Skip to main content

Standing tall like sunflowers

Sunflowers... photo captured by River Bennett from theWolfpackmrs


Today we were welcomed with singing and dancing by 200 of our Cents for Seeds women from the village of Barr. Barr women are the pioneers of the Cents for Seeds program, they were the first village that we ran the program in, back in 2010. They have been the most innovative and entrepreneurial group of women that we've worked with, coming up with many of the ideas which have improved the program. They've really taken the program to the next level in terms of sustainability for which we are so grateful and proud.   

We listened as they shared their farming challenges and triumphs this year.They had yielded a good harvest from the first planting season but devastating drought caused them to lose most of their crops in the second planting season. For the first time in five years they were unable to return their loan of seeds. We had the opportunity to encourage them and reassure them that we are not going anywhere, and that as long as they want to keep farming we would stand by them and try again next year.

As I sat there and absorbed the meeting with the women in Barr, the theme that moved me the most was COMMUNITY. The idea of doing life together, linking arms and walking together, the idea that 'together we are strong'. When one is weak, everyone reaches out to help them be strong. We were made for community. Cents for Seeds is about community.


As part of Cents for Seeds the women have formed groups according to where they live so that they can work as a team and encourage one another in their farming and be accountable to each other in returning their loan. They also have a savings kitty within their group where one woman can get a loan for other business ventures or to purchase other crops to plant. The program is not only empowering the women to create their own livelihood for their families, it is encouraging this sense of community, to stand alongside each other and work together in order to become self sustaining... to genuinely flourish, together.

These are women who have witnessed and been victims of the most horrific atrocities during 25 years of civil war. And now that the war is over, they are simply mothers, sisters, daughters and friends doing the best with what they've got. And they're flourishing, I believe, because they are working so well collectively. No matter where you live or what your story, to truly flourish we need to weed out the junk that comes with a 'me mentality'. For community to flourish we need to be FOR each other, to genuinely celebrate with others when they do well and to be there when they are struggling.

We saw a beautiful display of community yesterday when, at the end of the meeting the women took up an offering to help Rose, one of their friends in need who is is a part of Cents for Seeds, (she's actually a leader for one of the groups) and is suffering from cancer. They banded together and took up an offering to help her with her medical costs and also to provide some food for her. One of the women, Eunice, took the offering to Rose's home after the meeting. Eunice told us, 'I didn't even know Rose before Cents for Seeds, it has helped me make new friends and has brought the community together'. Rose was blessed.

I feel honoured to be working alongside these women, and honoured to have the opportunity to encourage them to lean on one another, draw strength from each other to use their words not to tear down but to build one another up and cheer each other on. My prayer is that they would continue to flourish like a field of sunflowers in full bloom. That, like a sunflower, when one starts to wilt and lean over, there will be others so close to it that it can continue to stand until it regains the strength again to stand on it's own. Help is only an arms length away if you were to become weak again.

Since becoming a mother I've realised how important this is. That with all the beauty and the chaos...and the beauty and the chaos that comes with the role of being a Mumma, we need friends cheering us on around us in order to truly flourish. We need each other, no matter where we are stationed on this earth. We were created to live in community, and Barr village is a flourishing community personified.

-Eloise

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

August in Australia

Bump, Birth and Baby, Wollongong | August 4th  This event is all about empowering mums and women.  Bring your gal pals along and share brunch, while learning about the Get your tickets here Run Nation Film Festival, Sydney |  9 - 11th  We are so excited to announce that we are the Charity Partner for The RunNation Film Festival presented by Traveling Fit. A portion of ticket sales will go toward Love Mercy, so be sure to invite your friends along! Expo Level 4 of the International Convention Centre will hold the exhibition. Here you will get to meet with 100+ local and international brands & gain fitness and nutritional advice. Speakers - Real Stories |  Eloise Wellings  10am - 12pm | Buy your ticket  here . Our very own co-founder and Dual Olympian Eloise Wellings will join two others in sharing their inspiring stories of challenge and accomplishment. Don't forget to come say hi to Elzy on the day. Film Premiere - Tracktown...
Post a Comment
Read more

How it All Began: the Love Mercy Story

She was an Olympic hopeful, he was a child soldier. Here’s how founders Eloise Wellings, Julius Achon and their friend Caitlin Barrett first came together to create real change in Uganda. Eloise and Julius on her first visit to Uganda in 2009  As long as she can remember, Eloise Wellings wanted to compete at the Olympics. As a child she would visualise winning gold ­– standing proudly on her makeshift phone book podium, singing the Australian national anthem at the top of her lungs. All she wanted to do was run. Julius Achon’s childhood was spent in the village of Awake in rural Northern Uganda, carrying water for miles for his family. At age 12, Julius was abducted by Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army and forced to be a child soldier. During his captivity, he endured the trauma of both witnessing and being forced to carry out violent acts, living in a daily environment of atrocities. After three months, Julius had the opportunity to run for his life. A govern...
Post a Comment
Read more

Reflections on the Sutherland to Surf 2012

Esther and Naomi who raised almost $4000 between them Luke who finished first from our team, in 39:50 placing 43rd overall! In the aftermath of another successful Sutherland to Surf I can’t help but reflect personally on an event that has been on my mind for the last 6 months. At the beginning of each year, I tend to set myself goals for the coming year in each area of my life, sort of like a personal yard stick, hoping at the end of the year to be satisfied with the progress I have made. At the beginning of 2012, I had hoped and prayed that 2012 would end with for Love Mercy with a community of friends and supporters that was bigger than just our immediate family and friends who decided to jump on board out of love for us rather than out of passion for a cause. Not that there is anything wrong with that of course, but I wanted Love Mercy to stand on its own two feet, not on the feet of its founders, and gain a real family around it that was passionate and supportive ...
Post a Comment
Read more