On a recent site visit my colleague Rissi and I set off to interact with the members of Association Delwende des Femmes. Being a Sunday morning 1 was anticipating a very quiet day. Riding through the enviable traffic less city of Ouagadougou, I was counting my blessings at such sheer luxury of riding through a city without traffic, enjoying the sceneries that confronted me and wondering at the dexterity of the women motor drivers dressed in their Sunday best and sometimes with their children all packed onto a generally small motor bike. It simply made me wonder what women are made of. How women can adopt and adapt to care for their children.
Finally we got to the offices of Association Delwende des Femmes and here were two wonderful women who had spared their Sunday morning to welcome us. Barely did our vehicle arrive when those words I had heard a thousand times was uttered again. “Bonjour cava” It hit me so hard the importance of being multilingual and my constant unachievable new year resolution to take French classes, I hope this will finally make me take that much needed step. As always I had to take cover behind the fluency and warmness of my colleague. “Beatrice ne comprend pas Francais” “Ah d’accord” they always responded then I smile broadly. After exchanging pleasantries and being briefed about the organisation our guests announced that it was time to visit the project site.
AWDF had awarded a grant of $7000 to Association Delwende des Femmes to purchase a corn mill and build a shed to house the corn mill. I was most unprepared for this trip to the country side on a serene dry Sunday morning but we were told it was just around the corner. I guess we all have different senses of time and distance. So one of the executives joined our vehicle while the second executive simply zoomed past us on her motor bicycle with such dexterity, confidence and power. So all was set for the journey to the community of Nagazougou.
The beginning of the journey was quite rosy still cruising on the streets of Ouagadougou then I was jolted into reality after our vehicle turned into a side road. One immediately wonders, did I just come from space! Our salon car crawled and meandered along a long winding path with gullies that could easily pass for ravines, but wait, the people of the community had conquered the road years ago. Motors easily zoomed past us, with their happy riders beckoning at us to catch them if we dare. It was too obvious that the riders (both men and women) were very familiar and used to the road network in that part of town. As our guest tried to chit chat all I could think of was how the women in the community could survive on that dry patchy land. I could barely see greeneries. Later when I enquired about their farms I was told “there”, the millet is buried in there I guess waiting for a speck of rain to sprout up.
As we approached we saw a beautiful house with the AWDF logo and colours very visibly tacked to it. Oh it was such a beautiful sight to behold. It made up for all the trouble of riding on such a road, the journey was worth every bit of it. Not only that the women in the community had come out of their different sections of the community to welcome us with pomp and pageantry. I could not help but display a few of my adept dancing steps, I was filled with so much emotion how seemingly little little things can make so much difference to people’s lives, how people who have never met from diverse cultures and languages could connect so easily all in line with helping humanity. In contrast to the dry patchy land were these happy go lucky women dancing and singing as if it was no man’s business. One could hear unrestrained merry making, feel genuine excitement and joy, and read absolute contentment, it was simply splendid.
A little insight into the community Nagazougou. The community appears to be a collection of house steads with a population of about a 1000 people, a very neat community. Houses are sparsely located some distance apart but distance can not break the resolve of these sisters. They had come together to improve their lot. I saw their traditional silos which serve as their grain banks it was simply marvelous, appropriate technology at its best. Bicycle and donkeys appear to be their main mode of transport and I will be right to say almost every community member had a bicycle at least. The community is a vast stretch of dry patchy land with very little shrubs and a few withered trees. After interacting with the welcoming party we entered the building housing the corn mill and here was a community sister busily operating the corn mill.
The story of the corn mill begins. The supplier of the corn mill had trained some selected women in the community on how to operate and maintain the corn mill and currently three community members - Sisters Adiza Ouedraogo, Korine Ouedraogo and Alimata Drago have been elected to manage the corn mill. Fees are charged for the use of the miller, accounts are properly kept and the proceeds used to buy fuel for operating the miller. It is envisaged that with time the community would be able to save enough from the proceeds of the mill to start a micro credit scheme. The women are also yearning to take literacy classes now that they have more leisure time.
