Category: In The News

Global Woman P.E.A.C.E. Foundation (GWPF) launched the registration site for its third annual Walk to End FGM scheduled for Saturday, October 15^th on the Washington National Mall.

Here are ways you can get involved:

Get Involved and Participate

• Form a team and invite others to join your team and help raise funds
• Join a team that is already formed
• Register as an individual participant
• 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.

Click on the link below to see some highlights of our 2015 Walk to End FGM.

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.

This week, by popular demand, we are repeating An Exclusive we ran three weeks ago, profiling Elisabeth Wilson.  In this rerun, Elisabeth introduces an extraordinary man, Godfrey Williams-Okorodus, a Nigerian artist who expresses his campaign against FGM through his fabulous art work.  Godfrey has been championing a campaign against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) using art as the tool of his campaign. In respect of this campaign, Godfrey’s work has been shown in the British Parliament, Harvard Faculty Club, Cornell University and several other venues in Europe.  There are many women in the world who are leading the campaign to end FGM but there are hardly enough men that are joining one of the toughest campaigns.  Godfrey Williams-Okorodus is one of the few men in the world leading the campaign against FGM.  He once said, “…I am using my talent to let the world know that as long as I have breath in my body I will not let any form of injustice and victimization pass by me without protesting loudly and constantly be it wars, hunger, brutality etc.”

GWPF:  Elisabeth, what is the nature of your work?

Elisabeth Wilson:  The Global Alliance against Female Genital Mutilation (GA-FGM) is a French NGO created in 2010 with an office in Geneva. After attending many conferences about FGM, the commemoration of the International Day of Zero Tolerance to FGM as celebrated in Geneva, my companion and I came to realize two things: the FGM community was in search of more dynamic synergies amongst organizations.  They were all complaining about the lack of visibility, communication, collaboration and specifically comparable scientific data. We assisted many times to annual meetings gathering FGM experts, the diplomatic community and concerned Swiss authorities invited by the same NGO. Something crucial was also missing: the presence of the general public.

 

Holger Postulart the other founder of the GA-FGM is a specialist in adult education and training; I am a former broadcast journalist. After several mandates as consultants at the World Health Organization in Geneva in Education and Communication, we both decided to create the GA-FGM. He is the Executive Director and I am the Chief of communications. So what should this Alliance be composed of? United Nations Agencies, big and well financed NGOs? No, we wanted to give a voice to the voiceless, meaning all grass-roots NGOs active on the field in Africa and across the world, with no communication capacity, no visibility, little access to internet or well-structured FGM platforms; NGOs willing to disseminate and share their results,  best practices and therefore avoid duplicates. We also noticed a critical lack of access to scientific resources, up-to-date data and comparable statistics. Moreover, the mobilization campaigns never really reached the general public. The FGM-fighting community needed a paradigm shift and a new collaboration approach, in order for competent small structures to be heard and be part of the FGM-fighting community.

 

I am proud to announce that the founding member of the Alliance is the Pastoralist Child Foundation in Kenya, founded by the American-Canadian humanitarian Sayydah Garrett.

GWPF:  Why is Global Alliance against FGM a Canadian-German initiative?

Elisabeth Wilson:  Holger Postulart is German and I am Canadian-Haitian. The DNA of our organization is imprinted by our professional duo and couple. Holger and I believe in the involvement of men and women of all cultures in the global fight against FGM. We are not involved in humanitarian affairs by opportunism, it runs in our blood. My father was a public health engineer at World Health Organization. He participated in the first humanitarian mission ever deployed in Africa, in Belgian-Congo where I was born. This historical contingent was mainly composed of Haitians. Haiti was at the time, the first non-European country capable of massively providing medical doctors, public health engineers, educators, nurses, epidemiologists, etc. in order to help alleviate the Belgian-Congo crisis and help the Congolese civil society. It was also the first time that Haitians were returning to Africa after centuries of brutal slavery, knighted as international public servants with PhDs and the diplomatic protection of the United Nations. That historical contingent was quite inspirational, during these very racist times. I was born in that volatile Belgian-Congo. Holger made his first serious contact with the humanitarian work at the age of 14 when his parents co-founded one of the first regional Amnesty International groups in Germany. He stayed with the group for several years and continued his humanitarian engagement during and after his studies in psychology and medicine, mainly for an association acting in the South African townships.

GWPF:  Tell us more about Global Alliance against Female Genital Mutilation.

Elisabeth Wilson:  Each year, we offer to the Geneva international community (…) unseen art exhibition at the United Nations Office. Since 2011 we have been collaborating with the talented Nigerian artist and anti-FGM activist, Godfrey Williams-Okorodus. He was part of the very first exhibition against FGM, organized in 1998 in Lagos. He became a friend and a pillar of our cultural approaches. Godfrey Williams-Okorodus is also the only one who thought of paying a vibrant tribute to the late Dr Efua Dorkenoo, a pioneer in the fight against FGM, deceased in October 2014. He mobilized four famous African artists the Canadian Aboriginal artist Jacques Newashish in order to create the exhibition “Cutting the Rose” which we later presented on February 6, 2015 at the United Nations in Geneva, in the presence of the United Nations Director General Michael Møller.

We also organize, academic activities such as high-level meetings, symposiums, press conferences involving not only the experts, but also, the media and the general public. We are trying to think out of the box. We are the first organization which has introduced the Native peoples of Canada in the global fight against FGM. Thus, Great Chief Constant Awashish a francophone Chief of the Atikamekw Nation of Quebec became the first Aboriginal Chief across the Americas to support the global fight against FGM. Mrs. Pat Halfmoon Bruderer of the Cree Nation of Manitoba, also one of the last Master of the ancient art of Birch Bark Biting, honored us by becoming our Female Goodwill Ambassador in Canada. We were the first to organize on February the 6^th 2014 an arts exhibition gathering Native Canadian and African artists at the United Nations, expressing themselves about FGM.

GWPF:  What was the outcome of this innovative approach?

Elisabeth Wilson:  Our innovative cultural approaches rapidly led to the official support of UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, via the Swiss Commission for UNESCO, who do grant us annually with their patronage and logo, for all our communication, educational or cultural events. As for the academic side of our activities, we are trying to develop innovative approaches and accelerating strategies. Since our creation in 2010, we have been trying to create the first university Chair specializing on FGM and women’s uro-genital sufferance. Financing this highly complex project turned out being extremely difficult. Though our initiative was welcomed by the FGM scientific and grass-root community, it is quite difficult to gather the money to realize it. We are currently in search of patrons, philanthropists, financial partners, donors to help create this unique university Chair that could become a UNESCO Chair.

GWPF:  What are the main goals of Global Alliance?

Elisabeth Wilson:  Contribute to the total abandonment of FGM via a global educational/monitoring project and raise awareness about this cause at an unprecedented level.  Again, since our foundation in 2010, we have been working on the creation of the first University Chair specializing on FGM. For that we multiplied various transdisciplinary activities. In 2014 in collaboration with Dr Charles-Henry Rochat of the GFMER (Geneva Foundation for Medical Education and Research) the Swiss specialist when it comes to repairing obstetrical fistula, one on the most horrific consequence of FGM. We co-organized with him a press event and conference at le Club Suisse de la presse in commemoration of the First International Day to End Obstetric Fistula.

 

In 2015, we commemorated the International Day of Zero Tolerance to FGM, by organizing 2 major events:

1) A public debate at the Geneva Ethnographic Museum, gathering African and Aboriginal anthropologists, to confront patriarchal and matrilineal views and analysis about violent traditions against women and FGM.

2) A high-level meeting at the Palais des Nations gathering Dr Pierre Foldès, inventor the women’s reconstructive surgery, WADI a German NGO fighting against FGM in Iraq (Kurdistan), Pr Guyo Jaldesa of the African Coordination Center of the Abandonment of FGM, at the University of Nairobi, Pr Emmanuel Kabengele, University of Geneva and at the time acting Director the UNIGE’s Global Health Institute, Pr Abdoulaye Sow, a Mauritanian anthropologist and anti-FGM activist, president of the scientific committee of the research team on FGM at the University of Nouakchott (Mauritania) and coordinator of the Interdisciplinary Center on Cultural Rights.

