This Friday and Saturday!

New Date for Open House!

Due to family illness, we need to push the Open House back a week. It will now be on the 28th of August from 9am-3pm. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Beautiful India

This year our theme is India on my Heart. A majority of our products here at Dignity Regained are made by women in India, and so many of the social issues we think about happen in India.

While there is so much heartbreak in India, there is also an abundance of beauty. Women wearing bold saris, beautiful children, amazing food, various colored spices being sold in open air markets, and bangles galore.



To celebrate India, our India on my Heart super soft T-Shirts are 50% off until August 31st or while supplies last.






*Click on any photo to see the source.

Call + Response Bako

This is my sister Tina.

I stole (!) this from Facebook and even though this admittedly isn't the best picture of Tina, I think it accurately shows her life right now.

Information, flashlight, fire starter, and coffee. Yep.

She too, has a growing passion for the fight against human trafficking. She is on staff with InterVarsity in Bakersfield California. She put together an event to watch Call + Response. (A rockumentary, how cool is that?) It will be this Thursday night 6PM and it's FREE, in the Multi-Purpose Room inside the Student Union at CSU Bakersfield.

If you aren't local to Bakersfield or the surrounding area, please pray for the event. For Tina and she organizes. As well as for the students to have open hearts and open minds and for a fire to be started in them.

Hagar International: Restoration

Our guest post today comes from Jane Tafel, the Executive Director at Hagar USA.

As Hagar works to truly restore life in all its fullness to women from devastating backgrounds, we don’t consider our work complete until each is living on her own and supporting herself and her children independently. That also means that all dependent children are enrolled in school, in order to have hope and vision for independent futures of their own. Only then can we expect to break the cycle of abuse and poverty, suffered by each woman we serve.

Women coming out of Hagar Cambodia programs are survivors, but their first steps into mainstream society are not easy ones. In most cases, women have no experience in formal work environments. They also lack characteristics of successful entrepreneurs. That’s why partner employers like STOPStart, in Cambodia, are so key to long-term economic empowerment. As a social enterprise, they strive to employ the otherwise unemployable, providing a nurturing work environment. When you buy recycled rice bag products and silk bags made by STOPStart through Dignity Regained, you help support the effort. You keep women from Hagar Cambodia employed. And, they, in turn, keep their children in school and everyone can expect a better future. A future without violence, impoverishment and the egregious human rights abuse of human trafficking.

Read Boupha and Chanyra's stories by clicking on their pictures above.

You can find products from Hagar in our shop! We carry bags like this recycled rice bag tote and messenger in many different colors. Sturdy and perfect for school or travel.

Thanks Jane for sharing a bit about Hagar!

Oasis India: India on my Heart

Making a difference

The story is told of a man who saw thousands of starfish littered on the beach. A little boy was picking up the starfish one by one and throwing them into the ocean. He asked the boy, "What are you doing?" The boy replied, "I'm throwing starfish back into the water. If I leave them here, they'll dry up and die" The man said, "But look how many there are. What you're doing can't possibly make a difference." As the boy picked up another starfish and threw it into the ocean, he said, "Well, it makes a difference to this one!"

Although statistics related to human trafficking are overwhelming, at Oasis, we strive to make a difference to individual lives we come in contact with, believing that every life is precious and priceless and that no one should be bought and sold.

Raina was twice divorced before she was 20 years old and was desperate to leave her hometown. Her neighbour, taking advantage of the situation, promised Raina a job in Mumbai but instead, sold her to the owner of a dance bar in one of Mumbai's large red light areas. She was forced to work there and serve customers. She soon became pregnant and was forced to have an abortion. Years later, Raina met an Oasis social worker and visited the Aruna drop-in centre where she was counseled and offered options of rehabilitation. She went to live at Oasis India’s home for rescued women and is now enrolled in a literacy programme and learning to put her past behind her.

Many women like Raina are helped through various initiatives offered by Oasis India. Believing that education and the right training opportunities are the keys to a brighter future, we strive to change abuse and despair and replace them with opportunity, hope and dignity, allowing people to reach their God-given potential.

For more information on the work of Oasis India, log on to http://www.oasisindia.org/ or sign up to receive news and updates at www.oasisindia.org/signup

Photo from OasisIndia.org

Thank you Divya from Oasis India for sharing your heart for women in India with us!

Visit Dignity Regained's India on my Heart page for more info.

Where'd You Get That?

I'm excited to bring you a guest post today from Jackie Lantry who runs Bliss Farm Antiques in Rehoboth, Massachusetts where nothing is factory made.



Whenever you plunk down your hard-earned cash you are making a statement. You are supporting something. You could be supporting a factory in a third world country or, you could be supporting a local business.

Why is this important? I’ll explain…

Do you remember when silk used to be expensive? It’s not expensive any more; in fact you can buy silk clothes at Wal-Mart. Do you know why silk has gone from expensive to inexpensive? Because it is no longer made in America-where factories have to pay decent wages, provide benefits and insure the safety of workers. Silk is now produced oversees, where manufacturers don’t have to worry about (or pay for) workers safety, benefits, or fair wages.

While in China I visited a silk factory. I watched as young women plunged their bare hands into a trench filled with boiling water. Grabbing the silkworm cocoons from the water, they untangled the strands and hung them to dry. Some of the ladies were too short to reach the sink so they balanced precariously on wet, slippery rocks to do their job. The stench of dead silk worms was nauseating. The young workers hands were red, swollen and cracked. They work longer hours and more consecutive days, while having fewer breaks and making far less money than American workers. Factory owners enjoy huge profits.