The icing on the cake, my colleague and I were privileged to plant a commemorative tree each in front of the building housing the corn mill to be followed by a community durbar under the baobab tree, oh how one longs for such serenity and peace away from the hustle and bustle of modernity and sheer chaos. At the durbar the community narrates how the corn mill has been such a blessing. “Now women do not have to travel all the way to the capital Ouagadougou to grind their millet, women now have more time at their disposal to take care of their children and home” says Rasmata Compaore a widow and a mother of 5. This definitely goes to improve the quality of life in the home.
The story does not end we were seen off by the women of Nagazougou with singing and dancing and words of gratitude and blessing beckoning AWDF to visit again. All these make community/development work so fulfilling and worthwhile. To the women of the community of Nagazougou I say “bravo! keep up the fight because victory is just around the corner for the women of Africa”. I am just looking forward to that day when the commemorative trees will grow despite the challenges of the land, bear fruit and provide shade for the children of the community and house the nests of birds.
Beatrice Boakye-Yiadom
Acting Grants Manager
AWDF
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Pray the Devil Back to Hell
Last Saturday I attended the West African private screening of Pray the Devil Back to Hell, a documentary by Abigail Disney on the role that Liberian women played in bringing about peace to their war torn country. The documentary left me and many members of the audience stunned, inspired and deeply moved.
I was stunned by the violence captured on film...an image of a young boy (he could be no older than 10) saying proudly 'I killed three of the enemy yesterday'. Who did this young boy classify as the enemy? His fellow citzens of Liberia, members of his community, neighbours?
I was stunned by the systemic violence, rape and torture of women. A story was narrated of a woman who had been told to sing, dance and clap by marauding soldiers whilst her husband was told to lie on the floor and her daughter aged 12 told to spread her lappa on the floor. The soldiers told the woman to sing, dance and clap whilst her daughter was raped and her husband had his neck cut off with a knife.
I was stunned by the bravery of a small band of women who mobilised across religious lines and demonstrated for peace, who petitioned Charles Taylor and the rebels for peace, who travelled to Ghana where 'peace talks' were to be held and after 6 weeks of stalling held a lock in until a peace agreement was signed.
Indeed, I am still processing what I saw at Saturday's screening and many thoughts rush through my mind, one of which I posed during the question and answer session that followed the screening:
Post conflict, women seem to play a fundamental role in peace building,so in post-genocide Rwanda for example, 50% of parlimentarians are women and in Liberia Ellen Sirleaf-Johnson was elected as Africa's first female president. If women play a fundamental role in peace building how can we encourage more women to become politically active? I don't believe that women cannot be war mongerers but I wonder if the socialisation that women recieve makes it less likely for us to be advocates for war. What are your thoughts?
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications
I was stunned by the violence captured on film...an image of a young boy (he could be no older than 10) saying proudly 'I killed three of the enemy yesterday'. Who did this young boy classify as the enemy? His fellow citzens of Liberia, members of his community, neighbours?
I was stunned by the systemic violence, rape and torture of women. A story was narrated of a woman who had been told to sing, dance and clap by marauding soldiers whilst her husband was told to lie on the floor and her daughter aged 12 told to spread her lappa on the floor. The soldiers told the woman to sing, dance and clap whilst her daughter was raped and her husband had his neck cut off with a knife.
I was stunned by the bravery of a small band of women who mobilised across religious lines and demonstrated for peace, who petitioned Charles Taylor and the rebels for peace, who travelled to Ghana where 'peace talks' were to be held and after 6 weeks of stalling held a lock in until a peace agreement was signed.
Indeed, I am still processing what I saw at Saturday's screening and many thoughts rush through my mind, one of which I posed during the question and answer session that followed the screening:
Post conflict, women seem to play a fundamental role in peace building,so in post-genocide Rwanda for example, 50% of parlimentarians are women and in Liberia Ellen Sirleaf-Johnson was elected as Africa's first female president. If women play a fundamental role in peace building how can we encourage more women to become politically active? I don't believe that women cannot be war mongerers but I wonder if the socialisation that women recieve makes it less likely for us to be advocates for war. What are your thoughts?
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Why all this 'boku gramma’ (beaucoup grammar – highfalutin language)?