 

Activities like these are meant to facilitate the achievement of our main goals: enhancing the communication and collaboration between field actors, reinforcing scientific work on FGM with the scope of having a direct impact on the field, more specifically by having a more systematic evaluation of these projects. Altogether, this will considerably help FGM abandonment as well as optimizing the treatment and care for the FGM survivors.

 

GWPF:  Your website mentions that FGM is the “Red-headed Stepchild” and the “Poor Parent” of the United Nations system.  Would you kindly explain why Global Alliance terms it as that?

Elisabeth Wilson:  In the meantime, we changed this passage, since in December 2012 United Nations voted the historical Resolution A/RES/67/146 banning FGM worldwide. With his Resolution calling for the intensification of global action to end FGM, this very harmful practice has gained importance for the United Nations. More than once the Secretary General Ban Ki-moon made vibrant statements against FGM and exhorted civil society to help him in achieving its total elimination.

GWPF:  Would you tell us about the annual rotating conference of Global Alliance?

Elisabeth Wilson:  The organization of an annual rotating conference was one of the first ideas we had six years ago. The idea was to gather annually experts from all over the world, not only in Geneva. The ultimate goal was to develop trans-disciplinary approaches including anthropology, sociology, medicine, psychology, law, science and others. FGM is such a complex phenomenon; it needs to be addressed in an equivalent way. The lack of funding hampered us from realizing this ambitious idea but we managed to organize high-level meetings in 2014 and 2015 in Geneva. We are proud to say that our conferences were amongst the first with an audience equally composed by men and women, FGM experts or not.

GWPF:  What are the plans you have in place for your mobile emergency units?

Elisabeth Wilson:  This is another very ambitious project that we had in mind right from the very start. Knowing that especially in the rural areas the access to medical services is very limited, we thought of mobile clinics as the solution for the lack of treatment for FGM survivors. We wanted the mobile clinics to be equipped with medical and psychological personnel, who would patrol, disseminate and collect information in order to prevent, intervene or address other urgencies as well. This would be a project to be realized in cooperation with experienced organizations such as Médecins sans Frontières or Médecins du Monde.

GWPF:  How do you think we should engage and include men and boys around the world in the quest to end FGM?

Elisabeth Wilson:  The key role of men and boys in this matter is quite obvious. Their implication is essential.  Gender equality should start at the youngest possible age. FGM and other violations of Human Rights need a part of the school education, both in developing and wealthy countries. We need a generation of young men that grew up with the ideals of gender equality, total refusal of all kind of gender-based violence and healthy, respectful conceptions of sexuality. As for the men who are now adolescents or adults in FGM concerned or migration countries, they ought to be integrated in specialized educational programs. They need to be under controlled care in order for them to have access to information regarding FGM. Like religious and community leaders, men are also part of the solution to ending FGM. Finally, the fight against the practice will only be successful if it is conducted by men and women of all cultures, responding hand in hand to the United Nations Secretary General’s call for an unprecedented international solidarity.

 

GWPF:  You have some powerful ambassadors in your organization.  What is their role in combatting FGM?

Elisabeth Wilson:  The role of a dedicated Goodwill Ambassador is indeed quite powerful. It is designed to raise the visibility of a cause in uncharted territories to create more public awareness and therefore reinforce the participation of men and women of all cultures. A Goodwill Ambassador’s advocacy work will also help raise the donors’ interest. The GA-FGM is also observing some of the United Nations agendas. For example UNESCO has declared 2013-2022, the International Decade for the “Rapprochement of Cultures”. Responding to this appeal, we introduced the participation of Native Canadians in the cause. Pat Halfmoon Bruderer, is the typical example of an excellent Ambassador. She herself escaped from all the traditional violence afflicting native women and hampering their lives and communities.  Marked by the dreadful situation of some Canadian Indian Reservations, she decided to perpetuate good traditions, and became a master of the Aboriginal vanishing art of Birch Bark Biting, usually transmitted by women. Last time we heard from her she was heading to the North West Territories, between Yukon and the Nunavut to teach her art. She discussed about FGM with the local native women. Upset to hear that women could be subjected to such a violent tradition, their reaction was to ask Pat Bruderer what they could do to help their follow human beings in the South. So we know that the involvement of men and women of all cultures and the introduction of old peoples of the new and the ancient world is the key to the acceleration of FGM abandonment.  As for the United Nations chapter, Captain Christine de St Genois, the first woman to ever pilot Boeings, also a Doctorate in law, became our Goodwill Ambassador.

GWPF:  Tell us about your awareness campaign, “Yes, You Can Say No – Picture It?

Elisabeth Wilson:  Holger and I immediately understood the power of arts when it comes to communicating about a difficult cause. This was in 2011. I was looking on the internet for dedicated artists. A German-based collective came up. Being Canadian and French speaking, I was looking for artists originally from the Quebec province.  The name of Patrick Gignac came up. He was a genuine, authentic defender of the cause, no judgement, no negative comments about these old traditions. I knew he was the one.  Holger and I flew from Geneva to Quebec City. That man, who had never been to Africa, just felt the urge to help and do something for a simple reason; he has a daughter. He generously gave us his creation called “Excision”. I immediately came up with a slogan (and that was before the U.S. President Obama was elected), YES YOU CAN SAY NO-PICTURE IT!

 

The painting is a traveling art piece. It went to the United Nations headquarters in New York, the United Nations, UNAIDS, UNHCR in Geneva, UNESCO in Paris, it was held by ordinary and extraordinary people. The GA-FGM is trying to create the biggest chain of people saying NO to FGM. If you come across “Excision” please hold it! It was an event held by Maasai women in Kenya, thanks to the French NGO Terres de Couleurs. Dr. Michel Sidibé from Mali and UNAIDS Executive Director gracefully accepted to support our social media campaign by holding Patrick Gignac’s powerful painting.

GWPF:  When you are not helping to lead the Global Alliance what do you do with your personal time?

Elisabeth Wilson:  Truth be told, there is not much of a personal time. If you want to progress in this very difficult cause, it is rather a 24-hours job. This situation changed a bit when Holger and I had a son in 2014. He keeps us pretty busy and we have to manage our timetables differently. We named him Dag after Dag Hammarksjöld the United Nations second Secretary General and Swedish Diplomat, shot in his plane during the Belgian-Congo crisis. He was a visionary man who stood up for the rights of the feeble new independent states and refused to be ruled by powerful greedy Nations. He is the first international public servant who advocated for Gender Equality sixty years in advance. The UN Charter upheld the democracy of states. Hammarskjöld went a step further with the democracy of human rights – that is, the equal rights of men and women, independent of race, sex, language and religion. Had he not created his revolutionary Blue Helmets, my parents, my brother, my sister and I would have not survived during the political turmoil that ravaged the Belgian-Congo. We would have just vanished in a mass grave. The least I could do was to name my son after him. I hope our little Dag will do meaningful and important things, that he will always bear up our high family values and also that FGM will end with his generation.

GWPF:  What was it like to grow up during decolonization times?

Elisabeth Wilson:  As a child I grew up in the World Health Organization compound in Brazzaville, close to the WHO Regional Office. The dismantlement of African states and the decolonization process was still on its march and Apartheid was still one the most hateful and brutal segregation systems. Everything was so fragile. But, the United Nations recruited in its ranks, international public servants coming from all its Member States. So, Europeans had to learn to collaborate with highly educated non-Europeans. As children, we knew that our parents had created a new world. My best friend was half Chinese and half Danish. Ivan spoke 5 languages: Chinese, Danish, French, English and Lingala to make friends at school with Congolese kids. We were born and raised color-blind with rather a cult for cultural mixity and a deep respect for other people’s cultures. I remember feeling unfitted because I only could speak 3 languages; French, English and Haitian Creole. I added 2 more languages in between; Italian and Spanish.

GWPF:  We ask this question in nearly all exclusives.  Do you foresee a world free of FGM someday?

