Hope Is Coming

Whenever the posts on this blog are spread out...you must know something is going on!  We have a lot of somethings going on with Sole Hope right now.  We have been swamped with shoe cutting parties (contact us through www.solehope.com if you want more info) and planning our trip to Zambia and Uganda...yep, you read that right, we are now going to Uganda in March also!!!  We have a three day trip that will be filled with speaking and teaching coming up for myself and Beth Gaffney (a board member) at the end of February and between now and then I must teach several more people here in the US how to make shoes, get our industrial sewing machine fixed, make lesson plans for the Elevate School of Life and Art classes on shoe making I will be teaching and....I'll save the rest for some other time.  :)  Oh!  And notice our new Sole Hope "button" on the right!  You can now share Sole Hope with your blog readers...just copy and paste the code below the button!  We have lots of supplies to buy for our trip to Africa in March.  Topping the list is thread, needles and money for fabric we will buy in country.  If you feel led to donate to any of those items we would be SO thankful!

Every now and then I go back and read the old Sole Hope blog.  There has been so much growth in Sole Hope this past year.  One previous post that reminded me of things I hoped I'd never forget was the following:

The story of his feet: The little boy whose feet are pictured above have walked many miles.  He heard of the white people who had come to a village near his.  Today he is hoping we have brought something to pass out.  Maybe clothes, food or…a pair of shoes.  You see, he walked six miles each way to get to us…through trash, over rocks, through thorn bushes and crumbled cement.  This child patiently stood next to me, watching intently my every move.  His brow was furrowed for the first little while and his face sullen.  We could not speak to one another-he did not know my language and I did not know his.  I bent down to take a picture of his feet and he slowly looked away.  He approached me after some time had passed and asked in very broken English with a whisper in his voice, “Madam, may I have a pair of shoes?”  My heart broke.  I wished he knew why I was there, because I was working on getting them ALL a pair of shoes.  I tried to explain to him that when I came back I’d have a pair of shoes but for the moment I had nothing, except a hug and a smile and a song.  I bent down and looked in his big brown eyes.  I spoke some words in English to bring him hope.  He did not understand, so I sang him a song.  He slowly lifted his head and gave me a smile...and soon I'll return and give him a pair of shoes.  My heart is burdened until I can bring him and the others like him shoes.  

We cannot bring them the supplies to make shoes until we financially have enough money to buy those supplies.

Did you know that with that handy little button to the right labeled “Donate” you can make a quick donation to our shoe project?  You can make a one time donation or a reoccurring donation.  Once you do that, this is your project too.  I know everyone can’t take off time from their families, work and daily commitments, and we understand that.  So, to make things a little easier than flying to Africa with us we want to humbly ask for a donation for these sweet little children that need shoes on their feet SO badly! Will you give, even a small amount today?

-Asher Collie

Beautiful Walls

Tonight we graced the walls of Healing Sensations in Asheville, NC with our Africa art.  Owner and "master soother" (that's my name for her, she practices all sorts of healing therapy that will leave you feeling like you've entered heaven and come home again) and counselor Laura Haas with Red Thread Counseling were so welcoming and excited to get my art on their walls.  I would highly recommend these ladies services if you live in or around Asheville!  Stop by and take a look at our art.

Stone  Ridge  Business Park

at 201 Stone Ridge Blvd

Asheville, NC 28804 

Laura and Donna...two sweet ladies with a heart for Africa.  Laura was even born in Ethiopia, Africa!!

A Kids Thoughts on the Sole Hope shoe

The Good In Everything

It is a constant outlook on life of mine to try to find the good in everything.  Sometimes this is hard, other times it is obvious but at no time, if I've really looked, is the potential for good not there.  Sole Hope is very close to my heart.  It is a journey that started personally but it can't stay that way.  I want Sole Hope to touch lives in Asheville, Africa and other places in impoverished and forgotten communities around the world.  I had the privilege of being asked to do a short interview on the local news this past week which aired yesterday.  Emails flooded our inbox after it aired from people asking how they could get involved and if they could get jobs making shoes with Sole Hope!  This is what Asheville needs and this is what Africa needs.  We will start here and work forward with hopes that God will do immeasurably more than we've ever asked or dreamed.

I don't know how many of you have followed our blog since the beginning, but if you have you'll know that there have been road blocks and hurdles we have had to jump and sometimes crawl over.  It is kind of interesting for me to watch and see who jumps on the bandwagon, how long they stay, and what their reactions are when we feel like all the walls are falling in.  