There we were in the middle of war scarred Freetown, Sierra Leone discussing women’s rights and HIV & AIDS in West Africa. The meeting convened by ActionAid International (AAI) and The African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF), brought together women living with HIV & AIDS and other activists from 7 countries in West Africa (Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroun, Sierra Leone, The Gambia and Ghana). These women work in their communities to provide support to women living with HIV & AIDS and to raise awareness of the virus. The majority of them work in local communities, far beyond most capital cities. Many were attending such a meeting for the first time. We had great fun with translation from Creole to English.
At the outset, we the convenors were nervous. At what level do we pitch the dialogue? Should we talk about this? How will they take it? How do we keep the participants safe from prying eyes in the media, the hotel and others – we were worried about confidentiality. We know that HIV & AIDS is highly stigmatised in many West African countries, more so if it is women who are infected. Freetown is also one of these small cities in which news travels at twice the speed of light, and of course a place in which everyone knows someone who knows someone who knows you – or at least that’s how it feels. How would we protect our participants particularly those from Sierra Leone from this unwanted intrusion into their privacy, whilst at the same time showcase the significance of their work? We were informed that such a meeting is a rare occurrence in Freetown and it would therefore generate much interest (both positive and negative). A long discussion took place on the eve of the workshop. We agreed on the usual confidentiality good practice measures: seek participants’ permission for photographs, quotes etc. In addition, a media ‘policing’ plan was carefully outlined and off we went to set it in motion.
Well, we needn’t have agonised quite so much. The women were adamant. They all without exception declared that they were ready to tell their story. If we are to change attitudes, we have to set examples. We have to be open. In fact, some asked for the opportunity to share with the press their personal stories. I was humbled and deeply moved. In face of all the hostility and fear, these women (many of them young), chose to speak out and to accept the consequences of this decision.
Throughout the meeting, the women shared their experiences, pain and triumphs with such generosity of spirit. I heard stories of rape and other forms of sexual abuse and degradation, domestic violence, of abandonment, and of mental abuse. I heard tears of anguish, sorrow and pain that comes from a deep sense of loss and bereavement. I saw women overburdened with the responsibilities of care for their families and communities. I saw women, tired, weary, seeking refuge.
And from these same women, I saw determination to live their lives with dignity - hence their insistence on sharing their stories and disclosing their HIV status – come what may. I witnessed the strongly held faith, rooted firmly in the knowledge that change will come, and that it is they who will make it happen. I saw them draw on the deep reserves of their power within; the inner strength that echoed wherever they went – There is no stopping us now – we are here and we are here to stay, their every move seemed to say. I saw them reach out to one another to give comfort, support; a shoulder to lean on – the sisterhood that cushions the blows of disappointment and adversity. I witnessed their deep sense of fun and mischief - they had some of the most scurrilous jokes and anecdotes! I marvelled at their willingness to listen, to live, let live and let be. These women, who have been stigmatised and ostracised; denied space and voice, wanted nothing other than to accept difference. Some were deeply religious, indeed were leaders in their respective religious institutions. But all readily embraced the notion that, every woman has a right to live, love and be as she chooses.
Feminists, we asked, Who here is a feminist? We all are! They shot back. Why all this ‘boku gramma’ (beaucoup grammar – highfalutin language)? If you are working to support women, you are a feminist. What’s the fuss? They wanted to know. Those who didn’t asked for an explanation and then said, This is ‘boku gramma’. This is what we do and who we are - feminists.
And their enthusiasm was infectious. The hotel staff also engaged. At first on the defensive: There is no such thing as HIV & AIDS in Sierra Leone; It is all a plot to stop us having more children! In our religion it is ‘Haram’(forbidden) to use a condom! How do you enjoy yourself, all wrapped up? All the standard responses of dismissal and denial. But with the patient, gentle but firm explanations from the participants, this changed. There was genuine interest and keenness to find out. Can you talk to my wife? I think my wife and I should go for family planning; You are right, we should be careful – this can happen to anyone. There was genuine admiration and respect for these women for daring to speak out. In the end the hotel staff were sorry to see them leave.
