Amplifying Women Artisans in India and Kenya

Hey there,

I would like to take this opportunity to say thanks to each and every one of you who donated to us in the past months.

Last time, I updated you on our crowdfunding campaign from the end of the year, and the fact we didn't raise enough funds, because of that our fundraising efforts have been focused on getting more monthly sponsors for our organization. We have realized that, for us, this is the most precious support someone can give us in order to secure the stability our work requires.

So, thank you for being one of these loyal monthly sponsors!

What have we done in the past 4 months?

We had a beautiful travel experience taking place in Goa - India, in March. Ten volunteers joined our center in Goa, focusing on the exchange between women from different countries. The trip was full of cooking classes, feminine activities around Indian culture, beauty, and traditions. It also provided an opportunity to sell our products locally to visitors. The women loved the experience and can't wait for the next one. These activities not only create a beautiful cultural exchange, but also provide the ladies with extra income, as they are paid for all the extra work they do during this time.

In the past 2 months, the women in India have also started attending biweekly meditation and yoga classes. They got in touch with a local teacher who has been amazingly supportive in this journey. They have already mentioned to us how much more calm and connected to their bodies they feel, and how they are less overwhelmed by daily problems.

In addition, this past month in India, a health check-up took place for all the women in the project, as well as some other members of the neighborhood. The check-up included screenings for breast cancer and diabetes. All these activities have been taking place in our center, which we can only finance through the support of people like you.

In Kenya, things are a bit quieter, and we have been looking into new possible projects to run there. We will keep you posted. For now, our mental health program continues to happen, and the mamas are enjoying it very much.

Overall, the costs of our both centers, the payments of the 10 women receiving a monthly fee for their work, and our programs (mental health, training, local activities) are all secured through donations. We also covered costs related to school fees, food, and emergency healthcare.

Unfortunately, we have some not-so-good news. Starting this month, we have decreased the payments of all the women in India by 20% due to the lack of funds we have been facing after our latest campaign. As soon as we are able to revert this situation, we will let you know.

What happens next?

The next significant costs will be in India, specifically the school fees that we have to pay between July and August. In Kenya, as our sales aren't going so well, and we don't have any production scheduled, we will send some money for food support in the upcoming months.

Our goal for the past months was to reach the support of €1000 monthly, which covers half of our average fixed cost for each month in both countries. With your contribution, we are currently at €1130 in monthly donations, which is amazing.

However, to ensure we have room to at least secure our centers and programs, we aim to grow this number to the total amount of €2000 per month by the end of July. So, if you know someone who could be interested in becoming a monthly sponsor, please share this donation page with them.

We are also looking for companies interested in donating to our organization. If you are an entrepreneur and would like to know more about the initiatives we are aiming to fund via corporate donations, please send me an email via carla@project-tres.org, and I can provide you further information. In terms of sales, we have been reaching out to other stores in Berlin to sell our items, and we recently received a new wholesale order for a very dear company here in Berlin. This order makes a big difference in our revenues. Additionally, two members of our volunteer team have been applying for funding, and one is putting together some event ideas aimed to fundraise for us.

Thank you for your contributions, your hard work as a volunteer, and your support as a friend, , sharing our posts and campaigns with your network. Things are a bit difficult for us at the moment, but at the same time, we feel hopeful and confident that we will navigate through this once again.

With my deep gratitude for your trust and support, and from our entire team,

Carla.

Hey there,

I would like to take this opportunity to say thanks to every and each of you who donated to us in the past months. 

Besides our monthly supporters, we have ran a crowdfunding campaign from December 2022 to January this year, aiming to secure fully the yearly expenses in terms of social impact we have in both countries. 

We got 92 donations during this campaign, and together we managed to raise 8868€ (after fees we received today 7828,24€) out of the 25000€ required to continue our work this year. Even though we didn’t raise all we needed, the funds will be extremely helpful for the continuation of our social programs this year, and without you, that wouldn’t be possible.

I know sometimes it’s hard to stay connected and motivated to help when there are so many different issues going on in the world at the same time. For that reason, it means a lot to us when you decide to take your time and your resources, to believe in the work we do.

What happens next?

The funds will be used to cover our centers rent, continue the mental health program, cover part of the school fees we require for the year 2023, and partially cover the monthly payments of the 10 women already working with us in both countries. As the situation is right now, we won't increase the number of women paid monthly as we planned, will have to reduce the food support only for extreme cases, and will continue to fundraise in order to cover the school fees for all the remaining 16 children in India and 24 in Kenya.

