Dining for Women of South Bend, Indiana

May 2012

Administrator — Fri, 11 May 2012 08:59:59 +0000

May’s topic will focus on the work being done for women and children in Vietnam:

Children of Vietnam, Vietnam 2012
Empowering Foundations for Women and their Children (EFWC)
http://www.childrenofvietnam.org/

The Mission: Changing the lives of impoverished, homeless and handicapped children in Vietnam by addressing the root causes of poverty for vulnerable populations including impoverished single mothers with dependent children.

The Program: EFWC is a special initiative to promote income sustainability for struggling, single mothers. DFW will support 75 women through EFWC that will work to develop personal empowerment plans to lift families out of poverty through training, microloans, healthcare and improved housing. DFW’s goal is to provide a grant for $45,000 to be disbursed over a 2 year period.

This is a powerful program with an individual approach, as these women face a myriad of barriers that trap them in poverty. It requires a multi-faceted effort to confront the causes of poverty as a single solution often fails . EFWC will work collaboratively with each woman to develop an empowerment plan by assessing needs, identifying strengths and defining personal goals. Ultimate GOAL: For each mother to be in charge of her future and to earn a stable income that sustains the family.

April, 2012

Administrator — Fri, 11 May 2012 08:52:41 +0000

April’s topic was the Afghan Friends Network.
http://afghanfriends.net/

The Mission: Afghan Friends Network delivers sustainable programs in education and cultural exchange that promote self-sufficiency and empower Afghans, in particular, women and girls.

The Project: Our Dining for Women $45,000 support will help fund two years of proven girls’ and women’s education in Ghazni through three educational programs that serve to empower marginalized girls and women:

1. Khurasan Learning Centers: providing 4th – 12th grade education in Math, Science, and English to 500 girls annually to prepare them for college exams and empower them to be wage-earners and leaders.

2. Women’s Literacy and Vocational Training Program (located at the KLCs): which provides a three-year course to 80 widows and adult women. They learn language, Math and handiwork skills, which empower these women to generate income to buy rice, flour, oil, sugar and other household items to support their families. It also increases their civic engagement;

3. University Scholarship Program which awards annually $360 scholarships to 16 graduates of the Khurasan Learning Centers and covers the costs of transportation, supplies and food.

Ghazni residents have advocated to have the two Khurasan Learning Centers (KLCs) open six days per week, 11 months out of the year for their daughters and women. The Centers are managed by the former Director of Education in Ghazni, Ms. Fatema Mushtaq, and staffed entirely by Afghans.

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FACTS:

Afghan life expectancy is only 49 years of age!

There are an estimated 1.5 million widows in Afghanistan who have to care for their family, and extended family, on less than a dollar a day.

One in five children dies before the age of five.

One out of eight women dies from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth annually.

40% of Afghans live below the poverty line.

Female literacy is a mere 16%. This means that females cannot even read, or write their OWN language!

8 ot of 10 females have no access to education.

In the schools that do exist, the ratio of students to teachers is 90 students for every ONE teacher…

$100.00 will pay a monthly salary for ONE teacher…

http://afghanistan.blogs.cnn.com/2009/12/08/afghan-widows-struggle-for-survival/

Are you an Ebay seller?
Donate through your eBay sales!
MissionFish is a wonderful program where you can allocate between 10 and 20 of your eBay sale to benefit Afghan Friends Network. Click here to find out how!

Dining for Women

Administrator — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 07:15:41 +0000

Dining for Women is a non-profit charitable foundation that empowers women in the poorest regions of the world, such as Africa, India, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and gives them the means and knowledge to not only provide the very basics for their family and community, like clean drinking water, but allows them to make crafts to sell, which allows them to become self-sufficient and learn about small business decisions. The organization also builds schools, improves village buildings, restores churches and major historical buildings, and supports medical areas such as the much needed, wonderful Fistula Hospital, which is a miracle for African women who are shunned, by no fault of their own, due to a medical condition. In the United States, an operation to repair such a medical issue would be hundreds of thousands of dollars, but thanks to the charities that fund the hospital, the surgeries are performed for a mere $400USD! These surgeries give the women their lives back, allow them to return to their village after being shunned, and allow them a sense of self worth that they lost during childbirth. Not only that, but it re-unites them with their children, who desperately need their mother.

If you would like to learn more about the amazing accomplishments of Dining for Women, or any of its partners, please visit:

www.diningforwomen.org

If you are interested in joining the local South Bend chapter, please contact the chapter leader, Corinne Blakemore, at corinne.blakemore at gmail.com (no spaces, and substitute “at” for the @ symbol – this is to prevent spam bots from picking up the address.)