One of the biggest blessings this year has been the board of directors that has come together to support, encourage and move Sole Hope forward in 2011.  Since I have not had the pleasure of doing this yet, I want to introduce you to them!  I won't go into long explanations of each person, because that could take all day since there is so much to each person I could tell you about...maybe later.  But for now I will at least put a name with a face.  While I was posting these below I was just thinking about all the wonderful things I could say about each person.  Each one has a different set of skills, life and work experience and brings a unique angle to Sole Hope.

Hilary Sias-Board Chair

Patrick Scully- Vice Chair

Alyssa Scully- Committee Chair

Andrew Eremic'- Treasurer

Holly Jones- Board Member

Beth Gaffney- Board Member

 Kyle Jones- Board Member and his wife Lorraine Jones- Committee Member

And last but not least, Pam Lee who is a board member...and for the life of me could not find a picture of her!  She stays undercover.  :)  

And then myself, Asher Collie, Executive Board Chair...you know what I look like. (if you don't, it's OK, you're really not missing anything. ;))

We are still in need of a secretary if that is something you feel called to do and you live in the Asheville area.  You can email us at solehopeafrica@gmail.com for more info.

Thank you to those of you who stand by Sole Hope and continue to spread the word about us!  You can find us on Facebook or Twitter.  Keep coming back to this blog because I have many update for the coming months.  Our trip to Africa in March, (with myself, Holly and Patrick-above-) a shoe class and seminar in Raleigh, NC at the end of February, Elevate classes on shoe making (for those of you wanting to get a job making shoes with Sole Hope...or just want to learn how to make shoes), a vamp cutting party (sounds Halloween-y doesn't it?-it's not!), our book will be coming out soon and sooo much more.  

New Shoes

New shoes.  Have you ever wondered how often a child in a third-world country has heard those two words?  For most of them, never.  I love that Sole Hope gets the opportunity to give hundreds of children the opportunity to have a pair of new shoes.  These shoes are not like Nike, Crocs, Stride Rite or some other brand you might find in your local chain store.  These shoes are 100% hand made and sewn with lots and lots of LOVE!  These shoes are very comfortable, ready for lots of running and playing in the dirt.  The wonderful thing about these shoes is that once one child outgrows their shoe, if the upper is worn out one of the Sole Hope shoe makers can simply take the upper off, sew a new one and reattach it to the sole!  The beautiful thing about this process is it saves money, resources and time!

The Sole Hope shoes seem to always be evolving and becoming better and that is so exciting!  We've made some adjustments you can't really see, but make the shoe so much more comfortable and wearable!

There are a couple more cosmetic changes I would like to make in the near future, but I have word from a picky five year old that these shoes are SUPER comfortable!!!

It's About Time!

We finally posted a button so you can now make secure monthly donations online.  We've taken the work out of it...all you have to do is decide how much you want to donate per month.  The donation amounts range from $10-$100.  Click on the "subscribe" button on the right side of this blog.  Your donation makes a HUGE difference in the life of a child!

And, just to let you know, you can also make a donation at the L.O.F.T downtown Asheville and Starbucks in western North Carolina and Greenville, SC until the end of December.

Merry Christmas from the Sole Hope team!!

Season Update

First, my sincerest apologies to those who frequent our blog and this past month have been left with little to no posts!  'Tis the season and even though I've slowed down considerably this year from other years, the Christmas season mixed with keeping Sole Hope productive proves to equal one combination-busy!

On December 5th we had our first art show.  It was an amazingly fun time with meeting new friends, greeting old ones and talking about the beautiful children that will benefit from Sole Hope.  Art pieces were sold to raise money for Sole Hope and several people also went home with hand silk screened prints by James Gaffney and Sole Hope t-shirts!  We had live music and yummy food donated by local restaurants and Sole Hope supporters.

December Trip Update
Because of financial details the Sole Hope team will not be going to Zambia in December but will instead go in March.  Our team was sad at first but had to quickly remember that we are not doing this in our timing, but in God's-and he has the perfect time for us to be there!  Going in March will hopefully provide for additional board members to go and will also give us more time to prepare for the business side of things.  Some of the Wiphan board members will still be traveling in December so we are happy we can send them with some questions they can get answered for Sole Hope.  It is hard to communicate with those on the other side of the world who do not have Internet, so this will be a welcomed benefit of going after the Wiphan December trip!

In other news, Sole Hope has donation cards that are printed and ready to send out!  This card is designed to send to someone you make a donation on behalf of.  How does it work?

1. You make a donation of $20 or more in someones name for Christmas, birthday or any other occasion.

2. We send them a card saying a donation has been given in their name to Sole Hope.  It talks about what Sole Hope is and shows a picture of the feet you will be helping put shoes on!

That simple!  So how do you order? Click on the donation button on the side of this blog and make sure you type "DONATION CARDS" in the notes section!  I will then contact you to get details.

I hope all of you are having a wonderful Christmas season!
Until next time~