I also toured a cloisonné factory. Cloisonné used to be an artform. Craftspeople fashioning tiny bits of metal onto an ornament or vase or some other decorative object, in the shape of a design, maybe a flower or a insect. Enamel was then poured into the wire outline. After the object was fired, the enamel-now hardened-decorated the ornament.

In the factory I toured, 5 workers huddled around a table, one bare light bulb dangled above from on a wire on the ceiling. There was no ventilation. The workers had no face masks, no gloves, no protective gear of any kind. They spent their day soldering designs onto the ornaments and breathing in the toxic fumes.

At the time, we were in China adopting a daughter (we eventually adopted 4 kids from China.) When we opened our shop we thought about how easy it would be to sell things made in the Pacific rim-inventory is so cheap when it is made in a country that does not give workers fair wages, health insurance, safe working conditions and the like. But we were haunted by the thoughts of the people we saw, people who suffered so we could buy things inexpensively.
Our experience fueled our shop philosophy. When you buy at Bliss Farm Antiques you are supporting a local business…and fair-trade, sustainability, and gainful employment for artists and local workers.

We wish all things came with a tag that showed a picture of the person who made the product.



You can also find Bliss Farm Antiques here:

Etsy: etsy.com/shop/jacklynn4
Blog: blissfarmantiques.blogspot.com

Thanks Jackie!

See you at the sale tomorrow! 9a-noon at Eli's in Morton.

Jhoole: India on my Heart

Jhoole's ("Ju-Lay")founder Hannah Warren:

"The first time I went to India, it was to live in Varanasi, one of the oldest living cities in the world, situated on the banks of the Ganges River. Seduced by descriptions of the ancient city, I was in love with it before I even arrived. Varanasi is a place where faithful pilgrims go to die because of their belief that the sacred grounds, home to the Hindu god Siva, will relieve them of all their sins and grant them spontaneous enlightenment.

The city I envisioned ended up being drastically different from the reality I encountered upon arrival. I was viscerally overwhelmed by the garbage and cow dung lining the streets, the flies, as numerous as snowflakes, flitting through the air, the dilapidated buildings and blatant poverty. I also got sicker than I have ever been in my life and had this terrible feeling that I was going to die there, and that, ironically, it was not going lead to some romantic enlightenment, but only to a slow and painful death in a foreign country where I was utterly alone.

Varanasi did kill me. But, it also lead to my rebirth. In the end, India exceeded all of my expectations. There is a Hindi saying that lotuses only blossom in the mud. I fell utterly in love with India for what it is: a place of mutually enhancing extremes. I have learned to embrace India for its immense cultural wealth while also refusing to idealize it. With the growing disparity between the rich and the poor, the socio-economic issues perpetuated by caste and gender discrimination need to be faced head on.

While pursuing a photography project I accidentally stumbled upon a practical way that I could contribute to poverty alleviation. I was creating portraits of female weaver's lives and livelihoods by photographing them wearing saris that they had woven themselves. However,when I actually began to implement the project that I had thought out, I realized that it was virtually impossible, because none of the weavers could even afford to own the exquisite saris that they weave; instead,middlemen provide them with expensive raw materials that they transform into breathtaking saris in return for minimal wages. Instead of abandoning the project I gave the weavers funds to purchase their own materials in order to weave saris for themselves. This was the first time they were given the opportunity to take creative control of their products by personally choosing colors and designs. When they put on the very first saris they had ever designed for themselves, I was blown away: they looked so beautiful and proud.

After I was finished with the photography project I was haunted by my own images... they would not allow me to forget the talented women that I had met. I decided to try and help them further by creating Jhoole, a nonprofit that would facilitate them in gaining direct market access.Through Jhoole, these artisans have been empowered economically as well creatively. Traditionally, women in the Khargone region have very little access to technical knowledge about hand loom weaving. The technique for setting designs on looms is coveted by a male lineage of "master weavers"who charge large fees for their services. We have organized trainings with textile designers who teach the women all the technical aspects of their looms offering them creative as well as economic liberation from "master weavers". Through the social and economic opportunities generated by Jhoole, these women have been able to improve their lives, ultimately changing the future of their children and communities. Read more about our cooperative and how we are also helping individuals stuck at the bottom of the supply chain and living in conditions akin to modern to day slavery atwww.jhoole.org. "

(Above) Jhoole founder, Hannah Warren, with weavers:

Maya Verma, Deepa Kewat, Resham Kewat and Asha Kewat.

See products made by women at Jhoole offered by Dignity Regained.

Anticipation of Spring

It is blustering snow outside and I've got green grass and sunshine on my mind.

So I've been up late on the hunt for some great spring items from India for the shop. I found some real gems and I'm so excited to give our customers more opportunities to support women in India as well. This was one of my favorite finds of the night.

A floral ruffle skirt made out of authentic cheet fabric

worn by tribal women in rural Rajasthan.

I'll be posting these and more clothing to the store, but you can also come try them on at our sale on Feb 6th at Eli's!

I'm off to bed to do some more dreaming of spring!

Celebration Sale

At Eli's Coffee Shop

205 Jeffersom St. Morton IL

Next Shop Update: January 7th

Coming up on January 7th:

Beautiful scarves lovingly made from recycled silk sari's by women in India
Amazing market baskets
...and more

Check back with us January 7th. See you then!

- Tammy

Come Discuss With Us!

If you have read the post below, and thought and prayed about your involvement with Dignity Regained, please join us in discussing the creation of a Not For Profit Organization. If you would just like to share ideas, encourage others and pray with us...please do join us.

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