I will never forget these amazing women. They have given me so much. Sometimes one gets lost in the paper work (deeply soul destroying, but necessary) of what one does. And one wonders, What it is this all about? Aside from the late nights, aching fingers from repetitive stress with all the endless typing, weary minds and the endless backlog of paper work – real and virtual, which no matter how hard one tries, one never quite manages to catch up. Aside from this, one often wonders, Really what is it I am doing? The reminder came in the form of these really powerful sisters.
And for me, some other lessons and truths:
Often, in putting together programmes of this nature, we get locked into the business of thinking for our constituencies. And we do this in the name of protection – their personal safety, respect for their cultures, circumstance and so on - all very noble and necessary considerations. But there is an extremely thin line between protection and gate keeping. We cross that line when we think for, rather than think about our constituencies. When we too readily assert for example, statements like, We can’t discuss this, rural women cannot understand/will not accept this; This is not relevant to the lives of rural women; Young women don’t need to know this; These are deeply religious women, they will not understand this; and so on, we filter and censure information.
I wonder though, whose discomfort we are addressing. Is it our own? Do we conveniently hide behind our constituencies to mask our own fears and prejudices – we especially love to use rural women in this way. More often than not in my experience, the so called rural women have needed very little explanation of the issues many of us in the ‘women’s rights movement’ consider controversial. What is the fuss? Has often been the response, leaving us all dressed for a battle that does not materialise. The sisters in Free Town rejuvenated us with their readiness to accept and to dialogue. They asserted their right to do what they felt was right for them – and thank goodness, we too were open to listening.
We can’t bring change if we don’t cause a fuss; if we don’t ruffle some feathers. And make some people mad as hell. Of course it always best to bring them along with us as allies and what have you. So we must always work towards that end. But if it means giving up the essence of what we stand for, then it is perhaps best to act anyway?
So, sisters, we have to speak up and speak out. The results more often than not are oohhh so rewarding.
My thanks to all my sisters in Freetown for reminding me.
Sarah Mukasa
Director of Programmes
AWDF
At the outset, we the convenors were nervous. At what level do we pitch the dialogue? Should we talk about this? How will they take it? How do we keep the participants safe from prying eyes in the media, the hotel and others – we were worried about confidentiality. We know that HIV & AIDS is highly stigmatised in many West African countries, more so if it is women who are infected. Freetown is also one of these small cities in which news travels at twice the speed of light, and of course a place in which everyone knows someone who knows someone who knows you – or at least that’s how it feels. How would we protect our participants particularly those from Sierra Leone from this unwanted intrusion into their privacy, whilst at the same time showcase the significance of their work? We were informed that such a meeting is a rare occurrence in Freetown and it would therefore generate much interest (both positive and negative). A long discussion took place on the eve of the workshop. We agreed on the usual confidentiality good practice measures: seek participants’ permission for photographs, quotes etc. In addition, a media ‘policing’ plan was carefully outlined and off we went to set it in motion.
Well, we needn’t have agonised quite so much. The women were adamant. They all without exception declared that they were ready to tell their story. If we are to change attitudes, we have to set examples. We have to be open. In fact, some asked for the opportunity to share with the press their personal stories. I was humbled and deeply moved. In face of all the hostility and fear, these women (many of them young), chose to speak out and to accept the consequences of this decision.
Throughout the meeting, the women shared their experiences, pain and triumphs with such generosity of spirit. I heard stories of rape and other forms of sexual abuse and degradation, domestic violence, of abandonment, and of mental abuse. I heard tears of anguish, sorrow and pain that comes from a deep sense of loss and bereavement. I saw women overburdened with the responsibilities of care for their families and communities. I saw women, tired, weary, seeking refuge.
