The fish didn't really fly of course, but enthusiastic meetings and greetings kept guests flitting happily from one group to another. Colleagues and old friends of Chaya, brand new board members and people turning new acquaintances into friends on the spot drank up the warmth of the event. That was all part of Chaya's ongoing commitment to the pleasure of building community while doing good and valuable work on behalf of South Asian women who are abused by intimate partners or at risk in some way.

Chaya does satisfying work, but it emerges from lives that are often filled with fear, danger and grief. It is sometimes hard to realize what women endure in intimate relationships, and we are grateful to a woman who for privacy and safety goes by the name of Hema for allowing one of Chaya's advocates to read part of her story, written especially for this event. The difficulty of hearing Hema's story of pain was vastly relieved by the way it evolved.

Her story began with an arranged marriage in Bangladesh, then life with a brutal, violent husband and his mean-spirited family in an isolated area of the United States, where Hema was forced to be a workhorse on the family farm and humiliated by the daily presence of her husband's “girlfriend” and child. Hema tried to be obedient and compliant, yet also developed the courage to enroll in school.

Ultimately, afraid for her life, she called police. That led to a stay in a shelter, and then a move to Seattle for a safer venue. She arrived without a passport or papers, since her husband had taken them all. At Chaya an advocate helped her prepare documents for her immigration case and referred her to a lawyer who specializes in helping immigrant abused women. The advocate also gave Hema information about a scholarship that enabled her to take important steps toward creating a better life.

“Now,” Hema says, “I am very happy. I have my driver's license and have completed my GED. I have enrolled in a certificate program so I can get a better job. My life is safe now. I look forward to the future. I didn't know that there was someone here to help me, like Chaya. I am so proud of Chaya and the work that they do.”

The tears that some of us wiped away were mostly tears of joy, that a Chaya advocate enabled Hema to find the help she needed to create a new life -- and that we all are a part of that ongoing work. We are grateful to “Hema” for giving us a glimpse of what goes on at Chaya every day.

The generosity of our participants at the brunch/auction brought in $26,501. That money will help Chaya contribute to better lives of more South Asian women. It couldn't have happened without that recipe we mentioned in the opening paragraph: the marvelous mix of restaurant, chef, auction donations, enthusiastic auctioneers, volunteers working behind the scenes, a hundred plus people having a grand time -- and Hema helping us understand our work in a more intimate way.

One participant was heard to say, her eyes filled with surprise, “I really don't like to be in big groups, but this was great. I had such a good time!”

That sentiment was evident everywhere we looked. We'll be doing it again.