ActionAid Action Magazine: Summer 2015

Issue 7 Summer 2015

I ESCAPED FGM

Your support can save other girls too

appeal help girls at risk from fgm SEE PAGE 14

actionaid.org.uk

APPEAL

NEWS

SUPPORT US

FGM

Nepal earthquake

Get involved

@ActionAidUK

Protect girls facing FGM in Kenya

How your help is rebuilding thousands of lives

Raise funds for us this summer

ActionAidUK @ActionAidUK

Nepal: hope amidst the rubble Shaku was on the way to hospital to give birth when Nepal was struck by a catastrophic earthquake in April. ‘Buildings began falling around me and the roads were cracking. I thought I was going to die. We drove through aftershocks for an hour to get to the hospital.’

She believes she and her baby only survived thanks to doctors at Patan Hospital, south of Kathmandu. She said, ‘I haven’t named my baby yet.

She will be named 12 days after her birth as is tradition.

Our family are already thinking she should be called ‘Lucky’.’

In the weeks after the earthquake, hospital staff were overwhelmed by patients, and delivered over 200 babies.

Thanks to your support, ActionAid has donated £50,000 to pay for medical supplies and equipment for an operating theatre to help women like Shaku have a safe delivery.

She is just one of the 92,000 people we’ve reached since the 7.8 scale earthquake brought the country to the ground. Turn to page six to find out how your support is already making a huge difference.

Shaku with her one-week-old baby, in Patan Hospital, Lalitpur District, south of Kathmandu.

Margaret Casely-Hayford Chair of ActionAid UK

ActionAid

THANKS TO YOU, OUR LIFE-CHANGING WORK CONTINUES AROUND THE WORLD

This month our hearts go out to those affected by the tragic death of two colleagues, in a shooting incident in Kabul This was a powerful reminder of the danger faced by ActionAid staff, the importance of their work, and of your ongoing support.

Thanks to your incredible generosity, we were able to respond immediately to the earthquakes in Nepal. Read about the incredible women at the forefront of our relief effort on page six.

We see similar resilience in women we work with across the world – including those stamping out FGM in Kenya (see page 12). But there is still much more to be done. Anything you can give would make a huge difference.

Many of you know that our Executive Director Richard Miller left in April to lead ActionAid International’s humanitarian work.

I am pleased to announce Girish Menon as his successor, who has gained an impressive track record at DFID, Plan International, ActionAid India, and most recently leading WaterAid’s worldwide programmes.

Thanks, as always for your ongoing support.

Margaret 33–39 Bowling Green Lane, London EC1R 0BJ. 01460 238 000 supportercontact@actionaid.org.

ActionAid is a registered charity in England and Wales (274467) and Scotland (SC045476). Cover Salome, at Naramam School in Kongelai – an ActionAid project – where she is able to build her new life, safe from FGM. She walked 200km, aged just 12, to escape her family who arranged for her to be cut. Photo: Jennifer Huxta/ActionAid Vlad Sokhin /Panos Pictures /ActionAid

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AROUND THE WORLD The latest news on our global work

Liberia declared Ebola free he World Health Organization declared Liberia ‘Ebola free’ in Liberia May this year. Christal Da Thong, our Communications Officer in Liberia said, ‘When I think of how the predictions of infection and death across Liberia and west Africa were so dire, I am so incredibly proud that we were able to defy the odds and change the situation.’ Thanks to your support, ActionAid has reached over 500,000 people and has played a major role in stopping the spread of the disease. So far 11,000 people have died from the outbreak in west Africa, and our work to stamp out the disease in Sierra Leone continues.

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A Liberian girl learns to prepare Clorox water to clean her hands, at an ActionAid training session.

Morgana Wingard/ActionAid

#BringBackOurGirls one year on Nigeria

00 girls were abducted from their school in Chibok, Nigeria, a year ago in April

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ActionAid

Rhoda, sister of one of the abducted Chibok girls, has campaigned for their release.

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by terrorist group Boko Haram.

To mark the anniversary, we presented 3,382 messages from ActionAid supporters to the girls’ families, and called on the government to ensure their safe return. Tunde Aremu, Head of Campaigns at ActionAid Nigeria said, ‘Together our action will show the families, Nigeria, the world, and Boko Haram that we stand united in solidarity and will not rest until there is justice.’ actionaid.org.uk

actionaid.org.uk

@ActionAidUK

ActionAidUK

Greenpeace and ActionAid team up for Vanuatu

@ActionAidUK

Captain Mike Finken stands with a local woman, in front of Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior ship in Vanuatu.

he remote islands of Vanuatu in the Pacific are hard to reach. But thanks to a team effort with a Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior ship, we were able to take two containers of relief supplies from Australia to communities struck by Cyclone Pam in May. We distributed toiletries and food to some of the 166,000 people affected by the disaster.

