Love Mercy

Christmas is a time of year for spreading joy, which can sometimes make gift giving difficult for people who seem to have it all. Our online store has lots of options for people who might be difficult to buy for, or who might prefer that you give a gift to someone else on their behalf instead. Check out our top 5 picks for Christmas this year: 1. Gift tags - Pack of 5 for $6.50 posted Finish off your gift wrapping perfectly with these tags. $5 treats a child with malaria at the Kristina Clinic, so your gift will be changing a life in Uganda.   2. Love Mercy Print -$15 postage included These beautiful Australian designed and printed art print comes mounted on matt board and ready to be framed.  These prints fund our life changing projects in Uganda, so every purchase makes a difference. 3. The Spark Book -  $25 posted The perfect inspirational coffee table book. Eloise Wellings featured alongside many other inspirational Australian's strivin...

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 a...

I recently had the pleasure of catching up with the creative soul Bianca Cash, a gorgeous woman who is running her own business with passion and joy. She has created this beautiful print (below) which encapsulates so much of what we value as an organisation. Each print helps to fund a Cents for Seeds loan for a rural woman in Uganda. I wanted to find out what makes this chick tick! 1. Can you tell us a little about who you are and what you do? I'm a full-time freelancer graphic designer and photographer, but a lot of my work is typography based. 2. Can you share with us about your experiences in Africa? I've been really lucky to travel to East Africa three times. The first time was with my family. We visited our sponsored children in Uganda and Tanzania. It was my first time overseas and it changed everything. It sounds really dramatic but I never had the desire to travel anywhere, especially not a developing country. In 2007 I started sponsoring two girls in Tanzani...

In celebration of International day of Rural Women this week, we have two guest bloggers who we will be featuring in honour of their work supprting rural women all over the world. We asked Lauren Shuttleworth, founder and director of Words With Heart to tell us about her heart for rural women and her quest to support them...  Can you tell us a little about who you are and what you do? I'm Lauren Shuttleworth and I'm the Founder of Words With Heart - an eco-friendly stationery and printery social enterprise that funds women's and girls' education projects in the developing world. We sell a range of products including notebooks and journals, and more recently with the launch of our printery, custom business cards, greeting cards, invitations and more. Every product we sell funds a specific number of education days for women and girls. We partner with charities doing incredible work in this area, and currently fund projects in Sierra Leone and Cambodia. Can you s...

Caitlin with Love Mercy Intern Athena at the Zonta Young Women in Public Affairs dinner I was recently asked to share the story of my career with a group of inspiring young women who are the end of their high school journey. It was an interesting chance for me to reflect on the last 10 years since leaving high school myself, and the highs and lows of starting an organization from scratch. Here are 5 key lessons that I've learned along the way. 1. Know your motivation. Coming from a long line of educators,  when I was growing up I wanted to be a teacher. On the eve of the university preferences deadline, I visited a UNSW open day and discovered a brand new degree, a Bachelor of International Studies in Development . I knew straight away that this degree was for me, and changed courses accordingly. I was also given some great advice by a mentor, who told me to start collecting inspiring articles, job postings, and interviews that made me excited to study. A cle...

Read all about the brains and the beauty of this girl... We can't wait to have you back in Sydney Cassi! Q & A – Cassi Jenkins 1.     How did you get involved with Love Mercy? Africa has always held a special place in my heart. I can’t explain why, it just has. In 2010, I was part of the first Love Mercy Foundation (LMF) observation trip to Uganda. A team of ten of us travelled to Lira to identify the most pressing needs of the community. It was on this trip that we began discussing the construction of the Kristina Health Centre. Since that time, I have always been an LMF supporter and have volunteered in whatever capacity I am needed. In late 2013, Caitlin took maternity leave and I had just started a new part-time job. I offered to help LMF while she was away and have just stayed on! 2.     When did you decide you wanted to pursue a career in charity work? Since I was 16 years old, it has been my dream to be a human rights...

Continuing with our Mother's Day theme, Caitlin Barrett shares her experiences with us when it comes to balancing motherhood, study, and directing the operations of Love Mercy full time. 1. How did you get involved with Love Mercy and for how long have you been CEO? I was the CEO from the day we started Love Mercy. Only now after 6 years have I started using the title and feel comfortable with it. It still makes me giggle… Eloise and I met in 2008 and both shared an interest in Uganda. I had been volunteering for Invisible Children, a U.S based organisation working to help rescue child soldiers. When I met Eloise, she told me she had a dear friend who was a child soldier himself. Later that year I met Julius and instantly knew that I needed to be involved in Eloise’s vision. She wanted to establish a formal way to help Julius in his dream to bring restoration to his home village of Awake. We met with a few other close friends and family members and formed...