"Do not be discouraged when things do not go as you had planned, because what is not possible today will be possible tomorrow. But remember, Big Vision requires Big Dreams, Big Dreams require Big Actions, and Big Actions require Big Commitment."
Prosper Ndabishuriye, Ambassador for Peace from Burundi,
said to me one rainy day in November, 2006 in Seattle, Washington.

This tall man from Burundi ignited a fire within me. I heard a call within my heart to help the widows and women of this small, densely populated African country.

Burundi is wedged between Tanzania, The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda in East - Central Africa. There are three main tribes which make up the population: Hutu, 85%, Tutsi 14%, and Twa 1%. In 1993-1994 an ethnic war erupted in the area, beginning in Rwanda.

One half million people were brutally killed. Sixty percent of the homes, schools and hospitals were destroyed. There was no effective intervention on the part of the international community. This has led to over 300,000 people living in refugee camps. Serious displacements of people, mass famine, AIDS, and chronic poverty have left Burundi one of the poorest African countries in the world.

One evening while meeting with two women friends, I proposed the idea of starting a micro lending project for women in Burundi. Micro lending is a financial innovation which originated in developing countries where it successfully enabled extremely impoverished women and men to engage in self employment projects.

A format and structure was already in place through The Sound Essence Project, an NGO that I founded in early 2004. Our mission is "Sustaining Cultures, Changing Lives, creating an international network of resources and partnerships to achieve sustainable advances in promoting peace and eradicating extreme poverty and hunger worldwide, while striving to attain gender equality." We started a similar project in Mongolia in 2005.

I have found that when women come together something wonderful happens--we ignite passions and possibilities, hope rises and our determination quickens. That night three women from America dedicated themselves to raising money and following their hearts to meet and work with their Burundian sisters.

I had heard of the extreme poverty in the Carama Community. This is the village in which Prosper and his NGO staff are building homes for 800 families who lost everything in the ethnic wars. Words could not prepare us for the beauty and raw quality of this experience. After crossing a bridge made from branches and entering Carama Community, we were led to a mud brick church where the voices of women singing, filled the air. At that moment I knew my heart was my true guide.

While leading a workshop, I asked the group, "What do you need?" and "What are your problems?" through Etoinette, our translator, who is fluent in Kirundian, Swahili, French and English. This question brought a long pause and then many hands in the air, from people willing to help us understand the tremendous need.

The answers were food, clean water, water availability closer to the village, and capital to start a business. These women were not asking for clothes, shoes, medical care or education, but food and water. This propelled me to dedicate myself to serve in a capacity to collaborate with others to uplift this community from extreme poverty.

Real change can be small scale but still powerful. All it takes is an ability to see other possibilities and the willingness to help others see them. When women listen to each other's stories and share their own, growth happens and confidence grows.

A portion of the women in this community had received microcredit loans from The Sound Essence Project to start small businesses selling sugar, oil, bananas, and charcoal. Providing loans for women is a powerful means to create profound change in their lives. We emphasized the model of working together and helping each other.

Women who work together take courage from each other. They are not only motivated by the cause, but on a daily basis they keep the course because they do not want to let each other down. Microcredit loans is a grassroots women's empowerment movement that has the potential to build strong communities.

The following day we traveled 52 km outside of Bujumbura, Burundi's capital, to Ruhagarika, in Cibitoke Province. The countryside was beautiful, but along the road were pockets of rebel groups who pulled us over from time to time. The rebels are patrolling the road and will continue until seats in the Parliament are awarded to them.

Upon arriving in Ruhagarika, we were greeted with songs, 84 women and lots of babies! The children gathered around us. I noticed a little girl, around 5 years old, holding a small tin can with the top lid displaying bent edges. She held this, as one would a precious doll. These are the women of the future of Cibitoke. How can we help them?

That day in Cibitoke Province, it was apparent that we are all women and mothers, therefore natural nurturers of life and natural keepers of peace. This was a day to rediscover hope together. We spoke about trustworthiness, honesty, responsibility and kindness as values with which to support each other as women. The women receiving micocredit loans were paving the way for other women to receive micocredit loans in the future.

Women formed several circles, and a beading project was launched. Burundian women spent the afternoon making bracelets that will be sold in the United States, with revenues returning to Burundi. Women held each other’s babies and supported each other, feeling the strength in community that day in Cibitoke Province.

I had been communicating via email for months with a Congolese woman living in Rwanda whom I had met at the United Nations. She asked me if I could help a group of women who escaped the genocide in Rwanda and the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and ended up in Burundi.

Her quote is, "Inside the group of women we have widows and single women. Most of the children are orphans. They do not have work. They are struggling to find food. They have nowhere to live. Some of the women have turned to prostitution to feed their children."

These women numbered 20 and had left everything for an unknown land. They had formed an association for support and strength. They could see the possibility in farming and used their imaginations to dream about the land. They found the land and negotiated a price, yet did not have the capital. After receiving a group loan and buying tools and boots, these women are able to have hope for a new life.

A circle of women is nurturing and sustaining, and is a resource that becomes a spiritual wellspring. Divine love is a quality of grace to be given freely from your soul, released like a dove from a cage. On the day we started the farm, it felt like dozens of doves were released.

The following day we arrived at Kanyosha in Bujumbura, to meet 50 women from surrounding villages. Our hearts cracked open a little further. We had the feeling that humanity is at a juncture, a turning point.

We are all striving for peace and unity. We had entered a time to support one another, to affirm each other and step out. Any small act that can help another and provide a thread of hope is a way to connect us as sisters and brothers.

As the life stories poured out of these women on a hot humid day in Africa, I was struck by their dignity and strength. The ability to endure ethnic wars and to carry on with life in a courageous manner, took my breath away. One woman was on crutches as her leg was shot off in the war, yet she was making baskets to support her children. Another woman has 7 children and 10 orphans. Both widows are moving forward with their lives.

The last report received from Justine, our manager in Burundi, a widow and mother says "for the first time in years my children do not go to bed crying because they are hungry. I am able to feed them due to the microcredit loan, and my new business."

We are grateful for the effort and organization Prosper and his staff put forth to make our time heartfelt, full and meaningful. Prosper's effort building homes for the people is to be commended.

Our desire is to implement water systems that provide clean water and shorter distances for women to travel to fill their jerry cans for daily use. We will continue to raise funds to support the women of Burundi, to gather the women, uplift the community.

Let us travel on the thrust of each other towards collaborations. This time our efforts were minimal - a threshold. Let us open our hearts and minds and work together as women and men to actualize a vision of peace in the world by reducing economic disparity and eliminating violence. We must use our vision as Ambassadors for Peace and men and women of the world, for what is possible for us individually, as nations, and the planet.

Imagine if all women and men could develop to their full potential.

Imagine if the full power of women, men, and youth were harnessed for the good of the world.

Imagine a world where women actively participate in shaping the future of the countries.

Imagine if all women were given a fair chance.

Imagine a world where girls and boys, women and men, enjoyed equal opportunities.

Imagine a world that safeguards the human rights of all people.

Imagine a world prepared for tomorrow.

Susan Bradbury, Ambassador for Peace, has a Master's Degree in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, as well as Sound Therapy. She is the President and Visionary of The Sound Essence Project. She shares a clinic with her husband, Tim, Dr. of Chiropractic. Their daughter Chelsea, is entering Business School at the University of Washington this fall. Son, Ryan and daughter in law Meredith both work for The U.S. State Department.