Having spent the past week or so in Bangladesh with The Hunger Project, I’ve been humbled by the commitment and dedication shown by the amazing women I was fortunate enough to meet.

While we were there, we held the Unleashed Women Leaders Conference in Dhaka

Inspirational women

It happens once every 2 years… these rural village women save their own money for 2 years to get themselves to the conference and get kids and husbands and god knows what other stuff organized

They celebrate their wins: stopping childhood marriages, maternal health improvements, childhood malnutrition education, getting sanitation to their village… it’s AMAZING what they get done!

And we get to be the wind beneath their wings. The objective of the #Factor500 project is about training up another group of women leaders. Each leader transform her village and hence hundreds of lives!

They are completely unstoppable!

So, what’s stopping you?

And, you know, it really got me thinking… these women are living in the most basic of conditions, facing challenges every day that we can’t even begin to comprehend… yet they let NOTHING stand in their way of being in that room with us!

But yet, in the western world, so many of us are holding ourselves back from achieving stuff in our lives… with none of the disadvantages that the rural Bangladeshi women have to overcome.

We make excuses… we tell ourselves we’re not capable… we allow ourselves to believe that luck only happens to other people and there is a reason why things aren’t working for us the way it does for them.

Our world is full of material riches… we live in warm cosy homes and get to spend time with the people we love. There’s heat and running water… a roof over our heads… we have healthcare and food on the table.

We are so blessed yet we beat ourselves up over our perceived failings. We don’t recognise the power we hold inside ourselves… and we stop seeing the gifts we have been given.

These rural women in Bangladesh aren’t beating themselves up for what they don’t have. With the help of The Hunger Project, they are being empowered to make their difference to themselves and their communities… actively changing lives for the better… today, right now.

When you sit back and think about these women and the lives they live, and I mean REALLY think about it, it’s humbling. When was the last time you had to save up for TWO YEARS to attend a conference? We take these events for granted… usually attending several each year.

And when we’ve had a busy day, we go home to our warm house, run a warm bath and eat a good meal.

Can you help us make a difference?

Greg and I are committed to making a bigger difference to their lives and with your help, we’ve been able to make several large donations to The Hunger Project over the years. But having been there and seen the sacrifices these women are making, I know we need to do more to help.

So today I ask you, my fabulous community, please go and watch my video diary and see the amazing work for yourself and the incredible difference The Hunger Project is making with their work.

Then consider whether you can spare a few bucks to donate to the project so we can reach out to many more women… together.

And next time you feel yourself being mean to you… remember, you are an amazing person and you deserve the success you are working so hard for. You have a duty to share your message with the world. Not everyone is as fortunate in having the resources to make it happen though.