Last November, I traveled to Minsk, Belarus, and experienced the graduation of our latest group of Advanced Leadership Training participants. Forty women from throughout Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, ranging in age from their late teens to early seventies, came from a variety of backgrounds. All had embarked on a two-year journey with Project Kesher to gain Jewish knowledge, leadership skills, advocacy training and enrich their own lives while they were taught to build a more just and civil society.
I am writing to tell you about one of the women I met and to ask for your support.
During an early morning meeting, participants were invited to offer testimonials about how their lives were impacted by the training. One of the last to stand up was Elena V., a soft-spoken woman in her early forties who was a single mother of two school-aged children. She described how she left her job because of the "bad behavior of her boss" and became deeply depressed. Her mother shared the apartment where she lived and took care of her children. Elena barely found the energy to get out of bed each morning.
An old friend visited and insisted they go together to a meeting of the Project Kesher women's group in Tula. Sitting in a room full of women who were engaged in social activism was mesmerizing, and Elena returned again and again. She eventually signed up for computer classes at Project Kesher's ORT Keshernet Center and was amazed when she was asked to represent her group as a recipient of Project Kesher's training.
"I had never thought of myself as a leader, but people were telling me I was," she told us. "Now my mother is proud and my children are proud. I am working full time and a volunteer in the Jewish community. I lead a community-wide program to end domestic violence and workplace discrimination. My life is completely different now."
While I often write about the enormous scope of the progress Project Kesher has made renewing Jewish life and building civil society since our founding in 1989, it is the individual stories that often remain untold. Elena's story is one of thousands of transformational experiences of the women whose lives are touched by Project Kesher. Your gift is making great change...one woman, one family, one community at a time. Please support Project Kesher generously. To make an online donation to Project Kesher, visit our online giving page by clicking here.
Wishing you a happy and healthy new year.
Warmest Regards,
Karyn
