Action Magazine Autumn 2016

‘GOING TO SCHOOL WILL CHANGE MY FUTURE’ How your support is helping girls get an education

Issue 10 Autumn 2016

Photo: Christopher Davy/ActionAid

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Running for joy

Children at this school in Su Yet Lan village love playing with their friends! This is just one of hundreds of communities in Myanmar which are supported by ActionAid sponsorship. actionaid.org.uk

Photo: Steve Forrest/ActionAid

Girish Menon Chief Executive ActionAid UK

Follow me on Twitter @GirishMenonAAUK

As a father of two, I am always thinking about the importance of giving children the best opportunities in life.

And yet for so many children a seemingly simply thing like going to school can be a huge challenge, especially if you are a girl. Everything from FGM to child marriage or just getting their period can keep girls from getting an education. That’s why our local staff tell us that it’s girls who are most likely to get caught in the cycle of poverty.

In this issue you can find out how your support is keeping girls in school and giving children a brighter future. On page 10 we have some moving stories of what children would like to be when they grow up. I’m astounded by their resilience and so proud of the lasting difference ActionAid is making.

Finally, I’d like to remind you of a brilliant way of taking the stress out of Christmas shopping.

On page 18 you can find our gifts in action. From toys to education and a safe place to stay for homeless girls, our unique gifts offer you the chance to change children’s lives.

I hope you enjoy this edition.

Girish Menon PS Thank you so much for your support of our “Hunger Hurts” appeal which featured in the last edition - it has now raised over £100,000! supportercontact@actionaid.org 01460 238 000 wwww.actionaid.org.uk ActionAid is a charitable company limited by guarantee and registered in England and Wales (Company number 01295174). England and Wales charity number 274467, Scottish charity number SC045476. Registered office 33-39 Bowling Green Lane, London EC1R 0BJ. Cover: ActionAid helped to provide a new school in 10-year-old Ly’s village in rural Cambodia, complete with a library and toilets.

Photo: Savann Oeurm/ActionAid.

Autumn 2016

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‘We love our school bus.

Thank you’

Photos: Saw Nay Htoo/ActionAid

In the busy region of Pathein, Myanmar, lies the village of Ma Tawt Kone. Thanks to the support of ActionAid child sponsors, schoolchildren in this village can now get to school cheaply, quickly – and safely

U

ActionAid

2,100 people bus keeps in the UK children sponsor a child in school in Myanmar

ntil recently, children were forced to walk along a busy and dangerous road thronged with lorries, cars and motorbikes to get to their lessons. In the rainy season the road became a churning mud slide and children often fell sick from walking for an hour in torrential rain.

Naw Tar Lu Moo, 11, who is sponsored by an ActionAid supporter, struggled to get to school during the rainy season.

Carrying almost four kilos of textbooks on her journey, she was too exhausted to concentrate even on days when she was able to attend her lessons.

“I felt tired after walking for so long. Sometimes I was late for school. There was no time to play like other students,” Naw Tar Lu Moo recalls.

Concerned for the safety of their children, mothers in the village came together to find a solution.

With ActionAid’s support they bought a community bus, which could take their children to school as well as providing a long-term source of income.

Naw Mway Rae Paw is part of the ActionAid women’s group who rent out the bus to local businesses

Naw Tar Lu Moo sets off for school – thanks to our supporters she can get there safely

for extra money. “We record how much we earn and how much we spend,” she explains. “Within two months, after deducting the cost of petrol, maintenance and a driver, we received a profit of 100,000 MMK (£50.13) which we’re going to invest in breeding pigs and buying rice to store for future months. It’s amazing!”

Now more children in Ma Tawt Kone are in school and women are finding ways to build a better future for the whole village.

“Before I could not send my daughter to school safely.

I felt so sorry for her,” says Naw Mway Rae Paw. “My daughter is so happy now!” ● 5

NOW I HAVE A FUTURE Going to school breaks the cycle of poverty, helping girls choose their future. Find out how our innovative, local projects are breaking taboos and keeping girls in the classroom

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ne in ten girls in Africa miss school during their period. Shame, stigma and the simple lack of sanitary products are causing girls to miss out every month.

Aida, 16, lives in Malawi, ­ the poorest country in the world. After her parents divorced, Aida lived with several different family members, moving from house to house.

“Life is not easy. You go to school then you do your homework. And then you go back to school and then you do chores. There is no time to work and make any money. For pads you need money,” she says.

When Aida first got her period, she was terrified. “I didn’t know what it was,” she confesses. “My friends didn’t tell me about it.”

Unable to afford sanitary pads, Aida used a traditional nyanda, a ­ bulky piece of cotton which made her feel self-conscious at school.

“The boys at school could see my nyanda and they laughed at me. So I would go 6

home to escape the bullying. I used to miss around four days of classes every month.”