And from these same women, I saw determination to live their lives with dignity - hence their insistence on sharing their stories and disclosing their HIV status – come what may. I witnessed the strongly held faith, rooted firmly in the knowledge that change will come, and that it is they who will make it happen. I saw them draw on the deep reserves of their power within; the inner strength that echoed wherever they went – There is no stopping us now – we are here and we are here to stay, their every move seemed to say. I saw them reach out to one another to give comfort, support; a shoulder to lean on – the sisterhood that cushions the blows of disappointment and adversity. I witnessed their deep sense of fun and mischief - they had some of the most scurrilous jokes and anecdotes! I marvelled at their willingness to listen, to live, let live and let be. These women, who have been stigmatised and ostracised; denied space and voice, wanted nothing other than to accept difference. Some were deeply religious, indeed were leaders in their respective religious institutions. But all readily embraced the notion that, every woman has a right to live, love and be as she chooses.
Feminists, we asked, Who here is a feminist? We all are! They shot back. Why all this ‘boku gramma’ (beaucoup grammar – highfalutin language)? If you are working to support women, you are a feminist. What’s the fuss? They wanted to know. Those who didn’t asked for an explanation and then said, This is ‘boku gramma’. This is what we do and who we are - feminists.
And their enthusiasm was infectious. The hotel staff also engaged. At first on the defensive: There is no such thing as HIV & AIDS in Sierra Leone; It is all a plot to stop us having more children! In our religion it is ‘Haram’(forbidden) to use a condom! How do you enjoy yourself, all wrapped up? All the standard responses of dismissal and denial. But with the patient, gentle but firm explanations from the participants, this changed. There was genuine interest and keenness to find out. Can you talk to my wife? I think my wife and I should go for family planning; You are right, we should be careful – this can happen to anyone. There was genuine admiration and respect for these women for daring to speak out. In the end the hotel staff were sorry to see them leave.
I will never forget these amazing women. They have given me so much. Sometimes one gets lost in the paper work (deeply soul destroying, but necessary) of what one does. And one wonders, What it is this all about? Aside from the late nights, aching fingers from repetitive stress with all the endless typing, weary minds and the endless backlog of paper work – real and virtual, which no matter how hard one tries, one never quite manages to catch up. Aside from this, one often wonders, Really what is it I am doing? The reminder came in the form of these really powerful sisters.
And for me, some other lessons and truths:
Often, in putting together programmes of this nature, we get locked into the business of thinking for our constituencies. And we do this in the name of protection – their personal safety, respect for their cultures, circumstance and so on - all very noble and necessary considerations. But there is an extremely thin line between protection and gate keeping. We cross that line when we think for, rather than think about our constituencies. When we too readily assert for example, statements like, We can’t discuss this, rural women cannot understand/will not accept this; This is not relevant to the lives of rural women; Young women don’t need to know this; These are deeply religious women, they will not understand this; and so on, we filter and censure information.
I wonder though, whose discomfort we are addressing. Is it our own? Do we conveniently hide behind our constituencies to mask our own fears and prejudices – we especially love to use rural women in this way. More often than not in my experience, the so called rural women have needed very little explanation of the issues many of us in the ‘women’s rights movement’ consider controversial. What is the fuss? Has often been the response, leaving us all dressed for a battle that does not materialise. The sisters in Free Town rejuvenated us with their readiness to accept and to dialogue. They asserted their right to do what they felt was right for them – and thank goodness, we too were open to listening.
We can’t bring change if we don’t cause a fuss; if we don’t ruffle some feathers. And make some people mad as hell. Of course it always best to bring them along with us as allies and what have you. So we must always work towards that end. But if it means giving up the essence of what we stand for, then it is perhaps best to act anyway?
So, sisters, we have to speak up and speak out. The results more often than not are oohhh so rewarding.
My thanks to all my sisters in Freetown for reminding me.
Sarah Mukasa
Director of Programmes
AWDF
Monday, May 19, 2008
Up to 30% of Ghanaian women die from unsafe abortions
I was recently present at a talk given by Dr Jehu Appiah on the subject of unsafe abortions in Ghana and learnt to my horror that as much as 22-30% of all deaths of Ghanaian women are attributable to unsafe abortions.
These shocking statistics were recorded by the Korle Bu and Okomfo Anokye teaching hospital in Ghana and to my mind emphasises the importance of focusing on the reproductive health of African women, one of the core thematic areas that AWDF works in.
