A few words
About Us
meaning of the name 'found'
We need to be found and acknowledged in who we truly are. After painful events we often experience shame and guilt, which makes us want to hide. Whether we are truly lost, or we feel emotionally lost, ‘Found’ offers momentum and an opportunity through the transformative program to be 'found' emotionally and spiritually, so women can come out of hiding and develop themselves in their God given potential and be an inspiration for their communities.
Hannie van der Weerd
founder
Hannie worked for years as a social worker with an NGO in the Red-Light district of Amsterdam with women in prostitution and victims of human trafficking. Their goal was to help these women to dream (again). The past years she worked as a case-manager and empowerment-trainer with vulnerable undocumented refugees. She has done a Christian Ministry School with a strong focus on leadership, she has a degree in Social Work and is specialized in Post-Traumatic Stress.
Her dream is to empower women to understand that they are not defined by their circumstances but by who God made them to be. The moment they have deep understanding about their God given dignity they become an inspiration for their community!
History
The story started in 2019.
In 2019 Hannie was compelled to go to the DRC to investigate the issues of women due to all the conflicts and vulnerabilities in the Eastern part of the DRC. She started to imagining about designing programs to empower women in crisis who experienced trauma, to equip them to their identity in Christ, in order to discover their dignity and awaken their talents.
In 2020 she did her first pilot program with 50 women in collaboration with a local NGO. The outcome of the 3-day program was above what expected. On the last day of the program, women came back with countless stories of forgiveness and reconciliation. Their stories were severe and the testimonies were extraordinary. They expressed that they had an opportunity to be healed from their trauma and now the cycle of trauma could stop in their generation. They expressed the need for the program and they begged for more.
In 2021 she did the first official program and a follow-up day for the women who attended the first program. Now the testimonies had grown. They have started to share some content with others and shared stories of families, marriages, and relationships that were restored. Businesses had grown because there was an understanding of their value in Christ. Now some women could pay for example school fees for kids.
In 2022 the program expanded to 200 women in different conflicting areas. Stories got even more severe, yet again by the end of the program testimonies were almost unbelievable.
A follow-up program was introduced and 20 small group leaders were trained to lead small groups of women who attended to program. The small groups created trust among women who all had been through similar issues but now had tools to raise above their circumstances. Some small groups started businesses together and others started new small groups to help other women through their issues. Many women expressed that they now wanted to help others in a similar way’