If you’ve been involved with SIDCN for a while, whether through the Facebook group, Friday Connect calls, or SIDCN Fest, you’ll know that sharing is at the heart of what we do.
It’s the ‘why’ and the ‘how’.
Since SIDCN started as a small group during the early lockdown days, there have been countless stories of members supporting each other. We share common causes, fundraising tips, project ideas, learning resources, and much more. This particular story involves the sharing of a suitcase filled with jewellery…
A closing door and an open suitcase
It was during a Friday Connect call in August that Liza Hollingshead shared an update with the group. Ecologia Youth Trust, the charity she’d been directing for 30 years, was closing its doors. (Read our recent story on NGO closures here) Testament to the organisation’s sustainability efforts, their projects in Kenya, Uganda, Russia and Scotland are now self-sufficient and can run themselves. Ecologia has helped transform the lives of over 56,000 children, young people and families affected by poverty, inequality, disease and climate change.
One of their projects in Kenya is a skills-training course for women living with HIV and AIDS at Kithoka Amani Community Home, founded by Dr. Karambu Ringera. The women create beautiful, high-quality pieces of jewellery, enabling them to generate an income and access medical care.
Liza explained…
“Karambu sent me this large suitcase of jewellery which we’ve been selling over the years in Scotland. When we were winding the charity down, I wondered what I was going to do with all this jewellery that we hadn’t sold. I was explaining this during a Friday morning call and Tina said ‘I’ll take it!' So I posted this suitcase full of jewellery to her.”
A full circle story
Alongside her day job in public health, Tina runs Freedom 4 Girls, a charity tackling period poverty through dignity kits and menstrual health management (MHM) education in the UK and Kenya. They’ve delivered over 10,000 dignity kits to women and girls in Kenya, made by local seamstresses, and volunteers in the UK. The kits include reusable pads, underwear, a calendar, and washing instructions.
After the jewellery arrived in the post, Tina was able to sell some of the pieces at an arts festival in Leeds. It raised £600 for Freedom 4 Girls! This will go back to Kenya to enable local seamstresses to make more dignity packs for women and girls there, which Liza was encouraged to hear.
“The women who made the jewellery in Meru would be so pleased to know the money is going to support other girls in Kenya.”
Founded eight years ago, Freedom 4 Girls are earlier on in their journey than Ecologia Youth Trust, whose time has come to an end. However, their legacy will continue through this simple act of sharing. An unexpected connection made on a Friday morning Zoom call enabled one door to be opened as another closed.
The potential to create meaningful change is much greater when we connect and share with each other - one piece of jewellery, one dignity kit at a time.
If you like the sound of our Connect calls, please do join us. They take place weekly - on Tuesdays at 9am and Fridays at 8.30am. They're a great opportunity to chat, learn, laugh and share. The Zoom details are posted in our Facebook group each week. We'd love to see you.