Hope in Times of Crisis: A Mother’s Day Story

By Judith Santiago*

Mee Mee heard that the soldiers were coming.  She took hold of her son and frantically joined the rest of the villagers who were running toward the Thai-Burmese border, where the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was located. Her husband was in another village running in the opposite direction, Mee later learned.  After the soldiers’ pursuit ended, Mee returned home to her small village in Koechi, Burma.

During 1997-2000, Mee and thousands like her lived under the constant threat of violence from Burmese soldiers. Many people would take temporary refuge in the jungle, and return home to their village after soldiers left the area, just to do it all over again days later.  About once a week, Mee and others would be on the move to avoid capture, rape, or death by soldiers.

During one incident, Mee’s husband ran ahead of his wife to secure food for his family. Her husband was spotted by soldiers and shot. The bullet shattered a portion of his ribcage, leaving him severely wounded and in distress as he journeyed toward the jungle with his family for safety.

For three months, Mee’s husband hid and moved the family with an exasperating wound at his side. He received no medical care, except for Mee’s tending.

“I was afraid to return to Burma,” Mee said through an interpreter. “I feared dying. I cried and cried every day,” she continued.

Mee’s husband eventually drew enough strength to walk five days toward a small village in Thailand where they learned the location of a hospital and a refugee camp.  When Mee and her husband finally arrived at the hospital, he underwent immediate surgery and later recovered.

Symbol of Hope

Life in the jungle for those fleeing Burmese soldiers was indeed terrifying and difficult. Makeshift bamboo tents with only roof and floor coverings became suitable temporary dwellings. Many women including Mee gave birth to children in the jungle.  Mee’s then six-year-old son assisted in the delivery of his sister named Eh Ku Hser. Her name means love – cold – sweet. “Cold” in Burmese culture means so as to not pass through the fire of life, as heat represents troubled times.

“I hoped my daughter would be free from difficult and troubling times,” said Mee. “I did not want her to go through what I had experienced,” she continued.

For Mee, the birth of her daughter in the midst of darkness, torment and fear, was a symbol of hope for a new life to come. Hope in times of crisis, the very premise of the United Methodist Committee on Relief’s (UMCOR) newly co-branded UMCOR-Prosperity Candle, is also the essence of that which candles shed light upon.

A New Beginning

With the help of UNHCR, hope for a new life did indeed materialize for Mee and her family when they resettled in West Springfield, Massachusetts.  There, Mee met Moo Kho Paw, another woman who emigrated from Burma, and who was working at Prosperity Candle in Florence.  The organization helps refugee women who have escaped areas of conflict rebuild their lives through the art of candle making.  Moo Kho recommended that Mee join the organization, and Mee gladly accepted.

“I was excited to be out of the house,” said Mee, “I was raised to believe that because I was a woman, my role was to remain at home and raise my family,” she continued.  “While many Burmese women want to do more for themselves, they are often encouraged to remain homemakers.”

Today, Mee has plans to go into the candle-making business for herself and support her five children, but she expressed the need to learn English first.

“In the Thai refugee camp, we had education, but it was not so good,” said Mee.  “When I was a child, I wanted to go to school, but I was told to stay home because I was a woman.  Now, I have hopes for my daughters to go to college and become doctors or policewomen,” continued Mee.

Mee has struck an even balance in her life that she wishes others would have found—a simple, happy life where work, caring for family members and freedom of choice all have their place.

Support Refugee Women in the US

Share this Mother’s Day story with your loved ones. And, when you purchase handmade candles by Mee, Moo Kho, and Naw, another Burmese refugee woman working at Prosperity Candle , know you are helping to support their livelihood as they rebuild their lives and those of their family members in the US.

Ten percent of each UMCOR-Prosperity Candle  you buy goes to support poverty-alleviation programs through UMCOR’s World Hunger and Poverty program, UMCOR Advance #982920 .

*Judith Santiago is the Media Communications Associate for UMCOR.

There are so many great ways to support Moms around the world while honoring and celebrating your own Mom this Mother’s Day, so we decided to share some of our favorite charitable Mother’s Day gift ideas with you this week:

Women for Women International

Of course, we first thought we’d highlight our partner’s, Women for Women International, Mother’s Day e-cards that support women’s empowerment. As Emily Deschanel notes here, a card for your Mom can change the life of a woman survivor of war who is rebuilding her life. Prosperity Candle partners with Women for Women in Iraq to offer women a candle making business opportunity.

Every Mother Counts

Christy Turlington’s Every Mother Counts campaign works to educate all of us about the dangers that many women face as they become mothers. Not all women safely can become mothers, due to the risks they face during childbirth. Here, Christy Turlington’s team encourages mothers to become silent on Mother’s Day in solidarity with mothers to be who loose their lives. The campaign is called No Mother’s Day. A powerful reminder of what the world would be like without moms.