Our appeal raised over Vanuatu £140,000 – thank you for all your support.

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Volunteers from Turner and HBO meet local children at an ActionAid project in Mozambique.

ActionAid

Mozambique

Building a brighter future in Mozambique

ntrepid employees from Turner Broadcasting and HBO travelled to Mozambique with ActionAid in May to build a library for a secondary school.

The 22 volunteers worked incredibly hard alongside local builders to dig foundations, mix cement and lay bricks. The group has funded the construction of the library and stocked it with books and learning materials.

Thank you to our volunteers for their incredible efforts!

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ActionAid

Summer 2015

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‘I make sure that the needs of women are considered at every stage of our response.’

Malati, ActionAid Women’s Right’s Officer

Nepal: women on the frontline

When a catastrophic earthquake struck Nepal, killing over 8,000 people, Natalie Curtis, our Senior Stories and Editorial Manager, was deployed to Kathmandu, and found women leading our relief efforts

ActionAid

hen I arrived, the capital and surrounding areas were buried in rubble and thousands of people lined the streets in makeshift shelters.

Despite the chaos, our emergency response was in full swing. Within hours ActionAid, which has been in Nepal for

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30 years, had reached people in urgent need with emergency food, water, medicine and shelter.

Our Nepalese staff, despite facing the trauma of surviving the earthquake and many whose homes had been damaged, were leading our aid effort. They in turn were supported by women’s groups, and a network of Nepalese youth volunteers, actionaid.org.uk

Vlad Sokhin / Panos Pictures / ActionAid

pulling together to help rebuild their country.

I joined aid trucks delivering dignity kits to women, containing sanitary protection, soap and clean underwear, as well as nutritious food for mothers too weak to breastfeed.

When people told us what they needed, we listened. The quietest, most marginalised voices, we heard. The women I met in Nepal, be it ActionAid’s fearless staff, midwives delivering miracle babies, or mothers in survivor camps keeping their families alive, inspired me beyond measure. ■ Summer 2015

Vlad Sokhin / Panos Pictures / ActionAid

‘I work with affected communities to assess daily how many people are impacted and what they need.’

Renu, Programme Officer for some of the worst hit areas in Kathmandu

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Srikanth Kolari/ActionAid

‘I have been managing our youth volunteers to load ActionAid’s relief trucks and coordinate the dispatch of trucks to quake-affected communities.’

Rose, Youth Volunteer, manages our 5,000-strong team of young volunteers

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Nine-year-old Rupak looks on as his relatives salvage what few belongings they can from their collapsed home.

Prashanth Vishwanathan/ActionAid

Nepal earthquake: in pictures In the village of Chapagaun, south of Kathmandu, over 2,000 homes were destroyed or damaged. Thanks to your support, ActionAid has been able to reach communities in greatest need, and our work to rebuild their lives has begun How to help

Responding fast, thanks to you ActionAid raised ÂŁ4.7 million

The DEC appeal raised ÂŁ73 million

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92,900 people supported by ActionAid

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20,000 people received food such as lentils and rice

6,000 people given medical kits

ActionAid is now working with communities on their long-term recovery, helping people to deal with the trauma and rebuild their lives.

To support our ongoing work in Nepal, please visit: www.actionaid.org.uk/ donatenepal actionaid.org.uk

Sunita and her husband Rajkumar Desar with their three-month-old twins Ujwal and Prajwal, who narrowly survived the earthquake.

The family are now sharing a tent with 200 villagers.

Prashanth Vishwanathan/ActionAid

Asmita, 12, is an ActionAid sponsored child. She spent five days sleeping outside with her family because they were too frightened to return home. She is looking forward to going back to school.

Vlad Sokhin / Panos Pictures / ActionAid

Summer 2015

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Extraordinary supp Our super supporters are going the extra mile to help us change lives fo

Marathon is a ‘personal best happiness’ for John

ActionAid

Grandfather-of-five John, Ormond has just run his 11th London Marathon for ActionAid, raising an incredible £20,000 since he first took on the challenge in 2005.

