Oh, Baby!

Well, it’s been embarrassingly long since we’ve updated Spero:Voice!  Apologies!  But, it’s been a busy few weeks for us.  We’ve seen great strides in employment of many men and women who are now able to sleep a little easier at night.  We’ve held the first ever Ethnic Cooking Class, and I just can’t tell you how proud we are of Manzura and her teaching ability!  And, we’ve celebrated the coming arrival of a new member of the Burmese community with a Baby Shower for Mai Wai and her little girl due in March.  Special, special thanks to the wonderful ladies of First Baptist Oklahoma City for making that day as special as it was. 

But, that’s not all the excitement!  We’ve added so much to the Learning Center schedule, and are eagerly anticipating adding more.  We’re now offering homework assistance to school-aged children every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday and have begun a Women’s-Only Conversational English Program on Monday evenings.  Last night, we welcomed Fatima to the class who is by far the most shy women I’ve ever met!  We’ve seen her around many times and would love to talk to her, but she’s not too quick to speak.  So, it was a great joy to have her feel comfortable enough to join us and made me very sure that blocking out some time for women only was the best move for our schedule.  I know there will be more women who will attend only because they will not be learning with men.  

So, you can see that the break from blogging was well worth it!  Check back soon for more updates and for pictures from all the events I’ve just mentioned!

What A Night!

We are more than blown away at the support we received at Wide Open Corners!  And, we know the women who prepared art for this event were excited, too.  Talking to them after the event was such a blessing, as they began to see the support they had, feel the empowerment they were bestowed, and dream for the future.  We can’t thank everyone enough for coming, for purchasing, and for making a statement with your presence. 

Special thanks to those who chose to sponsor a woman with a microloan!  We received sponsorships for 7 women to begin their own small business.  That’s a lot of lives impacted in one night!!