Why Sparkle?

How do you make something sparkle? One way, is to shine a light on it. Our hope is that by shining our individual “lights” on those in need, we will bring hope, compassion, and joy to them. THEY will sparkle because we were able to “shine” a bit… WE will be blessed by the opportunity to do so.
“Let your light shine before others so that they may see your good work and give glory to the Father….” Matthew 5:16

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

As another school year begins, and we start to prepare our families for the excitement of back-to-school, we thought it would be a great time to update you on some of the girls The Sparkle Project has helped this year.  It is so exciting when we get updates on the girls.  We have heard some incredible stories of resilience, determination, and gratitude from these beautiful ladies, and want to share them with you- after all, it is because of your generous support that these girls are able to go to school and have a brighter future!
We are lucky enough to partner with Eyes That See.  ETS is a fantastic organization that coordinates the sponsorship program in Ethiopia.  One of the greatest advantages of partnering with ETS, is that they have teams that travel to Ethiopia on a regular basis as well as staff in country that help to support the girls we sponsor.  We have received many updates from them and want to share with you some of the amazing things that are happening in the lives of our girls.
One of the most interesting pieces of information we receive about our girls is an "inventory" of sorts where the girls talk about their favorite things and take some time to ask us for prayer requests.  The information is written in their native language (Amharic) and translated to English.  It is so sweet to read their words (we did not edit their writing, so the translation can be a little off).  One thing that is very clear from their writing is that they are very grateful for sponsorship.  They are also very grateful for the opportunity to attend school!

Hiwot- Age 12
Didya- Age 16

Hiwot:
"When I grow up, I want to be a doctor." 
Favorite things:
game- hide and seek
food- peanut butter
school subject- grammar
pet-cat
color-yellow
"All I can say is thank you for your great job. Please pray that God to help me to grow up."
We were also lucky enough to get an update on Hiwot from an adoptive mom (Heidi) who traveled to Ethiopia this year.  During her trip, she posted a picture of a beautiful little girl named Hiwot (a popular name in Ethiopia).  She posted a picture of Hiwot and  wrote: Meet 12-year-old Hiwot. She is brilliant. She speaks perfect English and wants to be a scientist when she grows up. A girl after my own heart. Pray for her. And don't take your daughter's education for granted. Tell her about Hiwot. It turned out to be the Hiwot that we sponsor!  We were able to message Heidi while she was still in Ethiopia, and were able to send our love to Hiwot.  What a blessing to get an extra update about Hiwot.  She is an incredible girl and it will be so exciting to see the great things she does in the future!
Saron:
"When I grow up, I want to be an artist."
Favorite things:
game- volleyball
food- dorowot
school subject- biology
pet-dog
color- pink
"Thank you so much for everything you have done for me.  You are my families.  I love you!"
Saron is such a beautiful little girl.  We are so grateful that we have been able to partner with you to support her.  She will go on to the such amazing things! She also said, "I pray for your blessing and to fulfill your wishes by God."  So sweet!
Didya
"When I grow up, I want to be a doctor."
Favorite things:
game-chatting with friends
food-shiro and doro wat
school subject- natural science
pet-cat
color-red
"I just want to say thank you for your support.  May the mighty God pay you back."   Didya said, "Please pray that I can finish my school with a best grade and can help my family."
We received an email about Didya this week!  It was an incredible update and we are so excited to share it with you!!!! 
"When Didiya entered our program, she had average academic scores. However, she loves reading, and she has been working diligently and attending tutoring classes at 10cDabo. Just this year, she was a candidate to take a national examination. She took nine courses and received A's in all of them! Didiya said she feels like her "dreams are coming true." She and her mother are very excited, and they especially want to thank the people at Eyes That See.  We are going to post this story to our website later today, but I thought you might want to be the first to know. Thanks so much for your continued support of Eyes That See through the Sparkle Project!"
It is so exciting to hear the amazing things that are happening in the lives of the girls we are sponsoring.  It is through your support and purchases that these incredible girls have a brighter future!
We thank you so very much and look forward to another successful Sparkle Project fundraiser this fall/winter.  We intend to offer more awesome shirts, bags, and a few new items this year.  Please consider the Sparkle Project when you are starting to do your holiday shopping.  What an awesome gift idea- a gift to give that also gives back!  Through your purchases, you truly make a difference in the lives of girls in Ethiopia.
Thanks so much for your continued support and prayers!


 

Friday, December 13, 2013

Orders Are On The Way!