Now Aida is attending an ActionAid girls’ club where she’s learning more about periods and receiving reusable sanitary pads. She doesn’t miss any classes ­ and her periods won’t stand in the way of her achieving her dreams. “I’d like to be a nurse,” she says with a big smile. “When I go to the hospital I admire the nurses ­ - you say what is wrong and the nurse knows right away what to do.”

Aida with her reusable sanitary pad from ActionAid

Photos: Samantha Reinders/ActionAid

actionaid.org.uk

“I used to miss four days of classes every month because of my period” Aida 7

“My hope for the future is that no girls in Pokot have to go through what I went through” Christine

Photo: Kate Holt/ActionAid

“THEY SAID BEING CUT WAS BEST FOR MY FUTURE” Christine from West Pokot, Kenya, was just 15 when her life was turned upside down.

Forced to undergo FGM then married against her will to an elderly man, Christine was given no choice in her future.

“My mother and brothers said being cut was the best thing for my future. When it had been done to me an old man came to my family and 8

gave them 15 cows to marry me. When I heard about the arrangement I asked them why they were forcing me to marry an old man against my will who I didn’t even know. They told me I had to go with him even if I didn’t want to.”

After a week of humiliation and suffering in her new husband’s house, Christine escaped and ran to Kongelai.

She sought help from the Kongelai women’s

network, a group of women supported by ActionAid to help girls escape FGM and child marriage. Now Christine is back in school – and she’s fighting for girls’ rights.

“I tell other girls that if they are mutilated they will be married off to an old man like I was and they won’t be able to finish school,” Christine explains.

“My hope for the future is that no girls in Pokot have to go through what I actionaid.org.uk

Photo: Andrew Aitchison/ActionAid

Q&A Makena Mwobobia, Head of Programmes, ActionAid Kenya, talks about how we’re getting girls into school What is stopping girls from going to school?

FGM and child marriage are two of the main reasons stopping girls from going to school in Kenya. Once girls have had FGM they are seen as “ready for marriage”. After the cut, girls as young as nine drop out of school, get married and have children before their bodies are ready.

So FGM destroys their childhood and brings their education to an early end.

went through. I think this is possible – we just need more time and education.” ●

To find out more about how we’re combatting FGM and keeping girls in school, visit www.actionaid. org.uk/getinvolved/fgmbrutal-cut Autumn 2016

What is ActionAid Kenya doing to keep girls in school?

In the last five years we have helped 645 girls affected by FGM in Kongelai to get back to school. By building safe centres we help girls who have escaped the cut to live in safety and go to school. At ActionAid girls’

clubs in schools, we talk to girls about their rights to choose an education instead of getting married.

And local women’s groups also discuss the dangers of FGM with parents and women who cut girls.

Can you tell us about a girl you’ve helped?

There’s a girl called Abigail whose story definitely sticks in my mind. She ran away from home the night before she was due to be cut – she was terrified because her friend died from the bleeding. She knew about the Kongelai women’s network from a visit to her school so she made her way to a safe centre run by the network, and later we helped her friend Purity escape there too. Now they’re both part of a girls’ group and are helping other girls to say no to FGM.

Your support in numbers 10,000 girls in Kenya escaped the cut last year thanks to your help

70 cutters trained on the lasting health problems of FGM and abandoned the practice

5,000

school boys have been educated on FGM

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WHEN I GROW UP...

Every child has dreams. Thanks to you, more children are getting the chance to fulfil them. Here three children from across the world tell us their hopes for the future

MARGARET, 10, KENYA Margaret, 10, lives with her family near a waste site in Mombasa. The family survives by scavenging amongst other people’s filthy and dangerous rubbish for things they can sell to buy water and food. Thanks to everyone who donated to ActionAid’s inspiring SheCan appeal, Margaret is able to go to school.

“Before I joined school I was scavenging at the dump site all day. I really like school. When I finish my education I want to be a teacher. I am not happy at the dumpsite. I’m afraid of the fire that is always burning and sometimes explodes. My dream is to leave it all behind and be able to buy a house for my mother and brothers far away.”

Photo: Kate Holt/ActionAid

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actionaid.org.uk

Photo: Umar Farooq/ActionAid

Photo: Jon Hughes/ActionAid

Autumn 2016

SAWERA, 7, PAKISTAN Sawera, 7, loves to learn, so when floods destroyed her school she was devastated.

Local ActionAid staff quickly provided emergency food and medicines, and set up temporary schools to keep children learning.

“Before the floods came, I was learning to write the alphabet. But when the school closed, I had no pencils and notebooks, so I almost forgot what I had learnt. Now I am learning to write and spell words again. I am very happy to be back in school because I missed my friends. I love to draw pictures of trees and birds. When I grow up I really want to be a teacher because I like my teachers very much.”