Some of the causes cited by Dr Jehu Appiah as the cause of this high abortion rates included religious conservatism, a lack of knowledge about the liberality of Ghana's abortion law and some traditional practices. An anecdote cited included a traditional practice in some parts of Ghana where a chief can point to a female and choose her to be his wife. Some of these elderly chiefs die leaving behind young 'wives' who will then have to get rid of any subsequent pregnancies that cannot be attributed to the chief.
In a country where only 19-21% of the population access family planning services much more work needs to be done to improve the health and reproductive rights of women. As Dr Jehu-Appiah reminded his audience failing to deal with the issue of unsafe abortions will prevent Ghana from achieving the Millenium Development Goals.
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications
These shocking statistics were recorded by the Korle Bu and Okomfo Anokye teaching hospital in Ghana and to my mind emphasises the importance of focusing on the reproductive health of African women, one of the core thematic areas that AWDF works in.
Some of the causes cited by Dr Jehu Appiah as the cause of this high abortion rates included religious conservatism, a lack of knowledge about the liberality of Ghana's abortion law and some traditional practices. An anecdote cited included a traditional practice in some parts of Ghana where a chief can point to a female and choose her to be his wife. Some of these elderly chiefs die leaving behind young 'wives' who will then have to get rid of any subsequent pregnancies that cannot be attributed to the chief.
In a country where only 19-21% of the population access family planning services much more work needs to be done to improve the health and reproductive rights of women. As Dr Jehu-Appiah reminded his audience failing to deal with the issue of unsafe abortions will prevent Ghana from achieving the Millenium Development Goals.
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications
Thursday, May 8, 2008
From Washington DC: Sore feet and MDG3 Vigils.
My feet hurt. I arrived Washington DC Wednesday April 30th for this year’s Women’s Funding Network annual conference and the Council of Foundations Philanthropy summit. I have walked miles around the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Crystal City where the WFN’s conference took place. I walked even more miles at the gigantic Gaylord Convention Center where the COF Summit was held. Up escalators, down escalators, through workshop rooms, coffee shops for quick networking meetings, I have walked and walked for the past nine days. The COF summit ended yesterday, but I had to do some walking afterwards because I needed to get a T. Mobile recharge card, and unlike Accra or Lagos, where phone cards are poked at you every minute if you get caught in traffic, here in Washington you have to walk and walk to get one. I did get a phone card for $25, and by the time I had spent five minutes on the phone with Gertude, our Finance Manager to talk through our MDG3 proposal budget, the card ran out. So I had to do some more walking to get another one. I don’t want to have to do yet more walking over the next few days so to make sure, I got a $50 recharge card. So my feet hurt.
I have missed only two Women’s Funding Network conferences since I started attending in 1999. The WFN meetings always precede the Council of Foundations conference, so I of course usually stay behind for the COF as well. This year’s WFN conference featured, among many other great attractions, the great Wangari Maathai, 2004 Nobel Laureate. She gave the closing address at a lunch plenary, and I was asked to introduce her. As always she gave a great performance, and was worth whatever hoops WFN had to jump through to get her there.
This year, the COF decided to do something different. Instead of the annual conference, they decided to convene a summit, a much larger gathering of philanthropists (those who have money) philanthropoids (those who manage and help spend the money) philanthroprenuers (my coinage, those who have created an alarmingly unwieldy support service industry for philanthropists and philanthropic organisations), as well as a range of selected grantee partners. The result of the experiment was a huge gathering of up to 3,000 participants from across the world.
For me the two meetings were an opportunity to catch up with old friends and colleagues, make new friends, and continue to promote AWDF’s great work. After one week of intense meetings, I have been able to develop partnerships and collaborations with a variety of partners which range from large financial investments in AWDF’s grantmaking and programs to arranging peer learning exchanges to co-convening strategic meetings. So yes, I can ignore my sore feet because it has been worth it, and I am pleased that the African women we serve will benefit from these efforts.
People often tell me that it must be fun travelling around the world for work, getting to meet different people and see other places. I am sure it sounds very exciting and glamorous, and I do enjoy my work, but it can be very difficult. For me the hardest part of it all is leaving my two young children behind, and having to track them via phone calls and email. I also have to follow what is happening with my husband’s Governorship election petition case in Ekiti State, Nigeria, which has dragged on for over a year now, and is now generating a lot of tension and violence in the State because the ruling party is afraid the elections might be overturned since evidence of rigging and voter manipulation has been revealed in court. I fear for his safety and that of his associates.
