When things look bleak and disheartening something always happens to lift your blues. I must admit that I have been again worrying about the future and needed a shot of optimism. I got two!

The first one was an email that I reproduce below as it speaks for itself:

I read these words on your blog today: ‘Sindutai’s story proves that you do not need to be rich and affluent to help others. What you need is the will to do so’.

Regardless of the world economic crisis, we can all help in small or large ways. If people are feeling the effects of cost-of-living rises in the west, we can only imagine how much worse it is in the world’s poor countries, so surely we all need to give more, not less.

Andy and I feel blessed every single day to have a comfortable life – we’re not rich, but like most people in the west, we have more than enough, so it´s really no hardship to give a little more. And what’s even better is that we’ve been able to substantially increase our donation to PWhy, without feeling the pinch at all.

Here’s how we made our savings:

Andy cycled to Spanish class six times instead of taking the car – 15 euros saved

I bought a new handbag, already reasonable at 12 euros, with a 50 per cent discount – 6 euros saved

On a 4 day holiday, instead of sharing a bottle of wine each evening, we had a glass each – 22 euros saved

We changed to a cheaper brand of laundry detergent and our clothes are just as clean – 3 euros saved

And our piece of luck – the petrol station undercharged a tank of fuel – 20 euros saved

Total: 66 euros, or 94 dollars.

If only all PWhy supporters started their own economy drive, think what a difference it would make to the Women Centre.

Amazing is it not. But that was not all. Some time later another email dropped by. This one from another friend and supporter and was entitled: “I am going to do a Marathon before I die”! Yes this incredible lady is going to run the Edinburgh Marathon and goes on to say : As an extra incentive and an acknowledgment of just being able to have a go at something physically and mentally challenging I want to raise money to be divided between two organisations. One of the organisation is project why!

These are two amazing women who are neither rich or affluent but who have a will to help others and are determined to do so. This is truly overwhelming and makes me ashamed of allowing myself to sink into despondency, even momentarily. As long as we have supporters like Irene and Bev we are blessed and safe.