What a hard question to answer. Moms change everything. What your Mom does or doesn’t do impacts almost everything in your life. This is why Prosperity Candle invests in women, because we know that when a mother’s life is secure – socially and economically – she will be better able to provide for her family, send her kids to school, and get her children medical attention. When this happens, an entire community is uplifted.
I’m in Haiti now where we continuously hear that employing women is the smart thing to do. Development workers, faith-based groups, and business leaders all agree on this as people tell us “women ALWAYS work harder than the men.” They tell us women are focused, efficient, and pay attention to details.
No surprise, right?
A Haitian woman learns about Prosperity Candle & smells our candle!
My own Mom is amazing. She has comforted me and held me close when fearful or sad, but also pushed me in some of the toughest ways a Mom can. She has achieved a fine balance of being soft and supportive when she should be and tough and motivating when I need her to be. Some of the things she has said and done have changed my life forever.
My beautiful Mom & I
I was a pretty easy kid, following the rules, cleaning up after myself, etc, but I was not as easy as a teenager. I wanted desperately to be a typical 80s girl with big permed hair, fashionable clothes from the mall, and all the right tapes in my collection (Debbie Gibson & Whitney Houston). My Mom is very down to earth and values handmade, artistic products and funky clothing much more than trendy expensive clothes from the mall. She has long, straight natural hair and was not excited about her daughter perming her own long straight hair. She withstood the many pleas to be driven to mall and given more money for clothes. I eventually got over it and now value her thriftiness and funky sense of style and self-expression. I’m thankful that she didn’t allow me to completely conform to the teenage craziness around me.
Most importantly, perhaps, my Mom pushed me to explore the world and get out of my comfort zone. When an opportunity to study in China as a high school student popped up, I dismissed the idea, thinking “Your junior year is supposed to be the best. Why would I miss it?” My Mom encouraged me to think more broadly about life and after receiving a full scholarship, I agreed to go to China, despite my fears of the unknown. She sat with my while I anxiously cried before leaving and said, “You’ll take it one day at a time and it will be fine. This trip will change your life.”
She couldn’t have been more right. Everything changed when I went to China. I became more confident, more aware of the world, and more determined to understand other cultures and learn new languages. I wouldn’t have helped found Prosperity Candle without her encouraging me to go to China because I never would have cared so deeply about other parts of the world. My Mom helped me learn to view the entire world as an extended family.
So as Mother’s Day approaches on May 13th, I am reflecting on all that she has done for me. I’m incredibly lucky to have a Mom who is so principled, loving and committed to my happiness and success. She taught me to be confident, ambitious, and never accept that I am of less value than a man. She has created incredible opportunity for me and I’m delighted to now pass that opportunity forward to Moms around the world.
We are often asked this question, and the answer we usually give is a business created to do good in the world, to effect positive change, to solve a social problem and serve a social purpose. Others often think of it as a hybrid organization, a “business with a nonprofit soul.”
As the Social Enterprise Alliance so aptly puts it, “The common good is its primary purpose, literally ‘baked into’ the organization’s DNA, and trumping all others.” .Love that.
Recently we saw a definition that really resonates: social enterprises work to build a more balanced, sustainable world by applying market-based strategies to today’s social problems.
Well, that definitely sums it up better than we usually do, so much so that we put it on the back of our business cards.
So how is Prosperity Candle a social enterprise? We seek to create opportunities for women survivors of conflict and disaster to earn above a living wage. Our idea is that to survive is not enough. We want to help women in some of the most difficult circumstances thrive. It’s a big word – thrive. And we’re working hard to measure up to it. But this is our goal, our passion and purpose. It is the problem we are trying to help solve. Prosperity Candle exists solely to realize this mission.
We know we have years of hard work ahead of us, but that is what we all signed up for. To make a difference and have a sustainable impact. To work for the common good, like so many others in both the public and private sectors. It is what we choose to do with our lives. That, we think, is what social enterprise is all about.
If you’d like to hear more, here is founding partner Siiri Morley talking about the importance of fair trade and moving beyond survival – to the idea of thriving.
Want to learn more about issues affecting women and girls around the world? Love films? Want to celebrate International Women’s Day? Lucky for you, ITVS has put together a free online film festival focused on women and girls. Their initiative, Women and Girls Lead, is raising awareness about all the issues that women and girls face around the world.
We’re so excited to share our new motion graphics video with you in honor of International Women’s Day. As you know, our candles are not just candles, they are vehicles for social change and global connection. Take a look at our new video to learn more about how you can play a role in changing a life with your next gift!
Thank you to Lourdes Moreira, Nandi Rose Plunkett, and Min Min Ma for all of your hard work on this video.
To follow our “6 Inspiring Ways to Celebrate International Women’s Day“ blog post, we wanted to share a similarly inspiring list of suggestions created by World Vision’s Women of Vision organizers. We are exhibiting this weekend at the Women of Vision National Conference this weekend and are already inspired by all the participants and women activists working for change for women and girls around the world. We’re only a few hours into the 3 day event and are so inspired by the aligned values that we have. As always, it’s wonderful to be amidst women who are creating change – by women and for women.
