American Children Head to Vacances San Excision Camp This Month

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Vacances San Excision translated from French to English is Vacation or Summer Without Cutting.  The American branch of the Inter African Committee (IAC-USA) on traditional practices, affecting the health of women and children is hosting the second Vacances San Excision; a special summer camp in the United States to teach, not only children but parents alike about the alternatives to Vacation Cutting.  The camp opens on Saturday, August 13th at 8:00am and closes on Sunday, August 14th at 3:00pm.

The camp costs only Ten U.S. Dollars ($10) per child for two full days including meals and activities.  There are some children whose families are not in the position to afford the registration fee of $10.  IAC-USA has implemented a special sponsorship program for the children; they are currently accepting sponsorship of a child or children.  If you are able to purchase lunch for a day for $10 or more, you are able to sponsor a child to attend this important camp.

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The camp’s opening site on Saturday is the Salvation Army at 20120 Century Boulevard, Germantown, Maryland 20874.  On the second day of the camp on Sunday, the children will play soccer and other types of games at the Blackhill Regional Park at, 20930 Lake Ridge Drive, Boyds, Maryland 20841.  The children and their parents will enjoy two full days of games, African traditional lessons, including dance, art, home economics, meals, etc.

The purpose of Vacances San Excision is to demonstrate to the parents and children that vacation can be spent full of fun and learning without the lifetime trauma of cutting little girls.  In most practicing countries of the world, summer school breaks are considered high season for performing female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) on girls. Therefore a year ago, IAC-USA implemented the idea of opening a camp to demonstrate the importance of teaching children about their heritage; this includes necessary cultural traditions such as dance, dress, food, art as opposed to FGM/C.

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In countries such as Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, the girls enter the society bush to go through the rite of passage to womanhood.  During their stay in the “bush”, they teach them to make baskets, cook meals, farming, how to be good wives and mothers, etc.  However baskets, meals and farming are not the only things the girls experience in the “bush”; they also undergo female genital mutilation/cutting as part of the passage to womanhood.  Camp Vacances San Excision will teach girls all of the lessons learned in the Sande and Bondo Society Bush, but without the ritualistic cutting of their genitals.

Vacation Cutting is when girls are taken to their parents’ countries of origin from either the United States or a European country for the purpose of having female genital mutilation/cutting performed on them.  In the year 2013, the U.S. passed the law against Vacation Cutting; if anyone, including a parent takes a child from U.S. soil to another country for the purpose of having FGM/C performed on her will be subject to five-year imprisonment and a fine or more.

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Following Vacances San Excision, the parents will also have the opportunity to celebrate with the general public the evening of Saturday, August 20th in a closing ceremony and fundraising dinner at the Embassy of Cote d’Ivoire from 5:00pm until 9:00pm.  The Embassy of Cote d’Ivoire is located at 2424 Massachusetts Avenue in Northwest Washington, D.C. 20007.  For additional information about the camp and the closing ceremony dinner, visit www.iac-usa.org.

How Can I be a Participant in the Walk to End FGM?

We have received inquiries about how one may register to participate in the Walk to End FGM.  Here are step by step instructions on how to register.  Visit www.globalwomanpeacefoundtion.org, scroll down and click on the reg=but button and follow the instructions.  The Walk page is simple to navigate.  Here are other ways in which you may get involved:

  • Register as an individual participant
  • Form a team and invite others to join your team and help raise funds
  • Join a team that is already formed
  • Register as a virtual participant and help raise funds (if you are unable to attend)
  • Sponsor a team or an individual participant or sponsor the event
  • Be a Partner Organization with Global Woman P.E.A.C.E. Foundation in the Walk to End FGM
  • Register as a volunteer

 

To volunteer, contact us at info@globalwomanpeacefoundation.org or call 703-818-3787.  Register at www.globalwomanpeacefoundation.org and Walk to End FGM.  Click on the link below to see some highlights of our 2015 Walk to End FGM.

http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/fbis-new-mission-combat-female-genital-mutilation

Global Woman P.E.A.C.E. Foundation is a registered 501c3 non-profit organization with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.  As such, your donations and registration fees are tax deductible to the maximum extent required by law.

Weekly Special Announcements

45 Degrees Project stages their 3rd annual summer performance in both Chicago and Washington, D.C. this August.  Directed by Elana Anderson, Deeply Rooted Dance Theater presents “45 Degrees Project” on August 7th through 13th in Chicago and on August 15th through the 21st Joy of Motion Dance Center presents “45 Degrees Project” on its stage in Washington, D.C. at 1333 H Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 20002.  For tickets and additional information visit: www.joyofmotion.org.

Vacation without Excision (Vacances San Excision)!  The second annual Vacances San Excision will be held Friday, August 12th and Saturday, August 13th.  Imagine 2 full days of teaching the children (boys and girls) about the enjoyment and safety of vacation.  The first of its kind in the U.S., Inter-Africa Committee (IAC-USA) launched its Vacances San Excision (Vacation without Excision) in August of 2015.  They had great success and decided to make the event an annual one.  Held at 20021 Aircraft Drive, Germantown, Maryland 20874, this camp is expected to provide boys, girls and parents with the knowledge they need for a safe vacation, free of mutilation/cutting (Vacances San Excision).  The camp is free of charge with lunch and refreshments.  Register as many children as you have.  Join us on both days or choose one of the 2 days.

If you need overnight accommodations for the Walk to End FGM…The official hotel of the Walk to End FGM is the Double Tree by Hilton, Crystal City at 300 Army Navy Drive, Arlington, Virginia 22202.  A special negotiated rate is available when you register for the Walk.  The deadline for making your hotel room reservation is September 14, 2016.    If you call to book your hotel reservations, make sure to ask for the FGM 2016 Walk Room Block rate.

