Nozomi, which means ‘hope’ in Japanese, is a social enterprise bringing sustainable income, community, dignity and hope to the women in Ishinomaki, Japan and the surrounding region by training women to craft unique jewelry products. One third of these women are single mothers and grandmothers; most of these women lost their livelihood, a family member and/or their home when the tsunami crashed their world in 2011.
Nozomi women are creating one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry featuring broken pieces of pottery left in the wake of the tsunami. Each of our product lines has been named by a Nozomi woman in honor of a loved one in her life. As broken shards are being transformed into beautiful treasures, so too lives are being filled with renewed dignity and hope.
With a God-directed vision and calling, the Nozomi Project is being lead and overseen by a team of missionaries who are part of Be One Tohoku Aid, serving in Ishinomaki since immediately following the tsunami. Part of this missionary team works under the leadership of Team Expansion, a non-profit Stateside mission-sending organization, through which we are able to accept donations in support of the Nozomi Project.
nozomiproject.com
Mending broken lives in tsunami-hit Japanese city by turning debris into jewellery (ST, 10 Jun 2014)
Beauty from broken things (CT, 26 Jul 2013)