70-year-old John, from Fleetwood, ran the Virgin London Marathon this April in five hours, 44 minutes.

He was delighted with his 10 Change lives. For good.

time. ‘I was aiming for a personal worst time so I could achieve a personal best happiness - both achieved!’ he says. He ran the 26.2 miles without sustaining any injuries, ‘apart from a slight graze on my hand when I stumbled – I got a bit too exuberant waving at the crowd.’

John and his wife have supported ActionAid for 17 years. ‘Originally it was my wife who was inspired to support ActionAid by a teacher colleague. My wife loves children and wants to give them a better future having seen so much deprivation.’

When he’s not running, John’s main work is as a carer for his wife, and he volunteers for the NHS to help them improve patient safety. His aim is to run a marathon every year until he’s 100, raising £1m for ActionAid. ‘I continue to run because it keeps me calm, happy and focused on my overall goal to help others in need.’

He adds, ‘Supporting ActionAid is a wonderful way of making a difference to those children and families much less lucky in their life circumstances than us in the UK, yet only a few hours away by plane.’

See you at the London Marathon 2016, John! ■ actionaid.org.uk

pporter stories s for good

Abigail’s £1 a day challenge raises hundreds

ActionAid

Inspired to dig out your trainers?

Come and join us at a race soon. Turn to page 19 to find out how.

Summer 2015

Super supporter Abigail Watson raised £407 for ActionAid by living on just £1 a day for five days in May. 24-year-old Abigail spread the word and gathered support from people in her local town of Rimington, and even convinced her family to join her.

As a vegan, Abigail had to get creative in the kitchen, mainly eating porridge for breakfast, daal for lunch, and lentil cottage pie in the evening.

She wrote a daily blog about the experience. On day two, she said, ‘I felt really weak today. I work in a restaurant, and running around serving people who were spending more money than I would spend in two months on this challenge was strange.

Also looking at all the amazing food was pretty hard.’

Abigail told us she was shocked at how difficult the challenge was, and that it opened her eyes to how tough life is for those living below the poverty line in developing countries.

‘They have to live on just £1 a day – and it has to cover everything from travel expenses, school costs and uniform. This needs to change!’ ■ Abigail was one of hundreds of dedicated supporters who participated in Live Below the Line.

Sponsor her amazing efforts here: www.livebelowtheline. com/me/abigailwatson7

Do you have a marathon-running mum, an Ironman dad, a star baker best mate or a gran who jumps out of planes? If there’s a super supporter in your life, get in touch at supportercontact@actionaid.org or 01460 238 000.

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FGM: ‘I found a way out’ With thousands of young girls at risk of female genital mutilation in Kenya this summer, ActionAid is offering them refuge, an education and a future of their choice

appeal help girlms at risk from fg SEE PAGE 14 Salome, at Naramam School in Kongelai, where she is able to build her new life, safe from FGM. ActionAid

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lasted for two months and I travelled 200km on foot. Sometimes I found a house, and would be given some food, but more often than not I had to sleep outside. I was frightened of wild animals so would climb to the top of the trees to sleep. I ate soil as I didn’t have any food.

‘Luckily, one evening, I met some students. They asked me where I was going. I was honest and told them I didn’t know. They told me about a school where you could be safe from FGM, or being married off at an early age. It is where I am now.

IF I HAD TO GIVE A MESSAGE TO OTHER GIRLS IT WOULD BE THIS: BE STRONG AND DON’T AGREE TO BE CUT. YOU CAN DO IT ‘I haven’t seen any of my family since that day. No one has traced me. Despite everything, it was really difficult to be without them at first, but I am getting used to it. It is my sister who I worry about, though, as I fear she’ll be next. I hope that my mum will be able to rescue her like she rescued me with her trick.

‘If I had to give a message to girls around the world about FGM it would be this: be strong and don’t agree to be cut. You can do it.’

Salome now lives in Naramam School in Kongelai where she is able to study, and hopes to become a teacher. The school is supported

by ActionAid and offers protection and an education for girls who have fled FGM. ■

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alome, from northern Kenya, explains how she found the courage to walk 200km to escape female genital mutilation (FGM) aged only 12.

She is now building a new life with ActionAid’s help.

‘It began when my father started to ask me when I was going to get “the cut”. He said I was embarrassing the family as my friends had been through it, but I hadn’t. My brothers started to ridicule me too.

‘I didn’t really know what it was – we hadn’t learnt about FGM at school. I just knew it wasn’t good.

