September 2010
- TALK THE WALK
- MEET THE BOARD
- VOICES OF WOMEN PRESENTS: BEYOND BORDERS BENEFIT
- VOW IN THE FIELD
- BABY BEANIES KNIT AND CHAT EVENT
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Jenni Prisk, President of VOW
TALK THE WALK
Hello VOW Supporters and Friends.
We hope you are enjoying your last days of summer! We have had another busy year.
We have expanded our board of directors to include Susan Baer, Parminder Randhawa, and our first gentleman, Robert Rast. VOW also held events highlighting violence against women, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and began a partnership with WEAVE. WEAVE is the acronym for Women of East Africa and Voices for Empowerment. We meet regularly with women of the East African community who have had to leave their countries because of war, and we are planning a joint conference in 2011 to highlight their presence and gifts to our community.
In addition, the board recently selected the Daraja Academy for Girls, in Kenya, as our long-term project, which will provide crucial support for the first free all-girls secondary school in East Africa. Please visit our website to learn more.
Be sure to mark your calendar for these exciting opportunities:
Beyond Borders Benefit: Join us for the 2nd Annual Beyond Borders Benefit on Saturday, October 16, 2010 at the Casablanca Restaurant in Carlsbad. This year we will be honoring Catherine Filloux, renowned human rights playwright, who will receive the Voice Award for Artistic Works. Councilmember Todd Gloria will be the evening's keynote speaker. Tickets are $75 per person, if purchased by October 1st. Seats are limited so buy your ticket today!
Honoring Your Voice: We want to include your thoughts, projects, and travels that advance VOW's mission of education and philanthropy for women, children and communities around the globe. Send us stories, pictures, poems, op-eds, prose concerning your "work" or desires to advance our common cause and we will do our best to publish it in our upcoming newsletters. Please email your submissions to Pamela Perkins at [email protected]
Baby Beanie Workshop: Back by popular demand, VOW will host another Baby Beanie workshop on November 20, 2010 from 10am to noon at the Mission Valley Library. VOW Board Director Carol Clarke will teach participants of all ages how to use looms to knit life-saving baby beanies for infants in developing countries.
An Evening with Julia Alvarez: Please mark your calendars for November 15 when VOW will partner with Eveoke Dance to present a unique performance centered on the human rights book by Julia Alvarez, In The Time of Butterflies. More news as it comes to hand!
Your support has made these past and future events possible. Please contact us if it is time to renew your dues. You can make your payment online or send a check to Voices of Women, 8677 Villa La Jolla Drive, #1214, La Jolla, CA 92037. If you would like to increase your donation amount, we welcome Underwriters ($100-$499) and Sponsors ($500+).
Once again, I want to express gratitude to the amazing board of directors of VOW. They are tireless in their commitment to securing a better world. On behalf of all of us at Voices of Women, thank you for your ongoing support. We look forward to seeing you in the coming weeks.
With warm regards and hopes for peace
Jenni Prisk
President/Founder
Voices of Women
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MEET THE BOARD
Parminder Randhawa,
VOW Board Member
Life offers each of us choices of direction everyday from the simplest to the most complicated decisions of which road to travel. For a fortunate few, the path is carved out in a manner where they are nurtured and directed to be that which they must become. Parminder Randhawa is such a person. Born in Punjab, India, in a village of extended aunts, uncles, cousins, a beloved grandfather and mother as well as a closely tied community of around 200 people, Parminder understands the value of service to others. She was raised to embody one of her favorite quotes from one of her most honored mentors, "Be the change you wish to see in the world" Mahatma Gandhi.
Parminder was raised by her mother and grandfather, her father having left Punjab to seek work when she was very young. She grew up under the loving guidance and wisdom of her grandfather. She states, "My interest in issues of justice and equality began while being raised by my grandfather and mother. Grandfather was kind and compassionate. One of my earliest remembrances was when there was a boycott near his farm and the ruling authorities accused him of being an agitator. Everyone, including me, knew he was not involved and it was a very big eye opener at age 7 to experience such injustice. We spent a lot of time trying to find him. I also remember an occasion when I was unjustly treated by a teacher in grade school and when I let my grandfather know about the incident, where corporal punishment was administered, he was very quiet then he had a long discussion with my mother about his displeasure in the way the school handled disciplining children. The next day he biked all the way to school with me and challenged the principal to rethink the school discipline practices in front of everyone at a school assembly. I was so proud of him and began to understand the need to stand up for justice no matter the personal cost."
Parminder and her mother joined her father in the United States when she was around 9 years old. It was then that she began to see and understand the disparity of how people lived and differing worldviews.
Parminder says she witnessed a lot of oppression of women in India. She remembers in the 8th grade, "I wrote a paper about injustice of women and the teacher was very encouraging." It seems she was destined to follow a path of peace and justice. Empowerment of women and children became her passion. Parminder decided to become a teacher to spread her vision of inspiring others to "be the change they want to see." This passion led her to achieve her Masters in Peace and Justice from the USD Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice. Her emphasis was on peace education and indigenous cultures. Her capstone project, which was entitled "Educating for Peace: Lessons Learned from Indigenous Traditions," Parminder researched what we could learn from indigenous cultures in order to enhance our efforts towards peace education.
When asked about how she became involved with Voices of Women, Parminder happily recounted meeting VOW President and Founder, Jenni Prisk at an event where Parminder had been invited to speak on a panel about the status of women in India. Jenni immediately connected with her genius and passion and invited her to join the VOW Board of Directors.
Parminder states, "I am looking forward to working with the VOW Daraja Academy Project and helping to increase global awareness on both sides. Education is always a part of the answer and VOW’s focus on education is very important to me."
