a very chaotic and competitive sales environment.  Yet, he was able to maintain a good attitude and even bring a smile to those around him.  Too bad he wasn’t selling chocolate.  My friends and co-workers would have loved me to buy them some of that!

Last weekend my son, Alex, a friend, Mike, and I made what has become an annual winter trip to Tijuana and Tecate, northern border towns of Mexico.  From 1989 to 2005 our family went each summer with volunteer church teams to build one or two homes. Within a few years we added winter trips to visit the families of the homes we most connected with emotionally.  We still take food baskets and Christmas gifts for the parents to give to their children to about 10 families. 

It has been an interesting experience to watch these families mature over the years. We have watched children grow into adulthood. We are now holding the babies of the babies we held while building their houses. 

When I first arrived in Tijuana, it was exceedingly poor with only a few paved roads and very little infrastructure. There was no electricity and no running water in the areas we were building, not far from the city center.  People were coming from even poorer conditions all over Mexico, leaving families and hometowns, to homestead land near the border with the hope of making a better life.  Over the years, this would prove to be a risk well worth taking. The economy there has blossomed. Although it is still quite poor when compared to US standards, there is a big difference from the extreme poverty of the late 80’s. Many of our friends, while eking out a living, are also supporting their parents and extended families back in the villages. 

Some of the families are barely surviving while, it seems, others are thriving.  One of the indicators I have been observing is the level of education being attained by the children.  Most of the children make it to about 9^th grade, which is mandatory there.  One of the key factors which seems to influence the ability for children to move on to high school, and even university, is the family structure.  In each case where a child has made it to university, from the families we know, there are two parents, both working, who actively encourage the child to further their education. 

The families where children only do the minimum education required by law are living in homes of single mothers who are not highly educated.  Those kids are now struggling to find work. The one family where the mother died and the father abandoned his four sons are coping the worst. Neighbor ladies have stepped in to care for the boys as much as possible, but the older boys have already quit school and are finding it difficult to find jobs. 

In my observations, children who live in poverty, at least, survive under the care of a loving mother. In order to really thrive, they need two supportive parents. But, woe to the ones who lose their mothers, especially if other women don’t step in to care for them.  It takes a village to raise a child and that village does a better job when the women are empowered. Join us as we inspire women around the world by promoting wellness, education and economic opportunities.

This week, I read about two women in their early 20’s who had just cast their votes.  The first one is Dalia, my friend from Egypt, who excitedly wrote on her Facebook page, “I voted! It took me six hours, but it was so worth it…” The other is Natalie from the Democratic Republic of Congo. While referring to that country’s recent election, she was quoted in a NY Times article saying, “What do I fear? I fear death. No one knows what’s going to happen.”

Politics aside, what is notable here is that these young women, both students, were able to take advantage of their right to have a voice in their futures.  They live in two countries where SowHope has funded projects giving wellness, education, and economic opportunities to impoverished women.

As I thought about what the experience of casting their votes might have meant to Dalia and Natalie, I realized that most of the women we serve are not able to vote, due in part to the fact that they are illiterate. How can you vote when you cannot read a ballot?  Or, they are too busy working all day to provide food for their families to even think of going to the polls. Or, they simply have never been told that their opinion counts, so voting is not a rung on their short ladder of self-esteem.

This ability to express your voice is no small matter, especially when it comes to women in developing countries, who often are treated as second-class citizens. Perhaps this is why Natalie from the DRC, literally scared to death, still goes to the polls.  And why Dalia, from Egypt, waits in line for six hours to cast her vote. To both of them we say, “Bravo, ladies, we hear you!”

This is the week to be thankful, although I believe it is good to be thankful every day. 

Monday marked nine years since my mom, Jennie Evangelisti Dailey, died.  Just thinking of her continues to inspire me. She was a person who lived a life of unconditional love and service.  She was a tremendous example to witness day in and day out.  What a gift to grow up with the knowledge that you were always accepted, no matter what. What a hero! 

I see these same powerful elements in so many of the local leaders that we partner with around the world.  Women and men who sacrifice their wealth to show others they have value.  They are the ones: who speak up for what is right, when it would be easier to stay quiet; who stand up when everyone else cowers; who don’t demand more of others than they are willing to do themselves; who sacrifice their comfort, so others can live.  These are the true heros in the world and I am thankful for them and thankful to know them. 

What is so special about Nargis? 

