June 20, World Refugee Day
June 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment
UNHCR celebrates World Refugee Day 2008:
“On June 20, we celebrate World Refugee Day. This year, events around the world will focus on the fundamental need for protection. For some, this means economic security; for others, protection is freedom from violence and persecution. On World Refugee Day, we will turn our attention to the millions of refugees who live without material, social and legal protection.”
To learn more about UNHCR and see what you can do, check out their DONATE page and see how your small change can make a difference.
Domestic Violence Shelters in New Hampshire
June 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment
If you or a loved one lives in the state of New Hampsire and are being victimized, please contact the facilities below. The following information was taken from the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.
RESPONSE to Sexual & Domestic Violence
c/o Coos County Family Health Services
54 Willow Street
Berlin, NH 03570
1-866-644-3574 (domestic violence)*
1-800-277-5570 (sexual assault)
603-752-5679 (Berlin office)
603-237-8746 (Colebrook office)
603-788-2562 (Lancaster office)
The Support Center at Burch House
P.O. Box 965
Littleton, NH 03561
1-800-774-0544 (crisis line)
603-444-0624 (Littleton office)
www.tccap.org/support_center.htm
Starting Point: Services for Victims of Domestic and Sexual Violence
P.O. Box 1972
Conway, NH 03818
1-800-336-3795 (crisis line)
603-356-7993 (Conway office)
603-539-5506 (Ossipee Office)
www.startingpointnh.org
Voices Against Violence
P.O. Box 53
Plymouth, NH 03264
603-536-1659 (crisis line)
603-536-3423 (office)
homepage.fcgnetworks.net/voices/
Women’s Information Service (WISE)
79 Hanover St., Suite 1
Lebanon, NH 03766
1-866-348-WISE (toll-free crisis line)
603-448-5525 (local crisis line)
603-448-5922 (office)
www.wiseoftheuppervalley.org
New Beginnings: A Woman’s Crisis Center
P.O. Box 622
Laconia, NH 03247
1-866-644-3574 (domestic violence)*
1-800-277-5570 (sexual assault)*
603-528-6511 (office)
www.newbeginningsnh.org
Turning Points Network (formerly Women’s Supportive Services)
11 School Street
Claremont, NH 03743
1-800-639-3130 (crisis line)
603-543-0155 (Claremont office)
603-863-4053 (Newport office)
www.free-to-soar.org
Rape and Domestic Violence Crisis Center
P.O. Box 1344
Concord, NH 03302-1344
1-866-644-3574 (domestic violence)*
1-800-277-5570 (sexual assault)*
603-225-7376 (office)
www.rdvcc.org
Sexual Harassment and Rape Prevention Program (SHARPP)
UNH
Verrette House
6 Garrison Avenue
Durham, NH 03824
1-888-271-SAFE(72330) (crisis line)
603-862-3494 (office)
www.unh.edu/sharpp/
A Safe Place
6 Greenleaf Woods, #101
Portsmouth, NH 03801
1-800-854-3552 (toll-free crisis line)
603-330-0214 (Rochester crisis line)
603-890-6392 (Salem crisis line)
603-436-4619 (Portsmouth office)
603-436-7924 (Portsmouth crisis line)
www.asafeplacenh.org
Sexual Assault Support Services
7 Junkins Avenue
Portsmouth, NH 03801
1-888-747-7070 (crisis line)
603-436-4107 (Portsmouth Office)
603-332-0775 (Rochester Office)
www.sassnh.org
YWCA Crisis Service
72 Concord St.
Manchester, NH 03101
603-668-2299 (crisis line)
603-625-5785 (Manchester Office)
YWCA Derry office
6 West Broadway #22
Derry, NH 03038
603-432-2687
Bridges: Domestic & Sexual Violence Support
P.O. Box 217
Nashua, NH 03061-0217
603-883-3044 (crisis line)
603-672-9833 (Milford office)
603-889-0858 (Nashua office)
www.bridgesnh.org
Monadnock Center for Violence Prevention
12 Court Street
Keene, NH 03431-3402
603-352-3782 (crisis line)
1-888-511-mvcp(6287) (toll-free hotline)
603-352-3782 (Keene office)
603-532-6288 (Jaffery office)
603-209-4015 (Peterborough office)
www.mcvprevention.org
I hope this information can help you or your loved ones.
Peace and Safety my friends,
June 13, 2008 Weekend Challenge - Donate A Phone®
June 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment
So how many of you have old cell phones sitting in a drawer? What about your brothers or sisters? Neighbors? Cousins? What about your best friends sisters boyfriend? You get the picture. For me, I know I have two.
Why are they just sitting in my drawer taking up space and collecting dust? Well, I’m done with them. I received an email from the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence yesterday letting me know about their 2008 National Conference. I spent some time around the site and the Donate a Phone Program jumped out at me. They describe it as:
NCADV has partnered with The Wireless Foundation for over seven years through the CALL TO PROTECT program which was created to provide victims of domestic violence who may encounter emergency situations with free cell phones for that use. The collection of deactivated cell and wireless phones for this purpose has literally saved hundreds of lives over the course of our partnership. In addition to phones being distributed for emergency use, proceeds from the sale of phones not utilized for emergency use help fund agencies that work to end violence in the home, such as NCADV.
So my challenge to you is to go find as many phones as you can get your hands on. Make sure the phone is deactivated, is turned off, and has a battery before mailing it off.
