I am always inspired by those who, despite their fears
(imagined or real), are capable of defying the odds in a quest to make a
difference in the lives of others. I
have read that something as simple as sharing a smile can have a significant
impact on someone’s day. And yet, how
many times have I passed an opportunity to do so because I was too wrapped up
in my own misery (imagined or real)?
As you read today’s Wednesday’s Woman,
submitted by Anna Mahler (The Mommy Padawan), think about the little things you
can do to help someone in need, the little things you can do to propel yourself
out of your own muck. In the case of
today’s story, the simple act of placing a collection jar on the counter in her
place of business, a tea shop, evolved into saving a few young women in India from living as
victims of human trafficking.
Yes, sharing a smile is marathons away from helping
women who are potential victims of human trafficking. We have to start somewhere.
Thank you, Anna, for your continued support of and willingness to write for Wednesday’s Woman. I’m smiling at you. I hope you feel it.
Wednesday's Woman: Katrell Christie, The Learning Tea
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| Screencapture from The Learning Tea |
I have been personally touched by some many of the amazing
women I have found to write about for Wednesday's Woman as well as the ones
I've read about from others but I have to admit, there is a special place in my
heart for women helping women. Because of this, as soon as I read about Katrell
Christie, I knew I wanted to share her story.
Katrell is the owner of a coffee and tea shop in Atlanta,
Georgia called Dr. Bombay's Underwater Tea Party. In 2009, two years after opening her shop,
while visiting Darjeeling, India to look at tea plantations, Katrell met three
girls from a local orphanage.
She learned the girls would be forced to leave the orphanage
within a year (when they turned 16) and without parents or other family to
help, living on the streets or becoming victim to sex trafficking were real,
possible futures for them.
“I made a bunch of promises,” Christie says. She told them she’d come back in six months and help. Then she had to figure out a way to make it happen. “I didn’t know what to do.”
-Source: The Christian Science Monitor
She simply started with a jar on her counter, asking for
donations as well as re-directing funds from her used book sales to help the
young women she had met. Six months later, Katrell had enough money to return
to India, secure an apartment for the girls, enroll them in college prep high
school and supply school uniforms.
After returning home from her trip, Katrell started selling
packets of tea from Darjeeling at her store with 100% of the proceeds going to
support the girls as well as other female orphans in the same situation. She
named her project, The Learning Tea
During trips back to India every six months, Katrell
continued to offer shelter and the opportunity to attend school to more young
women who would soon be leaving the orphanage as well. Her work and reach has
continued to grow and she now provides a free-standing building with
dormitory-style bedrooms and a house mother for the girls full time.
She believes vocational training helps only one
generation, she says. A college education allows a woman to pursue a career
and, in turn, provide higher education her own children.
“It is the only way I see that you can stop the vicious cycle of intensive poverty in India,” Christie says.
-Source: Christian Science Monitor
For a young women, with no close family, to know someone
cares about them is a gift in itself but to then provide a safe home and
education is beautiful and generous as well.
And it started with a jar on her counter.
You can learn more about the amazing work Christie is
doing at The Learning Tea as well as her tea store, Dr Bombay's.
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