550 Women & Youth to Defend Property Rights

Have Pity and Compassion Team Update:

The Have Pity and Compassion team joined their sisters across the world when they participated in International Women’s Day on March 8. In partnership with other local leaders, they organized a community event to raise awareness about women’s contributions both in and out of the home. Women’s work has too often been undervalued globally, so recognizing the value of women’s contribution is a crucial step towards gender equity. Four hundred and fifty women attended and heard this message.

Recognizing that engaging the next generation of women is a key to social change, they organized information sessions with 120 school-aged girls, emphasizing governmental programs that provide them access to educational opportunities. 

They also organized a public discussion to educate women about opportunities to advance their well being in both their professional and personal lives. 

GLOBAL GRASSROOTS UPDATE: 

GIRLS ACADEMY FOR CONSCIOUS CHANGE

In Rwinkwavu, our 70- vulnerable high school girls who took part in the Girls Academy training last November are exceeding our greatest expectations with their passion, commitment and fearlessness. Although their projects were initially intended to take place as a one-time events during their holiday school break, the girls are motivated to develop long-term programs creating change in their communities as well as opportunities for themselves to grow as leaders.  For examples, one of the six teams, called Brave People, works on the issue of homeless youth. They have succeeded in reintegrating seven children back into their families as well as helping three children find families to adopt them.

To read more about these inspiring young women, you can take a look at their page on Global Giving. 

NORTHERN UGANDA EXPANSION

We believe that engaging women and girls in post-conflict reconstruction is crucial to changing the attitudes that created conflict in the first place. To that end, we’re happy to announce that in January, we initiated our first Academy for Conscious Change via a nine-day residential training program that was held in Gulu, Northern Uganda. We accepted eight venture teams represented by 40 change agents into our first cohort.  Our participants are predominately vulnerable women affected by the reign of terror of the Lord's Resistance Army in their region. Working diligently, the teams have begun the design of their social ventures working on the following issues: HIV, Divorce, Household Conflict & Overwork, Women's Human Rights, Gender-based Violence, Illiteracy, Advancing Women in Leadership, and `Property Rights. They now are engaged in Phase 2 of our 18-month program to complete the development of their ventures. By building the capacity of women to heal from trauma and advance their own ideas, we hope to support empowerment, healing, and reconciliation. We look forward to learning from their insight and wisdom and helping them create conscious social change in their communities.