Personal concerns aside, wherever I am in the world, I have to stay connected to the office. For the past week I have been working with Sarah, our Director of Programs, on the Millennium Development Goal Fund application, known as the MDG3 Fund which was recently launched by the Dutch government. It is an opportunity to inject a significant amount of money into women’s rights work across the world. However, the application process has been pretty intense. Several other international Women’s Funds here were also frantically finalising their MDG3 proposals. When I told a colleague that I had gone to bed at 3am because of the work I was doing on the proposal she said ‘me too, and I haven’t finished!’ Poor Sarah must have done at least eight drafts of the proposal. Well done Grace our Admin Manager, Gertrude, our Finance Manager, Zee, our Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Rissi our Program Officer/Executive Assistant, and all the other staff members who worked on the submission. I am very pleased with our teamwork at AWDF, and I am sure we have put together an impressive proposal. We hope the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs agrees with us!
I am proud of myself for having done this – it is my first attempt at blogging! Of course I love writing, but there is the big problem- time. I don’t promise to be able to write every day, but I will write as often as I can. I have to set an example for the other AWDF colleagues! We have this joke at AWDF, the young women (35 and under) call themselves ‘New School’ then there is the ‘Youngish School’ which would be about 35-40, and the rest of us are ‘Old School’. Well, ‘New School’ and ‘Youngish school’, I have started blogging, where are you?
Till next time.
Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi
Executive Director, AWDF
I have missed only two Women’s Funding Network conferences since I started attending in 1999. The WFN meetings always precede the Council of Foundations conference, so I of course usually stay behind for the COF as well. This year’s WFN conference featured, among many other great attractions, the great Wangari Maathai, 2004 Nobel Laureate. She gave the closing address at a lunch plenary, and I was asked to introduce her. As always she gave a great performance, and was worth whatever hoops WFN had to jump through to get her there.
This year, the COF decided to do something different. Instead of the annual conference, they decided to convene a summit, a much larger gathering of philanthropists (those who have money) philanthropoids (those who manage and help spend the money) philanthroprenuers (my coinage, those who have created an alarmingly unwieldy support service industry for philanthropists and philanthropic organisations), as well as a range of selected grantee partners. The result of the experiment was a huge gathering of up to 3,000 participants from across the world.
For me the two meetings were an opportunity to catch up with old friends and colleagues, make new friends, and continue to promote AWDF’s great work. After one week of intense meetings, I have been able to develop partnerships and collaborations with a variety of partners which range from large financial investments in AWDF’s grantmaking and programs to arranging peer learning exchanges to co-convening strategic meetings. So yes, I can ignore my sore feet because it has been worth it, and I am pleased that the African women we serve will benefit from these efforts.
People often tell me that it must be fun travelling around the world for work, getting to meet different people and see other places. I am sure it sounds very exciting and glamorous, and I do enjoy my work, but it can be very difficult. For me the hardest part of it all is leaving my two young children behind, and having to track them via phone calls and email. I also have to follow what is happening with my husband’s Governorship election petition case in Ekiti State, Nigeria, which has dragged on for over a year now, and is now generating a lot of tension and violence in the State because the ruling party is afraid the elections might be overturned since evidence of rigging and voter manipulation has been revealed in court. I fear for his safety and that of his associates.
Personal concerns aside, wherever I am in the world, I have to stay connected to the office. For the past week I have been working with Sarah, our Director of Programs, on the Millennium Development Goal Fund application, known as the MDG3 Fund which was recently launched by the Dutch government. It is an opportunity to inject a significant amount of money into women’s rights work across the world. However, the application process has been pretty intense. Several other international Women’s Funds here were also frantically finalising their MDG3 proposals. When I told a colleague that I had gone to bed at 3am because of the work I was doing on the proposal she said ‘me too, and I haven’t finished!’ Poor Sarah must have done at least eight drafts of the proposal. Well done Grace our Admin Manager, Gertrude, our Finance Manager, Zee, our Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Rissi our Program Officer/Executive Assistant, and all the other staff members who worked on the submission. I am very pleased with our teamwork at AWDF, and I am sure we have put together an impressive proposal. We hope the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs agrees with us!