Women of Vision Prosperity Candles for sale at the World Vision Conference
Here is a quick snapshot of their suggestions. Be sure to visit their blog to see the specifics.
1. Save a woman’s life in child birth
2. Mentor a girl close to home
3. Use your voice to stop trafficking
4. Invest in a small business owner
5. Provide the ticket to education—clean water
6. Band together with like-minded women
7. Tell the women in your life that you care
How are you planning on celebrating international women’s day this year?
Check out the custom Women of Vision candles that we are selling at this event! We are very proud to note that these are also given out as speaker gifts at this weekend’s event. Please let us know if you’d like to create your own custom candles as event gifts for your next fundraiser or gala!
International Women’s Day on March 8th is quickly approaching. What are you planning to do to celebrate the day and honor all the achievements of women around the world?
While we can all agree that there is a long way to go in terms of achieving political, social and economic equality for women around the globe, we think International Women’s Day is a great time to reflect on where we’ve come from and where we’re going in terms of creating a better world for women.
And we all know that the world as a whole will be better when women are offered equal opportunity.
Here are some of our top picks for this International Women’s Day, the 101st anniversary of the day!
1) Watch the Women in the World Summit – Inspiring leaders like Fawzia Koofi, Sheryl Sandberg, Tina Brown, Angelina Jolie, Alek Wek, Meryl Streep, Lauren Bush Lauren (our friend & partner at FEED Projects), Diane von Furstenberg, Zainab Salbi, Alyse Nelson and many others will be speaking at the 3rd annual Women in the World Summit in NYC from March 8-10th. Can’t make it in person? No worries – you can watch the live webcast!
3) Become a Sister on the Planet with Oxfam America – Oxfam America is working to invest in women and fight poverty by uniting women around the world as Sisters on the Planet. Oxfam America is now harnessing the power of women to create political and social change through its Sisters on the Planet initiative. Today, a diverse group of American women known as Sisters on the Planet are raising awareness about hunger, climate change, and other crises facing women in poor countries. Learn more or become a Sister on the Planet here. Or shop for a Sisters on the Planet Prosperity Candle to support their work and spread the word.
4) Blog for International Women’s Day with Gender Across Borders & CARE - Gender Across Borders and CARE have teamed up to bring a global voice to the day with a live blogging event. This event is a “day where bloggers, writers, and humanitarian organizations are asked to write about the International Women’s Day theme on March 8.” Their theme this year is “Connecting Girls, Inspiring Futures”. Learn more here!
5) Join Women on the Bridge - As we wrote about in an earlier blog post, Women for Women International has started a global movement that has captured the imagination of women around the world. In 2011, Women for Women galvanized women from Accra to Baghdad, London to New York to gather on bridges in solidarity for women around the world. This symbolic act emphasized that women create bridges of peace. Zainab Salbi, founder of Women for Women International, will be speaking at the New York Join Me on the Bridge event on the Brooklyn Bridge. Learn more about events in your neck of the woods here.
We are delighted to be helping promote Women for Women International’s upcoming campaign Join Me on the Bridge on March 8th, International Women’s Day. We could explain why it’s such a beautiful and symbolic way to create solidarity and a strengthened sense of sisterhood among women throughout the globe, but we thought this video tells the story in a much more inspiring way than we could!
Note that one of the very first Prosperity Candle entrepreneurs, Wafa’a, is the woman featured right around minute 2 in this video. Clearly she is not just a business leader, but a visionary advocate for women’s rights! What an inspiration.
Where will you be joining women on the bridge this International Women’s Day?
As our plane began its descent into Port-au-Prince, I found myself preparing to be overwhelmed by what we’d see. I braced for the emotional response that was to come from returning to a place I had last visited 5 years ago, before the devastation that took thousands of lives and left many more homeless and struggling in temporary shelters.
What we encountered was much different. Tent cities were everywhere, and the worsened poverty and struggle were hard to witness. But the people of Haiti were the same – strong, resilient, and full of hope for a brighter future. As Donna Karan wrote on the 2nd anniversary of the 2010 earthquake, “Hope is all over Haiti. Hope is Haiti.”
There is a story written about Haiti that includes perpetual unrest, poorest country in our hemisphere, natural disasters, and unsolvable problems. It begins with a tragic history of oppression, references familiar names like Baby Doc and Aristide, and often ends with international intervention – emergency aid, UN soldiers, and numerous efforts to help create a better life for Haitians.
But we found a different story in the making, one of determination to change things. A Haitian beekeeper working to increase honey production for export, a local mayor focused on job creation for women. A community of business leaders looking to invest in Haitian-owned enterprises. And international organizations moving forward with housing, a modern hospital, and facilities to help Haitian and foreign companies grow and employ more people. It is this new story that that gives rise to a different kind of hope… not that things will someday change for the better, but that the change that is already underway will have a positive impact on millions of Haitian lives.
