Last week I introduced you to Stacey Edgar and her Global Girlfriends sharing some of the ideas and plans she had in the beginning. It is even more interesting I think, to follow her along to see how her plan evolved.
Her original letter from Josephine in Kenya showed a product that was poorly made by USA standards and she could not even begin to agree to try to sell them. Instead Josephine and her women understood that from Stacey and spent the next 5 years improving their products until she was able to place a large order for the products the women had worked so hard to develop.
Stacey says: “Josephine taught me a lesson that I hold dear: that the smallest seemingly insignificant act can change someone's life. Kind words and encouragement from others can impact how a person sees herself and her abilities. And if words can change a person's life, just think what small acts of kindness—and better yet, small investments of capital—can do for women in poverty.”
Often we think about 'charity' in terms of big numbers or big programs and are overwhelmed. I can tell you that Global Girlfriends did go from that early $2,000 to a 'multi-million dollar, socially conscious business that has helped women on five continents feed their families and send their children to school...real women from Guatemala to Nepal, from Haiti to Uganda. It is a passionate argument for simple actions we can all take to eliminate extreme poverty.'
You might like to know that in the first year they grew from 7 groups to 15 and products from 10 countries were coming into her garage in Colorado. She learned busines the hard way...learning not to over-provide or promise. She built relationships with the women who were running their own co-ops in their own neighborhoods and earning their own money, paying back any loans within the year as promised.
At the end of the book she suggests five things we can all do if we want to make an impact on any community project..,.even as amazing as hers.
“1. LEARN...dig into the problems of the people you've selected and where to find organizations working towards solutions...2. STOP LEARNING AND JUST DO IT!...YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW EVERYTHING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE...DON'T GET BOGGED DOWN...GET TO WORK!
3.START LOCAL...women in your town need your support...change the way you shop by changing your clothes...buy fair trade coffee or...4. GO GLOBAL...make it happen, travel...consider a volunteer vacation...5. BE YOU...no one can bring your unique gifts to the world...want to do more...find your own passion...take the leap!
More than you want to do? OK keep doing what you are doing, do it better, do it longer. Our hope is that making even a little difference with love is a great gift to our community and world. Rock on!
BLESSINGS.
