Hope for Human Trafficking Victims: Do MORE with Mondays--Punjammies
8:06 AMHeatherConsider this your Public Service Announcement. Mother's Day is coming! It's just 13 days away. Yes, indeed. Time to let the hubs and kids know your biggest Mother's Day wishes...you know, the non-monetary gifts like a day without sibling conflict, someone else doing the dishes, and a day that is laundry-free. Can I hear an A-men from all my fellow mamas? Of course, if you are anything like me, you can dream up a pretty grand day where you are honored and served and admired and appreciated.
Yet you know the reality will generally fall short. Because Mother's Day usually includes the BEST of intentions for those who love you. Here at my house, I am appreciated and admired--I know. And, they do try to honor and serve me. But, once we get past breakfast, it's sorta hard to walk away and be freed from the usual mom tasks--no matter how well meaning my family is. Cause, well, I'm the mom. Once you become a mom, Mother's Day is like a family vacation. There's not really a break. I mean, unless you spend your time away from the very reasons you ARE a mom. The bitter irony.
Listen-- go ahead and let your offspring know that you'd enjoy a little treat for yourself. While you're at it, don't forget about your own mom or mother-in-law...or grandma. Or whatever other female gift recipient on your list. You might be in a quandry about just what to do for everyone and just what to ask for yourself? Something different. Something unique. Something truly enjoyable.
Today--I have the solution. And it's a win/win/win. YOU get to choose a totally fabulous gift. To be given. And to give. You'll love being both the giver AND the receiver. The even bestest part? Every gift you give is helping change the life of the incredibly brave woman who made it.
The answer to all your Mother's Day dilemmas. Or graduation gifts. Or the bride to be. Or the birthday girl. Whatever. Punjammies! Ever heard of them? I don't personally own a pair...but I've long heard how very comfortable they are. (HINT, HINT). My friend Jennifer raves about them. Plus, every time she wears them, she is reminded of just whose hands created them for her.
A woman half-way around the world in India who has been rescued from human trafficking as a sex slave. A woman caught in a vicious, hopeless cycle. Check this out--from the International Princess Project website:
"In India, over 2 million women and children work as prostitutes. Of the 200 girls and women who enter prostitution each day, 80% of them enter against their will and 35% are under the age of 18. The women and children trapped in the sex trade are caught in a vicious cycle of poverty, illiteracy and disease that is seemingly inescapable.
In February of 2005, International Princess™ Project founder Shannon Keith went on a trip to India that opened her eyes to devastation of lives happening on the streets and in the brothels. After visiting a red-light district, she could not forget what she saw - young girls sold by their families, orphans picked up off the street by pimps, even young mothers just trying to feed their children. Many were held against their will. Others were trapped by economics. Those who escaped the brothels often returned just to survive. "
The founder was inspired to do something. So she did. She and her co-founders started the International Princess Project. Every Punjammie product is a ticket toward a bright future. A pathway to hope.
"Women who leave the brothels need occupational training and job opportunities to help them find dignity, self-worth and hope for a future outside of the red light districts. When women become a part of an International Princess Project sewing center, they take the first step toward supporting themselves in a dignified way.
PUNJAMMIES™, pajamas made from the beautiful Indian fabrics by women employed at sewing centers in India, are exported to the U.S and sold as a premium-brand of sleepwear. Proceeds from these sales go back to paying the ladies fair trade wages, money towards their living expenses, holistic support and restoration, funding towards their children’s schooling and operational support for the program. International Princess™ Project is committed to creating self-sustaining enterprises in India that provide opportunities for women formally enslaved in prostitution a place to heal from the past and find hope for the future."
I have to say that I LOVE this. It is hitting it for me--this desire to evoke change in the world. Yet it is also self-serving in that you get to buy a pretty incredible product! When I'm at home, I'm generally in my jammies so I love the idea of wearing a pair that supports such a great cause. And also giving such a gift! Both to the woman who made the product and the receiver of the Punjammie gift.
Just take a look.
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