We just wanted to share with you a few of our favorite fashion finds just in time for this season of wildflowers, sunshine soaking and all things new. All of these goods support worthy causes that help instill value in women. Cute finds + worthy causes = the best kinda of shopping a girl could do!
Drumroll puhleez....
1) "I Am Free" Soldered Glass Pendant. Supports Wonderfully Made
Here are some snapshots from our visit this week to Pepperdine! One of our wmVoices Nicole Bromley broke the silence about childhood sexual abuse by sharing her story. We closed out the day with two layers of icing on the cake: an unforgettable meeting with the dynamic girls who are bringing a chapter of WM to Pepperdine and a Girl Talk with Nicole & Allie, hosted by Natalie Horne - the newest member of our Exec Team. Hope you enjoy the pics...
Nicole courageously sharing her story "Our Little Secret" at Convo in front 1,200 students.
The new wmGirls of Pepperdine! You girls are compassionate, authentic and inspiring!
Our table...
Girl Talk with Nicole & Allie, hosted by Natalie
Nicole getting real...
A night of smiles and tears...
Natalie, Allie & Nicole
*Special thanks to the amazing team at Pepperdine for making these events happen. Thank you Claire, Sarah, Don and Jonathan for all your hard work and for helping keep it real on Pepperdine's campus! If you're a Pepperdine student and are intersted in being a part of our new chapter, email us at info@wonderfullymade.org
International Princess Project follows a model of social entrepreneurship. Can you tell us about this business approach and how it is designed to help others?
The social entrepreneurship system fills a vital gap by ensuring rescue efforts result in more than a temporary safe haven, but in stable, permanent liberation for women and a decrease in sex-trafficking. We want to teach the women that they are not dependent on charity to restore their lives. We definitely appreciate all the donations people give to help keep IPP running and support the women, but they ladies also know that they earn wages the same way any other person would. The ladies have the opportunity to take control of their futures instead of waiting for the next charity check to come in. By learning a trade in a viable business, the ladies are less likely to re-enter prostitution.
What is the current state of the women in India and what are some practical ways young women in America can help?
Currently over three million women and girls work as prostitutes on the streets of India. It is hard for American women to imagine the gravity of this fact, because the prostitution that happens in the U.S. is largely hidden. Our government has its problems, but at least it is a stable enough system to value, for the most part, the obliteration of prostitution rings, especially when they involve children. Unfortunately, many Indian officials turn their heads to the problem of sex trafficking in India. Many women are taken advantage of by police officers -- the very people who ought to be protecting their freedom and rights. The situation is further complicated by the caste system in India -- the belief that certain individuals are more valuable than others and given more opportunities because of the families into which they were born. The culture can specifically be difficult for women, who often have to rely on a man to vouch for them in order to have any voice in society. Driven by extreme poverty and lack of opportunities, women and young girls might begin sex work to survive. HIV/AIDS and other diseases take their lives at devastatingly early ages. All of these women suffer hardship and abuse beyond imagination.
There are three specific ways young American women can partner with IPP to help us rescue more women:
1.) They can purchase PUNJAMMIES, or host a PUNJAMMIE party for their friends and family to sell PUNJAMMIES and help support the ladies who make them.
2.) They can donate their resources directly to IPP to replicate our essential programs around the globe.
3.) Individuals in Southern California can donate their time by contacting help@intlprincess.org. We have many volunteer opportunities. We also encourage young women to help spread the word about the reality of human trafficking. So many people in Western culture have no idea that sex slavery is an intense, worldwide problem. We need advocates to spread awareness.