Well, she was named the 7 billionth person in the world a few weeks ago, when it was estimated that we hit that milestone number in our global population.  While no one knows exactly who it was, the government of India, which holds one-sixth of the world’s population, pointed to the little girl from Uttar Pradesh in northern India as the record breaking baby.

Welcome Nargis!  We are glad your government recognized you, a girl, as a significant part of the human race. May your life be as remarkable as your birth.  

I am heading down to Washington DC and then on to Lexington, VA where tomorrow we will be having our first SowHope Speakers Bureau Training.
 
It has been an idea in the hopper for a long time and thanks to Dr. Anita Arnold for taking on the leadership of this training and making it a reality.   Also, a big thanks to Abigail Inn for hosting this training.
 
Twelve trainees from six states will gather to become a growing team of speakers able to effectively share the mission of SowHope and stories of deserving women who are being inspired through wellness, education and economic opportunities all around the world!

Mary Dailey Brown
President SowHope

My first recollection of blatant gender discrimination in the developing world took place on the side of a mountain.  My friend Bev and I were being escorted down a well-worn Himalayan path just as the sun was setting.  We were trying to reach a good sized village where we would meet our driver and a car to take us to the border of this stunningly beautiful Asian country. The three mile walk down the mountain was quite enjoyable and along the way we would run into only a few people walking up the mountain. 

One small group was a family consisting of a father, mother, and their adult daughter who was holding an infant. Except for the perfectly formed baby, all were lepers on their way to a church service. They were scheduled to arrive late, as was their custom, so they could enter the back of the church and not disturb others with their deformed presence. Our guide knew everyone in this locale and introduced us.  We cooed over the baby and then gave each one a lingering heartfelt hug goodbye.  Our guide advised us that surely that was the only hug they had received since contracting leprosy, a disease which was still widely feared by everyone else.

While walking and pondering their station in life, we came upon a man who was probably about 30 years old carrying a baby son. He greeted us in the traditional manner by forming his hands into the praying position, somewhat awkwardly, while trying to also hold the baby, nodded his head, smiled broadly, and cheerfully said “Namaste”. We returned the greeting with the same enthusiasm. 

As we turned to continue our downward journey we caught our first glimpse of the man’s wife. She was tiny and following about 10 steps behind her husband. We stared, dumbfounded, as she passed us struggling to carry a bag of rice so big that she had to balance it on her back with a strap going up and around her sweat-laden forehead.  She was bending over and breathing heavily under the immense weight of her cargo which seemed to equal, or even exceed, her own body weight. Between breathless pants, she managed to blurt out “Namaste” as she passed us looking straight ahead, forging on with her heavy load.

At SowHope we are really thankful for Nicholas Kristof.  He is a NY Times writer and co-author of the book “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide”. He is one of the major voices speaking up for impoverished women in the world.  His book, which he co-authored with his wife, Sheryl Wudunn, and which we highly recommend, depicts the plight of women that we strive to serve at SowHope. 

The title of the book comes from a Chinese saying that women hold up half the sky.  He was in Grand Rapids this past week and gave a great speech on the topic of women under oppression.  Kristof believes that the best way to fight poverty is to educate and empower women and girls. 

I stood in line after his speech to get my copy of his book signed and to meet this hero to women world-wide. He said hello and chatted with me. We laughed when he said that he remembered me running up to him in the Boston airport about six months ago to introduce myself and to hand him a SowHope brochure.  I handed him another one and told him that we have impacted over 25,000 women through our programs.  He was very encouraging and signed my book “Mary, Keep up the great work!  You are holding up 2/3 of the sky!” 
Ok, you Nicholas, you had me at hello!

Welcome to our new blog at SowHope.org!  We will be using this space as a way to help keep you informed about our work with impoverished women around the world. I am Mary Dailey Brown the president and CEO of SowHope. 

In January of 2006, my husband Doug and I, along with the help of many friends, founded this international, charitable, non-profit organization with the goal of impacting deserving women in the developing world. 

We decided to start this organization after I had spent about five years traveling in the third world witnessing the plight of women who make less than $2/day.  I wanted to spend the rest of my life’s energy on this demographic group, which numbers 1.5 billion women. 

After searching for 3 months for a large scale multinational group dedicated to basic life-saving holistic care of women I could not find even one.  There are hundreds of these types of organizations for children.  It was at that point that we launched SowHope. 

Please join us in this important work of empowering women through wellness, education and economic opportunities. And I hope you enjoy the blog!