Home About Services Campaigns Advocates Fellows Blogs Resources

A Voice For the Voiceless

The Advocacy Project helps marginalized communities to tell their story, claim their rights and produce social change. We recruit graduate students to volunteer as Peace Fellows with partners.

The Impact of Service "Speaking with locals and living in a country is the best way to learn about the real lives of citizens, not just the stories in the mainstream media. I will be more critical of what I read as a result of this experience. I also feel even more grateful for my education, and I feel a stronger responsibility to assist others who do not have resources or access to opportunities in their communities." Maria Skouras (New York University) volunteered in 2011 as a Peace Fellow for eHomemakers in Malaysia. For more 2011 feedback click here.

Translate this page:

The Fellowship Pr... > Blogging for Peace > 2011 > How Fresh Water P...

How Fresh Water Prevents Rape & Other Insights: September 8, 2011

How Fresh Water Prevents Rape & Other Insights    
Highlights from the Advocacy Project August Blogs

Thirty Peace Fellows are volunteering for social justice in 15 countries. All are producing blogs and tweets. This is the fourth and last of our summer blog summaries. We encourage readers to visit their blogs directly and share your thoughts on their excellent work.  

 
Well of Content Comes on Tap 
Charlie Walker (University of York) 
 "The first leg of our trip took us to Mboko, one of the villages in Fizi where SOS FED have an aftercare centre for victims of sexual violence, to see how their risk prevention initiatives are progressing. We arrived just in time to witness the inauguration of one such project - a water pump which has been installed in Mboko which allows women to collect water in the village, rather than having to walk through the brush to draw water from the shore of Lake Tanganyika." Read more... 
Charlie is working with SOS Femmes en Danger (SOS FED) in the DRC
 





A Slum Life in Nairobi 
Kristen Maryn (Georgetown University)  
"Beatrice cleans the offices at Hakijamii two days a week. Before Hakijamii, she worked at Kibera Paper making cards. And before that she did odd jobs around Kibera, selling chapati and porridge.  This income is the solitary income for her family.  She says that most women in Kibera are single mothers not by choice, but by circumstance. Either the fathers die or leave the women to start other families. It is common for the same man to start many families, and leave the women the work of supporting them. At 49, Beatrice has been a widow for many years." Read more...
Kristen is working with Hakijami in Kenya.


The Perils of Planting Rice in Nepal 
Chelsea Ament (McMaster University) 
"They laugh as I attempted to plant the rice as quickly as they did in perfect rows. I fail miserably, but enjoy their reaction. After I climb back onto the path because I am only getting in the way, one of the women pull out a clump of seeds from the mud and show me how there are LEECHES clinging to it. I quickly do a thorough check of my legs, feet and hands as they again laugh. Never again will I enter a rice paddy, however, the point was certainly made. These are the kind of physically demanding chores that rural women are expected to perform day in and day out, monsoon or shine." Read more... 
Chelsea is working with the Women's Reproductive Rights Program (WRRP) in Nepal.

 
From Freed Child Laborers, With Love
Maelanny Purwaningrum (University of Oslo) 
"The blankets consist of panels which were made by rescued child laborers and school children. I hope the blankets can be a good means to learn about the plight of child labor in Nepal; and be a trigger to do something in order to help these children reach a brighter future. Producing the panels with the children was exciting. But it was not without challenges. Expressing their feelings, experiences, or dreams through art was not common for them, most of them haven't even painted before."  Read more...
Maelanny is working with Backward Society Education (BASE) in Nepal.


Decriminalizing LGBT 
Meredith Williams (Georgetown University)
 "While the Delhi High Court decriminalized sodomy between consenting adults in private two years ago, conservative groups have appealed the decision in the Supreme Court of India, and oral arguments for the appeal are scheduled to begin on July 11th. LGBT advocates are hopeful that the Delhi High Court ruling will be upheld, but until the Supreme Court issues a decision, nothing is certain." Read more...
Meredith is working with Parma in India.


A Tribute to Srebrenica 
Quinn Van Valer-Campbell (Monterey Institute of International Studies)
 "This year, 60,000 people crowded around over 5,000 graves as 613 new coffins were interred.  I had never before seen so many emotions in one place.  Sadness, anger, and grief poured out from absolutely everyone.  As four men carried a coffin to its final resting place, several women came toward me.  One was about to faint from the stress and the heat.  In that moment, I was truly able to see the pain that still exists 16 years later." Read more...
Quinn is working with BOSFAM in Bosnia

Back