Tell us about an unusual experience International Princess project has experienced in India? Just going to India is an unusual experience. The first time I went, I had heard so many stories about what to expect, what not to expect, and to expect the unexpected. Laura, our Executive Director, told me that once you get to India, you realize that all your senses have been on mute, and suddenly they switch to full-volume when you step off that plane. She also told me you cannot go to India and return the same. You can't see the sex trafficking and forget it. "You can't see this and do nothing," she said. This is true. Our experiences in India are even more unusual because we spend most of our days seeing the India that tourists do not see. It is even different than going on a short-term mission trip to India, where a team pops in and pops out. We are committed to building lasting relationships with our Indian partners and with the women they rescue. They know that when we say goodbye, it is only for a few months. We will be back.
India is a beautiful country, full of brilliant, kind, hospitable people. Just like any other country, however, it has an underbelly. Because Americans mostly hear about the glamorous parts of India, most people envision the Vanity Fair version of India, full of dancing girls and Taj Mahals and elephant rides. When IPP visits, we typically stay with the ladies at the centers, or we visit friends and stay with them in the red-light districts, where they are doing their work. In Kolkata, where we visited a friend who works with a similar organization called Freeset, there were an estimated 10,000 prostitutes in the kilometers surrounding her home. I live in Newport Beach, California, which is one of the wealthiest cities in the U.S. It is such an incredible contrast to, within a few days, go from one place to the other. It is jarring, both going and coming back. Even with globalization and the internet, we Americans are generally so separated from what happens in the rest of the world. All of it is unusual to us. We don't understand how a woman could be sold into prostitution and be forced to remain there because she has no voice. Even after being there twice, it is easy for me to forget the countenances of the women sitting outside the brothels, waiting for customers, working the line. That doesn't happen much here, or at least we don't have to see it. And when it does happen, the women at least have more of a chance of finding freedom, because this is America, and we value the American dream. People have more of an opportunity here to rise above their circumstances if they are determined to. In India, especially for a woman, that is not the case. I am a product of American culture, and this fact is so unusual to me, so hard for me to stomach. It is crazy to think that one of those ladies could have been me. She could have been any of us.
If IPP could share one message with today's modern woman, what would you say? Each person's involvement in the fight against human trafficking is absolutely vital. Modern slavery is even more wide-spread than slavery at the time of the Civil Rights Movement. And even though the abolition of slavery is credited to many famous individuals throughout the course of many years, it was really the general population who rose up before these individuals and created a pathway for them to speak. They created a movement that demanded a high-profile leader, like Abraham Lincoln or Martin Luther King, Jr. It will be exciting to see the fight against human trafficking in the next ten years, but we need the help of everyone to prepare the way for the individuals who will be the prominent voices against modern slavery. Our message is exactly what we tell our rescued women: You matter. Your voice matters.
As you girls know, we love highlighting worthy causes led by ordinary women doing extraordinary things - especially efforts that instill value, worth and freedom in the lives of women. We stubmled across the International Princess Project and just had to tell about them! Be inspired!
What is the mission of IPP and how have its creative ideas helped the women of India?
International Princess Project is a nonprofit organization that empowers women formerly enslaved in prostitution to restore their lives. Our mission statement is: "ADVOCATING for women enslaved in prostitution, RESTORING their broken lives, EMPOWERING them to live free." We establish micro-enterprise sewing centers in partnership with indigenous Indian organizations who rescue and care for women escaping the sex trade. After the ladies are rescued, IPP gives them an opportunity to learn a trade -- sewing. The ladies make pajama pants, called PUNJAMMIES™, which we sell in the U.S. The proceeds go back to the ladies to help them rebuild their lives.
What inspired the work of International Princess Project and how did it start?
International Princess Project began with six women working in one sewing center in 2005. Shortly before, our founder, Shannon Keith, visited India and women rescued from the brothels. They were finding a safe-haven after being rescued, but they were making small crafts that were piling up in a corner instead of making products that would appeal to a U.S. market and teach the women a sustainable trade. Shannon had the idea to begin International Princess Project to help the ladies pay for after-care and give them fair-trade wages.
Tells us about your PUNJAMMIES?