We will need to raise the remaining money throughout the year.

Currently we continuously look for funding opportunities in the government and through foundations, and we are hopeful that will happen this year. On the other hand, we have to keep on trying to secure what is needed through the ways we also already know: people. For that, in the upcoming months, we will be promoting our sponsorship option, where individuals (like you) can donate to us on a monthly basis, choosing the option you prefer to invest in (mental health programs, project development, administrative costs, education, food, and health support). 

Thanks for already being the first ones doing this! If you can also spread the word about your sponsorship and invite others to do the same, that will be extremely helful. At the moment we count on around 500€ monthly donations and we are aiming to reach 1000€ in the next 3 months. 

We are also looking for companies interested on donating to our organization, so if you are an entrepreneur and would like to know more about the initiatives we are aiming to fund via corporative donations, send me an email via carla@project-tres.org and I can give you further information.

Thanks for your contributions, for your hard work as a volunteer, and for your support as a friend spamming your network with our posts and campaigns. I know these are hard times but together, we will navigate through that once again, and I feel very grateful to have had you all this time (or just joining us now) along this journey.

A big hug,

Carla.

Hello dear supporter,

I hope you are healthy and safe wherever you are.

After 2,5 years of not going back to India, it was time to visit again. 

Hello dear supporter,

I hope you are healthy and safe wherever you are.

Today I'm here to share some updates with you. Last time here I mentioned the possibility of adding 3 women to the project in Kenya (2 mamas and one teenager), and up to now, we managed to include 2 of them (one mama and one teenager). The younger one is attending a boarding school fully sponsored by us (from the school fees to the money she needs for food), and the mama is a widow with 2 children. 

We are slowly shifting away from the monthly rent support we had going on since covid-19 started, and from the 7 women previously supported with rent, we have reduced this number to 3. 

A few days ago, unfortunately, one of our members in Kenya died. Her name was Mary, she was the mother of Peter (7) and Ian (4), and she was a valued member of our project and her community. The women are still very touched by that and we are working together with Hai Africa to make sure the kids are going to continue in Kabiria (the community we operate) and attend school since this was always Mary's dream. 

In India, we are preparing ourselves for a volunteering experience taking place in October this year, where some of our team members from all over the world will be there as well. The goal is to introduce computer classes to the women during this time, so they can achieve even more within the project and for other opportunities as well. 

Our mental health program continues to take place in both countries and we are working on the next production order, which should start this month. This month, we have completed covering the school fees required for this year, and we have supported the education of 14 children in India and of 3 teenagers in Kenya, summing 17 sponsorships. 

The women working in Project Tres mentioned while we ran a couple of interviews, that the project had a positive impact directly on their confidence and self-esteem, and their ability to provide for their family and children in very difficult times. They asked that I extend their thank you to each of you for supporting them with donations. 

I hope you understand the impact of your contribution to our work.

Thanks for trusting us and actively making part of a more equal world,

Carla.

Hello dear supporter,

I hope you are well and safe wherever you are.

The situation in the world right now is very disturbing, and when the whole situation started taking place in Ukraine, I was in Kenya, visiting our project, so I come today with some very good news.

We haven't visited the project in Kenya for the past 3 years, due to Covid-19. To go back after so long, and realize that everything we have believed and invested, focusing on autonomy and local leadership since day 1 had a huge sustained impact in the lives of the women in the project, their families, and community, was very rewarding.

Despite the difficulties, all the children have been attending school, some sponsored by us, but mostly by our partner Hai Africa, whose focus is investing in education.

The women working in Project Tres mentioned while we ran a couple of interviews, that the project had a positive impact directly in their confidence and self-esteem, and their ability to provide for their family and children in very difficult times. They asked that I extended their thank you to every and each of you supporting them with donations since the pandemic started. They wouldn't be able to eat, have a safe house, and get medical support if it wasn't for your contribution.

We will be most likely adding 3 members to our project in Kenya, 2 of them women and one teenager. The youngest went through very hard times in the past year and due to the nature of the events she went through, she will require our support and expertise in the field of violence and abuse against women. We will also be sponsoring her studies.

In both countries, our women have been working on some orders and are participating in the therapy program, which has also presented amazing results. In India, the women organized their own International Women's Day event with dance session, speeches, and awards for the members of our project. 100% of the funds required to organize the event were raised by them alone.

I hope you understand the impact of your contribution to our work.

I wish you a great week ahead, lots of peace and health.

Thanks for trusting us and actively making part of a more equal world for women.

Carla.