Elisabeth Wilson:  Definitely, Yes! The movement against FGM becomes stronger and the international solidarity is growing. All the UN member states agreed in 2012 in banning FGM worldwide. Major steps were done in the past and more of them will be done in the future. We are not sure about the goal of ending FGM in one generation’s time; this seems to be quite too optimistic. Looking at the current level of FGM prevalence reduction, this is far too slow. UNFPA/UNICEF foresees a decline of the FGM prevalence in countries like Burkina Faso or Mali to 40% by 2020. That would be progress for the next five years, faster than the last three decades. Should this goal be achieved, then we would have good chances to eradicate FGM in one generation, at least on the African continent. In any case, the abandoning process needs to be accelerated; the field programs need to be properly evaluated so that we finally really know what works and what does not work. Based on this knowledge, the projects could be optimized, systematized and gain in impact.

GWPF:  If so, what role do you foresee the Global Alliance playing in eradicating FGM?

Elisabeth Wilson:  Our role is as described, as facilitators, as producers of accelerating strategies, as an organization that does what the great lady and pioneer Edna Adan Ismail asked western NGOs to do; support the work done in the field through efficient communication strategies and relevant collaborations regarding the development of FGM ending strategies and actions. Another important aspect is to broaden the horizon of FGM ending activities to those countries that are still neglected. In Indonesia alone more than 40 million women and girls live with the consequences of FGM, but no action is taken. We do not know what is going on in other Asian and Latin American countries. Work needs to be done in the Middle East, following WADI’s example. We know now that FGM is common in Iran and we can be sure that it occurs in many other places in the world. Ending FGM in one generation means to integrate all these countries and establish globally concerted action. That is why we named our organization Global Alliance against FGM.

 

(Join us in next week’s edition when An Exclusive brings you another fascinating person) 

Global Woman P.E.A.C.E. Foundation (GWPF) announces its third annual Walk to End FGM scheduled for Saturday, October 15^th on the Washington National Mall.  Started in 2014, Walk to End FGM is a 5K charity walk-a-thon against female genital mutilation (FGM).  FGM is the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons.  Most girls undergo FGM when they are between 5 and 15 years old.  Practiced for more than 5 centuries, FGM made its way to Europe, the U.K., Australia and North America due to the continuation of the practice by immigrants from countries where FGM is common.

Mission and Purpose

The mission of our organization is to empower women and girls through education to eradicate gender based violence, with focus on female genital mutilation.  The purpose of the Walk to End FGM is to raise awareness about the practice of female genital mutilation.  The organization saw the need to educate and inform the public in the U.S. that this heinous and atrocious practice is not only a problem in Africa, Asia and the Middle East; that it is a problem of the world.

 

Proceeds

The proceeds raised from the Walk to End FGM are used to support the restorative surgeries of survivors of FGM, including group and one-on-one counseling.

 

Statistics

According to the Population Reference Bureau (PRB) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 500,000 girls in the U.S. are either at risk or are living with post-consequences of FGM/C.  The states known with the highest numbers are California (56,872), New York (48,418), Minnesota (44,293), Texas (33,087), Maryland (31,820) and Virginia (30,830).  The District of Columbia has approximately 4000 women and girls.

 

Get Involved and Participate

• Form a team and invite others to join your team and help raise funds
• Join a team that is already formed
• Register as an individual participant
• 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.

and Walk to End FGM.

 

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.

This week, we travel up the Turnpike to New Jersey to speak with yet another fascinating lady, Sayydah Garrett.  We invite you to sit back, relax and learn about the heart of another humanitarian.

GWPF:  What do you do as a corporate worker?

Sayydah Garrett:  I actually left corporate 20 years ago. I worked at American Express Bank in New York City for 9 years as the Executive Assistant to the Executive Vice President of Correspondent Banking responsible for Europe, Middle East & Africa. My duties involved scheduling meetings and business travel, planning 8 annual bankers’ luncheons, writing and editing correspondence,  welcoming clients from around the world and serving them coffee on fine bone china.

GWPF:  With such corporate background, what helped shape your life into a humanitarian?

Sayydah Garrett:  I give my parents full credit for becoming a humanitarian.  As far back as I can remember they have always helped friends and people in need, setting the perfect example of how to help your fellow woman/man. I love Maya Angelou’s saying, “When you receive, give. When you learn, teach.”  This is how my parents roll. So, when I went on safari to Kenya to see elephants in their natural habitat, my compassion for others was tested when a Samburu Warrior told me about his dream to start an organization to eradicate female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage in his tribal community.

GWPF:  What part of Canada are you originally from, and what was life like growing up in Canada?

Sayydah Garrett:  I’m from Montreal, Quebec. Growing up in Canada was great! We have the best of all 4 seasons so life never gets boring. I have fond memories of growing up with my 4 brothers. We did so many things together – attended music conservatory, played games and sports – lots of baseball, went on nature walks in the fall to see spectacular foliage, swam in fresh water lakes, played at and attended music festivals, survived brutal snowstorms, and so on. Life was more relaxed back then too. We didn’t lock our doors, we played outside without feeling fearful, and our parents allowed us to have fun and take it easy if we wanted to.

GWPF:  Tell us how you became involved with the Pastoralist Child Foundation.

Sayydah Garrett:  I’m an elephant lover and foster Kenia, a 9 year old female, at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Nairobi, Kenya. After watching a documentary film about elephants with my husband and daughter, I said, “I want to go to Kenya to see my elephant.” My husband jokingly said, “You can see elephants on YouTube.”  Well!! That’s all it took for me to book a safari to Samburu and Maasai Mara in August, 2012. On the second day of my trip I visited Namayiana Village in Archer’s Post. I was the only visitor that morning. It was absolutely amazing! A young warrior offered to take pictures while I enjoyed talking and dancing with everyone. When I returned to Samburu Game Lodge, I beckoned Samuel Siriria Leadismo, the assistant restaurant captain I met the day before. I excitedly showed him the pictures and once I calmed down, he said, “That’s my sister. That’s my brother. That’s my village.”  And I was thinking, “Samuel is wearing a restaurant uniform, unlike the villagers who wore colorful clothes and beaded jewelry…I’m confused!”  Samuel explained that he’s an educated Samburu Warrior who studied restaurant and hotel hospitality. After telling me more about his tribe, he became very serious and said these exact words, “I want to start a community based organization to eradicate female genital mutilation and forced marriages of girls before it’s my youngest sister’s turn to get cut. Girls should be allowed to go to school and get an education.”  I was blown away!! I mean, how many men ever express their desire to eradicate FGM? When I heard how serious he was I said, “Well, I live 8,000 miles away in New Jersey but I can help you. I can raise awareness about your cause, raise money and I’m a certified grant writer.  (Following my gig at AmexBank I worked as a grant writer for 10 years at a nonprofit that assists the homeless population in New Jersey.) Samuel smiled, pointed at me and exclaimed, “Great! YOU will be our President!”  And I said, “OK!” We co-founded Pastoralist Child Foundation (PCF) more right then and there. We hadn’t known each other 24 hours.

GWPF:  What exactly does the Pastoralist Child Foundation do and where is it based?

Sayydah Garrett:  In an effort to educate girls and the communities in which they live, Pastoralist Child Foundation (PCF) provides 4-day workshops for girls ages 12-17 during school holidays in April, August and December. These months are commonly called “cutting season.” We have an office in Archer’s Post, Samburu County, Kenya and a home office in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. PCF is a registered nonprofit in Kenya and the US. The objective is to prevent harmful practices that marginalize girls. The rate of FGM is 95% in Samburu and Maasai Mara counties. The primary school dropout rate is 93%. Through mobilization and education, PCF is instrumental in reducing deeply rooted harmful practices at the grassroots level. Throughout the year, PCF also visits rural villages to provide community workshops for boys, women, men and elders to address FGM and child marriage, as well as HIV/AIDS, teen pregnancy, child rights, and the importance of formal education as the vehicle towards improved economic conditions. PCF trains youth leaders and change agents from the villages. They provide valuable advice and keep the inter-generational dialogues alive to increase support for the abandonment of FGM and child marriage. PCF is replacing FGM with safe Alternative Rites of Passage for girls. Education = Empowerment = Equality. In addition, PCF’s scholarship program provides full tuition and boarding for very low-income, high performing secondary school girls. PCF currently sponsors 9 girls attending schools in Samburu County and Maasai Mara. The girls are required to maintain good grades, be model citizens, demonstrate leadership skills, and volunteer at PCF’s workshops during school holidays. They’re excellent role models for the younger participants who are very curious and keen about furthering their education beyond primary school.

