Emerge Blog

Valentine's Weekend: MIT's Vagina Monologues to Benefit Emerge Global


For those of you based in Boston, we hope you’ll attend MIT’s The Vagina Monologues, being performed on Friday, February 12, Saturday, February 13 and Sunday February 14. This year, all ticket sales directly benefit Emerge Global! This is a great way to support the girls of Emerge while enjoying an evening out. Ticket sales and details can be found at: http://vagina.mit.edu/show.html


Based on V-Day founder Eve Ensler's Obie award winning play, The Vagina Monologues explores and celebrates women's sexuality -- its delights, pains, actualities, and vulnerabilities. Through intriguing testimonies from real women all around the world, the show has developed into a wonderful phenomenon that peers into women's fantasies and fears. Please see the V-Day Website at www.vday.org for more information about the international campaign.

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Join the Emerge Global Team: Volunteer Opportunities

Emerge Global is currently recruiting highly motivated, creative, and passionate individuals to fill positions on our international team! As a young organization, this is a great opportunity to shape our evolving work.

If interested in a position described below, please send your cover letter and resume to: opportunities@emergeglobal.org by Friday, February 19th at 9pm EST.


Operations Director
Communications Director
Financial Officer
Sales and Administrative Officer
Sponsorship Coordinator
Strategic Partnerships Officer
Design Officer


Interested in going to Sri Lanka this summer?
We are excited to also be offering several volunteer positions with Emerge Lanka Foundation from June through August 2010. If interested in a position described below, please send a cover letter, resume, and volunteer application form to: opportunities@emergeglobal.org by Friday, March 12th at 9pm EST.


You can download a copy of our volunteer application form here:
Emerge%20Volunteer%20Application%20Form.doc

Summer volunteer opportunities:
Program Reintegration Volunteer
Fundraising Volunteer
Design and Sales Volunteer


You can download a PDF of all volunteer positions available here:
2010%20Emerge%20Global%20Positions.pdf Read more »

 

Emerge Sale in Michigan!

There will be an Emerge sale this Sunday, January 31st, after each service at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Lansing in East Lansing, Michigan. The Unitarian Church, with its emphasis on social justice and equality, is excited to hold an Emerge sale to help the girls in Sri Lanka. The Emerge sale will be run by Ann Sojka, who has participated and volunteered in various Emerge functions since 2008. She is currently an Urban Planning Junior at Michigan State University, and after she graduates she plans to pursue a career in Transportation Planning. Her activities include the Women's Glee Club, NSCS and the Honors College.

Ann heard about Emerge from her sister Ellen (aka me), who has been very involved in the non-profit over the last several years. Ann was touched by the stories of the girls from Sri Lanka, and decided to do something to help. She has participated in Emerge events, assisting her sister in selling jewelry, taking photographs, and spreading the word.

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Kulturasia DBA Bead Express Donates $3500 of Beads to Emerge Global

I always look forward to coming home for the holidays- not only because I get to see my friends and family, but because I get to visit some long-time Emerge Global supporters who run a bead company here in Asheville, NC. Kulturasia DBA Bead Express isn’t your traditional bead store- it’s are a store on wheels, peddling its beautiful jewels across the country. Will and Hae, who run the company, live in my hometown and their basement stores their incredible inventory. Having loved beads since I was seven years old, seeing the shelves and shelves of sparkling beads makes me feel like a kid in a candy store. I wish I could bring the girls to see the way they manage their inventory!

For the third year in a row, Kulturasia DBA Bead Express helped us sustain our Bead Program by making an extremely generous in-kind contribution to our work. In fact, they were so generous that I’ve been carrying more than 200 pounds of shiny and colorful beads (that’s right — 200+ pounds) in the back of my mom’s car for the past two weeks, waiting to ship them off to Sri Lanka. These beads, bundled in five large boxes, take up the entire back seat! (Thanks mom, for your patience).

I spent much of today cataloging and sorting the donated beads, dividing them into spring and fall colors for 2010 and separating out the new styles that the girls haven’t worked with before (they are going to LOVE having some of the new material to work with). We have some beautiful new types of beads so get ready for some new products coming this spring! Stay posted for some blog updates on new product design soon.

In the meantime, a big thank you to Hae and Will Saxon for supporting Emerge Global through their bead business for their third year in a row!

