“I thought ‘Yes, I can help with that.’”
“I am amazed how often we meet just the person we need, when we need them.” Priscilla
 
New Jersey resident Bruce Klein had planned to do more charitable work after retirement. He didn’t plan to do it 7,500 miles from home.
 
Klein and his wife, Ellen Walsh, had just completed Global Sojourns' award-winning Safari, Culture and Philanthropy trip in Southern Africa last June when owner Priscilla Plummer asked Bruce what he had done for a living. He said he was an electrical engineer, and had worked as a project manager for companies that design and build heavy industrial facilities.
 
“Really?!,”  Priscilla said, the wheels in her mind picking up speed.
 

"I can’t believe a film about menstruation won an Academy Award!"
   Rayka Zehtabchi, Co-Producer
With its rallying cry, “ A period should end a sentence, not an education,” t he 2019 Academy Award winning short subject documentary, Period. End of Sentence. is raising global awareness around the opportunity-giving power of providing menstrual pads to girls and women in communities around the world where poverty and menstrual taboos limit females’ access to education and employment.

Six years before the film was shot in India, GSGC-sponsored Project Luangwa began what would become Ufulu "Freedom" Pads – pretty, washable, reusable pads with a minimum 2-year use guarantee. In Mfuwe, Zambia, this program provides women employment and girls the ability to stay in school during their periods. Well done Project Luangwa!
 
 
Leading by example – GSGC-sponsored Aunties are killing it!
Just this month:

Auntie  Kalinda Zimba , Yosefe Club, earned a Masters of Clinical Neuropsychology . Reflecting on the many challenges she faced, Kalinda jokes, “What didn’t go wrong?!” Now she’s telling her girls, “More than ever I realize that it will never matter what people think of you, where they think you are going or how they think your life will turn out to be, if you profess good in your life and work towards it... you will achieve anything!”

Renowned visual artist and auntie, Agness Buya Yombwe, Wayi Wayi Club, has just published a new book featuring her beautiful and fascinating depictions of Zambian cultural taboos. The Zambian Sun, had this to say , “…titled “Ni Mzila It is Taboo” , the artist articulates commonly held social beliefs and customs, and advocates for openness and dialogue about these cultural shocks. This book complements her visual self-expression. I am pretty sure that the power of Zambian contemporary art and its ripples will be felt not only in Africa but the world over.”

Auntie Fwilane Banda, is in New York City, representing Project Luangwa and Zambia at the United Nation’s Women Engage For A Common Future ( WECF ) conference. An international network of over 150 women’s and civil society organizations implementing projects in 50 countries, WECF advocates locally and globally to bring women's priorities into policies and actions, including Fwilane’s focus issues, gender equality and menstrual health.

And just last week, all of our aunties and mentors, save two, gathered in the backyard of the Vic Falls Guesthouse (GSGC’s unofficial headquarters), with Priscilla and Smokey to talk, listen, encourage and inspire each other. This included both elders and the next generation of aunties and mentors we are training up. Diving into the heart of GSGC, discussion topics included, defining community and what it means to serve, what is working and what is not, making more of an impact, and desired outcomes. And as always, we ended by celebrating. 
We'd like to keep in touch with you about the vital work we do and opportunities to support us. You can be confident that your personal data never be shared with any third party.  If you would like to be removed from our mailing list, we always include an easy unsubscribe link at the bottom of every mailing we send, allowing you to opt out at any time.