GWPF:  We understand you have a special attraction for languages.  How many do you speak, and what is the attraction?

Sayydah Garrett:  Yes! Oui! Da! Tak! Si! I speak fluent English, French and Russian. My mother is Ukrainian and born in France, so my maternal languages are English and French. I developed a love of languages as a child. I learned Ukrainian conversation at a young age and dreamed of becoming a United Nations interpreter, so I majored in Russian Language & Literature in university. I also studied Arabic and Spanish, and can say basic sentences and greetings in many other languages.

GWPF:  Pastoralist Child Foundation envisions the day when female genital mutilation (FGM) and forced early marriage (FEM) will be completely abandoned in Kenya.  Is there a special strategy that the foundation has?

Sayydah Garrett: Our strategy in eradicating FGM and forced early marriage is through mobilization and education. We work at the grassroots level and include all stakeholders – girls, boys, women, men, elders, former circumcisers, child protection agencies, healthcare workers, law enforcement, village chiefs, teachers, religious leaders, and local government. Progress happens more quickly when the effort is all-inclusive, resulting in a responsive participatory community. When Alternative Rites of Passage are introduced as the replacement for FGM the community buy-in increases.

 

We envision a decrease in FGM and child marriage; an increase in the number of girls enrolling and staying in school; and an increase in the number of girls graduating from secondary school. Through our workshops we’re empowering girls to stand up for their civil rights, beliefs, rights to get a formal education, marry when ready, live healthy lives, bear healthy children, and get jobs.

 

We envision the day (it better be soon!!) when men will cease to shame and discriminate against uncut women and agree to marry them the way they were born – intact.

 

GWPF:  By the way, congratulations on your success with your organization.  Tell us about the latest big event you held in Kenya late last year.

Sayydah Garrett:  PCF held a public Alternative Rite of Passage for 200 girls who graduated from the 3 educational workshops in 2015.  The joyous celebration was held on December 2, 2015 at Archer’s Post Stadium in Samburu. The celebration opened with a prayer by male elders and village chiefs who agree that FGM should be abandoned. There was a lot of dancing, singing, poetry recitations, and speeches by PCF staff, parents and local dignitaries.

The icing on the cake was when the Women’s Committee at Namayiana Village (the village I first visited in August, 2012) announced that the village has collectively agreed to abandon the practice of FGM. The decision was made as a result of our regular workshops! The women also told us that they’ve seen a significant decline of FGM in nearby villages.

GWPF:  And how are Elephants, Marketing and FGM connected?  Please tell us!

Sayydah Garrett:  Marketing is everything. We have to regularly advertise and promote our work through every possible channel to raise awareness about FGM. This non-medical procedure damages 6,000 girls every single day around the world, and according to WHO, 200 million girls and women have undergone FGM. We have to address FGM right here in America where girls are being subjected to “vacation cutting” – going on “holidays” to their native countries unaware that they’ll be mutilated. As for the elephants, they’re being slaughtered at alarming rates!! “Conservation of girls and elephants through marketing” is how I’d sum it up.

GWPF:  How high is the forced early marriage rate in Kenya?

Sayydah Garrett:  Kenya has one of the highest child marriage rates in the world with the national rate at 30%.  However, in Samburu and Maasai Mara Counties the rate is close to 84%.

GWPF:  How closely related are FGM and FEM?

Sayydah Garrett:  FGM and FEM (Forced Early Marriage) are tightly intertwined. When a girl reaches puberty she undergoes FGM and shortly thereafter she’s forced to marry. FGM is a rite of passage to womanhood. Really? A 13 year old girl is now a “woman?”  I beg to differ. She’s not a woman emotionally, psychologically, and in most cases not physically developed enough to bear children. However, economics play a large part in forced early marriage. Low-income parents/guardians use FGM as a way to exchange daughters for money or livestock. This marginalizes girls and results in the majority of them dropping out of primary school.

GWPF:  The Maasai community in Kenya is known as the biggest FGM practicing community in that country.  How is your work and presence in Kenya making a difference in that community?

Sayydah Garrett:  Due to the fact that the Maasai community is highly patriarchal, it makes sense to include boys and men in our efforts to eradicate FGM. Our outreach is making a difference because once the boys and men learn what FGM does to their wives, daughters, aunts, grandmothers and other females they become more understanding. We show men a video of a young girl undergoing FGM. This is an eye opener, to say the least! We now have young men and warriors declaring, “Stop FGM!” “No FGM!” “We will marry uncut girls.”  With financial funding to continue mobilizing and sensitizing the communities we can dramatically decrease the rate of FGM. We believe FGM will be eradicated within one generation. I love the saying by Rumi, “Live your life as if everything is rigged in your favor.”  We only think about what’s possible and throw the impossible by the wayside. We anticipate many more villages to publicly declare their abandonment of FGM.

GWPF:  And with all the work that keeps you busy, you are still a family woman with a husband and child.  What is your secret in managing such schedule?

Sayydah Garrett:  A desk calendar and yellow stickies all over the house helps! In all seriousness, I know my limitations and how much I can handle on any given day. When I’m tired, I take a nap. Fortunately, my husband isn’t demanding or needy and our daughter is employed and lives in her own apartment. Oh! Did I mention that I’m a certified ESL (English as a Second Language) and Adult Basic Education instructor? I teach part-time and really enjoy teaching adults from many different countries. I learn so much from them and love it when they bring me food. Feed me and you’re my friend for life!

  

(Join us in next week’s edition when An Exclusive brings you another fascinating woman)            

Announcing a Social & Shopping Event:  The Millennium Seat Pleasant Club of the National Capital Area invites you to join them in a Sunday afternoon Social and Shopping event on Sunday, June 12, 2016 at 3:00pm until 6:00pm at Sully Station Community Center, 15101 Sequoia Farm Drive, Centreville, Virginia 20121.  Refreshments will be served and admission is free.  There will be fragrances, make-up, etc.  There will also be book signing by Author Julianne Malveaux.  Guest Presenter is Ms. Vernell Wilks of “Youth for Tomorrow”.  For more information, contact Deniece (Sassy) Brooks at mspclub2005@gmail.com or Vera Wilkes at novarep1214@aol.com.  http://networking-social-shopping.eventbrite.com.

Female Mutilation authored by Hilary Burrage has been released in the US and Canada.  The author attended the Inter-African Committee conference on FGM last week in Geneva, where she presented her book Female Mutilation to the crowd.  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

45 Degrees Project stages their 3^rd 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 7^th through 13^th in Chicago and on August 15^th through the 21^st 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 12^th and Saturday, August 13^th.  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.

Volunteers Needed:  Global Woman P.E.A.C.E. Foundation is in search of volunteers for their 3^rd 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 will be available this Thursday, June 2^nd 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 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.

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

KALW  OT  NED  MGF (4 WORDS)

THONAKALW  0216 (1 WORD & NUMBERS)

TRATIONREGIS

SORSPONS

NERSPART

 

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

BALISMCANNI                                                                  CANNIBALISM

DUATIONGRA                                                                   GRADUATION

ARIAMAL                                                                            MALARIA

THERAPISTPSYCHO                                                       PSYCHOTHERAPIST

NUTSPEA                                                                            PEANUTS

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

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.

This week we travel to the state of Maryland in the U.S. to speak with another fascinating lady.  Sando is originally from the West African nation, Liberia.  She talks candidly about some of the dark sides of the innermost parts of that country.

GWPF:  For the past 25 years you have worked for the State of Maryland.  What exactly do you do for the State of Maryland?

Sando Sherman-Adetunji:  Currently, I work as a social worker II, LGSW.  I am licensed at the graduate level.  I work in the Emergency Services Unit, which serves the Montgomery County public.  I started with the Department of Social Services in 1988 when my daughter was only five months old.  I was a data processor, just out of a two-year college with an Associate Degree.