I had seen what had happened to my friends after they were cut. The following month they were forced to get married. I knew the same could happen to me.

‘One evening my father announced I had to undergo the cut.

Still I didn’t take him seriously. I just went to bed as usual, but early the next morning what I didn’t realise was that my brother had called the cutter.

They locked me in the house.

‘From outside I could hear them calling: “Salome, Salome, come out”.

When I did, the cutter was already there, waiting.

‘All of a sudden my mum stepped in and told the cutter it was too early in the morning and that she must wait for sunrise. At the same time my mum told me to go and fetch water from the river. I suddenly knew that this was my chance to escape. I didn’t have a plan and I didn’t have anything with me but I ran away in the opposite direction from my home and family.’

‘The first night I slept in a tree. It was the first night of a journey that

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URGENT APPEAL

Help us save young girls facing FGM this summer With your help, we can convince communities that children have the right to say no

Damaris, who was subjected to FGM aged 11, is doing everything in her power to protect her daughter Chepkopus, two, from the same fate.

ActionAid

n a few weeks, tens of thousands of girls in Kenya will be subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM). This incredibly painful and harrowing form of child abuse violates the rights of young girls, denies them their childhood and wipes out their dreams for the future.

Many girls are ‘cut’ in August during the school holidays, when they are at home and teachers can’t report their absence.

Within months, girls are often forced into marriage and many soon become pregnant.

FGM has painful and traumatic consequences during and after intercourse and in childbirth.

It makes them vulnerable to haemorrhaging, infection, infertility and even death.

Moreover, they are usually removed from school, denying them an education and the chance to build their own future.

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We need to reach girls who in a few weeks’ time will be at risk of FGM. Damaris (pictured) was subjected to FGM when she was 11. She was forced into marriage, and became pregnant a year later. Her daughter Chepkopus is now two years old. Damaris will do everything to protect her daughter from the same fate and give her the education that she was denied.

We can protect young girls from FGM. With your help, we can convince entire communities that children have the right to say no.

With your support, we will: ■ Educate girls through Girls’ Clubs about the dangers of FGM, their right to refuse and where to get help.

■ Train women to form Women’s Watch groups, so they can educate parents and officials about the practice, and take individuals to court.

■ Build rescue centres where girls at immediate risk can be safe.

■ Help victims of FGM through reconstructive surgery and emotional and practical support.

Up to 80,000 girls are at risk of being cut this year.

We urgently need to reach them. In our rescue centres, they will feel safe and will receive an education they would otherwise be denied.

Please help us protect girls like Damaris today.

Make a donation today.

Visit: www.actionaid.org.uk/ StopFGM Change lives. For good. 15

Inspiring women Meet two women giving others the strength to speak out against violence. Join our campaign this summer, and stand with them ActionAid

Dinah Chepkemai, Manager for ActionAid in Kongelai in Kenya, is working hard to stamp out FGM

GIRLS ARE NOW DARING TO RUN AWAY FROM THEIR HOMES TO AVOID FGM 16 Change lives. For good.

What was your own experience of FGM? I was lucky. Instead of being forced to have FGM, my parents gave me an education. Their decision was so radical and against tradition, that my father’s own family excluded him.

It was very hard, but we believed it was the right thing to do. It is because of going to school that I became interested in women’s rights.

How does ending FGM help fight poverty?

Once a girl has endured FGM, she is seen as ‘ready for marriage’ and often drops out of school. This reduces her ability to earn an income.

We work to support girls to stay in school, understand their rights and contribute to their own, their families’ and their communities’ future.

What difference is this making?

What does your role at Last year we trained 1800 ActionAid involve? people to educate others A large part of my job is about the dangers of going out to enlighten girls FGM and reached 30,000 about their rights, about the through public education.

FGM laws, and how they Many girls are daring to can come together to fight run away from their homes it. My passion is helping to seek help. Last year the women. If girls can’t find Kongelai Women’s Network out about life outside of the rescued 35 new girls who community, then how do have come to us to avoid they know that another life FGM and forced child is out there? marriage. ■ Female genital mutilation (FGM) - the facts 3 million girls in Africa are at risk of FGM every year – 80,000 are in danger in Kenya alone

FGM is mostly carried out on young girls sometime between infancy and age 15

The procedure can cause severe bleeding, infection, infertility and even death actionaid.org.uk

Najiba, paralegal advisor, Afghanistan, puts her own life at risk to help other women escape violence ncensed by violence faced by women in Afghanistan, Najiba became a paralegal advisor for ActionAid in 2010, and now supports women from remote villages to speak out.

