Year in Review | 2024
By Becky McDonald, Founder & President
-January 2025
2024 IN REVIEW
Dear WARriors:
The “dirty little secret” of 150 years of government and ministry abroad is a gigantic welfare system where dependency hostility is real. We’ve fed fish to the starving but never taught them to fish! You CANNOT rescue someone, pat them on the head and say, “Nasty little life there…go do something nice.” Over 90% of Cambodians rescued and sent home without job training get RESOLD. You MUST empower work with dignity, or they’re re-scammed. We passionately help rebuild lives a day at a time at their own pace. If you’re starving, I’ll feed you a fish. BUT, may I PLEASE teach you to fish, make fishing poles, and sell your fish and fishing poles?
WAR is passionate about the 200+ projects and programs we partner with. One of our favorite questions is, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Whether they are 2, 12, or 52 years old…we want them to DREAM and make that dream come true! One woman recoiled saying, “I’ve learned never to dream!” I said, “Start now!” This year that turned into GOATS! Yep! Inside the WAR program world, G.O.A.T. actually stands for GIVING OPPORTUNITIES AND TRAINING, which is about animal husbandry of goats and chickens. Much of our time this year was spent in Zambia, experiencing a famine and the worst drought in history. Walking by 2 freezers in our buildings there, I decided on the spot to buy goats…85 to start! If we couldn’t grow corn, we’d eat meat! The WAR family rallied. Our Zambian staff are dreaming of having 2 million goats! Seriously!
Goats aside…A quick look at “work with dignity” is a dazzling array of skill training that we’ve done!
• Sewing, Knitting, Weaving ~ In former British colonies sewing is a real income, making 10 times a daily labor man’s job if a woman is industrious…WHILE she watches her kiddos at home.
• Agricultural Training ~ Along with the animal husbandry, we train women (and men watch and learn) how to grow gardens, do drip irrigation and make their own food to eat AND sell.
• Jewelry Making ~ Shoppers KNOW our high-end jewelry, real stones, pearls…beautiful gifts. Shopping for these literally jumps you in the trenches with us, lifting lives to work with dignity.
• Bakeries, Coffee Shops, Culinary Training ~ From Asian bakeries that supply royal families to coffee shops and 5-star hotel culinary training…we help men and women to dream this dream.
• Scarves and Clothes ~ From Pakistan to India to Thailand, we have the most incredible silk, embroidered, pashmina, cashmere, cotton and more scarves for every taste.
• Spa Products ~ Begun to help a tiny American girl, sold by her father to politicians, we launched a full line of spa products made by rescued and at-risk Americans.
• Micro-Businesses ~ From a Ugandan nuts and bolts kiosk, to produce grown and sold by widows, selling door to door, woman to woman, to sales of every kind…our women are flourishing in their own businesses.
• Education ~ From teaching Braille, to culinary schools, to doctors, lawyers, engineers, art, teachers, cosmetology, physical therapy, counseling…you name it…if a survivor dreams it, we make DREAMS a reality.
• Toys ~ My favorites are the kids toys from a croaking frog (for real), to finger puppets (I have 1 of each), to owl backpacks, to amazing baby llama fur, to tiny miniatures, and so much more!
These are just a few ways we helped survivors rebuild their lives to WORK WITH DIGNITY in 2024, in addition to wrap-around trauma informed rescue, aftercare, and healing:
Rebecca McDonald
Founder & President