March 8, the International Day of Women´s Rights. This is an important mark in the calender and to us this day is our most important focus - EVERY DAY. Women make up over half the population of the world but are marginalized in numerous ways. Despite progress in recent years, girls and women continue to suffer severe disadvantage and exclusion in education systems throughout their lives. 60% of those living in extreme poverty in the world are women and South and West Asia has the widest gender gap in its out-of-school population.
Not only is this an injustice, it’s unsustainable.
Since the day Cornelia Sun was born our mission has been to empower and support girls and women who live under circumstances where human rights not apply. We started our journey in the Northern part of India, in two small villages called Hathi Tiba and Banjara Basti. Those villages are located about 7 hours from New Dehli and in this area young girls and women live under very unprivileged conditions. These people are not allowed into public schools because they were born into the lowest cast. They are known as "the untouchables" and other people do not want them to interact. These women were born into a low cast community of poverty and are treated with little respect and acceptance by others members of society as well as public authorities. They are deprived of basic human rights and have never been able to go to school in their younger years.
These girls are outcasts, not only because of their class but also their gender.
Over and over again, we see that when women succeed, communities succeed. We can´t just sit here knowing this is happening and then do nothing about to change it into the better! Me and my sister got enough. We decided to raise our voices for these young girls and we decided to dress up for our global sisterhood. Women´s rights are human rights - let´s make this real.
By wearing Cornelia Sun you do not only colorize the world of your own, you are also painting a brighter future for your global sisters in India. Each sold garment contributes to support a non-profit organization (NPO) called AVI which aims to develop the empowerment of the women in a small village in the Northern part of India (Rajasthan). We´ve been visiting the project ourselves and during this month we learned how something that you may think is small actually can be the greatest gift of all. The project supported by Cornelia Sun gives the village's women the opportunity to learn how to write and count, along with the opportunity to develop their own creative skills by providing with material for sewing and jewelry making. Each purchase from Cornelia Sun contributes to strengthen these incredible women and enables them to take control of their own lives.
This is a picture from Banjara Basti and some of the beautiful girls that Cornelia Sun are supporting. From left- Lachha, Indira, Pooja, Aarti and Sapna. Most of them attend AVI's school almost everyday. Together we can empower their situation and give them a choice of living.
We all know that amazing things happen when women support each other. And it doesn´t have to be that hard. Let´s transform the world through inner work and inspired action. Today is the international day of women´s rights but let´s reflect upon what this means to us more than once a year. Women´s rights are human rights and for this to become reality we need to find a way to look out for each other. A way to restore the global sisterhood that once was.
The feminine is rising in the name of compassion, love, and healing for all people - and your presence is requested! So go out there now and dress up for the worldwide sisterhood we're aiming to restore. We know you have the power to change the world with style ♀
