Courage Worldwide is pleased to announce the hiring of Clare Schumaker as our new Relations Manager. We had the unique opportunity of meeting Clare in Tanzania when she came to volunteer this past summer with a group of interns who accompanied our Program Advisor and Clinical Director, Dr. Benjamin Keyes. We are thrilled to welcome Clare to our team and know you will enjoy reading her reflections on her time at Courage House in Tanzania.
Courage has been defined in many different ways with countless examples, but each definition shares the fact that it requires one to face the unknown without the knowledge of the outcome but knowing the risk.
When I visited Courage House, I felt like it had taken a lot of courage to get to the point that I had in my life, my education, my personal strength. But when I met the young ladies at Courage House, I realized how much courage it takes for each of them to get up each morning and choose to believe that today will be a step towards a better future. How much courage it takes to be separated from what is familiar and make a new start with a new family and home. How much courage it takes each of them to hope in their future!
What I encountered in the faces of each of those young ladies was a hunger for something more. The hunger is probably different for each girl, and due to my poor understanding of Swahili, I couldn’t know each of their specific hungers, but it was palpable. Some of the girls wanted to be lawyers, doctors, and have their own business.
As I encountered each girl, what moved in my own heart was a fire and desire to fight for them as much as they are fighting for themselves. A fire to help them gain the healing that is necessary for them to achieve their hopes for their future and a desire to bring an awareness of how sex trafficking damages innocent lives.
Through their hunger, the girls at Courage House helped me put into perspective what it takes to have the courage to face the fear of both your past and future and to still hope. Courage is a choice and a perseverance to fight for what is right and true. To hope in a beautiful future takes tremendous courage. Looking at the faces of each of those girls, I was inspired to have to courage to hope again and I am so grateful that they reminded of this truth.
Clare Schumaker
Relationship and Fund Development Manager, Courage Worldwide
P.S. Have you restocked your Courage Coffee? We’ve just gotten a new shipment in from Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania and with your purchase, it is freshly roasted in Modesto, California at Clayton Tea & Coffee. If you haven’t tasted our Hope Blend, it’s a must-try. Not only are you drinking some of the best coffee in the world, you directly support our programs here at Courage Worldwide!