Educate Honduran Women Living in Extreme Poverty

Hello Mi Esperanza Supporters!

We cannot believe it’s November already! Time flies when you’re having fun, and we have been having a great time at Mi Esperanza!

Santa Ana Property

First things first: Things are progressing very well with the Artisan Center in Santa Ana, and the security rock wall is really taking shape. It is being constructed by hand, and outlines the entire perimeter of the property. The wall requires a lot of hard work, and our hope is to have it finished before the Christmas holidays.

Sewing School

Currently, we have a level two satellite sewing class in the Villeda Morales community, and a level one sewing class in Santa Ana. We will be graduating 20 sewing students in early December.

We also graduated six sewing students from the Mololoa community in September. Mololoa can be a dangerous community to work in because a gang runs it. Mark and Lori Connell’s ministry, The Honduras Project, has done a lot of good work in this community, and has formed relationships with many community members. Because of these relationships, Mi Esperanza wanted to try having a satellite class in Mololoa, and it turned out to be a great experience. The students were so appreciative to have the opportunity to take a sewing class. They informed Mi Esperanza that because we were the first organization to bring education programs to the community, many other nonprofits have taken their cues from us and have started implementing their programs in Mololoa as well. The second level of our sewing instruction has been offered to the women of Mololoa at the Mi Esperanza Sewing Center in Tegucigalpa.

Glenda, our Santa Ana sewing teacher, is also teaching a level one class to 20 women in the Montaña del Izopo community. This community is high up in the mountains, about 45 minutes away from Santa Ana. We are so excited about the opportunity to provide much needed skills to women in new communities!

Cosmetology School

During the first week in November, Janet, Lori, Paola and Mario visited nine cosmetology students who were doing their internships at several salons in Tegucigalpa. The students are really excelling in their internships, and enjoyed showing off their skills. Salon owners expressed how much they loved having Mi Esperanza students work with them, and had nothing but great things to say about each student’s performance. Each salon owner will complete an evaluation for their interns, and turn it in to Paola at the end of the internship. 18 cosmetology students will be graduating right before Thanksgiving, and we couldn’t be more proud of them!

Computer School

Currently, our 16 computer technology students are completing the Internet portion of their course. They are doing a great job, and graduation will also take place right before Thanksgiving.

Jewelry School

The jewelry students in Santa Ana have been very busy designing and making jewelry for the last two months. The jewelry studio was filled with joy, love and hope when Carly Burson and Ashley Faircloth of Tribe Alive, and Janet, Lori and Julie of Mi Esperanza visited and helped with the jewelry production. The manufacturing of the Tribe Alive jewelry line generates necessary income for the women of the jewelry studio.

Clothing Lines

Mi Esperanza currently has several partnerships with clothing and jewelry designers. Tribe Alive is a new partnership for Mi Esperanza, and is a lifestyle brand utilizing a passion for fashion and responsible commerce as platform to help alleviate poverty among women. The Mi Esperanza maquila produces one tote bag, a three-piece burlap travel set, and jewelry bags, along with jewelry for Tribe Alive. LizAlig, by Elizabeth Roney, is dedicated to creating clothing that is both fashion-forward and ethical. Elizabeth had pieces from her clothing line produced in the maquila this past August and September. LizAlig is a long-standing partner with Mi Esperanza. Another new relationship with Mi Esperanza is E.A. Lepine, co-founder of Arrowroot, recently stated, “I learned the ugly truth about working conditions for many people. I wanted to take a stand for fair working conditions and sustainable income for women everywhere. It is my hope that Arrowroot and Mi Esperanza will provide otherwise impoverished income to women for years to come.”

Additionally, Mi Esperanza has just partnered with Kate Bowen of Petit Peony for the New England Child. The Mi Esperanza maquila will be producing Petit Peony’s first ever collection for Spring/Summer 2015. Their vision is to produce clothing in an ethical way, with the message of Mother helping Mother and completing the circle of hope. This partnership means more sustainable work for our women because our maquila has been contracted to produce 1500 pieces for Petit Peony – our largest order yet! Kate expects to have three productions a year with the Mi Esperanza maquila. Mi Esperanza will start producing the clothes in December, and we could not be more excited about this project!

With all the new production coming to Mi Esperanza, we will be expanding the number of women that will be working at the Mi Esperanza maquila and we are very excited about that. We are happy to be providing life-sustaining work to more of our sewing school graduates.

Currently, our maquila is producing about 100 school uniforms for The Honduras Project that will be delivered to impoverished children around Honduras in January 2015.

What’s Next?

Mi Esperanza has had an idea brewing for a long while, and we are excited that it will be implemented in mid-to late January 2015. The idea was to have an inspirational prayer text service for Mi Esperanza students, where they can subscribe to receive these texts at no cost. As we began exploring the idea, it evolved into a pathway towards making a broad spiritual impact on the people of Honduras, so we did not want the service to be limited to those directly impacted by Mi Esperanza.

Mi Esperanza is partnering with People Connection, a texting service that is available throughout Central America. People Connection will manage all of the data and will work in conjunction with Honduran phone companies.

Mi Esperanza unveiled this service to the 115 missionaries who attended the Women of Purpose conference in Valle de Angeles, Honduras this past weekend. Mi Esperanza’s hope is that these women who live and work in all parts of Honduras will subscribe to receive these texts, and will help spread the word about the service. This will be the spiritual component of Mi Esperanza, and the goal is to eventually have subscribers in every part of Honduras.

There are so many fun and exciting things happening at Mi Esperanza as we head into 2015. We are amazed at how we continue to grow and empower women in Honduras, and are lucky to be a part of positive change. It is easy to succumb to the pain and hurt this world possesses, but we take pride in the fact that Mi Esperanza is a light in the darkness for so many women, both in Honduras and in the United States. Thank you for your continued support of The Women of My Hope. You have made an immeasurable impact on so many, and we cannot thank you enough.

Happy Holidays!

The Women of My Hope

Links:

• Mi Esperanza on Facebook