Today marks International Women’s Day, a day “when women on all continents, often divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences, come together to celebrate their Day, they can look back to a tradition that represents at least nine decades of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development (UN).” While we celebrate the freedoms that allow approximately half of the GW student body to pursue an education and a future, we also remember the millions of women around the world who lack the means to do the same. Today, we can make a concrete impact on these issues for the women of a war-torn nation by giving them tools for their economic empowerment: Pigs For Peace.
In what has been referred to as the “forgotten conflict,” an estimated 5.4 million people have been brutally killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 1998, making it the second deadliest conflict since World War II (Oxfam). Oxfam International reports that since “January 2009, more than 1,000 civilians have been killed, 7,000 women and girls have been raped, and over 6,000 homes have been burned down in the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu.” While there may be little a group of university students can do to stop this complicated conflict and the atrocities that have accompanied it, there is something we can do to assist survivors. In honor of International Women’s Day (March 8) and Women’s History Month, throughout March, GW Housing Programs will be partnering with the students of Johns Hopkins University to bring hope to the women of DRC.
Pigs for Peace, run by the nonprofit organization Great Lakes Restoration, is a microenterprise project that allows women, many of whom are victims of rape, to become economically empowered. After women in the program are taught husbandry skills, they are given a pig to nurture and care for. After approximately eight months, the pig will have its first litter. Participants are required to give two piglets, one from each of the first litters, back to the organization, so that they may be given to someone else in need. Participants can then sell the remaining piglets in the market; they keep one to continue breeding. With the income generated from the sale of the pigs, the women invest in their families, impacting quality of life by influencing health status and the education level of their children. There is currently a waiting list for over 700 pigs. Let’s change that.
With a donation of $50, you can fund a pig. With a donation of as little as $10, you can fund a share of a pig. In other words, you and your roommates have the ability to impact the life of a woman living across the world.
To make an easy contribution through PayPal, follow the link below to the Great Lakes Restoration homepage, and click on the “Donate” button you find there (please make sure you use this button to make your contribution, so that GW Housing Programs can track its progress):
For more information about the Pigs for Peace project, visit the website here:
Keep your eyes open throughout March for Pigs for Peace progress reports, discussion groups, and other Women’s History Month initiatives. If you have ideas, give them to us here:
Have a great week!
~Maura and Melissa
No comments:
Post a Comment
Tell us what you think! (Please don't post room numbers...)