Ethical Midtown Shoppers Aid Rwandan Women
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The Ana Tzarev Gallery on 57th Street in Midtown recently held an Evening of Ethical Shopping to help in the celebration of International Women's Month.
Francine LeFrak organized the evening and founded the organization Same Sky.
"I believe very strongly in International Women's Day but in America we don't make noise about it. We have to give voice to the voiceless women," said LeFrak. "They've lived through the most unspeakable things and the women that work for me at Same Sky have survived the genocide, are HIV positive but their lives have been transformed."
"She has women in Rwanda making these absolutely fabulous bracelets, giving them a job, giving them money, changing their lives, changing the lives of their village," said Veronica Kelly, wife of the New York City police commissioner. "It's just absolutely astounding."
"In Rwanda, 53 percent of the people in Parliament are women...let me tell you, 53 percent of my body is not women," said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. "There's a lot we can learn from the rest of the world, and that's another message we should take away from International Women's Day. But people should go on line and shop, shop, shop!"
Rwanda's ambassador to the United Nations, Eugene-Richard Gasana, said the organization has a great benefit for his own country.
"It's just a love story for humanity. Look at this, every bead [of this bracelet] has a story to tell, a story of hope, story of love, story of new perspective, story of health, story of life," says Gasana.
Kelly Rutherford, everyone's favorite mother on "Gossip Girl," is the ambassador for Hands Up Not Handouts.
"It's a wonderful organization created to help women all over the world use their traditional crafts to to help build their economy, to help build a steady flow of income for them to help support their families," says Rutherford.
"It just means so much to find a way to empower women who are at the root of the family structure to feel independent, to feel more worthy, more worthwhile," says Lynn Whitfield of the Same Sky Host Committee.
To support the organization and help the women in Rwanda, visitsamesky.com and buy one of the beautiful bracelets during International Women's Month.