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.

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Partner Campaigns > Advocacy Quilting > The Butonde (Natu...

The Butonde (Nature) Quilt

This quilt is made from hundreds of recycled straws that were collected, pressed and woven by members of the Kinawataka Women Initiatives (KWI), a group in Kampala that supports poor women and orphans. The panels were hand-painted onto bark from a mutuba tree, which was beaten and pressed into paper.  In making this quilt, the women hope to publicize the threat from pollution in poor neighborhoods of Kampala and reduce the use of plastic bags and straws. Butonde is Luganda for “Nature.”

 

With thanks to Scarlett Chidgey (2011 Peace Fellow).

Click on the quilt below to meet the artists, and select tabs below right to see how this quilt was made.



Click on the Quit below to meet the Artists!



See how hundreds of plastic drinking straws are pressed and made into a quilt.


Meet Scarlett Chidgey, the Peace Fellow who coordinated the making of the quilt.


Learn more about the issues facing the women in Uganda.

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