Dave Hansow, co-founder of Life Gives Heat, displays hand made merchandise from Uganda

What is the power of two people?
How could two out of six billion people on this planet possibly hope to make a difference? The answer is hope. Hope gives people strength to make a difference. It’s what gives people the courage to risk everything to help make the world a better place.
In Dec. 2005, Dave Hansow and his wife Morgan had begun the process to adopt a child from Uganda, a country in central Africa. There are orphans all over the world. So why Uganda?
“Part of it was we just saw the need,” Dave said. “A bunch of different circumstances lead us to Uganda.”
The couple tried to overcome obstacles with the adoption for a year and a half when one day Morgan suggested that they just move there. After thinking it over, Dave soon agreed. The Hansows quit their jobs, rented out their house, and with their two year-old son, moved to Uganda. Before they left, they started a non-profit organization called “Light Gives Heat” (LGH), without even knowing what they were going to do with it.
Dave’s mother, Teresa Hansow, became part of LGH.
“In Uganda, they came across women selling recycled beads on the road side,” Teresa said.
The Hansows would buy necklaces every week for about three times the original price in order to give the women some income to support their families.
“These women had six to 12 children each and were having to choose which child went to school,” she said.
Because of school fees, the families couldn’t afford to send all of their children to school. It was soon after first encountering these women selling beads that Dave and Morgan realized exactly what role LGH could play in order to aid Uganda. They decided that they could sell the necklaces in America as a steady source of income for these Ugandan women. They named this program “Suubi,” which means “hope.” Since then, they’ve added another program called EPOH, which is hope spelled backwards. EPOH is a group of men and women who make bags that are then bought and sold by LGH.
In Nov. 2009, LGH moved to Grand Junction from Montrose, which is where the Hansows are originally from, and business has started to boom.
“We’ve grown to a little over 100 women now,” Teresa said.
Teresa’s primary role is that of Fulfillment Coordinator. She is in charge of handling and processing all of the online orders for LGH. About 50 stores nationwide sell LGH merchandise. Merchandise is also available at some music festivals, so keep an eye out they’re around.
“We have a storefront now, so people can actually come in and pick out what they want,” Dave said.
Each purchase comes with a story of one of the 20 tailors involved with the EPOH program. Every necklace box also as an insert about one of the many Suubi women.
Now that LGH is an established non-profit organization providing steady income that supports almost 900 people in Uganda, the Hansows had to decide what to do next. How about a documentary? Last year Dave teamed up with a film crew and traveled to Uganda to start filming a documentary.
“These are film Producers from California and Florida who are doing it,” Teresa said.
The hope for the documentary is to enter it into some film festivals. There are several documentaries out there about people in Africa, but Dave wanted to tell the story of the Suubi women from a different angle.
“We would rather inspire people than make them feel sad,” he said. “It’s more about the realities of being a person than being an African.”
The documentary focuses on how joyful and hopeful the Suubi women are despite the hardships they’ve endured.
“That’s such a small portion of what makes them, them,” Dave said.

As production of the documentary grows closer to completion, LGH is hosting a preview party Friday where they will offer free food, music, door prizes, and clips of the film. The event starts at 7 p.m. and will be held at LGH’s store and warehouse location off 25 Road at 2507 Weslo Avenue. For more information about the Hansows, the Suubi women, or the film, visit www.lightgivesheat.org or call the store at 970-242-1958.

gmorgan@mesastate.edu