I am proud of myself for having done this – it is my first attempt at blogging! Of course I love writing, but there is the big problem- time. I don’t promise to be able to write every day, but I will write as often as I can. I have to set an example for the other AWDF colleagues! We have this joke at AWDF, the young women (35 and under) call themselves ‘New School’ then there is the ‘Youngish School’ which would be about 35-40, and the rest of us are ‘Old School’. Well, ‘New School’ and ‘Youngish school’, I have started blogging, where are you?
Till next time.
Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi
Executive Director, AWDF
Monday, May 5, 2008
Women's Rights Group Visit Liberian Refugee Women
You may have heard about the recent demonstrations by Liberian Refugee Women at the Buduburam camp. Well, so had we. It was really hard to understand what the issues were as there was a lot of sensational stories in the press so AWDF in association with the Network for Women's Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT) decided to pay a visit to refugee women at the camp to hear first hand the issues for ourselves.
Our visit to the camp attracted over a thousand women to an open forum we held in a church hall. The church hall was overflowing and several more women were sitting in doorways trying to hear what was going on and to participate. Our mission as women's right's organisations was simple, to show solidarity with Liberian Refugee Women and to find out from them directly what their concerns were.
To say we were welcomed with open hands was an understatement. 'Finally you are here' said the women at the camp. We explained that as women's right's organisations we were concerned when we heard about women demonstrating at the camp and many of them being put in detention. We explained that we had come to show our solidarity and to listen to the concerns of the women. We were keen to explain that we had no silver bullet remedies but will continue to play a role as advocates with the statutory bodies.
As always when you give women the opportunity to participate in forums about key issues that impact on their lives you get a detailed picture. The issues affecting Liberian refugee women are complex and multi-facteted. One of the key issues that arose time and time again was that of transportation. Some refugees have been in Ghana for 18 years and have naturally amassed a sizeable amount of belongings in that time. (Just think of the new posessions you acquire when you even go on holiday?) The challenging bit is that the refugees have been informed that they will be flown to Liberia and will only be allowed 30 kilos of luggage.
AWDF and NETRIGHT have made a committment to Liberian refugee women that we will advocate on their behalf with statutory partners including the UNHCR and the Ghana Refugee Board. We will also continue our discussions with women at the Buduburam camp.
Our visit ended with a donation of food items and clothing to women at the camp.
-Nana
Program Officer - Fundraising & Communications
Our visit to the camp attracted over a thousand women to an open forum we held in a church hall. The church hall was overflowing and several more women were sitting in doorways trying to hear what was going on and to participate. Our mission as women's right's organisations was simple, to show solidarity with Liberian Refugee Women and to find out from them directly what their concerns were.
To say we were welcomed with open hands was an understatement. 'Finally you are here' said the women at the camp. We explained that as women's right's organisations we were concerned when we heard about women demonstrating at the camp and many of them being put in detention. We explained that we had come to show our solidarity and to listen to the concerns of the women. We were keen to explain that we had no silver bullet remedies but will continue to play a role as advocates with the statutory bodies.
As always when you give women the opportunity to participate in forums about key issues that impact on their lives you get a detailed picture. The issues affecting Liberian refugee women are complex and multi-facteted. One of the key issues that arose time and time again was that of transportation. Some refugees have been in Ghana for 18 years and have naturally amassed a sizeable amount of belongings in that time. (Just think of the new posessions you acquire when you even go on holiday?) The challenging bit is that the refugees have been informed that they will be flown to Liberia and will only be allowed 30 kilos of luggage.
AWDF and NETRIGHT have made a committment to Liberian refugee women that we will advocate on their behalf with statutory partners including the UNHCR and the Ghana Refugee Board. We will also continue our discussions with women at the Buduburam camp.
Our visit ended with a donation of food items and clothing to women at the camp.
-Nana
Program Officer - Fundraising & Communications
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