GWPF:  You are a family-oriented social worker with low-income families.  Tell us about your work.

Sando Sherman-Adetunji:  I work with families and children to help them get caught up with their bills when they lose their jobs or are on the verge of losing their homes.  I case-manage the homeless families or single adults as well.

GWPF:  You are a very busy lady, Sando.  Are you still working with Ryan Rehabilitation?  If so, please tell us what you do at Ryan Rehabilitation.

Sando Sherman-Adetunji:  I no longer work at the Ryan Rehabilitation, due to my college studies.  But I did enjoy working with the clients.  I also worked at a mental health lock-down facility in Hagerstown, Maryland, located in Washington County as an in-patient psychotherapist five years ago.

GWPF:  You are originally from Liberia.  What part of Liberia are you from?

Sando Sherman-Adetunji:  Well, I was born in Margibi County in Kakata, Liberia, which is close to the Booker T. Washington High School.  As a matter of fact, as a little girl, I sold groundpeas (peanuts) and coldbowl (food cooked a day earlier) on that school campus to students and teachers.  My grandmother and mother owned a restaurant not far from that high school.  Believe it or not, my mother also sold alcohol and marijuana from the restaurant.  My brother and I were made to sell marijuana for our parents.  He stood on Carey Street and I stood on Gurley Street in Monrovia, Liberia to sell that for our parents.  I had moved to Monrovia in the early 1970s.  We lived in a one-bedroom apartment with six people.  As a curious child, I already knew what sex was and how a baby was made at the age of six years old.  I am planning to write a manuscript about that period of my life.

GWPF:  According to reports, for a girl to attain primary and secondary education in Liberia remains a major challenge.  Why do you think it is such a challenge?

Sando Sherman-Adetunji:  It is due to poverty, unemployment and old traditions.  When some parents have no means of supporting themselves, they tend to send their children to work to help with the upkeep in the home.  Most girls are pulled out of school and placed in the Sande Society Bush School to prepare for womanhood and to become a wife.

GWPF:  United Nations reports show that girls below age 10 are pulled out of schools by traditionalists to undergo initiation ceremonies, which include female genital mutilation.  Would you please elaborate on this?

Sando Sherman-Adetunji:  Well, it depends on the culture and traditions.  My traditions and culture do believe that a child is only marriageable when she has undergone female genital mutilation.  Income is another reason why the excisor or circumciser performs female genital mutilation (FGM).  One of the excisors (circumcisers) in the Garwular District in Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia is my grand aunt (my grandmother’s sister).  I wanted to call a meeting with her but approaching her was ritualistic.  I was made to send her money through a coordinator to tell her that I wanted to speak with her about FGM.  Then my grand aunt requested additional funds to provide transportation for her and other excisors to travel to where I had planned to conduct the meeting.  I complied and provided the funds for their transportation to the meeting.  Standing before fifty excisors was an out-of-body experience for me.  They demanded that no cameras be allowed and only women who had undergone FGM or members of the Sande Society Bush were allowed in the hut where the meeting was held.  No men were allowed at the meeting.  You see, the male equivalent of the Sande Society is the Poro Society but the females and males do not have meetings together.  After much discussion with the excisors, the agreement was to stop practicing FGM in their district, and I would send them financial support for the elderly women who could no longer work for a living.

GWPF:  Obviously, you have upheld your end of the agreement.  Have the excisors upheld their part of the agreement from that meeting?

Sando Sherman-Adetunji:  That meeting was held in 2010, and I am happy to say that the women have upheld their promise of the agreement.  That district in Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia is now FGM-free.

GWPF:  How do you know for sure that they are really upholding their agreement to you?

Sando Sherman-Adetunji:  I know because I have coordinators on the ground that report to me regularly on the progress, and I go back to visit every year.  I also have to pay the coordinators to ensure that that agreement is kept.     

GWPF:  Reports indicate that Grand Cape Mount County has been successful in convincing traditionalists to stop pulling girls out of school for the purpose of FGM.  What is the strategy that the County of Cape Mount used to accomplish that?

Sando Sherman-Adetunji:  I will tell you an account of my personal story.  I was only nine years old when my grandmother kidnapped me from my school.  She lied to the missionaries at my school and said that my father had had a car accident, and he was requesting to say his goodbyes.  I was blindfolded as soon as I was off the school campus and my life changed forever.  I was taken to the Sande Society Bush and they held me down and performed FGM on me.  When I returned from the Sande Society Bush after a year, I was already a woman.  I had been prepared to serve a man and be his wife; I had been taught how to make a bed, and how to position my hips to become pregnant during sex.  Anyway, I was also taught how to dance the traditional dance, and I became a dancer for visitors to the village.  I wanted to be back in school so I ran away from the village the first opportunity I had and returned to school.

Sando Sherman Adetunji:  Going back to that report you asked about earlier, I am not sure about the report but I do know that the people in my village are not the only ethnic group that practice FGM.  We have the Sierra Leoneans, Ghanaians and the Kru, the Lorma and Gio ethnic groups that practice FGM.  My success in the Garwular District of Cape Mount County was not an easy process.  The people of that district had to be able to trust me; it was a bit easier for me because I am one of them.  I can get through to them better than anyone else can because I have gone through the Sande Society Bush.  Education is vital in these remote areas, and also starting activities from which they can benefit is healthy.  I encourage anyone to invest in the Cape Mount Lakeside area to build resorts on the beautiful beaches to help the economy in that area.  Community education projects and investment approach are the two best factors to help end FGM.

GWPF:  You also helped make a difference in Cape Mount against female genital mutilation.  Do you wish to share what you did in Cape Mount?

Sando Sherman-Adetunji:  Dialogue with the community and the leaders of the Sande Society Bush, but one has to be a member to penetrate that tightly knit society.  If you are not a member, it is going to be a struggle of no cooperation.  The trust level and the people’s belief system are deeply rooted in that society.  I used economics to help convince them to stop the practice in the district.

GWPF:  Do you think Liberia will ever ban the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM)?

Sande Sherman-Adetunji:  With the right president and proper enforcement of the law, it is plausible.

GWPF:  How much responsibility should be placed on the leaders of Liberia to end the practice of FGM?

Sande Sherman-Adetunji:  I do not think that advocates and activists should depend on the leaders of that country to end FGM.  We need to do what I did with the people in the district.  We need to negotiate with the main excisors and perpetrators in dialogue.  Determine what their needs are and what they lack and use those needs to negotiate.  Once you get them to agree to a commitment, then monitor the progress and make sure they uphold their end of the bargain.

GWPF:  With the firm hold that the Sande Society has in Liberia, what will it take to convince them to stop the practice of FGM?

Sando Sherman-Adetunji:  Education of the people and providing employment opportunities.

GWPF:  What is the punishment from the Sande Society for someone who exposes their secret about the practice of FGM?

Sando Sherman-Adetunji:  It is death but permission must be given to impose the death sentence on those who expose the secrets of the Sande Society.

GWPF:  You are a PhD. candidate.  What are your future plans for Liberia after graduation?

Sando Sherman-Adetunji:  My plans are to become a public health worker for the World Health Organization (WHO).  If I am stationed in Liberia, I would love to eradicate infectious diseases, most especially malaria and the mosquitos that cause malaria.  Maybe I will be the first female epidemiologist of Liberia.

GWPF:  Do you ever foresee a FGM-free world?

Sando Sherman-Adetunji:  No I don’t.  It is not just about the cutting and mutilation but in some places, it is about cannibalism and the ritualistic beliefs.  I think there are mentally ill people in various ethnic groups who are cannibals and they have a craving for human flesh.

GWPF:  Why do you relate FGM to cannibalism?

Sando Sherman-Adetunji:  Has anyone ever wondered what the excisors do with the parts of the genitalia they cut off the girls?  I have not heard anyone in America ask that question.  Certainly, they do not throw it away.  So what do you think they do with it?  Think of the ritualistic beliefs and connect that with cannibalism.  Maybe in other countries they throw it away but within the Sande Society Bush, they use it cannibalistically.  Figure it out.

GWPF:  What would be Sando Sherman-Adetunji’s contribution to a world free of FGM?

