Women's Empowerment Campaign
Women's Stories Of Hope, Resilience and Determination
Every day thousands of women and children across Australia escape domestic violence and seek refuge in shelters. They leave behind their homes and often their family pets.
When hearing about domestic violence people say “I want to make a difference, if there is something I can do I’ll do it.” There is a way you can make a difference and that is what I want to tell you about today. It’s called Big Girls On The Move crowdfunding campaign.
TURNING POINTS TO A BETTER LIFE
As a professional working in the area, I feel strongly about domestic violence.
Over the course of my working life it is a great joy for me to meet up with women who I first met 10 or 20 years ago who are now free from the violence that lead to them coming to our shelters. Their time at the shelter was a turning point to a better life. They benefited from the guidance of experienced shelter staff, the support of sympathetic strangers, and being connected to a network of sisters who could empathise with them. Most of all they took steps to reclaim their own identity, recover their self worth and take control of their future.
I was working in a shelter for homeless women and children when I came across the work of Dr Carl Jung, one of the founders of modern psychology and psychiatry. His revelations about the healing power of mandalas and their calming effect on the mind had a profound impact on me. I learnt everything I could about them and began to create mandala colouring pages for our personal development groups.
Creating mandalas that affirm self esteem, relaxation, healing and designing a new future became the centre piece of my work with women in crisis. They had an immediate impact on our groups. Their calming affect created a culture of creativity and self reflection, just like Jung had talked about!
After many years of designing empowerment tools for women I created the Big Girls Little Coloring Book.
It is published in a number of languages and distributed in Australia, US and across Europe. My mandalas are used in shelters and refuges to support women at their most vulnerable. There are a growing number of Big Girls Colouring Circles in several countries.
ENTERING THE FLOW
I continue to host Colouring and Conversation Circles for women both inside and outside of shelters. When they colour a mandala they experience a deep sense of calmness and what I think of as a medARTation, the peace that comes from being in the now and connecting with one's inner self.
Author and human capacities trainer, Dr Jean Houston describes the book as …
Carol Omer has accomplished the impossible — giving new ways of being for a relaxed, serene and blissful consciousness. The Big Girls Little Coloring Book is a marvelous, magical work that taps a wellspring of creativity such as few people have ever known.
Dr Jean Houston
I would love for you to join my Big Girls On The Move fundraising campaign to place 20 boxes of The Big Girls Little Coloring Books in 20 womens services. The services range from domestic violence shelters to community healing groups and they are already waiting to receive them!
Here's a link to an Information and Fundraising Pack that's really helpful to have a Colouring and Conversation Circle
The mandalas are really great for my post traumatic stress. I feel relaxed and at peace when I colour them.
N.B.
"I love the idea how to channel through the negative with the light of something possible. It is healing."
Alice
HOST A COLOURING AND CONVERSATION CIRCLE
Hosting a fundraising Colouring and Conversation Circle is a fabulous way to make sure the colouring books are put into the hands of women who need them most.
I have put together a pack that makes hosting a Big Girls On The Move fundraising circle a whole lot of fun!
Click here to be part of this fantastic Go Fund Me initiative that really makes a difference.
Hosting a fundraising Colouring and Conversation Circle is a fabulous way to make sure the colouring books are put into the hands of women who need them most.
I have put together a pack that makes hosting a Big Girls On The Move fundraising circle a whole lot of fun!
Click here to be part of this fantastic Go Fund Me initiative that really makes a difference.
Ode to the Rescuer
Replacing limiting thought patterns with liberating ones is often a “break through” moment on the road to the life you dream of.
"Ode to a Rescuer" recounts the self realisation of one woman on her road to recovery.
"Ode to a Rescuer" recounts the self realisation of one woman on her road to recovery.
CAMPAIGN UPDATE
Services registered to receive books: 10
Books delivered: 144