WOMEN FOR WOMEN INTERNATIONAL - SPONSOR A SISTER

I’ve been following the exceptional work of Brita Fernandez Schmidt, the executive director of Women for Women International, and her team here in London for many years now and in recent years have been delighted to be an ambassador for them. Their work with communities all over the world has an incredible impact — building a brighter future by empowering and supporting women survivors of war all the way from Afghanistan to Rwanda to be socially and economically active members of their local communities, and consequently build a more stable and progressive environment for their children.

The Women for Women International outreach programme consists of a year-long course that provides women with the tools to “earn money, regain their confidence and actively participate in their communities.” Each programme consists of 25 women who work together throughout the year, learning a marketable job skill, as well as practical knowledge about their health and their rights. At the end of the course, the women graduate and can bring their new skills into their lives, their communities and the next generations, and create long-term change. Women for Women International offer a wonderful scheme named Sponsor a Sister, which allows you to fund the year-long programme for one woman, either in your name or on behalf of a loved one (I hope you’ll consider it as a Christmas present this year!). You are then paired with a woman, and can speak with her about her life, her hopes and her progress. The programme has been hugely successful so far. Last year, 38,000 letters were shared between sponsors and their sisters, and 89% of overall participants have reported educating another woman about her rights after graduating from the programme.

This summer, I sponsored my first sister and eagerly awaited to find out who I would be matched with. In June, while out in the fields surrounding Glastonbury getting ready to cater for the Yurtel community, I got my paperwork. My new sister is called Monique, a single mother of four in Rwanda (I won't share too much more of her personal details for security reasons) who had just enrolled in the Women for Women International course to enable her to build the skills she needs to repair her life and create a safer future. I emailed my first letter to Monique that day via the head office, who then translated and delivered it to Monique. At first it was difficult knowing what to share, what we might have in common, whether she would want to be in contact or if having to keep in touch with me might be another thing on her to-do list, so I told her a little bit about my life, enquired after her and her children and wished her luck for the course. Then I waited. For months! In the meantime I bumped into many new friends and acquaintances who had also sponsored a sister (as you do — such is the way the world moves, where attention goes energy flows!). Some had done so years ago, while some had done it just that year and their sisters were due to graduate. Some of these new siblings were big pen friends, writing back and forth often, others were more intermittent — remembering that these ladies had been through so much, their circumstances so very different to ours, and were not only studying but taking care of families and rebuilding their lives.

Last week I got a letter. A photocopy of a lined piece of paper with a block of handwriting (in Swahili maybe? I shall be asking!)… with a translation in English transcribed beneath. I was thrilled. I was actually just thinking that I would write to Monique for Christmas and just keep on sending messages of support even if I didn’t hear from her. Monique told me she was enjoying the challenge of the course so far, having left school at primary level 4. Her children range from 11 to 17 and they all look after one another, and she looks forward to hearing from me again — I will be writing her a long letter this Christmas!

So in sharing this I wanted to encourage anyone who can afford to to please consider this beautiful gift of sponsorship to yourself, your new sister and the world. So often, charitable donations seem to hold up barriers between you and the people you are trying to help, but that’s not the case here. I am deeply impressed with the Women for Women International programme — this is a charity that is not only tackling poverty but also gender issues. One of the other programmes they do is to work with men to challenge discrimination and help them become allies in the fight for gender equality and give women back their freedom. During some of the work I have done with Women for Women International here in London, I learned of husbands who were relieved not to beat their wives, but they did it out of an unwritten expectation in their social environment — can you imagine? They didn’t even want to do it…

If you’d like to learn more about Women for Women International and the work that they do, get involved yourself and even gain a new sister, visit their website to find out more.

Brita and me