Thank you so much for your support of The Sparkle Project!
Orders are on the way - and we can't wait for you to see the photos of the sweet girls you are helping to sponsor through your purchase.
Many thanks and Merry Christmas!!!!


Monday, December 2, 2013

Thank You!!!



We wanted to THANK everyone who purchased something from our Sparkle Project fundraiser.  The order is at the printer now and it should arrive to us by December 9th.  We promise to package and ship the orders ASAP so that you can enjoy your shirts or totes and so that your gifts will be ready to give for Christmas.
Once again, thank you for your support!
Alyssa and Deena

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

THREE More Day To Order!!!


You have THREE more days to purchase Sparkle Project shirts and totes.  
We are so thankful to all of you who have already made your purchases...you are helping to improve the life of a girl in Ethiopia (and getting some super cute stuff along the way!).

Please head over to:
to order.


Thursday, November 7, 2013

Shop The Sparkle Project 2013...cute new designs!

CLICK HERE to visit our complete store...

One of the main goals of The Sparkle Project is to do what we can to support girls and women in Ethiopia.  We have partnered with a wonderful organization called  Eyes That See to sponsor girls in Ethiopia. We were fortunate enough to visit the site of ETS while we were in Ethiopia.  We have also met the founders of ETS in person, and know first-hand about the incredible work they are doing in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.   Eyes That See provides school tuition, uniforms, healthy meals, and emotional support for the children they serve.   It costs $25 a month to sponsor a girl in Ethiopia. 

Here is how you can make a positive change:  by purchasing a  Sparkle shirt or tote you can sponsor a child for a month!!!!  It's like spending $$$ to sponsor a child (a great gift in itself), and getting a cool shirt or tote along with your donation!

 Every time you purchase a shirt from The Sparkle Project, you receive your shirt, and a card containing a photo of the girl you are helping to sponsor We are so excited to offer you an opportunity to see the girl whose life YOU are supporting.  Please take time to think of and pray for the girl you are helping.  Each (adorably wrapped) gift package that you purchase will help support a girl in Ethiopia for a full month! Please consider making a difference in the life of a child...

With each shirt purchased, you receive:
Your shirt or tote
A card with the photo of the girl you are helping to sponsor for an entire month!
The satisfaction of knowing that you are making a difference in the life of a girl in Ethiopia!

We are doing a pre-sale for shirts.  The pre-order shirts will ship to you in December.

Everything will be shipped in beautiful packaging -explaining that "The purchase of this shirt helped to support a girl in Ethiopia for an entire month" - great for gift giving!!!! 

Sunday, November 3, 2013

New Designs Are Coming Soon!!

This is not the new design, but Grace wanted to let you know that she IS shining her light and helping others to sparkle!

Grace is super excited about the new apparel and tote bags that The Sparkle Project will begin selling soon!  Please check back for an updated selection of goodies that you can buy for yourself and your friends.  The items will make AWESOME Christmas gifts....remember, these are truly the gifts that keep giving, because through the purchase of Sparkle Project apparel, you are helping to send girls to school in Ethiopia!

More details to follow soon.  We are waiting to get our final mocks ups back from the designer/printer so that we can start taking orders!

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

A quick update on our sponsored girls

Hiwot and Saron - two of our sponsored girls

Just a little post to thank you  for your support of The Sparkle Project! We are thrilled to be able to give you a quick update and let you know that through your generosity and purchase of a t-shirt (or many shirts in some cases), you have truly impacted the life of a young girl in Ethiopia, Africa. We recently received word from our partner organization, Eyes That See, that the girls we are sponsoring this year are doing well and growing physically, educationally, and emotionally.

What an honor it is to be able to watch the progress of these amazing girls. If you would like specific information about the girl you helped to sponsor through our project, please feel free to email us. We want to protect the story of each girl, but would love to share some of their struggles with you if you are interested in praying for their specific needs. Most of the girls are living with very challenging situations (abuse, lack of food, etc.), yet we have learned that these girls value their education so much that they are working hard to overcome these challenges. In fact, One of our sponsored girls (Kalkidan) has been working so hard that she is currently "second in her class" (it is common for our Ethiopian partners to report class rank when describing the status of children...education is so important to them!).

We're so grateful for your help with our first Sparkle project fundraiser. We look forward to many more projects, and will keep you up to date on future opportunities in which you might want to participate. We are working on a facebook page as well, and will let you know when we are set to add "friends." Please let us know if you have projects you are working on that we can support and share with others. Our ongoing goal is to provide girls and women in the U.S. opportunities to do community service projects that will serve girls and women in other parts of the world as well as their own communities.

With many thanks,
Deena and Alyssa