Sando Sherman-Adetunji:  Education in the most remote areas of the world is in dire need.  My strategy is to have coordinators in every district to monitor any performance of FGM and to follow through after interventions have been implemented.  I also plan to develop a model that will help the FGM women to participate in schools and other social service programs.  Some of the activities would be basket-weaving programs, tie-dying tee-shirts, sewing clothes, making housewares, jewelry, welding, diamond and gold digging, etc.  We already have these projects but there are no funds to implement them to move to the next districts.  I am afraid I might lose credibility and then I would have to start all over again with the women.  I plan to travel to Liberia in December 2016 to implement the micro-finance program with the FGM women and the pregnant women in the district in Cape Mount County.  I also plan to implement the adult-basic English conversation with the women.  Education is the key to empowerment.  The first class conducted in 2014 in that area was forced to close down due to the Ebola crisis in that country.  However I plan to reopen the literacy program.  If the women become literate, we might have an easier way to comprehensively explain the health risks and dangers of FGM to them.

Join us in next week’s edition when An Exclusive brings you another fascinating woman.     

Announcing a Social & Shopping Event:  The Millennium Seat Pleasant Club of the National Capital Area invites you to join them in a Sunday afternoon Social and Shopping event on Sunday, June 12, 2016 at 3:00pm until 6:00pm at Sully Station Community Center, 15101 Sequoia Farm Drive, Centreville, Virginia 20121.  Refreshments will be served and admission is free.  There will be fragrances, make-up, etc.  There will also be book signing by Author Julianne Malveaux.  Guest Presenter is Ms. Vernell Wilks of “Youth for Tomorrow”.  For more information, contact Deniece (Sassy) Brooks at mspclub2005@gmail.com or Vera Wilkes at novarep1214@aol.com.  http://networking-social-shopping.eventbrite.com.

Female Mutilation authored by Hilary Burrage was released in the US and Canada on May 2, 2016.  The author attended the Inter-African Committee conference on FGM last week in Geneva, where she presented her book Female Mutilation to the crowd.  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

Volunteers Needed:  Global Woman P.E.A.C.E. Foundation is in search of volunteers for their 3^rd 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 begins in 2 weeks.  Call 703.818.3787 or email info@globalwomanpeacefoundation.org for additional information.  Follow us on Twitter @1Globalwoman and “like” us on FaceBook www.facebook.com/globalwomanpeacefoundation.

 

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.

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.

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

BALISMCANNI

DUATIONGRA

ARIAMAL

THERAPISTPSYCHO

NUTSPEA

 

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

MALEEF LATIONMUTI                                                   FEMALE MUTILATION

BINAREW                                                                            WEBINAR

UNTEERINGVOL                                                              VOLUNTEERING

NERINGPART                                                                    PARTNERING

DENTSTU                                                                            STUDENT

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

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

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

This week, we travel across the Atlantic Ocean to Geneva, Switzerland to introduce you to an extraordinary lady, Elisabeth Wilson.  She keeps you fully engaged in the following exclusive.  Relax and enjoy.

GWPF:  What is the nature of your work?

Elisabeth Wilson:  The Global Alliance against Female Genital Mutilation (GA-FGM) is a French NGO created in 2010 with an office in Geneva. After attending many conferences about FGM, the commemoration of the International Day of Zero Tolerance to FGM as celebrated in Geneva, my companion and I came to realize two things: the FGM community was in search of more dynamic synergies amongst organizations and they were all complaining about the lack of visibility, communication, collaboration and specifically comparable scientific data. We assisted many times to annual meetings gathering FGM experts, the diplomatic community and concerned Swiss authorities invited by the same NGO. Something crucial was also missing: the presence of the general public.

 

Holger Postulart the other founder of the GA-FGM is a specialist in adult education and training; I am a former broadcast journalist. After several mandates as consultants at the World Health Organization in Geneva in Education and Communication, we both decided to create the GA-FGM. He is the Executive Director and I am the Chief of communications. So what should this Alliance be composed of? United Nations Agencies, big and well financed NGOs? No, we wanted to give a voice to the voiceless, meaning all grass-roots NGOs active on the field in Africa and across the world, with no communication capacity, no visibility, little access to internet or well-structured FGM platforms; NGOs willing to disseminate and share their results,  best practices and therefore avoid duplicates. We noticed a critical lack of access to scientific resources, up-to-date data and comparable statistics. Moreover, the mobilization campaigns never really reached the general public. The FGM-fighting community needed a paradigm shift and a new collaboration approach, in order for competent small structures to be heard and be part of the FGM-fighting community.

 

I am proud to announce that the founding member of the Alliance is the Pastoralist Child Foundation in Kenya, founded by the American-Canadian humanitarian Sayyidah Garret.

GWPF:  Why is Global Alliance against FGM a Canadian-German initiative?

Elisabeth Wilson:  Holger Postulart is German and I am Canadian-Haitian. The DNA of our organization is imprinted by our professional duo and couple. Holger and I believe in the involvement of men and women of all cultures in the global fight against FGM. We are not involved in humanitarian affairs by opportunism, it runs in our blood. My father was a public health engineer at World Health Organization. He participated in the first humanitarian mission ever deployed in Africa, in Belgian-Congo where I was born. This historical contingent was mainly composed of Haitians. Haiti was at the time, the first non-European country capable of massively providing medical doctors, public health engineers, educators, nurses, epidemiologists, etc. in order to help alleviate the Belgian-Congo crisis and help the Congolese civil society. It was also the first time that Haitians were returning to Africa after centuries of brutal slavery, knighted as international public servants with PhDs and the diplomatic protection of the United Nations. That historical contingent was quite inspirational, during these very racist times. I was born in that volatile Belgian-Congo. Holger made his first serious contact with the humanitarian work at the age of 14 when his parents co-founded one of the first regional Amnesty International groups in Germany. He stayed with the group for several years and continued his humanitarian engagement during and after his studies in psychology and medicine, mainly for an association acting in the South African townships.

GWPF:  Tell us more about Global Alliance against Female Genital Mutilation.

Elisabeth Wilson:  The GA-FGM lays the foundation of its work on two pillars: culture, music and arts in its mobilization campaigns, and proposes global educational projects and technological driven field approaches to contribute to the acceleration of FGM abandonment. Each year we offer to the Geneva international community either unseen arts exhibition at the United Nations Office or academic activities such as organizing high-level meetings, symposiums, press conferences involving not only the experts, but also, the media and the general public. We are trying to think out of the box. We are the first organization which has introduced the Native peoples of Canada in the global fight against FGM. Thus, Great Chief Constant Awashish a francophone Chief of the Atikamekw Nation of Quebec became the first aboriginal Chief across the Americas to support the global fight against FGM. Mrs. Pat Halfmoon Bruderer of the Cree Nation of Manitoba, also one of the last master of the ancient art of Birch Bark Biting, honored us by becoming our Female Goodwill Ambassador in Canada. We were the first to organize on February the 6^th 2014 an arts exhibition gathering Native Canadian and African artists at the United Nations, expressing themselves about FGM.

GWPF:  What was the outcome of this innovative approach?

Elisabeth Wilson:  Our innovative cultural approaches rapidly led to the official support of UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, via the Swiss Commission for UNESCO, who do grant us annually with their patronage and logo, for all our communication, educational or cultural events. As for the academic side of our activities, we are trying to develop innovative approaches and accelerating strategies. Since our creation in 2010, we have been trying to create the first university Chair specializing on FGM and women’s uro-genital sufferance. Financing this highly complex project turned out being extremely difficult. Though our initiative was welcomed by the FGM scientific and grass-root community, it is quite difficult to gather the money to realize it. We are currently in search of patrons, philanthropists, financial partners, donors to help create this unique university Chair that could become a UNESCO Chair.

GWPF:  What are the main goals of Global Alliance?

Elisabeth Wilson:  Contribute to the total abandonment of FGM via a global educational/monitoring project and raise awareness about this cause at an unprecedented level.  Again, since our foundation in 2010, we have been working on the creation of the first University Chair specializing on FGM. For that we multiplied various transdisciplinary activities. In 2014 in collaboration with Dr Charles-Henry Rochat of the GFMER (Geneva Foundation for Medical Education and Research) the Swiss specialist when it comes to repairing obstetrical fistula, one on the most horrific consequence of FGM. We co-organized with him a press event and conference at le Club Suisse de la presse in commemoration of the First International Day to End Obstetric Fistula.