Prosperity Candle has always felt compelled to work in Haiti, even more since the earthquake. Our mission is to help women earn above a living wage through candle-making, an enterprise uniquely suited to rebuilding lives following conflict or natural disaster. In Iraq we supported women in starting home-based microenterprises because they felt unsafe outside their homes. In Haiti, we seek to assist a group of women to start a larger business with equipment to make many different types of candles for both local and international markets.
All of us here feel a deep connection to Haiti, and a desire to not only help, but also to empower. To blend assistance with self-determination, supported by the simple idea of commerce for good. On a recent Saturday afternoon I arrived in Port-au-Prince prepared for feelings of anguish and carrying a sense of determination. A week later, I left inspired again by a country and people who truly embody the meaning of strength, resilience and hope for a brighter future.
We are proud to feature this guest blog by Pam Steel, a Women for Women International supporter & women’s rights advocate in Boston. Women for Women International is a fantastic nonprofit devoted to helping women survivors of war rebuild their lives. We launched our pilot project with them in Baghdad, Iraq to support their program graduates.
Here Pam invites you to participate in the Join Me on the Bridge campaign this International Women’s Day (March 8th) in Boston! The Join Me on the Bridge campaign asks us all to “stand with women on 8th March to build bridges of peace and hope for the future.” It is “the coming together of women and men around the world, united in taking a stand for PEACE and women’s EQUALITY.” Take a look at this link for more information on Join Me on the Bridge campaigns in other cities around the world.
A friend introduced me to Women for Women International, and over the years I have been a sister to five women: two women from Rwanda, one from Kosovo, and two in the DCR. Each sister made me far more attentive to world news — and I would listen with new interest to any news related to their countries.
On International Women’s Day in 2011, March 8th, about 50 women joined us on the Massachusetts Avenue bridge throughout the morning to celebrate the day and stand in solidarity with other women around the world.
This year we are hoping to have even more women join us…including representatives from other organizations working towards peace like Oxfam, the United Nations Association of Boston, Shalupe Foundation (a non-profit for women and children in the Congo), possibly some politicians, and of course a representative from WfWI partner Prosperity Candle!
There will be a bit of time at the beginning for people to make signs if they have not brought them and Equal Exchange Fair Trade Coffee will provide us with coffee, while on the bridge.
Then a short program, dedicated to women that have made a difference in the past, some music, and then we’ll walk across the bridge from Boston to the Cambridge—with photos and media coverage.
Upon return, each of the organization representatives will say a few words about what their group is doing to move things forward. At the close, there will be an invitation for all women to join together for an informal lunch at a place in Kenmore Square.
A guest blog by Marcie Muehlke, Prosperity Candle fan and associate
About three years ago at this time my partner and I were in the throes of wedding planning. That October we had gotten engaged while backpacking in the Enchantments in Idaho. When we got out of the woods and called our parents they said “congratulations-and-what-is-the-wedding-date?” in one breath. And so began our journey into one of the most fun, meaningful, and stressful events of our lives.
We wanted a wedding that would be meaningful and fun for ourselves and everyone there. We began talking about what mattered most to us—having the wedding close to the people we loved so they could attend, and to minimize the wedding’s carbon footprint. Serving local food and fair trade coffee and buying rings, flowers, and other wedding products that reflected our values. We labored over our wedding registry, finally deciding to combine a traditional department store registry (I wish we had known about the I Do Foundation department store registry) with a custom New American Dream alternative gift registry. This personalized registry included gifts that give back, experiences, charitable gifts, and services friends and family could provide.
A less traditional photo of Brian and me--and one of my favorites
This year we are happy to be receiving wedding invitations rather than sending them. We are looking forward to weddings in Massachusetts, New York, and Maine and have begun to think about what we will purchase for engagement gifts, shower presents, and wedding gifts. We want to give gifts that are meaningful, memorable, and personal.
Last week Ted, Siiri and I were all sitting around the table at Prosperity Candle and finishing our lunches when we started talking about our weddings. It turns out that Ted and Siiri each got engaged to around Valentine’s day, and that was when my partner and I started dating.
A memorable moment from Siiri and Jeremy's wedding!
Siiri and I laughed when Ted told us that he and his wife call Valentine’s day “Malaria Day” since they both came down with Malaria in Ghana on February 14th, 2002, and got engaged while recovering.
Ted and Patsy jump for joy at their wedding
We’re all married now and as we thought back on our weddings little things stood out. A friend who spent hours helping set up and decorate, a toast, a meaningful gift, and the fact that all these people traveled to celebrate our love and commitment. We realized that our weddings were all about our love and our values. Siiri and I both got married in the last several years and spent hours and hours on sustainable and green wedding blogs. We both agonized over how to make our weddings meaningful for ourselves, our guests, and the people behind the scenes—the coffee growers, ring makers, farmers, and workers who made our garments and gifts. We were both surprised at how difficult it was to live our values and vote with our dollars while planning a wedding.
Therefore, Prosperity Candle is proud to announce that it will soon be offering a range of wedding gifts and wedding products that empower women and improved lives. From favors to wedding gifts to thank you gifts to decorations, you can now shop for a cause for weddings with Prosperity Candle. Whether you are planning an eco wedding or just want to or just to give a distinctive shower or wedding gift, think Prosperity Candle.
