By Claudius T. Greene, Jr. Read the full article online at The Daily Observer. The Foundation for Women (FFW) recently celebrated its 26th anniversary at its headquarters in the Bassa Town community near Paynesville red light. This milestone event was vibrant evidence of the organization's commitment to empowering women both locally and globally. FFW, a registered non-profit and non-governmental organization, is dedicated to eradicating poverty through microcredit programs. Their mission encompasses providing women living in poverty with microfinance opportunities that facilitate sustainable income generation, educational support, business training, and economic prosperity.
November 2, 2023 Thanksgiving Day During this Thanksgiving Month and during one of the most challenging times on the planet in so many places for so many reasons, we are dedicating our Foundation for Women First Friday today to gratitude. We are asking that you pause at noon PT today and instead of joining us for conversation, please take a moment to be silent, to quiet the noise of the day, to put aside the news – and focus on your personal gratitude list. The suffering for so many is unimaginable right now. We each have a choice in this moment, to choose Hope over Nihilism, Loving over Hating. I am choosing Hope and Loving – and so happy to share these family photos from Thanksgiving Day in Liberia. We had a joyous day filled with much love, great conversation, swimming, and abundant food and drink – more food than those in attendance had seen for a very long time. Things in Liberia are very hard, the democracy very fragile. The presidential election October 10th did not produce a winner of 50% plus one vote, so a runoff election is scheduled for November 14th. The country is holding its collective breath, as the polarization is tremendous, no middle ground. Little business is happening, rice is over $20/bag – up from $13 just a few months ago. People are praying constantly for a new chapter for their country, their world. We as a Foundation for Women community have brought Hope and Loving to millions of people around the world. Together let’s collectively put that energy out at noon PT time today. Deborah Lindholm
FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN
April 23, 1998 – April 23, 2023 Impacting more than 25 million people locally and globally! Thanks to thousands of us doing a little vs a few doing a lot – grassroots development, collective impact! And just getting started… Thank you for being a treasured part of our Foundation for Women Family Everywhere March 8th
To Our Global Human Family – As we have for 25 years now, the Foundation for Women celebrates International Women’s Day today! We are so blessed and honored to be holding hands with women and families locally and globally for so many years, and forever! Blessings and love from the entire global Foundation for Women Family Sunday, January 8, 2023 Liberia There is so much to say I just don’t know how to begin… First and foremost, thank you for supporting the work of the Foundation for Women everywhere in the world for 25+ years now, starting in India and then so many places, including the US for more than 10 years… heartfelt appreciations! So now I will begin by saying, I just changed the security person’s day now by offering him a coke… really? And I just tried on a special Liberian dress given to me in gratitude by our treasured FFWL staff family member Prince – fits perfectly! – as did the shirt given to Samuel! How did he know?? I want you to know Prince. 10+ years ago he had an accident and lost one of his front teeth. For small money, I sent him a few months ago to ELWA Hospital here where there is one of very few dentists in the entire country of Liberia. A replacement tooth lead to an infection, now all resolved. And his smile is infectious! His life is now joy! All for less than US$100! I love Prince as my son forever! Yesterday was a huge birthday celebration for our daughter Florence. Nearly 10 years ago, I learned of this beautiful girl sitting in a compound alone abandoned by her parents in the first several years of her life. Namesake Deborah took her home for a night to give her a bath and do her hair, she has never left our family since Yesterday we celebrated Florence’s 14th birthday, excelling now in the 9th grade! And namesake Deborah turns 15 soon, February 6th! And dearest right hand, brother forever Calvin is now set to be married here February 5th!! We together are changing the world… thank you for believing and caring and supporting for so many years… huge appreciation and love, Deborah Lindholm
From Learning Upgrade: “We are thrilled to announce Learning Upgrade’s partnership with Foundation for Women in Liberia. Over the past 3 months, we have orchestrated an 8-site, 200+ person deployment in Liberia where children and adults have been using the Learning Upgrade app to learn English, math, and job skills for self-reliance. The 8 sites range from elementary schools, church communities, to microfinance groups and community health clinics. The results have been striking: nearly 1,000 hours of learning, over 5,000 lessons completed, and 70 certificates earned (each certificate is equivalent to 1 school year of learning)!! To celebrate the success of the program, Foundation for Women staff in Liberia wrote and produced this song, which debuted today at Proliteracy’s 2022 Conference on Adult Education in San Antonio, TX. The people of Liberia have suffered through civil war and disease which has prevented so many from receiving a quality education. Now, with an opportunity to rapidly learn anywhere and at any time, we are seeing a renewed sense of hope and a path towards the end goal: to provide every Liberian an opportunity to reach full proficiency in English, math, and job skills.
We are so grateful to the Foundation for Women team for investing their time, talent, and resources into making this a success. This is just the beginning!” All of us here at FFW are so excited for this new partnership and can't wait to see where we go from here. Thank you to everyone at Learning Upgrade and welcome to the FFW family! As part of our commitment to Collective Impact, Seats at the Table for Liberia, we welcomed Safe Conversations www.safeconversations.com to our collective partnership in June 2021. We launched a pilot in two of our FFW Liberia partner schools, bringing Safe Conversations to students. Students and school staff are so eager to learn and practice Safe Conversations!
Two very dear Liberian friends, William and Raw, surprised me by creating a Safe Conversations Song. Here is the link to the newly recorded Liberian-English version which is now airing on the radio throughout Liberia. Listen to the song below and check out a few pictures from the meetings. Monday, January 24, 2022 Monrovia, Liberia
As my dear friend Q Karmue constantly reminds me, every challenge is an opportunity. Eight nights ago, armed gunmen broke into my treasured friend/staff person Calvin Zuomie’s home, terrifying him and Kebbeh and their 10-month old daughter. Though the robbers managed to take everything of value, thank you God no one was hurt. Many of you have responded with concern and offers of help. Thank you so much! Kebbeh’s aunt in Philadelphia has offered to gift them with a plot of land so they can build their own secure home – so fabulous! We are hoping that many of you will choose one of the options below to make a huge change happen for Calvin and family here now – together we can make this miracle a reality! |
About the AuthorDeborah Lindhom is the Founder and CEO of the Foundation for Women. For over 20 years she has lived and worked in Africa, India and the United States on issues of poverty, education and microcredit.
"Just a quick note to say how we appreciate all that you are doing in Liberia and wish we could do more to help. We enjoy reading your newsletters which are always so well written.
All the best!" ~ Ian and Julie Allen, Africa and Beyond Art Gallery Archives
May 2024
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