Parminder adds a unique voice to the board having lived the culture of village life. Her early life helps her to understand what life is like in many developing countries. She shares the importance of people in the U.S. taking responsibility in educating ourselves to live differently and be aware of what is going on in different parts of the world. Parminder is especially concerned about the huge disparities between the rich and poor and the lifestyles that costs so many so much globally—people and the environment.
In addition to her teaching and service, Parminder enjoys dancing, yoga, walks in nature, watching the sun rise and sunset, and travel. She shares with us one of her favorite quotes:
"A human being is part of a whole, called by us the 'Universe,' a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest—a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."
— Albert Einstein
VOW welcomes Parminder and all of her passion to be the change she wants to see!
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VOICES OF WOMEN
enthusiastically presents:
Please join us for our 2nd Annual Beyond Borders Benefit
An evening of Benefit, raising funds to support our commitment to education and empowerment of women and children that goes beyond the limitations of borders…
An evening of Conversation, with San Diego City Councilmember Todd Gloria as keynote speaker.
An evening of Brilliance, celebrating the incredible accomplishments of playwright and philanthropist, Catherine Filloux, winner of this year’s Voice Award for Artistic Works.
The evening includes a sumptuous Mediterranean feast with complimentary wine during supper, preceded by no-host cocktails and silent auction
WHEN: Saturday October 16, 2010, 6:00 – 9:00 PM
WHERE: Casablanca Restaurant at 6030 Paseo del Norte in Carlsbad; ample parking is available.
DONATION: $75 per person – $95 per person after October 1st and at the door
Honorary Committee: Tom Blair, Steven Dinkin, Peter Cowhey Ph.D., Marianne McDonald Ph.D., Harle Montgomery, Rosemary Straley, Ruth Westreich
Please make checks payable to Voices of Women and mail to:
Voices of Women
8677 Villa La Jolla Drive, #1214
La Jolla, CA 92037
Reservation inquiries to: [email protected]
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Karla Alvarez,
VOW Board Member
VOW IN THE FIELD:
Youth Working for Peace in Mindanao
Mindanao, an island in the south of the Philippines, has experienced decades of conflict among the island's tri-peoples: Moro (Muslim), indigenous and Christian. For Christian Filipinos, the history of the country begins in 1521, when the Spanish conquistador Ferdinand Magellan arrived and initiated the colonization of the area. But indigenous peoples already inhabited the island of Mindanao and Muslim sultanates pre-dated colonial times, with the first sultan of Sulu governing the area in the 15th century. Following the Spanish-American War in the late 1800s, the U.S. exerted control over the area, including state-sponsored migration of large numbers of Christians into Mindanao, leading to the displacement and severe marginalization of Moros and indigenous peoples. It is estimated that at least 125,000 people have been internally displaced as a result of ongoing violence amidst a fragile peace process.
It was with this backdrop that VOW board director and program officer at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice (IPJ) Karla Alvarez traveled to Mindanao in April 2010 to asses youth engagement in conflict transformation. At the invitation of IPJ Woman PeaceMaker Mary Ann Arnado, Secretary-General of Mindanao Peoples Caucus, Alvarez joined two other IPJ staff for a two week assessment trip. She conducted three youth forums across the island - from the main city of Davao, to the central province of Bukidnon, to the heavily conflict-affected area of Cotabato - focused on challenges identified by youth regarding the peace process. Hundreds of Moro, indigenous and Christian youth currently participate in peacebuilding initiatives at university clubs and independent nonprofit organizations, but their efforts have not been successful in reaching higher decision-making levels.
In addition to the forums, Alvarez filmed interviews with several youth leaders from all three communities. The youth shared their personal experiences regarding the impact of the conflict, the inspiration behind their peace advocacy efforts and messages of hope to youth in other countries. Over the summer, Alvarez worked with a high school intern to develop a short documentary featuring their stories. The film will premiere later this fall as part of the WorldLink Program at the IPJ.
"We are not terrorists. We are peace-loving people," was the message the young people reiterated throughout the entire island. The Mindanoan youth are most passionate about regaining their rights to what they claim is their ancestral homeland, changing the skewed views presented by the media of Moros and indigenous peoples, and strengthening the educational system so that all children and youth have an equal opportunity to improve their futures.
Discussions and follow-up evaluations indicate a strong need for media and peacebuilding training among the younger generations, particularly between the ages of 14 to 26. Alvarez hopes to secure funding to create a project that will build on the efforts of this significant number of youth in modeling the potential for peace and sharing it with American youth and other young agents of change around the world.
To read more about the IPJ's work in Mindanao, visit http://peace.sandiego.edu
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Baby Beanies Knit and Chat Event
Carol Clark, VOW Board member
Baby beanies can save lives. They protect newborn babies from loss of body heat, which helps them to survive that critical first year. Women have fewer pregnancies when their babies live, so by saving babies you protect women too. Come help in this work by learning to knit baby beanies.
We’ll show you how to use a Knifty Knitter (no needles) to make beautiful beanies and also tell you how to get them to the babies in the developing world who need them through the Global Outreach Project of the American College of Nurse Midwives.
Join us at the Mission Valley Library, November 20, 2010, 10 AM-Noon for a Knit ‘n Chat. If you have your loom and yarn and want to come knit with friends, we’re glad to have you.
If you’re new to this, make a reservation and we will provide a loom kit and yarn for $10 along with patient, simple instruction on using the loom.
- Light refreshment will be provided for all.
- Looms and yarn will be available at the door.
This is a Supporters Only event. You may become a Voices of Women Supporter online now at voicesofwomen.org. Also, you may join at the door, Nov. 20. When you join VOW for this event your dues will cover you through December 31, 2011.
Due to limited space, only the first 20 reservations can be accepted. Contact Carol Clarke at [email protected] by November 10 to reserve your space.