If you book online, make sure you click on this link to make your room reservations.

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Volunteers Needed:  Global Woman P.E.A.C.E. Foundation is in search of volunteers for their 3rd annual Walk to End FGM in the nation’s capital on Saturday, October 15, 2016.  Volunteers’ responsibilities are: Arrive early, set-up, on-site registration, T-shirt and bag distribution, oversee donations, supervision of the tents, coordinate pre-walk ceremony, seat speakers and guests, coordinate photo-ops and pre-walk interviews.  All volunteers will have free registration for the walk.  A special registration code will be provided once you have been approved as a volunteer.  If you are interested in being a volunteer for the Walk to End FGM send an email to info@globalwomanpeacefoundation.org  and put in the subject line, “Volunteer”.

Save the Date: Saturday, October 15, 2016.  Plan to join us for the Walk to End FGM 2016.  We will release the list of our speakers later this month.  Registration is now available at www.globalwomanpeacefoundation.org.  Call 703.818.3787 or email info@globalwomanpeacefoundation.org for additional information and volunteer opportunities.  Follow us on Twitter @1Globalwoman and “like” us on FaceBook www.facebook.com/globalwomanpeacefoundation.

The book, Female Mutilation authored by Hilary Burrage has been released in the US and Canada.  The book is currently on sale at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.  Global Woman P.E.A.C.E. Foundation highly recommends Female Mutilation for high school students and anyone who wants to learn more about the practice of FGM/C.  To read the author’s blog about the Inter-African Committee Geneva conference, visit here https://hilaryburrage.com/2016/05/12/un-geneva-my-book-launch-at-the-iac-conference-on-fgm/ and to purchase a copy of the book, visit  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/female-mutilation-hilary-burrage/1123329211?ean=9781742576077

The guidelines to submit an announcement are to appear in this newsletter:

  • The length of announcement must be no more than a paragraph of 6 lines.
  • Your announcement should be something that pertains to women, girls or students, such as events, walk-a-thons, conferences, etc.
  • If there is an accompanying image, it must be no less than 72 dpi, preferably in jpeg.
  • Your announcement must be received no later than the Thursday 5:00pm prior to the following Tuesday publication.

Global Woman P.E.A.C.E. Foundation reserves the right to deny a submission if it is not within our guidelines.

Weekly Word-Scramble

Do you enjoy playing with words?  This is a fun way to see how well you can unscramble the following words.  We will reveal the unscrambled words in next week’s edition of the newsletter.  If you enjoyed this, write and give us your feedback to info@globalwomanpeacefoundation.org.

Can you unscramble the following five words?

This Week’s Scrambled Words

SIONCIXE

PACM

TIONCAVA

TINGTUC

GUSTUA

 

Last Week’s Scrambled Words                               Last Week’s Unscrambled Words

DENCEPENINDE                                                               INDEPENDENCE

LYJU TYWENT-ISX                                                          JULY TWENTY-SIX

NAB GMF                                                                             BAN FGM

HILDCERN                                                                          CHILDREN

A DREDHUN TYSIX-NENI                                             A HUNDRED SIXTY-NINE

We give you five scrambled words each week.  We hope you enjoy playing.

How You Can Help & Support Us

Here are some of the ways you can help and support our programs in 2016:

  • gofundme
  • Donations (including in-kind donations) globalwomanpeacefoundation.org
  • Partnering (collaborating in one of our programs and/or events)
  • Joining our Internship or Student-Ambassadorship Program
  • Volunteering
  • Donate through employer payroll deduction (through Your Cause, United Way or the government employee giving program)
  • Sign our Petition

The Global Woman Center is Open for Appointments

We are located at 3920 Alton Place, NW, Washington, D.C. 20016.  The hours of operation by appointments only are Wednesday and Saturday 10:00am until 12:30pm.  All appointments and information are held confidential.

Important Contacts in the Washington, D.C. Metro Area to Keep Handy

Global Woman P.E.A.C.E. Foundation               703-818-3787

National Child Abuse Hotline                              800-422-4453

Fairfax County Office for Women                       703-324-5730

Virginia Crime Victim Assistance                        888-887-3418

Montgomery County Abused Persons Program   240-777-4673 (24 hours)

Prince Georges County Sexual Assault                301-618-3154

Prince Georges County Child Advocacy Center  301-909-2089

Baltimore City Child Abuse Center                     410-396-6147

Frederick County Child Advocacy Center           301-600-1758

Howard County Listening Place                           410-313-2630

Washington County Child Advocacy Center       240-420-4308

District of Columbia Metropolitan Police            202-727-9099

Alexandria Victim/Witness Program                    703-746-4100

Arlington County Victim/Witness Program         703-228-7273

Loudon County Victim Witness Program             703-777-0417

Prince William County Victim/Witness               703-392-7083

Attention: The U.S. government opposes FGM/C, no matter the type, degree, or severity, and no matter what the motivation for performing it. The U.S. government considers FGM/C to be a serious human rights abuse, gender-based violence, and, when done to children, a form of child abuse. It is against the law to perform FGM/C in the United States on a girl under the age of 18 or to send or attempt to send her outside the United States so FGM/C can be performed. People who violate this law can face prison time and significant immigration consequences. Additionally, anyone who performs FGM/C on a woman 18 years old or older without her consent may be charged with a crime under other laws.  If someone performed FGM/C on you, you have not violated any U.S. laws and are not at fault, call 1-800-994-9662.