Seeds of Hope continues its mission to empower artisans in developing nations under the umbrella of the new non-profit, 501 (c)3 organization - ESC3, Inc - Empowering Sustainable Communities - Connections - Causes.

Upcoming sales that include items primarily from women's groups in Mozambique, Latvia, and Mexico are:
Saturday, September 26th - 9 am - 4 pm Fall on the Mound Craft Fair at Trietsch Church - 6101 Morriss Rd, Flower Mound, TX

Saturday, October 10th - 8:15 am - 4pm  Rejuvenate U Women's Conference - Dallas    

Saturday, November 14 10am - 5 pm  Sharing the Joy - Alternative Gift Fair at Keller UMC
Sunday, November 15 9 am - 1 pm Sharing the Joy - Alternative Gift Fair at Keller UMC

Please contact us at esc3inc@gmail.com for information on hosting a sale to benefit the cause of your choice.

It's been some time since we have posted an update, but since returning from last year's visit to Chicuque, the goals of S.O.A.R. continue.

• Ammandio, in partnership with Mozambique Development in Motion, is continuing to advise the women as they develop their new operating system and opportunities.
• $4100 was recently wired to be available to pay for product and expenses of the Chicuque Sisters Together project
• An order was recently placed for another 200 pairs of baby booties for the Gendercide Awareness Project www.gendap.org
• An order for 200 pairs of plastic bottle earrings and 200 pairs of soda can earrings is pending.

Seeds of Hope (our stateside support team) in going through some exciting transitions - more news on that soon, and we encourage you to LIKE US and follow us on facebook https://www.facebook.com/seedsofhopeSOAR  

Some upcoming sales are:

Saturday, April 26  6pm- 9 pm  Voices of Flower Mound Concert at Trietsch Memorial United Methodist Church - 6101 Morriss Rd, Flower Mound, TX 75028  The sale will be in the Connection Center and a portion of the sales will benefit Voices of Flower Mound.

Sunday, April 27th 9 am - 12:30 pm  In the Connection Center at Trietsch

Saturday, May 10th 8 am - 12:30 pm Trietsch Trade Day - INSIDE

Mon/Tues June 1st/2nd -  UMC North Texas Annual Conference - First Richardson  UMC

As always, thank you for your support and prayers for these women as they seek to create a brighter future for themselves and their families.

Last Day in Chicuque

Today was busy finishing up last minute details, distributing supplies, organizing the storage trunks and parting greetings. .  The best part was a celebration we had this afternoon when all the work was done. I served the ladies refreshments and there was much singing and dancing and praising God from whom all blessings flow. Tomorrow I begin the long journey home. I am so thankful for the many blessings of this time in Mozambique and for those who have made it possible with prayers and financial support for S.O.A.R.  Thank you! Thank you!

Monday news

Today we had our last business meeting focusing on where supplies are available and options for sales. There are some details to follow through with, but they are really working together to seek solutions. Each Group Leader used the new "banking" system to reserve some funds for supplies and then distributed payment to the individual ladies in their group.  Group Leaders also received a bonus from Seeds of Hope S.O.A.R. funds for the leadership they have provided. They also enjoyed the distribution of some very welcome supplies. We ended each session with singing and a photo with the completed booties. Later, Ammandio and I met with some high school students who are taking English lessons at the library to share details of doing interviews of the ladies and writing a short story about each one. We will share those as we receive them in the coming weeks.

Morning groups with the completed baby booties

Wow! The ladies finished all 200 of the baby booties for the Gendercide Awareness Project. I will take a picture Monday and hopefully get it posted. This was our last full work week. We had two business meetings with the Group Leaders and made a lot of progress on systems to help them manage their groups as well as work together. There were two groups of nurses attending seminars and they enjoyed looking at all the jewelry (and we made a few sales, too!).  Our focus this week has been financial management, working through the costs/profits for each items and specific sources for supplies. They devised a pricing schedule for local sales/wholesale and one for visitors/consignment opportunities. Knowing all of this will help them decide what products to make after getting some feedback on what sells. They chose Juvenia to be their Sales Representative and also to be their Communicator through Ammandio back to the USA Seeds of Hope Team. We celebrated the end of the week by distributing payment to all the groups from recent local sales and for product on it's way to the USA.
I am so proud of these women not only how far they have come over the past 7 years, but their growth these past few weeks.

This week has been full of many things:
The six group leaders met together with Ammandio's assistance and decided on the leadership model they want to try. It's ambitious, but I think they can do it.  There will be no overall Manager or Leader - each group will have their own leader, salesperson, supply shopper, and instructor (this person will learn new ideas/crafts and teach members of the group).  The groups will work together to get supplies not locally available and will work together to sell finished products. We have a lot of reorganizing of supplies and tools as all the groups want to try making alll the different products.They celebrated the end of the week by each Group Leader receiving all the keys to their respective trunks. (evidently the system used previously  for the storage of keys has allowed unauthorized access to their trunks and things have gone missing.)

Dr. Arlindo (staff psychologist for Chicuque Rural Hospital and Center of Hope) allowed us to set up at the Center of Hope during the breaks of an AIDS Seminar for attendees from all over the southern half of Mozambique. Two mission team members from Germany along with Thomas and Claudia Gunther also stopped by the COH sale. The best part is that Dr. Arlindo was excited about having sales at future seminars! The Center of Hope has seminars frequently, so this is a great opportunity. I also met with Paulo in Tofu today and he is anxious to get product from the ladies to sell at his place of business in Tofu and also Barra - both popular tourist spots in Mozambique.

Although, the ladies seemed anxious when I first told them it was time  for them to leave the nest and fly high, they are really embracing the idea of independence and it's a joy to watch them as they work through various options presented or ideas of their own.

Just so you know it's not all just serious business - one morning this week following our usual good morning greetings, I was quietly laying out the new reading glasses in preparation for distribution. The ladies began a chorus of "Good morning, Luisa!Good morning Albertina! How are you? I am fine. How are you? What is your name? My name is Zita. Good Morning! How are you? I am fine. What is your name? ......." This went on for 5 minutes- they were so proud and had such a good time showing off their English :) We usually have a break each session for some dancing and yes, Laura, they remember the Cupid shuffle! Frequently, they sing softly, and sometimes exuberantly, as they work.