International
Women’s Day

My heart filled with joy getting to see Bharathy again. I was on a Tirzah Trip this past fall where we visited her organization, Kshamata, in Mumbai. The range of emotions from that one day in India did not seem humanly possible. Soon after our reunion, I was totally humbled as “Mahima” shared her story. Bits and pieces came through the translator. Her parents sold her when she was nine. She was still in “the trade.” But more trapped than many as she is married to the brothel owner’s son. They have two daughters together. In recent years, she reconnected with her biological family who told her to just leave her girls and move back to their village. With fight and determination, Mahima shared there is no way she is going to do that.

She has dreams for her future: to speak English, to be a mother that her daughters are proud of, to have a house of her own, and to see her girls grow up with an education that will take them in a different direction. She’s going to break the cycle. My hopes for Mahima swelled as she described her dreams and the work she has already done. I sat in my chair, overwhelmed by the obstacles and unsure how to help, but confident that Mahima has been gifted with power beyond her circumstances and that our Global Leader Bharathy knows how to guide her through a process of transformation.

Mahima has been consistently showing up to Kshamata where she receives comprehensive training. Her mind is sharp as she embraces what she’s learned in her small business training. She proudly showed us the array of beauty products that she sells as her small business. It is her path to freedom.

Women around the world are marginalized just because they are born women. Meeting these incredible sisters who have hopes and dreams for their futures—because of Tirzah—made me all the more determined to partner with our network of Global Leaders. I don’t have the answers for every act of gender injustice, but, together, we’re creating solutions. It’s why we partner with local leaders who every day are working to provide opportunities for our sisters to rise.

March 8 is International Women’s Day, a day set aside to focus on gender equity. We are raising money so women like Mahima can receive Tirzah’s life-transforming trainings including our small-business training and Emerging Leader program.

It is so hard to put a financial value on the non-tangibles like knowledge and community, but these are *key* ingredients that bring the most change. Around the world, Tirzah’s Global Leaders are able to facilitate relationships in-person and increasingly online as well. Your financial support today will help Global Leaders like Bharathy. They need your help to foster a safe environment where women can find their voice and take steps toward their future. Your donation will pay facilitators, buy tea and snacks to sustain trainees during long days of learning, help with wrap-around services like transportation and childcare costs, and supplement data and printing needs to close the remaining access-gap for the online community.

Every gift up to $25,000 is being matched in honor of International Women’s Day. Would you give today so sisters like Mahima can find her path for a brighter tomorrow? My heart shatters again thinking about the “what ifs” if she had not found Bharathy. Instead, I find solace in knowing that Mahima is getting the help she needs, has a plan for her daughters, and fierce a determination that the path of her life will not be repeated by them.

Let’s make the same possible for the all our sisters facing
gender injustice and honor them this International Women’s Day.

Join us in investing in women changing the world.

Grateful,

Sarah Guidone
Director of Operations