In early 2010, Voices of Women began meeting with refugee women from East Africa who are living in San Diego.  Their organization, United Women of East Africa Support Team (UWEAST) approached VOW to see if we would be interested in assisting them with business skills.  We meet monthly in City Heights and held the first workshop (on public speaking) on April 9, 2011.  The workshops will continue monthly as we address the needs and requirements specified by the UWEAST women.

In addition, we will stage a joint conference on September 10, 2011 entitled Open Doors, Open Minds. Councilmember Todd Gloria will open the conference.  The goal of the conference is to bring community service providers together to discuss and learn the challenges of women and families as they assimilate into a new community.  

March 31, 2012: Strategies for Safe Schools and Anti-Bullying

On a Saturday morning at the San Diego Workforce Partnership, 50 people gathered to hear from five panelists from diverse arenas in San Diego about issues and policies for safe schools. VOW and the United Women of East Africa Support Team (UWEAST) collaborated to stage the event. Table discussions followed, where many positive ideas for solutions were offered.  

Panelists:  

• Agin Shaheed, Program Manager of Race/Human Relations & Advocacy at the SD Unified School District,
• Maslah Farah, Director of the Neighborhood Unity Foundation at the Jacobs Center,
• Lt. Charles Lara & Detective Sergeant Carol Beason of the Mid-City Police Dept. and
• Ramla Sahid, Community Organizer with Mid-City-CANN.  

A follow-up workshop is designated for June 2012, where the issues will be fleshed out in more depth