Emerge Global Event

What an amazing organization! I am in awe of Alia Whitney-Johnson, executive director of Emerge, and so grateful to Tabetha for thinking of me and asking me to be a part of this event in San Francisco's Martin Lawrence Gallery on Friday night. I left feeling so touched and inspired to know there are such wonderful people in the world. 

Emerge is a non-profit, based out of (my hometown) Boston, Ma. It all began when 19 year old, Alia, arrived in Sri Lanka to help with the tsunami relief efforts in 2005. Unexpectedly, what she found there were young female survivors of rape and incest, locked away, behind walls, who had to give birth to and care for their children in isolation, or choose to give them up for adoption. Alia connected with these women through the simple act of making jewelry with them. She guided them into seeing how beautiful their creations were, thus that beauty comes from within them! This fostered strength and belief in themselves to recover from poverty and pain, and for some, courage to fight to get their children back. (You can read a survivors story here.) Today, each woman has her own personal savings account, for which 50% of the profit of the jewelry they made, will be deposited into their account. The other 50% goes toward the organizations needs to continue. Alia visits these women in Sri Lanka regularly. Many are pursuing an education and have dreams of becoming nurses, building homes for themselves, educating their children, or starting their own businesses with the money in their savings. It's just amazingly inspiring. And the jewelry is so beautiful!

 Alia had beautiful pictures of her time in Sri Lanka with the girls making jewelry around the gallery. She made a touching and informative speech, educating all of us about the organization and how it works.

She left cards for people to read, written by the girls in Sri Lanka, telling us of their dreams and accomplishments and what the Emerge program means to them.

 The people there were giving, loving spirits. It was easy to capture that over the course of the evening.

 There were many important people there affiliated with Emerge. This is Alia (right), and Raffaela (left), Development Officer. They were wonderful hosts and put SO much thought into the event. It was wonderful!

Please consider supporting this organization. Even if you only donate $5, that goes a long way in Sri Lanka. I bought my sister's christmas presents, bracelets, that have a whole lot of hope and love in them. I can't think of a better gift. You can purchase jewelry online here, or donate here. You can even host a fundraising jewelry party in your home with your friends by contacting Alia. Tabetha and I are planning an Emerge party for our mama friends as we speak!

If nothing else, say a prayer for these women. They need the love.

Thank you.