A beautiful Encourager Party!

On October 10, we had our Encourager Party, where we brought together some of the most formidable voices in our community. We began with an introduction to the program for all our new members and first-time attendees at an Encourager Party, and then went into a fantastic fireside chat with the brilliant Leonida Odongo and the amazing Dan Kiprop Ruto. Leonida and Dan talked about their collaborative initiative, where they’re looking to spread knowledge, skills, and actionable guidance on agroecology as a way to both engage women at the grassroots and to protect the environment against rapid destruction. The both of them also talked about what it meant to receive encouragement.

Leonida talked about how World Pulse is a site for deep encouragement, an avenue of “Globalized Hope,” where communities are built across borders through cyberspace. She shared about Tam and Jill and the significance of their encouragement in her work and life. Daniel talked about the importance of his bonds with Eunice and William, and how he found a lot of joy working with Leonida in their collaborative work. We then had a short window where we got some live encouraging done - members logged onto World Pulse and commented on stories and welcomed new members. We finally went into breakout rooms where members got a chance to talk to each other about the stories they’d read and the journeys they’ve had on World Pulse.I sadly had a moment during the call: We had a massive explosion outside and a minor fire because of the transformer / electricity box facing an overload with inclement weather. That caused me to go offline for a bit and though I did manage to come back, the recording, unfortunately, was lost. But I want to take a minute to thank ALL of you for being so encouraging and kind and supportive through it all - it truly moved me to tears to see the encouragement happen live.