Feel Good Friday - Sugar Empowerment Society

We've spent the last two weeks in the San Francisco Bay Area learning about organizations that help kids get on stage and get outdoors. Well, the pendulum is on the move and we spend this Feel Good Friday with a young woman working to prevent honor killings and child marriages in Pakistan. Hey, when it swings, it swings.

Khalida Broni founded the Sughar Empowerment Society in her native Pakistan to give women wings. Sughar translates into "skilled and confident women" and reflects the mission of the organization.

As explained on their website, "Sughar is a non profit social enterprise organization based in Pakistan. Operating in the most tribal and rural areas of Pakistan, Sughar provides socio-economic opportunities and empowerment to women by giving them trainings, resources and opportunities to grow as as leaders within their communities."

The goal of the empowerment programs is simple. "At Sughar Women Program we aim to create a society where women are not killed for honor, but are honored and given equal status." Offerings include a program to help women mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change as well as a one to help them buy land and learn how to generate income from that land. The most popular program is 6 months long and trains women on basic education, life skills, traditional embroidery and enterprise development.

Recent initiatives include creating a hub that houses the 6 month training program with other local non-profits, a fund to raise money to help the programs continue AND a fashion line called Nomads which sells the clothing that the women make. Your purchases will directly support the Sughar Empowerment Society which, to date, has worked with over 900 women!

Want to learn more? You can listen to Khalida Broni's recent 14 minute TED Talk, like Sughar's Facebook page for photos and updates and follow them on Twitter @SugharWomen.

Feel Good Friday - The Street Store

It's Feel Good Friday and we're getting on the retail pop-up bandwagon!

You may have seen a temporary retail store or restaurant pop-up in your neighborhood only to be gone after a day or two. Well Kayli Levitan and Max Pazak have applied the same concept to create a pop-up clothing store for the homeless in Cape Town, South Africa called The Street Store.

They wanted to provide homeless people with a dignified way to find donated clothing. Clothes are displayed in an outdoor space and people can shop for what they want, not just take what they can get.

You can watch this 2 minute video to see the affects of the store or read a Daily Good article for some more in depth information.

As homelessness is not unique to Cape Town, Kayli and Max have created open source files with the signage and instructions so you can host a pop-up in your city. Keep this in mind as you delve into your closets for some spring cleaning.

After some recent press they've had 139 people take the pledge to create a pop-up so you may see a Street Store in your neighborhood.

Want to be the first to find out when their upcoming Tedx talk is available on line or otherwise stay in the loop? Visit and like their Facebook page or follow them on Twitter @TheStreetStore.