SEFIYAT, 10, NIGERIA 10-year-old Sefiyat longs to go to school – but it’s too dangerous.

The only route is across a wide river, and there’s no bridge. Last year, five children drowned on the way. Instead, Sefiyat washes clothes and helps out on the family’s small farm. ActionAid is helping girls like Sefiyat get an education by lobbying the local government to build safe routes to schools.

“When I see my friends go to school I feel lonely and sad and sometimes I wonder, if I don’t go to school, what will my future be? If I get the opportunity to go to school, I want to study to become a doctor. Then I will be able to do something that will touch people’s lives.”

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FEARLESS CAMPAIGN

‘I can’t give up my right to education’ One in three women experiences violence in their lifetime. Here at ActionAid we believe that’s simply unacceptable – and by signing our Fearless petition you can help to make it stop

Photos: Ruth McDowall/ActionAid

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hen Theresa Gono (pictured left) a university student from Monrovia, Liberia, was sexually assaulted on campus, her education almost came to an end. For a long time she felt vulnerable attending evening classes, because the university campus had so little lighting.

“I feel intimidated and worry about walking in the dark,” Theresa told us. “But I also know that this is my right to have an education and I can’t give up my rights.

Even though I’m scared I won’t stop going to my evening classes.”

Theresa is a member of a 50-strong group called Women Speak, supported

by ActionAid. These amazing women have been tirelessly lobbying their university and city council to install lighting on campus and stamp out sexual harassment.

After four years of determined campaigning, actionaid.org.uk

the university installed lighting on campus, including streetlamps at bus stops where many students start their journey home. “Getting lighting on campus has really helped us a lot,” explains another member, Jimisha Dahn, 23. “It means we feel safer attending our classes.”

Thanks to generous ActionAid supporters, we work closely with women’s rights groups like Women Speak. Local ActionAid staff are training police officers to treat survivors of sexual assault with respect.

ActionAid funding is also helping Jimisha host her own national radio show tackling the subject of women’s rights. With the help of other women’s groups, the activists field questions on taboo topics. “Men say I should look different if I want to stay safe,” Jimisha says.

“I tell them that my body is my own and nobody has the right to touch me against my will.”

The show has been a runaway success, reaching an astonishing 3.5 million listeners across Liberia. That’s 80% of the population.

“We want to break the silence around sexual violence,” says Jimisha. “If we don’t speak up it means that men who carry out these

Jimisha tackling the subject of women’s rights on the national radio talk show, funded

by ActionAid

acts don’t have to take responsibility for what they do.”

Recent research has proved that the work of grassroots organisations like Women Speak is the best way to create the real changes needed to end violence against women.

But they are critically

underfunded, receiving less than 1% of UK aid money for global gender equality.

ActionAid’s Fearless campaign is calling on the UK government to fund the life-changing work of women’s rights organisations, so that no woman or girl has to live in fear of violence. ●

“I didn’t understand what a problem violence against women is until I was trained by ActionAid.” – Nistel Jarsey, police officer

Please sign ActionAid’s petition to ask the new Development Minister to increase funding for grassroots women’s organisations.

Visit www.actionaid.org.uk/fearless Autumn 2016

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SUPER SUPPORTER

Going the extra mile to help us change lives for good

“ I wanted to understand ActionAid’s work for myself”

‘An experience I’ll never forget’ When Alan Henderson was given the chance to experience our work first hand, he couldn’t say no. Here he talks about building a centre in Mozambique for women who have experienced violence

I

became a supporter of ActionAid in 2003, when I started sponsoring a child a few years after finishing my studies at Bradford University. I felt then, as I feel now, a responsibility to give something back. So this year I decided to get more involved.

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I knew about the amazing work ActionAid does helping women and girls, but I wanted to understand it for myself. The chance to build a centre for victims of violence seemed like the perfect opportunity.

So I jumped on a plane to Maputo and that’s how I found myself in a dusty field

in southern Mozambique with 24 strangers, laying bricks and mixing cement.

It didn’t look like much back then, but we were working with the community to build Marracuene Women’s Centre – where women who have experienced violence can get legal advice, counselling, actionaid.org.uk

Photos: ActionAid

health services and specialist support.

Between laying foundations and planting trees, we were fortunate enough to have the chance to visit some of ActionAid’s other projects in the local area. On the third day we travelled to a small village where local women – many of whom had experienced violence – were learning to read, write and do basic arithmetic.

The amenities were very simple. A blackboard, some

mats on the ground, a local teacher giving a lesson in the shade of an acacia tree.

Speaking to these women really brought home the importance of ActionAid’s work. Many of us were reduced to tears by their stories. It was humbling to think that the centre we were building would soon help women like them get the specialist help they so desperately need. After many hugs and handshakes we said goodbye and the women started to sing a

traditional song of farewell. I felt such joy – and sadness.