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A Year in Review: 9 Images from 2009

We know the following images are a little small, so feel free to download your very own pdf of our Year in Review document here: http://emergeglobal.org/files/Emerge_9_Images_from_2009.pdf

"We’d like to dedicate this year’s work to the first class of 18 girls we worked with, more than four years ago. Without them, Emerge would never have existed. Their input, participation, growth and struggles have informed us and inspired us to make Emerge what it is and what we hope it one day will be--a grassroots organization that supports young women around the world.

In 2009, we..."


"Built our foundation: Emerge Global became a non-profit in the US and Emerge Lanka Foundation was registered as a charitable organization in Sri Lanka""Developed our curriculum: We finished the first draft of our Bead Program booklet, with particular emphasis on business planning. We also launched our life skills series."

"Expanded our Program: In addition to working at Ma"Sevana, with the help of a past participant, we now also work at a center run by the Sri Lankan government."



"Increased our sales: We sold #34,500 of jewelry, started our Emerge Agent program, and bolstered our online store (nearly tripling our fourth quarter online sales)."

"Created a community of university supporters: In the United States, we launched our first five student chapters."


"Partnered with a US designer: We worked with Gorjana to create a lotus charm necklace that symbolizes the strength of our participants and benefits Emerge Global."


"Developed our brand: Every necklace now has a signature lotus bead. We also redesigned our tags and introduced color seasons into our jewelry line."

"Participated in four weddings: Former participants' work was commissioned in several of our supporters' special days."


"...and, most important of all, we celebrated the beauty, strength, and goals of 98 amazing girls."

"Photos courtesy of Clare Bayley, Gorjana, Aaron Schmidt and the Emerge Team"

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Happy Holidays from the Emerge Team

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You + Emerge Global = Empowered Girls in Sri Lanka

Dearest Emerge Family,

As 2009 comes to a close, all of Emerge Global would like to thank you for your support. Your generosity has given us the opportunity to reach nearly 100 girls this year who have survived abuse, helping them to celebrate their own sense of beauty and self-worth, save for their futures, develop their financial literacy, and begin to generate ideas for their own businesses. If you have not already, we hope you will support our goal of expanding our Program to more girls in 2010 by contributing to Emerge Global this holiday season.

It's incredible how far we've come in the last year. This year alone we've worked with 98 girls, sold more than $34,000 of jewelry, packaged our curriculum, launched a life skills speaker series, partnered with the Sri Lankan government to bring our program to 25 new girls, and expanded our team in the United States through our Emerge Agent and Emerge Chapter programs. In 2008, girls made as much as $660 in savings. This year, program participants have generated as much as $1,800, which will support them, and in some cases their children, as they start their adult life outside of the center in which they currently live. Your support made this possible,but there's still much to do to sustain, improve, and expand our Program.

We have a successful sales model but are in need of more jewelry supplies to use in our new partnership. We have a list of life skills speakers but need funding to pay for this expansion of our programming. We have a basic apartment that serves dually as an office and a living space for our three dedicated volunteers on the ground in Sri Lanka, but we need funding to cover their basic living expenses. And, while the government is eager for us to expand to more of their homes, we don't have the financial resources to reach them (yet!).

Getting involved is easy. All gifts are tax-deductible and will be counted towards the 2009 tax year if made before January 1, 2010.Gifts of every size make an impact:

  • $25 can provide a girl leaving our program with her own set of toolsandsupplies to continue making jewelry
  • $100 can cover the cost of holding two life skills workshops with Bead Program participants on CPR, infant first aid, and other valuableskills
  • $250 can sponsor a girl for the year,providing the approximate cost ofrunning the program for one participant, as well as a birthday andholiday gift
  • $800 can cover Emerge's personnel administrative costs mandated by theSri Lankan government for an entire year
You can donate online or by check. Checks should be made payable to "Emerge Global" andmailed to:

Emerge Global
515 Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02215

If you are interested in sponsoring a girl, please return our sponsorship packet, which can be downloaded here.

As an integral part of our story, we ask that you take part in buildinga safe, nurturing, and inspirational reality for the girls with whom we work. Every donation makes an impact. For those of you who have already contributed, we cannot thank you enough. Together, the Emerge story will continue to evolve.

Wishing you all the happiest of holidays! Read more »