Rewriting Her Story

Women At Risk, International is passionate about change—about bringing hope to the broken, freedom to the oppressed, and dignity to the downtrodden. There is no greater joy for us than to see women’s lives transformed and their stories rewritten. Rejoice with us in these stories of freedom, hope, and lives made new.

LIU BAO, CHINA

Teams of women walk through the red light districts of China offering words of kindness, encouragement, and hope to sex workers. They return time and again, building relationships with the women they meet. Knowing that most of these women did not choose the lives they are living, the outreach teams offer them a chance to start again. Through the outreach teams’ program, women are able to leave the streets and find safe shelter, counseling, and medical care. They also receive vocational training and employment in the outreach’s jewelry-making venture.

Liu Bao is one of these women. First trafficked when she was fourteen by a “boyfriend” who turned out to be a pimp, she later escaped and went back to her family—only to find herself trafficked again at the age of nineteen. After a year in China’s red light districts, she met several women from the outreach team. She left the streets and entered their program, run by a partner of WAR, Int’l, where she received trauma counseling as well as medical care and counseling for an eating disorder. Through much counseling and mentoring, she began to develop a healthy self-image and eating habits.

From the beginning, program staff recognized Liu Bao’s talent for computers and administration. Almost immediately, they offered her computer training and courses in administration and business English. As she began to heal from her past, Liu Bao found herself thriving in her courses. Just one year after leaving the streets, Liu Bao became an Administrative Assistant for the outreach program and is daily managing their jewelry stock, shipping, and consignment accounts.

As she thrives in her present circumstances and looks to a changed future, Liu Bao is no longer chained to her past. From the abuse and trauma of the red light district to the comfort and dignity of her office, Liu Bao’s story has been rewritten.

DAMARA AND RUTH, UGANDA

Holding back sobs, she made her way up to the platform, hoping for a chance to speak to the man from WAR, Int’l who had come to visit her village. Seeing her eagerness, the man stepped over and took her hands, and she could no longer control the sobbing that poured forth. “Thank you,” she told him over and over. “Thank you that I can go to college.” As her tears subsided, she told him her story—or rather, her mother’s story.

When Damara’s father died of AIDS, his family kicked her HIV-positive mother out of their family home and farmed Damara and her siblings out to other families. Damara’s mother, Ruth, found her way to a partnering program of WAR, Int’l which employs AIDS widows and HIV-positive women to craft jewelry out of recycled magazine pages. The jewelry-making venture had just begun, and Ruth became one of their first artisans. Her skill blossomed, and she was soon making enough money not just to support herself, but to put away for the future. She saved enough to buy land and build a house, and then set about getting her children back. With a steady income, she was able to send all of her children to school, and Damara was now graduating from college—something that a decade ago, neither she nor her mother would have ever thought possible.

Ruth’s story doesn’t end there. Spurred by her success in jewelry-making, she began growing mushrooms and popcorn, both high-demand and profitable commodities. She built more buildings and barns to accommodate her businesses. “And the food you ate today,” Damara revealed with a wide smile, “was made by my mother’s new catering business.” She couldn’t hold back the tears that flowed once more as she caught her mother’s attention in the crowd and motioned for her to come and meet this man whose organization had helped to change their lives.

And how great is that change! Once desolate and abandoned, Ruth now has more than enough to meet her needs and those of her children and is now pouring back into their community. A fresh start making simple but beautiful jewelry has led to the rewriting of her story and her children’s stories.

DAUGHTERS OF THE KING, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

The chatter of excited girls rises above the clatter of forks and the clinking of glasses. The girls, students at an academy run by a new partner of WAR, Int’l in Central America, are clearly enjoying their etiquette classes. Their enthusiasm is bolstered by anticipation of a special dinner out at the conclusion of the classes. Such a treat!

Nearby, their mothers and other village women work handcrafting purses and bags. They are grateful for the income they earn this way and even more grateful for the education and nurture their daughters receive at the school. There, they learn not just academics, but skills like gardening, cooking, art, and most recently, table etiquette. The conversation among the women turns to the upcoming dinner—the food the girls anticipate eating and the new dresses they will wear. Lately, the girls have talked of nothing else.

Joining them for this dinner will be a friend of the Academy, Ana, along with her special guests. The girls love spending time with Ana, who has been talking with them about who they are. And who are they? They are more than poor children from poor families, more than trafficking survivors, more than the sum of their pasts and their circumstances. They are beautiful, lovely, and restored. They are chosen, beloved, daughters of The King. They are Princesses! It is hard for them to wrap their minds around this, yet they are coming to believe it.

Never is this more apparent to their teachers and mentors than when they overhear the girls talking as they model their new dresses after class. They primp in front of the mirrors and twirl around the room, skirts flowing. “Look at us,” they whisper to each other. “We are people now.”

Princesses. Daughters of the King. Change worn both outside and in. Stories rewritten. This is the goal of Women At Risk, International. This is why we are here.