It’s a moment I’ll never forget.

My first-hand experience was filled with amazing memories but I also took back some new friends.

There’s something very special about sharing this experience with people you would probably have never otherwise met.

In fact, volunteering in Mozambique reminded me of what’s important in life – human connections. I can’t recommend it enough. ●

Would you like to have the adventure of a lifetime and discover our work for yourself? Call our team on 01460 238000 or email events@actionaid.org to find out about First Hand Experiences Autumn 2016

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Get involved…

Photo: ActionAid

Run the London Marathon Event date: 23 April 2017 Running the London Marathon is an amazing opportunity and an experience you’ll never forget. Cheered on by the enthusiastic crowd as you speed past famous 16

London landmarks, 26 miles has never felt like so much fun. If you only ever run one marathon, make it this one.

We’ve still got places for 2017 but they’re going fast – so be quick!

Visit www. actionaid.org.uk/ londonmarathon to register and find out more actionaid.org.uk

Take part in

14 October 2016

Dress up and dream big with our new schools fundraising day Big Me is a day for children in the UK to dress up and dream big. The idea is simple: children dress up as their dream job and raise money to help change the lives of children in the world’s poorest places.

Simply dress up, bring £1 to school and have fun. Big Me Day is Friday 14 October, but schools can take part on any day of the year!

Teachers will also be pleased to hear that we’ll provide FREE fundraising and literacy resources when you sign up.

Sign up for a fantastic day of dreaming big at www.actionaid.org.uk/bigme

CHANGE THE LIVES OF CHILDREN The funds you raise will help change the lives of children around the world, so they can grow up to be the Big Me they dream of. Salma, 10, used to live on the streets and now lives in an ActionAid Happy Home in Bangladesh.

Photo: Nicola s Axelrod/Actio nAid

“I am back at school, I am so happy. I have decided that I will become a doctor someday.” Salma, 10 Autumn 2016

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Do something amazing this Ch ristmas

Give a gift in Action Photo: Savann Oeurm/ActionAid

Education gives children a better future. Your life-changing gift could pay for a child’s education for a year, including a nourishing daily meal to help them grow up healthy and strong.

A n ima l lo ver in the fa m ily?

Gif ts of go ats a nd ch ick en s a r e ava ilable on li ne

£10 18

Photo: Sharron Lovell/ActionAid

£30

Buys an education for a year

s and hygiene From toys to bike a mas you can give kits, this Christ in the children living wonderful gift to hasing places. By purc world’s poorest lives you’re changing a Gift in Action en getting a head for good – and ev stmas shopping! start on the Chri

£73

buys a night at a Happy Home for eight girls

Many children around the world don’t have a place to call home this Christmas. A generous gift from you could give eight street girls a night of safety and security in an ActionAid Happy Home.

Visit www.giftsinaction.org.uk to buy your gifts We want to make the best possible use of your gift. This means it will be used wherever the need is greatest, which could mean across a whole range of projects around the world.

actionaid.org.uk

£20

Buys toys for street children

Our Happy Homes give street girls a safe place to sleep, learn and stay healthy. This Christmas you could give them toys and games so that homeless girls can play and have fun – as every child should.

NEW DESIGNS

Christmas cards

Photo: Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid

Buying your Christmas cards from ActionAid is an easy way to support our life-changing work.

Whatever your preferred style – classic robin, gilded kings or carol singers – we have the perfect option for you.

Mrs Claus

We hear a lot about Santa Claus at Christmas, but what about Mrs Claus?

She doesn¹t even have her own name and yet works so hard behind the scenes. This year, ActionAid is about to change all of that! We are giving Mrs Claus a name and a voice to champion the rights of girls around the world. Keep an eye on @ActionAidUK for more details.

Autumn 2016

Limited Edition Fashion designer Maria Grachvogel has created a stylish Christmas card – entitled ‘Angel of Hope’ – exclusively for ActionAid supporters.

Order cards at www.actionaid.org.uk/cards or call us 01460 238 047 19

Give a lifechanging gift Support ActionAid with a gift today and change lives for good

Photo: ActionAid

Photo: Crystaline Randazzo/ActionAid

Leave a lasting legacy

Give a gift in action

Buy our Christmas cards

With a gift in your will, you can help a mother like Beatrice in Rwanda (above) feed her children and send them to school. Your legacy can change lives across the world.

Support children like 17-yearold Nan San (above) by giving friends or family one of our extra-special gifts. Why not buy a goat for an animallover, saplings for the greenfingered or literacy classes for a bookworm?

Buying your Christmas cards from ActionAid is an easy way to support our lifechanging work. Whatever your preferred style – classic robin, gilded kings or carol singers – we have the perfect option for you.

www.actionaid.org.uk/ legacy

www.giftsinaction.org.uk

www.actionaid.org.uk/ christmascards

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