A little note of clarification--I actually wrote this last Wednesday...and then posted it to the completely WRONG blog... yes... the last few weeks of the semester have successfully fried my brain!
The Saturday before Thanksgiving break we had the opportunity to get a group together for our second service project at the Hare Krishna temple. After a brief tour of the temple the boys and girls were divided (apparently we get more done that way) and got to work preparing the temple for the winter weather and harsh winds. When we'd finished we were invited to share a meal in the temple cafeteria. In love with the beautiful Indian products they had for sale in the temple some of us splurged and bought a few things.
Although I haven't been there (yet!), I've always felt drawn to India. A friend of mine named Kirsten Monson felt a similar pull to India. She's asked me if she could share her story with all you SID fans out there. Naturally, I agreed.
New NGO at CARE Week
I have always believed in BYU's motto, "Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve." My husband Keyne (BS '97) and I (BS '97) graduated with great intentions to do just that. But the next 12 years--though we took advantage of many opportunities for ward and family service--seemed to be dominated by career and family building. Still, we retained our strong desire to do something to help the world on a larger scale. Recently, we were blessed with just such an opportunity.
In May we took a trip to India where we encountered many wonderful and skilled artisans, who, though impoverished, have a gift for making fine clothing and other goods. We were happy to patron these artisans, as we deeply believe in promoting the simple principles of hard work and self-reliance. The entire trip one question plagued our minds: What is it these people need to pull themselves out of poverty and embark on the road to prosperity? We knew the answer would be life-changing.
We realized that, among other things, one of the greatest needs was more economic opportunity. So we formed a nonprofit called Elevita. It has a two-fold mission: 1) to alleviate poverty worldwide by helping artisans in developing countries find a greater world market for their products, and 2) to use 100% of the profits generated from the sale of these goods to fund meaningful humanitarian projects, especially in education. To sell the artisans' goods we have launched a website, www.elevita.com, with a collection of clothing, jewelry, housewares, and accessories that we have hand-picked from underprivileged artisans around the world. We are currently using the profits to enable village girls in rural India to attend secondary school. This has been an extremely exciting and inspiring venture.
To celebrate the opening of Elevita.com, we will be selling a selection of our goods during CARE week. Elevita will be part of the exhibition before and after the SID screening of the Lazarus Effect. Purchasing goods from Elevita this Christmas season (www.elevita.com) gives people the opportunity to help impoverished families in developing countries while simultaneously doing their own holiday shopping. Our hope is that Elevita will help promote a trend toward socially conscious buying and giving.
Merry Christmas!
Kirsten Monson
This is the kind of development I take great joy in seeing take place. Elevita is a fantastic new organization with beautiful products. I would encourage all to do some Christmas shopping through them this holiday season. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the organization. I've also got some great samples if you would like to see some of the products up close and personal.
See you at the Lazarus Effect screening tomorrow night at 7:30 in JFSB 002.
Ama Rachel
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