Oxfam America

Our friends at Oxfam have a fantastic range of gifts that give back available for Mother’s Day. Your donation can give a woman a garden, school supplies, midwife training or more. Imagine how good Mom will feel knowing that her gift changed another woman’s life! A e-card can be sent straight to your Mom letting her know that a donation was made in her name.

Partners In Health

You can save a Mom’s life this Mother’s Day by donating to Partners In Health, an international organization that offers health care to poor women (and men) all around the world. You can feel good knowing that you’ve helped a new Mom have a safe and healthy experience starting her family. Donate now in your Moms name and she’ll be sent a note!

IRC

Like the IRC, we at Prosperity Candle cares deeply about women refugees. Have you purchased a candle made by the Burmese refugees we work with and now want to support an organization that helps provide them with refuge in the aftermath of trauma? We love the IRC’s work and encourage you to think about buying Mom a charitable gift that helps a refugee woman receive maternal health care, access business training, or care for a flock of chickens or a goat that will help her invest in her future. Mom will be sent a note letting her know about her unique gift!

CARE

CARE works hard to ensure the rights of women and girls around the world. For Mother’s Day this year, you can make a donation in your Mom’s name and send her a beautiful, inspiring e-card. CARE ensures that mothers have access to the care they need, clean water, and nutritional food to ensure the safety and health of her family. As CARE says, “Every Child Deserves a 5th Birthday.” Don’t you agree?

We have a big weekend, ahead! Mother’s Day is on Sunday, May 13th, and World Fair Trade Day is on Saturday, May 12th. World Fair Trade Day is a day to celebrate the achievements of the fair trade community to move away from “business as usual” to create more just and equitable ways of trading internationally. This means better pay for producers, less environmental damage, more transparency, engagement of marginalized communities, and long-term trading relationships that help empower instead of exploit.

Learn more about what fair trade is all about here:

Our work was founded on the principles of fair trade and we’re proud to be well on our way to becoming a fair trade member with the World Fair Trade Organization! We’ll keep you posted on our progress – hopefully soon you’ll see the fair trade logo on our homepage, providing us with a 3rd party verification of our practices. Thank you to our partner UMCOR for supporting us as we become a fair trade member.

So how will you celebrate World Fair Trade Day this Saturday? Take a look at this list of events compiled by the Fair Trade Resource Network happening throughout North America for something to do in your community. Also consider taking a look at this World Fair Trade Day website for more information. And if you’re shopping for Mom or taking her out for coffee or tea, consider celebrating World Fair Trade day at the same time with fair trade coffee, tea or chocolate!

We’re proud to be partnering with a number of leading fair trade organizations to create collaborative fair trade gift baskets. Take a look at our gift sets with fair trade leaders like Divine Chocolate, Numi Tea, and SERRV International.

Every gift we sell is made by women like these Moms pictured below, rebuilding their lives. We’re so honored to have your support this Mother’s Day. By giving a Mom in your life a meaningful gift that helps women around the world, you are showing your Mom how much you care – not just about her, but about women around the world.

Take a look at our video to see:
 

We are, so we decided to team up with Proxy Apparel for Mother’s Day. We LOVE how our magenta, gold and purple hues go so perfectly with their recycled, fair trade baskets, aprons & dolls. We think they make amazing gifts that give back. Like us, all of their products support women who are creating a new future in places like Guatemala and Honduras.

Tell us what you think so we better meet your needs as a fair trade, good for the world, women empowering team!

Mee Mee packing up the candles that she made

Last week Siiri and our guest from UMCOR, Judith, sat down with Mee Mee to hear her thoughts about motherhood and making candles for Mother’s Day. When asked what message she would like other moms who are buying or receiving her candles to receive from her, she shared the following.

“Thank you so much for buying my candle. All mothers would enjoy our candles because no mother wants her children to be in the darkness. Like candles, children share the light.”

Mee Mee’s first two children were born in the midst of turmoil in Burma, where she, her husband, and young son were constantly fleeing soldiers’ attacks on their village. Her second child, a daughter, was born when she and her six year old son were alone in the jungle, hiding from soldiers. Alone with only the help of her son, she gave birth to a healthy girl.

Mee Mee shared that “I hoped my daughter would be free from difficult and troubling times. I did not want her to go through what I had experienced.” Now a mother of five, Mee Mee has high hopes for all of them now that they are resettled as refugees in the United States. She dreams that her daughters will have opportunities that were not available to her, most of all to have a good education and pursue the careers of their choice.

L-R: Mee Mee, Naw, Judith, Moo Kho, & Siiri

This Mother’s Day you can make a difference for a mother like Mee Mee. Give a beautiful Mother’s Day gift to a mom in your life, while giving opportunity to a mom like Mee Mee. What better way to honor Mom than with a gift that gives back. Gifts that change lives. 