Sound like an easy plan?
Well, I made it even easier. You can download a free mailing label and send it on its way this weekend. Don’t forget to ask your friends and family too!
Have a great weekend.
May 9, 2008 Weekend Challenge
May 9, 2008 | 1 Comment
Sunday is Mother’s Day, and my challenge for you is to reach out to the Mom’s you love. Reach out to all the special women in your life that have made an impact on you.
For me, I am going to do something a little different this year.
This year, I am going to be sending a special ecard. Women for Women International is doing something amazing. When you go to their Mother’s Day homepage, you can read about Elizabeth and her story of triumph, and you can also send a special ecard to your favorite Mom that can help change the life of a Mother who is a survivor of war. On the website they explain it best…
“Your Mother’s Day Donation Makes 3 Women Happy.
You get the gratification of knowing you’re helping a woman survivor of war, the woman you honor feels the special joy of being loved and a woman who lives half a world away gets the tools she needs to build a better life.”
I’m not sure if it can get better than that. So grab your credit card, head on over to Women For Women International’s Mother’s Day page and make three women happy with a click of a button. This challenge, you can’t pass up!
Happy Mother’s Day to all!
Daughters…We Are Our Mothers’ Keepers…
April 24, 2008 | 10 Comments
There’s nothing quite like a festive African party. For an African woman, the preparation of the food is more than a labor of love…it is hard work requiring skillful handcrafting and hours of preparation. It is within this arduous process that my adolescent memories of entertaining linger, mostly because of the women who surround my mother to assist in the cooking.
I vividly remember their arrivals. Some are wearing their “good” clothes…others carry fancy bags brimming with colorful lapas, lace blouses, high heeled shoes and headdresses. Throughout the morning, a chorus of greetings welcomes each new entrant. This intimate gathering of sisters…coming together to do some serious cooking while enjoying the camaraderie of jovial banter, gossip and laughter.
It is here, that we, our mothers’ daughters are embraced by the earthen well of female wisdom. It is within this circle, that these elders model the unique rituals of what it means to be an African woman. Our mothers, aunts, grandmothers and older sisters shed all pretensions…naked womanhood is celebrated full strength, intertwined with wit, shared pain and laughter.
As for the humorous banter There’s lots of that…because as the African saying goes, if you don’t laugh about certain things, you will cry. The laughter bubbles throughout the day, much like the steaming caldrons over the huge outdoor fires.. The savory smells are as enticing to us, the daughters, as the juicy tidbits of gossip that flutter through the air. We avert our eyes, eager to catch every morsel until a disapproving glance warns us to move out of earshot.
At times, we also see the pain of tears being wiped away followed by hugs, supportive murmurs, words of counsel and the wisdom of shared experience. We are not the center of this circle, but we cherish our place. We know that we are daughters…
To keep one’s mother in African tradition is one of the highest honors that a daughter can give to the one who carried her forth into life. It is to respect the dignity and strength that it takes to survive in an environment where the harshness of the physical surroundings adds tremendous weight to the challenges of simply being female in a world that doesn’t provide a lot of external support.
This is why when I read the story of “A Most Amazing Village”by Liz Brody in the latest Oprah Magazine publication(May 2008), I instinctively understand the story of young Senteyo Lenaiyasa…a 14 year old member of an all female community in a village called Umoja, located in a remote part of Kenya. Liz describes the women of Umoja in this way,
“From what I’d heard, this community is making history-a gutsy anomaly of female bonding in a world where women are still treated as livestock.”
Senteyo’s story is a heart breaking account of a hard childhood with a poor widowed mother. Her uncles marry her off for a few cows around the age of 13. Prior to this she is circumcised…a gruesome practise which scars a womans genital organs presumably to control her desire for sexual pleasure. Many women die from the procedure which is often performed with rusty blades.
Senteyo ran for her life. It is in this small village of brave women that she finds refuge and a place to heal and begins to build a life. It’s not a life without challenges. But these ladies have a strength which has been refined through the furnace of deep affliction and abuse. A passion nurtured by the deep communal waters of female support.
I am struck by the juxtaposition of another story taking place within the plains of Texas which is riveting the attention of our nation. It is also a story about a community, but what grips my attention is the women. These Women in identical dresses with long hair. These Women with sad eyes and evasive mannerisms. Women who have lost the rights to their children because the State of Texas indicates they failed to protect their daughters.
The final outcome of this story will play out in the days and months to come, but the question remains this for me. Who was keeping these young daughters? How did they learn to what it means to become a woman? Where did things go so terribly wrong that their mothers chose to protect abusive men rather than their daughters. When the time comes…who will show these daughters how to become their Mothers’ Keepers?
Somewhere, we have lost our way. Somehow we have accepted the meager offerings of privacy as full payment for the loss of community. We have lost our understanding of what it means to have the right to be a full woman.
Men cannot give this to women…only mothers can. And only daughters can keep this sacred rite and continue its’ tradition. When we link arms in loving support around wounded womanhood, we become bearers of an eternal flame. When we support other women who are suffering injustice, we learn that we are not alone. In this way, we honor the sisterhood and we become our Mothers’ Keeper.
*******
The Project O Bracelet is transforming lives like Senteyo’s by providing jobs which allow women to provide for themselves and their families. To learn more about this project you can visit the village of Umoja directly via…http://www.madre.org/.
Picture courtesy of OziAfricana’s photostream on flikr.com
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