Hope and Healing for Acid Attack Survivors

In the United States, we don’t normally think of acid as a weapon. Yet, thanks to its easy and cheap availability and devastating effects, acid has long been used as a means of attack in some cultures. Dousing the face and hands with this caustic liquid has traditionally been used as a method of revenge or punishment against a woman who has spurned a sexual advance, rejected a marriage proposal, or somehow angered her husband or other male relatives. In addition to the trauma, pain, and disability caused by the acid, the resulting disfigurement often leaves her stigmatized within her community.

WAR, Int’l and its partners recognize the risks faced by survivors of acid attacks and seek to provide hope and healing in culturally relevant ways. We are encouraged to see other organizations doing the same. Although the organizations featured in the following video and article are not associated with WAR, Int’l, we work toward the same goal of empowering wounded women to lead lives of dignity and purpose.

The video above is part of an inventive awareness campaign by an Indian non-profit which supports survivors of acid attacks. Along with makeup tutorials, the organization is sponsoring an initiative asking for a ban on over-the-counter acid sales in India. Meanwhile, other creative enterprises exist to bring hope and empowerment to survivors. Below is a heartwarming story of how a small café with a big goal is making a compelling difference in the lives of survivors.

http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/11/02/sheroes-hangout

Acid attacks have always been an issue near and dear to the heart of Women At Risk, International. It was an acid attack on a childhood friend in Bangladesh that ignited a passion for at-risk women within founder and President Becky McDonald. This set the stage for the eventual formation of WAR, Int’l, which continues to be involved in both preventative measures against acid attacks and holistic medical care for victims. We take heart at the growing awareness of this issue, the increasing number of organizations springing up to combat it, the care being offered to survivors, and the resiliency shown by those survivors. We invite you to rejoice with us in these stories of empowerment, opportunity, and hope.

Ladies Night Out – Nov 13, 2015

It’s that time of the year again! Join us at WAR Chest Boutique for pre-holiday pampering and shopping with a purpose. This is the perfect event to get your Wish List started for Christmas: all of the newest items will be featured! Come for an evening and enjoy being a woman!

Free Manicure in WAR burgundy & gold
Make-overs & facials
Sample fair trade chocolate
Learn about Essential Oils; Make your own sugar scrub!
Make your holiday wish list: tell your loved ones which WAR products are on your list!!!
Enter to win a “grab bag” of WAR product
Write notes of encouragement to rescued women in our US Training Center
Eat more chocolate
Bring a friend and get a discount!

There will be stylists & designers to spruce up your holiday look and make you feel as wonderful as you are.

Call 616.530.1234 or Facebook to RSVP!

Change in Our Own Back Yard

The Story of WAR, Int’l’s U.S. Training Center

Bethany Winkel | Staff Writer

“I don’t know what it will look like, but if you want to leave this business, we’ll help you.”

These words, spoken in a bar in the red light district of Grand Rapids, Michigan, are the words that launched a training center. Voiced by the president of Women At Risk, International (WAR, Int’l) to a woman named Monique, these words carried the power to break chains. They spoke of hope and freedom. When those fateful words came forth, something in Monique reached out and grasped onto them. She was ready for change. Within a few days she showed up at WAR, Int’l headquarters.

The words were sincere, the quickness of the response unexpected. WAR, Int’l staff joyfully welcomed Monique. They worked with her for hours, trying to help her figure out where she might find employment, what sort of work she could do, whom she might use as a reference. But trying to write a resume for someone who had known only the abuse of the streets proved futile. More words were spoken, another promise given: “We’ll hire you to make jewelry.” At that moment, a pilot program was born.

From its humble beginnings in WAR, Int’l’s staff kitchen, that pilot program has grown into a training center where numerous women have found healing and a fresh start. Since that morning when Monique showed up on WAR, Int’l’s doorstep, countless others like her have walked through those doors, weary and in need of change. The Encompassed Creations program at our own U.S. Training Center (USTC) gives them a chance to make that change. Here they are mentored in life skills, trained in job etiquette, and given steady employment. As they learn to design and create jewelry, candles, spa items, and more, they are nurtured in the skills and knowledge they need to redesign and recreate their lives.

Training and employment at the USTC allows women like Monique to work with dignity, provide for themselves and their children, learn new skills, and build a resume. Here they create beautiful items to be carefully and lovingly displayed in the WAR Chest Boutique. They experience the joy of seeing their own creations purchased and worn by other women who appreciate their artistry and value. Most significantly, they are given a chance to realize their own beauty and worth.

Enabling wounded women to embrace their intrinsic beauty and value is the ultimate goal of WAR, Int’l. When a woman understands her worth, she is empowered to break cycles of poverty and abuse and move forward. When she sees that she is not chained to her past but is a new creation, she is able to change not just her circumstances but the way she sees herself. In doing so, she embraces lasting change and a beauty that is worn not just on the outside but on the inside as well.

Launched by words of compassion and hope and created out of the need of one desperate woman, the program that has changed Monique’s life is continuing to give hope to other women. By enabling them to learn new skills, work with dignity, and recognize their beauty and worth, the Encompassed Creations program at the USTC is empowering women to leave behind their pasts, change their futures, and begin their lives anew.

published October 2015 | updated November 2019

Join the Movement: Wear Change

I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.

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It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.

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They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.

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What I like most about change is that it’s a synonym for hope. If you are taking a risk, what you are really saying is, I believe in tomorrow and I will be part of it.

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