 

In 2015, we commemorated the International Day of Zero Tolerance to FGM, by organizing 2 major events:

1) A public debate at the Geneva Ethnographic Museum, gathering African and Aboriginal anthropologists, to confront patriarchal and matrilineal views and analysis about violent traditions against women and FGM.

2) A high-level meeting at the Palais des Nations gathering Dr Pierre Foldès, inventor the women’s reconstructive surgery, WADI a German NGO fighting against FGM in Iraq (Kurdistan), Pr Guyo Jaldesa of the African Coordination Center of the Abandonment of FGM, at the University of Nairobi, Pr Emmanuel Kabengele, University of Geneva and at the time acting Director the UNIGE’s Global Health Institute, Pr Abdoulaye Sow, a Mauritanian anthropologist and anti-FGM activist, president of the scientific committee of the research team on FGM at the University of Nouakchott (Mauritania) and coordinator of the Interdisciplinary Center on Cultural Rights.

 

Activities like these are meant to facilitate the achievement of our main goals: enhancing the communication and collaboration between field actors, reinforcing scientific work on FGM with the scope of having a direct impact on the field, more specifically by having a more systematic evaluation of these projects. Altogether, this will considerably help FGM abandonment as well as optimizing the treatment and care for the FGM survivors.

 

GWPF:  Your website mentions that FGM is the “Red-headed Stepchild” and the “Poor Parent” of the United Nations system.  Would you kindly explain why Global Alliance terms it as that?

Elisabeth Wilson:  In the meantime, we changed this passage, since in December 2012 United Nations voted the historical Resolution A/RES/67/146 banning FGM worldwide. With his Resolution calling for the intensification of global action to end FGM, this very harmful practice has gained importance for the United Nations. More than once the Secretary General Ban Ki-moon made vibrant statements against FGM and exhorted civil society to help him in achieving its total elimination.

GWPF:  Would you tell us about the annual rotating conference of Global Alliance?

Elisabeth Wilson:  The organization of an annual rotating conference was one of the first ideas we had six years ago. The idea was to gather annually experts from all over the world, not only in Geneva. The ultimate goal was to develop trans-disciplinary approaches including anthropology, sociology, medicine, psychology, law, science and others. FGM is such a complex phenomenon; it needs to be addressed in an equivalent way. The lack of funding hampered us from realizing this ambitious idea but we managed to organize high-level meetings in 2014 and 2015 in Geneva. We are proud to say that our conferences were amongst the first with an audience equally composed by men and women, FGM experts or not.

GWPF:  What are the plans you have in place for your mobile emergency units?

Elisabeth Wilson:  This is another very ambitious project that we had in mind right from the very start. Knowing that especially in the rural areas the access to medical services is very limited, we thought of mobile clinics as the solution for the lack of treatment for FGM survivors. We wanted the mobile clinics to be equipped with medical and psychological personnel, who would patrol, disseminate and collect information in order to prevent, intervene or address other urgencies as well. This would be a project to be realized in cooperation with experienced organizations such as Médecins sans Frontières or Médecins du Monde.

GWPF:  How do you think we should engage and include men and boys around the world in the quest to end FGM?

Elisabeth Wilson:  The key role of men and boys in this matter is quite obvious. Their implication is essential.  Gender equality should start at the youngest possible age. FGM and other violations of Human Rights need a part of the school education, both in developing and wealthy countries. We need a generation of young men that grew up with the ideals of gender equality, total refusal of all kind of gender-based violence and a healthy, respectful conceptions of sexuality. As for the men who are now adolescents or adults in FGM concerned or migration countries, they ought to be integrated in specialized educational programs. They need to be under controlled care in order for them to have access to information regarding FGM. Like religious and community leaders, men are also part of the solution to ending FGM. Finally, the fight against the practice will only be successful if it is conducted by men and women of all cultures, responding hand in hand to the United Nations Secretary General’s call for an unprecedented and international solidarity.

 

GWPF:  You have some powerful ambassadors in your organization.  What is their role in combatting FGM?

Elisabeth Wilson:  The role of a dedicated Goodwill Ambassador is indeed quite powerful. It is designed to raise the visibility of a cause in uncharted territories to create more public awareness and therefore reinforce the participation of men and women of all cultures. A Goodwill Ambassador’s advocacy work will also help raise the donors’ interest. The GA-FGM is also observing some of the United Nations agendas. For example UNESCO has declared 2013-2022, the International Decade for the “Rapprochement of Cultures”. Responding to this appeal, we introduced the participation of Native Canadians in the cause. Pat Halfmoon Bruderer, is the typical example of an excellent Ambassador. She herself escaped from all the traditional violence afflicting native women and hampering their lives and communities, marked by the dreadful situation of some Canadian Indian Reservations. She decided to perpetuate good traditions, and became a master of the Aboriginal vanishing art of Birch Bark Biting, usually transmitted by women. Last time we heard from her she was heading to the North West Territories, between Yukon and the Nunavut to teach her art. She discussed about FGM with the local native women. Upset to hear that women could be subjected to such a violent tradition, their reaction was to ask Pat Bruderer what could they do to help their follow human beings in the South. So we know that the involvement of men and women of all cultures and the introduction of old peoples of the new and the ancient world is the key to the acceleration of FGM abandonment.

GWPF:  Tell us about your awareness campaign, “Yes, You Can Say No – Picture It?

Elisabeth Wilson:  Holger and I immediately understood the power of arts when it comes to communicating about a difficult cause. This was in 2011. I was looking on the internet for dedicated artists. A German-based collective came up. Being Canadian and French speaking, I was looking for artists originally from the Quebec province.  The name of Patrick Gignac came up. He was a genuine, authentic defender of the cause, no judgement, no negative comments about these old traditions. I knew he was the one.  Holger and I flew from Geneva to Quebec City. That man, who had never been to Africa, just felt the urge to help and do something for a simple reason; he has a daughter. He generously gave us his creation called “Excision”. I immediately came up with a slogan (and that was before the U.S. President Obama was elected), YES YOU CAN SAY NO-PICTURE IT!

 

The painting is a traveling art piece. It went to the United Nations headquarters in New York, the United Nations, UNAIDS, UNHCR in Geneva, UNESCO in Paris, it was held by ordinary and extraordinary people. The GA-FGM is trying to create the biggest chain of people saying NO to FGM. If you come across “Excision” please hold it! It was an event held by Maasai women in Kenya, thanks to the French NGO Terres de Couleurs. Dr. Michel Sidibé from Mali and UNAIDS Executive Director gracefully accepted to support our social media campaign by holding Patrick Gignac’s powerful painting.

GWPF:  When you are not helping to lead the Global Alliance what do you do with your personal time?

Elisabeth Wilson:  Truth be told, there is not much of a personal time. If you want to progress in this very difficult cause, it is rather a 24-hours job. This situation changed a bit when Holger and I had a son in 2014. He keeps us pretty busy and we have to manage our timetables differently. We named him Dag after Dag Hammarksjöld the United Nations second Secretary General and Swedish Diplomat, shot in his plane during the Belgian-Congo crisis. He was a visionary man who stood up for the rights of the feeble new independent states and refused to be ruled by powerful greedy Nations. He is the first international public servant who advocated for Gender Equality sixty years in advance. The UN Charter upheld the democracy of states. Hammarskjöld went a step further with the democracy of human rights – that is, the equal rights of men and women, independent of race, sex, language and religion. Had he not created his revolutionary Blue Helmets, my parents, my brother, my sister and I would have not survived during the political turmoil that ravaged the Belgian-Congo. We would have just vanished in a mass grave. The least I could do was to name my son after him. I hope our little Dag will do meaningful and important things, that he will always bear up our high family values and also that FGM will end with his generation.

GWPF:  What was it like to grow up during decolonization times?

