Many countries have faced the horrors of war. Many people have died and communities devastated because of them. But the victims that are most commonly faced with the most suffering in times of war are women. In the Rwandan Genocide of 1994, an estimated 1,000,000 people were killed—and around 250,000 to 500,000 women and girls were brutally raped. This left about 70 percent of them infected with HIV and around 2,000 to 5,000 with unwanted pregnancies, issues that they are still struggling with to this day (Brown, 2012). Women need an advocate and a helping hand in times such as these, and Women for Women International was founded to be exactly that. This organization has provided women with a way to rebuild their lives and find support through their one-year job skills training program, counseling services, sponsorship, and fundraisers.
Women for Women International began in 1993 with the determination of one very strong willed woman named Zainab Salbi. Having grown up in Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war and her father called on to be a personal pilot for Saddam Hussein, she is no stranger to the effects and devastation war can bring and saw firsthand the violence that can be taken out on women. At the age of nineteen she moved to the U.S. and started completely anew. In an excerpt of her book, she writes: “I creased my life down the middle like the spine of a book when you bend the pages back very hard. You could read the first half of the book of my life, then read the second half, and not know they were lived by the same person. I wanted it that way. I needed it that way."(2006). After seeing a photograph of a Bosnian concentration/rape camp on the cover of Time magazine and reading about what these women were going through, she felt overwhelmingly compelled to do something about it. She began WfWI in Bosnia, through fundraising, networking, and sending sponsorship money to refugee camps. Her work helped many, and now continues to help even more on the grand scale that the organization has grown into—reaching out to women in eight countries around the world.
First and foremost, what Women for Women International is most known for and what Zainab Salbi’s work has led to, is a one-year program offered to women who are survivors of war, violence, and injustice that provides those enrolled with extensive job skills and business training courses so they can earn a living as an independent individual, as well as a thorough education in what their rights are as women and how they can utilize them to become leaders and fight for those rights within their communities and nations. The program also ensures that upon leaving it these women will have social networks and safety nets for support and protection. In an interview with Kate Castillo, the Director of Communications for WfWI, she described that, “At the end of their year of training each participant has a vocational skill she can use to sustain an income and provide for herself and her family. She knows how to stay healthy, and practice good nutrition. She is aware of her human and legal rights, and can stand up for those rights. Each participant has a support network she can draw on for advice, or even collaborate with in a small business venture” (Denza, 2012). Upon reading the statistics of the organization’s success in every country they serve and reading stories from women who have actually been through the program, one can see that this is true of all of them. Women for Women International has helped over 218,000 women in various communities throughout Afghanistan, Bosnia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Kosovo, Nigeria, Rwanda, and South Sudan—and the help is not limited to their twelve-month program and their own efforts. They have made it possible for other caring individuals to contribute as well.
Another prominent way Women for Women International is helping accomplish their goal is by providing the opportunity for other women (obviously those living in less hostile environments who have the means and desire to help out) to become a sponsor. When one becomes a sponsor, they donate 30 dollars a month for a year to cover the cost of a woman’s participation in the program. They are also asked to write letters to their “sponsor sister”, which provides an emotional lifeline and often creates a lasting connection. On the WfWIwebsite sponsor page, an excerpt from a letter from a participant in Kosovo to her sponsor, reads: “Anne, I would like for your support and for your letters. They bring joy to my heart and I eagerly wait your letter. I got so excited and I know that your letters make me feel so important as a person because I know there is someone in this world who cares and supports me." This is only one of many letters and stories that show just how meaningful the concern and help of a sponsor can be to these women. With the aid of sponsors, and the donations of considerate individuals who are moved by their cause, WfWI has been able to progress to new heights and inspire even more people to contribute.
Apart from providing tremendously beneficial job-skills and sponsorship programs, Women for Women International is also readily involved in projects to extend these helpful aims further. One such project is the Women’s Opportunity Center in Kayonza, Rwanda, which is scheduled to open in June of this year. The center will serve as a place for women to go to be a part of the one-year program for achieving vocational and life-skills training, as well as to receive counseling services and micro-lending to help gain support and economic independence. Lots of thought was put into every detail of the design of the new structure, to help create an inviting atmosphere and encourage participation in the program. Sharon Davis, head of the New York architecture firm Sharon Davis Design, was called upon by WfWI to turn their vision into reality and came up with a design that would best attract and contribute to the needs of women in that area. "Her pro bono support and architectural expertise has been invaluable to the construction of the Kosovo and Rwanda Women's Opportunity Centers. The designs of the WOCs not only break new ground in terms of the space and the visibility it offers women, but also as models of environmental sustainability” Karen Sherman, WfWI’s Director of Global Programming, said of the New York architect (Brown, 2012). Women for Women International also exercised their goals in the actual building of the center, by requiring that the contracting company who was working on it employ at least 20 percent women in their work force (Brown, 2012). The center certainly seems to be incredibly promising, and will surely serve as a beacon of hope and comfort to the women of Rwanda.
With all the horrible war-related tragedies that take place in our world today, many inflicting trauma on the lives of women, one could easily get discouraged about hope for women escaping these kinds of situations. Goodness knows violence towards women has been a problem as long as women have walked this earth. But Women for Women International has accomplished something extremely important; they have given hope to these women. They have made significant strides in helping them to advance and restore their lives when they have lost nearly everything, and continues to grow and search for new ways that they can accomplish their admirable purpose. It is truly an inspiring thing to behold, and more people should be made aware of it.
-Haley Bechtel
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