PUNJAMMIES are premium, drawstring pajama pants sewn from beautiful Indian fabric. The fabrics are inspired by bright and beautiful Indian clothing, and they offer sari borders at the bottom. The name PUNJAMMIES comes from a traditional Indian outfit called a Punjabi. It is comprised of a long tunic, loose-fitting drawstring pants, and a dupata, which is a large scarf that drapes over the shoulders.
How do the beautiful PUNJAMMIES made by women in India help them build self-esteem and dignity?
We believe that encouraging the women to be productive and use their gifts is a vital part of the restoration process. A woman coming from prostitution not only needs her medical, spiritual, and emotional needs healed, but she also needs something that restores in her a sense of self-worth. She needs to know that she is a valuable person, created in God's image, who can trust others enough to work with them on a team, and can create something high-quality and beautiful. It is a joy to see the looks on the ladies faces when they master something new, even if it is something as simple as sewing a waistband perfectly for the first time. They are able to say, with proof, "I learned something valuable. I did well. I was successful." It is also quite moving to see the ladies begin to work together. Many of them were manipulated into prostitution. Many of them were sold by their families. As you might imagine, it is very difficult for a woman to trust someone after she has been betrayed again and again. She loses her hope not only in herself and her life, but also in the people around her. It is incredible to see the ladies in the sewing center work together and grow in relationship. It is incredible to see some of that lost trust and lost hope restored in how they support each other and work together.
Check back tomorrow for the rest of our interview with the International Princess Project!
Girls and control. Now that's a heavy subject. Can I get an amen, sisters?
Control. What's your relationship with it? Do you fight for it? Hate it? Run from it? Rebel against it? In what areas? Check out the following video (which opens with a clip from the movie Spanglish) for a few of my thoughts on the subject of physical control and ways I've tried to rely on it to mold my sense of value. This was from a women's panel - a conversational event called "Our View" held at Saddleback last month.
Here's a specific question for you to think about: In what ways do you try to control your sense of self-worth? As always, please join in for the conversation - share your thoughts, struggles or encouragement.
If Taylor Swift wasn't eight when I was in high school I would have played her songs a million times on repeat (on a CD player of course). Instead my best friend Julie and I would sing every word to Wide Open Spaces & Cowboy Take Me Awayon the way to soccer practice, football games and mixers - with our windows down and ponytails flying. She sounded just like the lead singer and I was ALWAYS completely off tune (not too much has changed). Whenever I hear Taylor Swift's song “Fifteen” on Crazy Country it still awakens distant, memorable moments reminding me of all I didn’t know at fifteen:
That the wallflower in me would learn to dance
That time really would heal my broken heart
That God would put it back together and give me someone more amazing than I could have imagined
That I was made for so much more
That there is nothing special about giving yourself away
That everyone was too busy thinking about themselves to think bad thoughts about me
That while my plans wouldn’t come to be, God’s plans and dreams for me would
That out of the darkest ashes of my life was going to come something beautiful
That while I was a girl who didn’t know who she was, in Christ I would one day discover who I truly am.
What didn't you know at fifteen?
-Allie
*This blog is dedicated to Julie & Kat, my best friends in high school. Here's to Bellarmine mixers, lame parties, Pres drama, soccer, track and all the little moments in between. You know me in a way no one else does. You are beautiful inside and out. Love you both and always will.
Hey Girls! I'm so excited to announce that I'll be facilitating a HEAL Workshop at Saddleback for girls and women throughout Orange County on Saturday, April 24th. Save the date and I hope I get to see your beautiful self there! Our amazing executive team (Kayla, Christie & Natalie) are all planning on being there too and we'd love to see you! The workshop will be that Saturday afternoon, following Saddleback's Women's Retreat with our fabulous wmVoice and friend Jennifer Strickland (you should go to that too!).
Also, click here check out our brand new HEAL website! It was designed by Wendy Sue (have you noticed we have a slight obsession with using our middle names?). Wendy is our Director of Web Development and is also one of my amazing "besties." Thanks Wendy Sue! xo
