Women's Day Giveaway

Photo Credit

March 8 is International Women's Day, a holiday many Americans know nothing about but one that is widely celebrated in other countries -- including China. We thought we'd kick off our celebration with a giveaway of a beautiful scarf made by a like-minded organization in the Houston area called The Community Cloth.

The Community Cloth is a microenterprise empowering refugee women in Houston. It targets economic, educational, and social goals through the provision of seed grants, training, peer support, and market opportunities for refugee artisans.

Around the world people are forced to flee their homes due to war, political violence, exclusion, and competition for scarce resources in troubled states. Those who have sought refuge in another country are refugees. Houston is one of the busiest resettlement cities in the US, and the thousands of refugees welcomed to the city each year face a number of barriers, including limited English proficiency, unemployment, physical and mental health needs, and more.

This scarf was made by a Karenni refugee woman. The Karenni are one of several ethnic minorities indigenous to Burma (Myanmar) who have been facing systematic persecution by the military junta for decades. The army has a long record of human rights abuses, including imprisoning, torturing and killing minority group members. More than 400,000 Burmese refugees have fled to camps in Thailand and have languished there for 15 years or more.

The Community Cloth is about a new start. Your support helps refugee women provide for the basic needs of their families as they work to establish new lives in Houston.

The scarf is yellow and brown with teal and red accents. It is woven, and relatively light weight; perfect for accenting your wardrobe in any season!

How do you enter the giveaway?

You get one entry for each of the following things you do:
1 - Comment on this post.
2 - Become a follower of or subscribe to this blog.
3 - Follow us on Twitter.
4 - Become a Facebook fan of Scarlet Threads.
5 - Become a Facebook fan of The Community Cloth.
6 – Add the Scarlet Threads button to your blog.

And, you get TWO entries for anything on the following list that you do:
7 - Post about this giveaway on your blog.
8 - Twitter about the giveaway.
9 - Post about the giveaway on Facebook.

Giveaway closes on Friday, March 12 at midnight CST. Winner will be posted on Saturday, March 13.