Over $21,000 in Savings Generated in 2009

Posted by Rachael Pool on Monday, March 08, 2010

We’ve finalized jewelry totals for 2009, and begun transferring funds into the girls’ bank accounts. I’ve got some exciting stats that I’d love to share with everyone today. In 2009 the Emerge girls made 2127 pieces of jewelry, generating $21,217.78 in savings for program participants! Our highest earner, RS, made nearly $1,900 USD.

To give you a little context: $120 is the average monthly salary of a Sri Lankan worker (Sri Lanka Department of Census and Statistics, Household Income and Expenditure Survey, 2006/2007). This means that, through her work with Emerge, RS has generated more in savings than the average yearly income of a working Sri Lankan.

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Former Emerge Participant APIL Helps Emerge Launch in a New Home!

Posted by Rachael Pool on Tuesday, November 24, 2009

“APIL* Miss!” a student calls for attention. I look over to see APIL beam a smile while confidently explaining a jewelry pattern to one of Emerge’s new students. In July 2007 APIL started as an Emerge program participant at Ma Sevena. In 2008 she left Ma Sevena; two weeks ago she began helping us work with a new generation of Emerge girls at the National Training and Counseling Centre in Panadura.

The National Training and Counseling Centre in Panadura is Emerge Global’s newest program site. The home is run by the Sri Lankan Probation Department (the same department that handles all of the court cases for the girls at Ma Sevena). This home is the department’s model home and they have expressed interest in using their work there to identify programs that could be successfully replicated in other homes in Sri Lanka. There are approximately twenty five girls in the Panadura home at any given time. Each girl stays for six to nine months of counseling and rehabilitation before being placed in another location. The girls are all survivors of abuse.

Every week, APIL takes the bus from Matara to Panadura- five hours each way- in order to help lead the Emerge workshops. Though she initially seemed nervous, she’s come to fill her new role with confidence and poise. She’s even planning to wear a sari to the next workshop, where she will speak to the girls about her experiences living in, and leaving, a group home. We couldn’t be happier to witness this former participant taking responsibility and leading the new girls to empowering and active participation in the Emerge Bead Program.

* I have used APIL's initials to protect her confidentiality.

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Looking Forward

Posted by Rachael Pool on Sunday, September 13, 2009

As of this May, I was only just beginning to learn about Emerge. Now, it’s September and I’m completely immersed in all things Emerge related.

The last two months have been absolutely frenetic. Emerge Lanka has become an official entity. We’ve identified and started to narrow down a list of potential expansion sites. One fantastic short term volunteer has come and gone while Jennifer, Prabhani, and I have arrived and taken over.

Meanwhile, I’ve begun to get to know and love the girls at the home. I’ve held babies, been teased about my terrible Tamil, and learned how to make a long necklace. My time in the home has been filled with dancing, laughter, practical jokes, lessons in Tamil/English/Sinhala, the occasional tears, and (more than anything else) a sense of pride in all that the girls have accomplished.

Each day is filled with new adventures and challenges. I’m so delighted to be here, in Colombo, working with all of our Emergenistas. I can’t wait to find out what the year holds in store for Emerge Lanka. I look forward to sharing my experiences here with you.

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