Now that we’ve returned from two trips to Haiti where we’ve been planning for our next candle-making adventure with Haitian women, we thought we’d share some of our journey in images.

Our photos attempt to share some of the spirit of Haiti – the artwork, the people, the beautiful landscape. There is an infectious spirit of creativity and resilience that has captivated and inspired us.

Siiri Morley (2nd from right) with Danielle St. Lot (center) and her team

Danielle St. Lot with students in her Femmes de Democratie training program

The streets of Cap Haitien

Everything is art in Haiti, especially the public transportation

Dinner at a historic hotel in Port-au-Prince

Beautiful Haitian artwork around every corner

A view of the Haitian mountains

Haitian women learning about Prosperity Candle

Cap Haitien

Port-au-Prince

Vibrant Haitian paintings

Haiti's beautiful Caribbean coastline

Are you ready?

Last year, LAUREN - a Mom of two beautiful kids (who are pictured below) – decided to buy her Mom aProsperity Candle gift for Mother’s Day. Here is what she shared with us about why she chose Prosperity Candle:

Lauren, a gifting changemaker

“Prosperity Candle was an obvious choice for a Mother’s Day gift for my mom because I knew she’d be as inspired by their mission and story as much as I am. My mother has always told me that I could do anything I put my mind to as long as I was prepared to put forth my best effort .  I am extremely lucky; she has always been there to support me, giving me guidance and encouragement in every venture I’ve undertaken. She was the one to tell me not to give up, she was the one to assure me that yes, even when things might seem like they were crumbling around me, actually, everything would be okay.”

Lauren's Mom, Mary, with Lauren's 2 kids

“Prosperity Candle acts in the same capacity for the women they employ. They see the capabilities of the women they work with perhaps before they are recognised by the women themselves. They provide the building blocks for women to create their own futures, imparting something tangible and positive at just a time when it is needed most. How could I *not* support a company like that? And the candles are beautiful! What more could you want? ”

A Mother's Day gift with meaning

Lauren’s Mom, MARY, loved the gift and sent Lauren this message after receiving it:

“Thank you for the very lovely gift. It is quite nice as it provides a living for women who need a helping hand… a hand up is always better than a hand out. Thanks again for a great gift. “

The gift Lauren chose to give to her Mom was made byMOO KHO, a Burmese refugee living in Western Massachusetts and raising her three young girls. Every candle purchased helps Prosperity Candle give women like Moo Kho an economic opportunity to rebuild her life.

Moo Kho with her twin girls

Moo Kho, like Lauren and Mary, is also a Mom. They share similar goals and dreams. And now, all three have been connected with a simple candle. Moo Kho’s name and story traveled to Mary (via Lauren) on the candle she created, which united the three Mothers and allowed Mary to send Moo Kho a note of appreciation and thanks.

Moo Kho said she enjoys making candles for other mothers because “Mothers are the light of the world. Every mother can give the light to her children and other people.”

What will your Mother’s Day story be this year?

We are delighted to be partnering now with UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief). UMCOR shares many of our core values of supporting people in distressed parts of the world, empowering refugees in the United States, promoting fair trade, and being an active and engaged global citizen. We first began speaking with UMCOR in the summer of 2011 and are delighted to note that we are now in partnership with them to better align our shared goals.

In their own words, “As the humanitarian relief and development arm of The United Methodist Church, UMCOR transforms and strengthens people and communities.”

Moo Kho, Mee Mee, and Naw with their candles for UMCOR

To launch our partnership, UMCOR has ordered a record-breaking 5,000 candles to give to each person attending the United Methodist Church’s upcoming annual conference later this month. We have customized our tin candles with their logo and messaging about their mission to “bring hope in times of crisis.” Each candle comes with a storycard about our partnership and the story of the woman who made each candle. Thanks to UMCOR’s support, the Burmese refugees we work with were employed full-time for 3 months!

Naw works on packaging the candles that she made for UMCOR

Every candle donates 10% to UMCOR’s work in the United States to support refugees. These candles can also be purchased directly from our website, as well.

Thank you to UMCOR for also helping us become a Green America member and for supporting our World Fair Trade Organization membership application.

UMCOR Prosperity Candles

Read more about UMCOR’s support of fair trade products and organizations here in their recent news update.

Siiri Morley (Prosperity Candle) & Elizabeth Peteo (UMCOR Haiti) meet to discuss our work in Haiti

We look forward to having UMCOR’s team visit us later this week to create a film about our partnership in preparation for World Refugee Day in June. As we begin preparing for our expansion into Haiti with our women-focused candle-making opportunity, we look forward to deepening our relationship with UMCOR and their work in Haiti. We had the great fortune of meeting with the UMCOR team last week in Port-au-Prince, Haiti!

Read more about partnership opportunities with us here.