In the 10 days prior to Christmas 2011, I had the opportunity to travel to Haiti to teach women personal safety & survival skills. What an amazing experience! My heart was broken on several occasions, but ultimately I left knowing that I would be back. I quickly learned that my passion for teaching women can be used to meet a need that’s so critical. The personal safety/survival skills I teach through My Will To Survive empowered & uplifted women who live in fear of their lives daily.
I travelled with a team from Brookview Church and through a partnership with World Wide Village, we held 2-day clinics with three different groups of women. The first was for a group of amazing and beautiful women in a deaf community outside Cite Soleil. Not only do these women face the challenges of being female in Haiti, but are further disadvantaged and victimized due to their disability. The second group, in a rural village called Luly, had a large representation of teenage girls. Our final group was in Cite Soleil, the harshest slum and crime infested city in the Western Hemisphere. The amazing thing about all the women we trained—they are just like you and me. They have similar dreams and desires, and they face some of the same fears. I quickly learned that across the cultural and language differences, we’ve been created with the same feminine heart.
My continued goal is to empower women across the world. No matter who we are, where we live, what we have, there is the possibility that we could be victimized. God willing I will be back to Haiti in 2012 to reconnect with some new friends and to impact the lives of others and will continue teaching women and girls here at home with all proceeds going directly to train women in Haiti.
Please help me spread the word to all the women and girls in your life. Encourage them to sign up for a class. It could save a life!
