Sponsor Support: Green Private Wealth Counsel

We’ve been so lucky to have the support of a dedicated local business since Gems & Java was started more than eight years ago. Green Private Wealth Counsel has stuck with us since the beginning!

Paul Green of Green Private Wealth Counsel, a longtime sponsor of Gems & Java and our very first Presenting Sponsor.

That’s a pretty incredible feat in today’s environment, when most companies are inundated with requests for sponsorship, donations, and other financial contributions.

Paul Green has a close connection to our work - Hearts for Ethiopia’s founder Shelley Green is his sister! - but Green Private Wealth is also dedicated to supporting a variety of good causes in the community.

This year, the company took on a new role, becoming our first ever Presenting Sponsor of Gems & Java.

“Paul Green has been a very generous sponsor right from our very first Gems & Java and he has faithfully continued his support,” Shelley said.

“Thank you Paul for believing in the work our volunteers are doing, for seeing the need of children and women living in abject poverty in Ethiopia, and for choosing to respond with generosity!”

Paul told us that he has continued to support our projects through sponsorship at Gems & Java for three main reasons.

He’s confident in the way our organization is run, he sees how our base of support continues to grow, and perhaps most importantly, he recognizes the “immense passion” of our volunteers.

Though Green Private Wealth contributes to all kinds of initiatives, Paul has a particular soft spot for efforts that will benefit underprivileged children.

He once told us: “Kids need love. They need people in their lives.”

With Gems & Java continuing to grow every year - the 2019 event raised $121,000, the first time we’ve surpassed the $100,000 milestone! - Paul said he’s happy the firm can play a small part in our success.

“Hearts for Ethiopia is well run and managed with extremely low overhead. The organization is truly committed to making a big difference,” he said.

We were so pleased to welcome David Harris, another member of the Green Private Wealth team, to our Friday night event to bring greetings from our presenting sponsor. Thank you David for taking the time to come speak to our guests!

The role that sponsors like Green Private Wealth Counsel play is absolutely invaluable. Their financial contributions cover the expenses we incur putting on a top-notch fundraiser like Gems & Java, which means the dollars you donate go exactly where you want them - to support the projects and programs in Ethiopia that help women and children seize the power of potential.

Thank you Paul, David, and the entire Green Private Wealth team for your loyalty, generosity, and continued decision to help make life better for strangers halfway across the world.

Surgical Success Stories - Faltase, Aster, Mesegebe, Amate (#269 to & #272)

Faltase is a sixty-year-old widow. She has had seven children and five are still alive. She’s suffered from her prolapse for one year and was so happy after her surgery to be prolapse free!

Aster is 70. She has had six children and four of them are still alive. Amazingly, she’s only had her prolapse for one year but in that short time it had gotten very bad. She had a very successful surgery and is now recovering very well.

Mesegebe is a widow who has sadly lost all of her children. Some of them died later in life which is how she has grandchildren that she now lives with. She is about 60 years old and has given birth to six children and has suffered from her prolapse for ten years. Despite all of these difficulties Dr. Nate says that she really has a great attitude and a sweet spirit. It definitely comes through from her picture!

This lovely woman is Amate who is 45 years old. She has given birth to five children and four are still alive. She’s had her prolapse for 10 years and had a great outcome from her surgery. Thank you to our donors for making this happen!

Surgical Success Stories - 5 More Surgeries! (#264 & #268)

Tadelesh, who is 55 years old, has seven children and they are all still living. She is widowed and lives with two of her children. She had suffered with her prolapse for four years before coming to see the doctors. She is now on the road to recovery.

This woman is Adanesh who is 45 and had suffered from her prolapse for 15 years before going to Soddo Christian Hospital.. She has three children and is widowed.

Dr. Nate says: “One of our interns who is working with us for the summer originally saw her in one of the outlying clinics and then she saw her again in the operating room to observe her surgery. When Adanesh saw her again in the operating room she was SO excited to see a familiar face and was grinning from ear to ear as she received her spinal anesthesia. She was literally smiling every time I saw her in the hospital and went home Thursday a changed woman!”

Desalech is 50 years old and has three living children after giving birth to seven. She’s also widowed and has suffered from her prolapse for eight years. She went home a very happy woman.

Shagite is married and has gave birth to ten children, seven of whom are still alive. Although she had only had prolapse for one year she had a very severe case and had a successful surgery!

Meselech is 40 and has given birth to eight children, seven of whom are still alive. She is also married and, like Shagite, had only had prolapse for one year but her case was very advanced as well. Her surgery was the most challenging but by the grace of God it went well and she is recovering on the ward. Thank you for making such a difference in her life!

Surgical Success Story - Askale (#263)

Askale is a widow who has delivered six children, four of whom are living. She is very poor and has suffered from prolapse for more than seven years. She learned about our surgical sponsorship project from the women attending a Bible study that Allison (our WRAPS partner) was teaching in the countryside. She happened to mention that we were helping women with this condition free of charge. Askale is so grateful. She said she thought it would never be possible for her to have assistance with this condition. 