The mother of three has considerable experience of abuse herself. Taken out of school by her parents and forced to marry at a young age, her in-laws treated her very badly.

On return to her home town of Najiba became director of a women’s shelter, but life soon became difficult. After supporting a couple from different ethnic groups to marry, she received threats, and had to send her children to live with their grandparents. Despite this, Najiba carried on and has worked on over 100 cases.

‘With this experience it is easier to interact with women, to understand deeply their problems. Most of these cases are related to poverty. Women were not aware of their rights before.

Now they tend to report more often on violence.’

Yet it remains an uphill struggle. ‘The authority of the warlords and people in power is an obstacle. All the laws that exist to protect women – none of them are being implemented.’ ■

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NEW ACTIONAID CAMPAIGN: FEARLESS One in three women will experience violence in their lifetime, leaving many trapped in fear and poverty. This September, governments will agree a target to end violence against women and girls for good. Make sure David Cameron champions the target and urgently implements it.

Take action and join the campaign: www.actionaid.org/fearless or call 0203 122 4925

I KNEW I HAD TO HELP WOMEN Lorenzo Tugnoli/ActionAid Summer 2015

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Get involved…

Race, barbecue or stroll to raise funds for ActionAid this summer

Greg Funnell / ActionAid

Fundraise in the sun

Festival fun

Host a sizzling summer BBQ Use a communal outdoor area at work to have a barbecue. Charge people to come or to take part in garden games.

For the first time, we’ll host our very own tent at Latitude Festival.

As well as giant games, and dance and craft workshops, we’ll share stories of some of the incredible people we work with, and will be raising funds to help rebuild Nepal.

Come and join us!

Get workin’ at the car wash Scrub those dirty bumpers clean!

Run your car wash service at work, school or in your local group.

Go cool and casual for a day Introduce a summer dress down day at work. Wear your wildest Hawaiian shirts, and donate a fee to leave the suit and tie at home.

Find ideas online at www.actionaid.org.uk/eventshub 18 Change lives. For good.

16-19 July 2015 Latitude Festival, Suffolk.

Charity of the year Got the bug for supporting us all year round? Make us your charity of the year and we’ll support you to fundraise from January to December.

Find out more at www.actionaid.org.uk/eventshub actionaid.org.uk

Race through the Royal Parks Winding through the Royal Parks, the route takes you past the iconic sights of Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and the London Eye. Live bands and

Join ActionAid for London’s most beautiful and iconic run

a delicious food market make this a great day out for spectators too.

We’ll support you every step of the way by providing training tips, fundraising ideas

and your ActionAid running vest. And we’ll be there on race day, giving you the loudest cheers as you cross the finish line.

11 October 2015 Royal Parks Half Marathon, Hyde Park.

Sign up at www.actionaid.org.uk/royalparks Call us on 01460 238 000 or email events@actionaid.org

ActionAid

Go the length of the Thames

Join our team

Walk, jog or run 100km, 50km, or 25km, one of three stunning stunning routes along the Thames Path. Heading upstream from Putney Bridge in London, enjoy urban and historic scenery, finishing in Runnymede or Henley.

For more inspiring ideas visit www.actionaid.org.uk/ fundraise. If you’ve got your own ideas for fundraising then we’d love to hear from you.

Email us at supportercontact @actionaid.org. Go on, be an Action Hero this summer!

12-13 September 2015 Thames Path Challenge. Sign up at www.thamespathchallenge.com Summer 2015

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Give a lifechanging gift Support ActionAid with a gift and make a difference to the lives of people living in poverty

Leave a gift in your will

Give child sponsorship

Buy our Christmas cards

A gift in a will has the power to transform the future of someone in a developing country. One gift of £5,000 from a long term supporter helped fund the education of Rajmai (pictured) in a remote part of Nepal. Find information about leaving a legacy and the difference you could make: www.actionaid.org.uk/ legacy

Give a friend or family member the gift of child sponsorship, and help build a better future for children like Elisa (pictured). Your loved one will receive messages and photos directly from their sponsored child, showing the impact their gift is having on a whole community: www.actionaid.org.uk/ sponsor

Get ahead of the game, and choose your cards early this year. View our merry range of cards and order packs online today. Proceeds will fund ActionAid’s inspirational projects – from enabling communities to build schools, to empowering women to claim their rights: www.actionaid.org.uk/ christmascards

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