Hunger to Hope in One Generation: Women Beading for God, Pt. 2

The Jewelry School at Los Laureles

After Ezekiel Nichols joined a team to Honduras several years back, he returned to the U.S. and never said another word about his visit. It wasn't until two years ago that he approached AHMEN with a call to start a system of microenterprises at the dump in La Ceiba with the ultimate goal of helping families work their way out of life in the trash. Last summer the “De La MontañaAl Mar” team identified a group of women interested in starting small businesses. Last August the “Los Amigos” team further identified a group of women willing to learn to make and sell jewelry as a means to start their own business. About this time a lady by the name of Peggie Hurlston volunteered to lead a weekly jewelry-making class with Marlene Lawrence to help the ladies at the dump with their pursuits.

 

One of the first things Peggie shared with us after beginning to teach each Saturday was that the women she was teaching don't like their community to be referred to as the “dump,” and the name of their community is Los Laureles. In an emotional-insecurity stemming from the comparative enormity of our own wealth we had failed to see that we were not building a community, that a community was already there. Today, though, there is a community within Los Laureles dedicated to education. This community calls themselves “Las Mujeres Bisuteras De Dios.” They are “The Women Beading For God,” and they need your help!

From L to R: Suyapa, Peggie, Elda, Nellie, Idalia, Michael, Julian, Brenda, Martha

 

In addition to monetary donations, “Las Mujeres Bisuteras De Dios” will recycle and re-purpose materials from:

-your old jewelry

-your old beading supplies and jewelry-making equipment

-you old belts and purses

They also need your team to come visit and work with them. In my next blog, I will tell you about a team of 15 volunteers designing a team to specifically go work with the new entreprenuers at Los Laureles.

If you want to know more about how you can join a team or support one of the many AHMEN projects in Honduras, feel free to contact Dr. Tom Camp, Mary Guffey, and Michael Franklin for more information.