WFWP INTERNATIONAL SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN UNITED NATIONS “INNOVATION FAIR” IN GENEVA - PART TWO

The International Service Projects (ISPs) started in 1994 with fact-finding trips by women volunteers from developed nations, mostly Japan. These women saw first-hand the terrible consequences of war, disease, and poverty. Seeing how women and children suffered disproportionately, they became impassioned to help change the situation. The determination and compassion of those early volunteers were the impetus for grassroots efforts that are now showing real and positive results. Currently WFWPI is operating twelve kinds of service projects in 50 countries.

(For more information on these activities, please go to www.wfwp.org.)

Two excellent programs are carried out annually to involve people from developed nations in the WFWPI service projects:

The first program involves study tours by project supporters (donors) to ten WFWPI service projects each year. They go to Africa, Asia, and Latin America, as well as Belarus in the CIS. Tour participants are able to witness the difference their donations have made in the lives of other people, and to see first-hand how much they are appreciated.

Secondly, a Youth Volunteer program operates in two developing countries each year. This short-term service project (usually about two weeks) gives young people the chance to pitch in to renovate or repair school buildings, help in agricultural activities, and so forth.

The second successful program profiled by WFWPI at the Innovation Fair was from the Kenya chapter and included two programs. In the Bomet district of Kenya in the Eastern Rift Province bordering Uganda, WFWP is sponsoring and supporting thirty orphans. These orphans receive school uniforms, blankets, and food. The guardian families, usually relatives of the orphans, also receive support on an annual basis.

Also in the Bomet district, volunteers have achieved success in eradicating the widespread practice of female genital mutilation (FGM), also called female circumcision or "cutting." This procedure involves the removal of all or part of a girl's external genitalia and is usually performed by an older woman who receives payment for her "surgery." Unfortunately, many of the tools used in the procedure are unclean, and there are frequently life-threatening complications, as well as psychological damage.

Supporting Orphans

FGM is part of the tradition of early marriage of girls (13 to 15 years old), which means that girls discontinue their education, affecting many other aspects of their lives. WFWP Kenya offers training classes for young girls so they can be informed of alternatives to FGM. Since it is a rite of passage, WFWP has created alternative rites of passage, such as a weeklong workshop to help the girls understand the value and meaning of life. This program has helped girls stay in school. The workshops are held during school holidays, three times a year.

WFWP Kenya also began conducting educational programs in March of 2004 to teach the traditional "surgeons" who perform FGM about the dangers of the practice. Since then, twenty-four women have stopped performing FGM and the numbers are growing. Those who surrender the practice are given the opportunity to work with WFWP, using a machine that manufactures building blocks. The elder women can then sell the building blocks to make money to support themselves, making up for the income they relinquished from FGM activities.

The third successful program highlighted at the Innovation Fair in Geneva was the story of the Interfaith Children's Home in South India. It was started in early 1998 by Mrs. Patricia Earle, WFWP representative for the Midlands region of the United Kingdom. Patricia went to Hyderabad in the state of Andhra Pradesh, where she saw the suffering of the Dalit ("untouchable") communities. The worst situations seemed to be of orphans whose debt-burdened parents had committed suicide. Those children had no future other than to beg on the streets or work in backbreaking labor. They certainly had no hope for education.

Patricia returned to England and began working with her Women's Peace Group, a project of WFWP. These women are from all faiths, races and ethnic backgrounds and they began to raise money for the Indian Dalit orphans.

Through their concerted efforts, enough funds were raised by December 1998 to begin work on what was to become "The Interfaith Children's Home of Hyderabad." Young people from the Religious Youth Service, aided with volunteers from the International Relief Friendship Foundation, traveled to Hyderabad to begin construction.

Workshop for Anti-Feminine Genital Mutilation (FGM) Program

Children at the home

Many other organizations joined in the effort, once it began taking shape. Local Indian builders completed work on the home in 1999, and it formally opened in 2000. Since then, more than thirty Dalit children have been cared for at the home, both girls and boys. They were able to attend a local village school and receive an education which would otherwise have been impossible for them. So far, eight children have graduated from the Home and all are continuing their education at intermediate colleges.

Six graduates of the Home who are currently attending college

The ultimate goal of the Home is to find support within India, but so far the majority of the funding has come from the UK. WFWP has supported the Home through fundraising events, as well as individual child sponsorships. Also, numerous churches, temples, and other places of worship have helped. Other organizations helping include the Mother's Union, Soroptimists International, the Asian Women's Network, the Hindu Women's Club, and the Indian Consulate. In India, the Children's Home has received several awards, including the Samajj Vikas Peace Award, and the Jewel of India Award of 2003, presented by former president of India, Shri K R Narayan.

Interfaith Childrens Home of Hyderabad

The state of Andrah Pradesh is in the process of granting new land for expansion of the project. A new home will be built with better facilities and separate living quarters for boys and girls, along with staff and guest accommodations. There are great things on the horizon!

For more information on the ECOSOC "Innovation Fair," go to: https://www.un.org/en/ecosoc/innovfair/innovfair.shtml