Thank you for helping her regain her dignity. 

Book Review: Half the Sky

Reviewed by Tracy Dunham

When the book you’re reading was co-authored by the first married couple to win a Pulitzer Prize, you know you’re probably in for a good read.  

Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn is equal parts heartbreak, information and inspiration. That’s what you get from a couple who has been all through Asia and Africa dedicating themselves to learning about the lives of real women in devastating, unthinkable, extremely complicated, unforgettable and often surprisingly hopeful circumstances.

This book uses the simple power of telling the stories of women and girls to explore the complex cultures that they live in and how so much of their lives have been about surviving. Those same stories are used to teach us about difficult socio-economic realities and the sheer fortitude of those who have found a way to thrive in spite of the hand they were dealt.

And while they’re at it, the authors teach us about what the world is like outside of our North American norms and how we can use our privilege to affect real change in the lives of others. It’s fascinating how these chapters should be difficult to read but ended up keeping me up late at night invested in the lives of these ladies and how their stories would turn out.

Be warned, not every story has a happy ending, but every one tells the truth regardless of the triumphs or tragedies. There was a lot of respect shown in the way that Nicholas and Sheryl let each woman’s life speak for itself and also speak to the imperfect ways that governments, communities and families treat half the sky… women, who make up half of the people who live under our sky.

In the end the reader can’t help but feel empowered with all of the information that is shared and the unshakable knowledge that we’re not too far away to make a difference. It’s researched, moving, accessible and practical. I’d recommend that you put it on the top of your reading list.

Find it at:

• Your Local Library

• Amazon – Softcover, Audio and Ebook

• Indigo - Hardcover, Softcover 

Also check out the Half the Sky Documentary on DVD. I borrowed it from my local library. You can also find it on Amazon.

Surgical Success Stories - Ayelech & Ayalech (#261 & #262)

Ayelech has suffered from a prolapse uterus for eight years. She had surgery at another hospital for the same problem six years ago. Her prolapse was very significant but has now undergone successful surgery at Soddo Christian Hospital. She has delivered three children and one of them is still living. When the doctors were speaking to her husband about her medical challenges he responded, “I just want her to be healthy.” So thankful that she has the opportunity now!

Ayalech is a widow who has suffered from prolapse for ten years. She has delivered six children but only three are still alive. She is so grateful for your assistance in helping to give her life back. Her surgery went very well!

Surgical Success Stories - Four More Surgeries! (#257 to & #260)

Abebech has had prolapse for the past year. She has had five children and four are still alive. Her husband has five other wives (polygamy is fairly common in the rural areas of Ethiopia) and she lives with one of her children. Thank you for helping Abebech!

Tadelech has had prolapse for four years. She has six children who are all still living. She is so very happy to be free of her prolapse!

Loire is a mother of six children, four of whom are still living. She has had prolapse for three years and is now prolapse free thanks to our donors.

Buruchke has had nine children and seven are still living. She’s had prolapse for four years and is now healing and recovering from her life-changing surgery.

Surgical Success Stories - Bodhe & Kukure (#255 & #256)

Bodhe is 55 years old, is married and has had ten children but only two have survived. She’s suffered from her prolapse for the past year and is now prolapse free!

Kukure is also 55 years old and married. She has had seven children and they are all still alive.  She has had prolapse for seven years and is now free from her prolapse as well. Dr. Nate struggled to get a good photo of Kukure since she’s been in some discomfort since her surgery so, as you can imagine, she didn’t really feel like smiling much on the outside. But inside, she is definitely smiling!

Surgical Success Stories - Six More Surgeries! (#249 to & #254)

Gestane is 40 years old and had five children, three of whom are still alive.  She has had prolapse for one year and was so pleased to have her surgery!

Amarech is 45 years old and has had seven children, all of whom are still alive. She’s suffered from her prolapse for one year and is now prolapse free!

Desalech is 45 years old. She has two children and has had prolapse for one year. Thank you so much for helping her.

Abebech is 60 years old and has had prolapse for approximately one year after having had seven children, three of whom are still alive. She originally didn’t want to smile for the picture but then she started cracking herself up. We’re so happy for her!

This spunky lady is Ayane who is also 60 years old. Amazingly she has had 12 children and unfortunately only four of them are still alive. She has had extremely severe prolapse for six years and there were some challenges with her surgery but the doctors expect and hope for a full recovery.

Talgore had to wait three weeks for her surgery due to some medical issues but she couldn’t wait to return and have her surgery done! She is 60 years old and has had six children but only one has survived and she lives with that son.

Surgical Success Stories - Amarech & Atate (#247 & #248)

Amarech is 50 years old. She’s widowed and has had prolapse for five years. She had three children and all of them are still alive. She lives with her youngest daughter and is so happy to be free of her prolapse!

Atate, who states that she’s 60 years old, but the doctors think that she’s probably in her 70s. She needed some medical issues cleared up before her surgery but after those were addressed the team at Soddo Christian Hospital addressed all of her needs. She is widowed and had five children, four of whom are still alive, and she has several grandchildren.