sewn.

I'm impressed. I was sick for a good portion of last week so everything fell behind schedule, including the sewing class that we had scheduled for Rabekha and Alice Mary. They didn't let that stop them though. They found friends that would teach them how to sew and stitched little skirts to learn how a skirt is made (shown in the picture on the left). They both wanted to be ready to work. Now, a few days later, the first real skirts have been sewn. These two are so excited about what they are doing and the opportunity that this is in their lives.

Just what does Nivi Empowerment mean to them? It means that they are able to better their lives. Nivi Empowerment pays a fair wage, but on top of that, provides these women with "micro-earning," - a concept that borrows heavily on micro-lending. For every piece of clothing sold, Nivi Empowerment places money in a bank account for the woman the sewed the skirt. This money is tagged for projects that the woman needs, such as fixing a roof, going to school, or getting clean water. The initial micro-earning product for all of the workers is a sewing machine of her choice.

This micro-earning model is not a hand-out, but an opportunity to progress with hard work. Rabekha has said that she feels the light of hope in her life now. Nivi Empowerment is giving an opportunity, but these amazing women are the ones that use their initiative to work hard and lift themselves up.

RSO visit

I just spent a weekend at Rising Star Outreach and was amazed at all the progress that has happened there in the year since I last saw it. There is a playground, a new building, a new septic system, new paint, a new hostel, and - the most amazing of all - potable water from some of the taps.

All my dear little friends there are learning well, and seem to be happy in their newly certified school. I loved spending a couple days with these kids. Smart, talented, and just good. I can't wait to see where they will be in 15 years.

The people that are largely responsible for the changes of the past year? Ron and Joyce Hanson. They are both graduates of Stanford and have done very well for themselves. But rather than spending their time at a California beach house, they live in the boonies of India in a small apartment with faulty power. They have sacrificed a lot, but I can't help but think of the hundreds of people their selfless service have inspired, including myself. The Hansons are just extremely kind people who care about individuals. And one by one, they are making the world better.

Pictures

Moonrise from the roof

Picture taken while waiting to find a rickshaw. Chennai.

Sai Baba, painted really big on the side of a building. Also note that the "STD" in the lower right does not stand for the same thing that it does in the United States. It stands for State Trunk Dialing and is a phone system in India.

Reabekha, Alice Marie, and some of her family in front of their house. Alice Marie is a neighbor of Reabekha's and used to sew. She dropped out of school when she was 12 to help support her family and is now looking to make her life better.

Looking for sewing machines. Reabekha chose this one with the help of John (her brother-in-law that is a tailor) and Suresh (a sewing machine mechanic). It just so happened that the machine shop was next to the fabric district, so we cruised over there after to check out prices on materials.

Nickesh and I grabbed lunch at a local hotel restaurant that had air conditioning. I can't tell you how good it felt to relax in AC for an hour.

Cool building in Chennai, just outside of the sewing machine shop. We were struggling to get a rickshaw, so I took a handful of pictures here.

The salesman at one of the fabric shops. I have no idea why he had that mask thing on his head. All the other salespeople were dressed normally.

Looking for fabrics. Came across this for a chudidar and used most of the people that were helping us to show it off.

So the salesman is modeling a ladies scarf thing that came with the fabric shown in the previous picture. He just put it on to show me what it was used for. Between that and the mask, I nearly cried from laughing so hard.

I couldn't help it. I asked him to put on the mask for this last picture. The fabric is a cotton/poly mix. Pretty soft. Looks good on him, but hey, with that mask he can rock anything.



My long-time friend Raja. He just got an LDS mission call to serve in Utah.

I love sunrises from the plane. This one is somewhere between Atlanta and Mumbai.

Mahatma Gandhi, Winston Churchill, John Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Padma Venkatraman

9/16/09 – There have been a few people in this world that have forever changed it for the better. Gandhi, Churchill, Adams, Lincoln. I got to talk with a lady of that caliber today. Her name is Padma Venkatraman.

Padma thinks of others first. She is the daughter of the late Ramaswami Venkatraman (former president of India) and could live whatever life of luxury she chooses. But she chooses to help others. She has changed what it means to have leprosy in Southern India and made the lives of countless people (both with and without leprosy) better. She is also the 2009 Enterprise Mentors Humanitarian of the Year, and has an amazing list of accomplishments.

I first met Padma in the Fall of 2005. I was a volunteer with Rising Star Outreach, an outstanding organization that helps people with Leprosy. I was so incredibly lucky to be able to work with Padma and shadow her on her visits. We would go to leprosy colonies that were sometimes a couple hours away and I would chat with her about microlending, life, religion, everything. Never once did I end a conversation anything less than thoroughly impressed with her.

We met with Padma today and the meeting went really well. She is so passionate about helping people and believes in the idea of Nivi Empowerment. Padma gave some great suggestions and will help us out more when she returns from her trip to the United States to accept the Humanitarian of the Year Award. It is difficult to overstate how valuable it is to have her input and help.

hired.

9/15/09. I’ve been pretty focused on how I was going to make the numbers work lately and I guess I kinda forgot of one of the biggest reasons we are starting Nivi Empowerment Initiative in the first place – to help people. I got a reminder of that today as we hired on our first worker, Rabekha. Nickesh and I talked with her, and her 16-year-old son Daniel.

They live in an extremely small apartment and are struggling to make ends meet. Rabekha's husband is a good worker, but recently crushed his foot while moving a fridge so she is searching for a job to pay the bills, and pay for Daniel's schooling. Her family was beaming when they found out she had a job.

Pictured: Patrick John (Rabekha's father), Reabekha, Daniel

Skirts, manliness, some setup notes

(I typed this out while on the plane, and am posting it now that I have internet access.)

September 11^th, 2009

Well, the 8th of September turned into the 11th of September which turns out to be tomorrow. The last few days have been a whirlwind, but a lot has been done. Still not READY, but the flight is leaving so I guess I am too.

I've spent the last few days trying to understand what makes a good skirt. I even spent a couple hours fabric shopping with my mom so that I could understand what fabrics are good for skirts. Don't worry though, I wore my AC/DC shirt and kept a puzzled look on my face so that nobody in the fabric store thought I was a regular. Manliness still in tact...

Scott spent some time interviewing random ladies in Arizona about what makes a good skirt, talking to his wife Karalee about skirts, and probably other people too. Also giving invaluable input to the skirt design was Aimee Hickey, Ali Bolen, Ari Winegar, Sara Kimball, Ashley Clawson, Terese Demler, Heather Rigby, Jan Bangerter, Jessica Swenson, Ronda Caywood, Liz Castaneda, Nicole Caywood, Andrea Doakes, Whitney Winegar, and lots of others, and more to come. If I forgot you on this list, don’t hate me. I forgot lots of people, so that puts you in the majority. Plus, I haven't slept nearly enough for the past couple days.

I can't even hardly dress myself so it was good to have input from people who know what looks good. Thank you all. Oh, and I have to say that Jose Castaneda helped with the design a lot too.

Nickesh has been putting in some hard work in India to get this set up. India has been hit by the recession too, and lots of women are desperate for work. Just through word of mouth, in about 24 hours we have five women that have said they want to sew for us. The first meeting with them is on Tuesday. I'm excited for that meeting. I'm excited to tell them that we can pay them a fair wage AND help out their families.

More to come soon...