Elisabeth Wilson:  As a child I grew up in the World Health Organization compound in Brazzaville, close to the WHO Regional Office. The dismantlement of African states and the decolonization process was still on its march and Apartheid was still one the most hateful and brutal segregation systems. Everything was so fragile. But, the United Nations recruited in its ranks, international public servants coming from all its Member States. So, Europeans had to learn to collaborate with highly educated non-Europeans. As children, we knew that our parents had created a new world. My best friend was half Chinese and half Danish. Ivan spoke 5 languages: Chinese, Danish, French, English and Lingala to make friends at school with Congolese kids. We were born and raised color-blind with rather a cult for cultural mixity and a deep respect for other people’s cultures. I remember feeling unfitted because I only could speak 3 languages; French, English and Haitian Creole. I added 2 more languages in between; Italian and Spanish.

GWPF:  We ask this question in nearly all exclusives.  Do you foresee a world free of FGM someday?

Elisabeth Wilson:  Definitely, Yes! The movement against FGM becomes stronger and the international solidarity is growing. All the UN member states agreed in 2012 in banning FGM worldwide. Major steps were done in the past and more of them will be done in the future. We are not sure about the goal of ending FGM in one generation’s time; this seems to be quite too optimistic. Looking at the current level of FGM prevalence reduction, this is far too slow. UNFPA/UNICEF foresees a decline of the FGM prevalence in countries like Burkina Faso or Mali to 40% by 2020. That would be progress for the next five years, faster than the last three decades. Should this goal be achieved, then we would have good chances to eradicate FGM in one generation, at least on the African continent. In any case, the abandoning process needs to be accelerated; the field programs need to be properly evaluated so that we finally really know what works and what does not work. Based on this knowledge, the projects could be optimized, systematized and gain in impact.

GWPF:  If so, what role do you foresee the Global Alliance playing in eradicating FGM?

Elisabeth Wilson:  Our role is as described, as facilitators, as producers of accelerating strategies, as an organization that does what the great lady and pioneer Edna Adan Ismail asked western NGOs to do; support the work done in the field through efficient communication strategies and relevant collaborations regarding the development of FGM ending strategies and actions. Another important aspect is to broaden the horizon of FGM ending activities to those countries that are still neglected. In Indonesia alone more than 40 million women and girls live with the consequences of FGM, but no action is taken. We do not know what is going on in other Asian and Latin American countries. Work needs to be done in the Middle East, following WADI’s example. We know now that FGM is common in Iran and we can be sure that it occurs in many other places in the world. Ending FGM in one generation means to integrate all these countries and establish globally concerted action. That is why we named our organization Global Alliance against FGM.

Join us in next week’s edition when An Exclusive brings you another fascinating woman.      

Families and everyone in the U.S. took time from their regular schedules to celebrate mothers around the world this past Sunday.  It cannot be more timely for the Office on Women’s Health at the Department of Health and Human Services to celebrate this year’s Women’s Health Week.  This week is National Women’s Health Week as of Sunday, May 8th through May 14th.

According to the notice of observance, National Women’s Health Week is a time to encourage women to make their health a priority. It also serves as a time to help women understand what steps they can take to live healthier, happier lives at every age.  Here are some suggestions to help guide you through your National Women’s Health Week:

• Visit a physician or nurse this week and arrange for preventive screenings.
• Become active by taking 30-minute walks every day this week.
• Prepare healthy meals this week by including more vegetables and fruits. Drink more water.
• Pay attention to your mental health this week. Get enough sleep and avoid stress.  Try taking 10-minute naps if you can.
• Avoid unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking, texting while driving, not wearing your seatbelt and not wearing your bicycle or motorcycle helmet.

We want to help you understand what steps you can take for better health at any age. Your health needs tend to change as you age. Whether you are in your twenties or your nineties, the Office on Women’s Health (OWH) has information to help you learn what you can do to improve your overall well-being. http://womenshealth.gov/nwhw/by-age/. Age is nothing but a number; you are never too young or too old to take steps toward a better health.  http://go.usa.gov/czY7J.

Challenge yourself this week to be your “healthiest you” during this National Women’s Health Week! Try taking the pledge by visiting http://go.usa.gov/czY7m. Here is your calendar for the remainder of the week.  Share these messages with your FaceBook friends:

 

Tuesday, May 10: Get Active – Ready, set, get active! Whether you like to run, walk, or dance, pledge to get moving today. Your body will thank you.  http://go.usa.gov/czYeH

 

Wednesday, May 11: Healthy Eating – Building healthy eating habits doesn’t happen overnight. Pledge to pick ONE change you can make today. Try swapping soda for water or white bread for whole-grain bread.  http://go.usa.gov/czYJw

 

 

Thursday, May 12:  Pay Attention to Mental Health – We all need a little help sometimes. Pledge to talk to your doctor about stress, depression, and any other mental health concerns you may have.  http://go.usa.gov/czYJe

 

Friday, May 13:  Avoid Unhealthy Behaviors – Five seconds is the average time your eyes are off the road while texting. When traveling at 55mph, that’s enough time to cover the length of a football field blindfolded. Whoa.  http://go.usa.gov/czYSx

 

Saturday, May 14:  Wrap Up – It may be the last day of National Women’s Health Week, but it’s not too late to learn what you can do to be healthy at any age.  http://go.usa.gov/czYSj

 

Enjoy the rest of your National Women’s Health Week and Happy National Women’s Health Week!

“I started seeing myself as a survivor and not a victim the day I took back the power my abusers had over me.”  Those are the words of Francess Cole, an outspoken survivor of female genital mutilation (FGM) and the Founder of Life After FGM.

Life After FGM is hosting its first sister talk conference, Take Back the Power on Saturday, May 21, 2016 at the Nyumburu Cultural Center on the campus of Maryland University in College Park.  The event is organized for survivors of female genital mutilation and other forms of sexual violence, to come together and take back their power.  “It is a time for healing,” said Cole.  Attendees will receive tools which will help them take back the power their abusers have over them and live a life of total freedom.

Francess Cole was born in the West African nation of Sierra Leone, a country that practices female genital mutilation at a high rate, even to date.  Due to the presence of the Sande Society in that country, the United Nations has referred to Sierra Leone and its neighboring Liberia as difficult countries to end the practice of FGM.  While many women in that West African country still justify the practice, Francess Cole is one of the few women speaking out in critical appearances against the old archaic tradition.

Cole told Global Woman P.E.A.C.E. Foundation, “I began speaking against the practice of female genital mutilation after the release of my autobiography Distant Sunrise – The Strength in her Pain to forgive. I realized a huge number of women and girls were suffering in fear and silence (just like I was) and decided to use my personal story of survival to motivate and encourage”.  She said her post-FGM years were not easy especially for her mental health. Even though she speaks at events and has made guest appearances on various radio shows, she still has not overcome the psychological effects of FGM. “Whenever I read an article on FGM, I go into PTSD mode. I often find myself thinking about the darkest day of my life (August 1^st 1984) and wished someone had rescued me as my clitoris was being amputated”.  She was only eleven years of age at the time.

 

Cole recalls her childhood in Sierra Leone; that many girls did not know what sanitary napkins were because they could not afford them.  She said to date, there are many less fortunate girls who cannot afford sanitary napkins; they still use pieces of cloth as protection during their menstrual periods.  Francess told Global Woman P.E.A.C.E. Foundation that she wants to change that in Sierra Leone.  She has launched a drive to collect sanitary napkins to take back to Sierra Leone and distribute them to the girls in need.  Cole said she will travel to Sierra Leone each year and will conduct workshops on personal hygiene for the girls, at which time she will pass out sanitary napkins.  This month’s event is free of charge but she wants the public to know that they would appreciate donations of sanitary napkins during the event.  The local organization in Sierra Leone, Girl Child Network will benefit from the sanitary napkins drive and the workshops.

 

Cole wants everyone to know that FGM is not an African thing, neither is it a cultural and religious thing. She said, “FGM is now happening on European and American soils so it is now everybody’s thing.”

 

Join the sister talk conference in helping women take back their lives on Saturday, May 21^st at 4018 Campus Drive, College Park, Maryland 20740 – 1:30pm until 4:00pm.  What a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

 

Join us in next week’s edition when An Exclusive returns with another fascinating woman.